Woodall-Matthews Visual Materials
Collection
Identifier: VAM400
The Woodall-Matthews Visual Materials contains photographs from the 1920 Greater Georgia Tech Industrial Tour as well as group photographs of the classes of 1904 and 1908. There is also a photo of Alpha Tau Omega and drawings for class assignments, both from the 1930s.
(69 items)
None.
Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Head of Archives and Special Collections.
2 Linear Feet
The Woodall-Matthews Visual Materials contains 69 items (47 photographs and 22 drawings) ranging from circa 1901 through 1958. The bulk of the photographs documents the Greater Georgia Tech Industrial Tour. All of these photos are black and white and were taken November 17 - 25, 1920. Most have small white numbers in the lower left hand corner, but a corresponding index is not included.
The remaining photos are group photographs of Georgia Tech classes, students, or alumni. There is one miscellaneous photo of school buses.
The drawings are the work of John H. Woodall, Jr. They appear to be standard class assignments.
Charles William Matthews (17 December 1882-26 July 1955), of Woodland, Georgia, entered Georgia Tech in December 1900. After graduating in 1904 with a degree in textile engineering, he worked for several years at Spalding Cotton Mills in Griffin, Georgia. By 1909, Matthews had returned to Talbot County and was farming. Beginning in 1918, the Georgia Tech register of graduates lists him as the general manager of T.F. Matthews and Son in Woodland. Matthews married Sallie Woodall, sister of John Henry Woodall, Sr.
John Henry Woodall, Sr. (04 April 1886-25 August 1965), also of Woodland, Georgia, entered Georgia Tech in October 1903 as a sub-apprentice. Woodall graduated in 1908 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Following his graduation, he became the manager and then proprietor of the Woodland Excelsior Works. By 1920, he was general manager of Georgia Cushion and Wrapper Company in Woodland, GA. Woodall married Alberta (Berta) Matthews, a sister of Charles W. Matthews.
John Henry Woodall, Jr. (22 October 1917-04 August 2005) was a son of John Woodall, Sr. and Berta Matthews Woodall. John Jr. also attended Tech, graduating in 1938. He participated in many student organizations and was the head football cheerleader his senior year, president of Alpha Tau Omega, and basketball team manager. In WWII, Woodall, Jr. served as a Navy communications officer. He later served as a trustee of Georgia Tech National Alumni Association. Henry H. Woodall was born to John Woodall, Jr. and his second wife, Elizabeth Harman.
In 1920, both Woodall, Sr. and Matthews participated in the Greater Georgia Tech Industrial Tour. A group of 125 prominent Georgia business men and manufacturers toured northern industrial centers to determine why Georgia ranked so far below other states in wealth, enterprise, and general development. This tour was the first step of a larger project: Greater Georgia Tech. Greater Georgia Tech was a movement and a capital campaign to improve the physical plant of the school and establish Tech as a center for research and industrial development for all of Georgia.
Over the years, the Woodall-Matthews family founded and ran several businesses in the Woodland, Georgia area, including the Georgia Cushion and Packing Company (Georgia Cushion and Wrapper Company) and Woodland Furniture Company.
This collection is arranged into five series: Greater Georgia Tech Industrial Tour; Charles W. Matthews; John H. Woodall, Sr.; John H. Woodall, Jr.; and Miscellaneous.
A print copy of this finding aid is available in the Georgia Tech Archives reading room.
Accessions #2007.067 and 2007.072.
Manuscript materials will be processed separately.
(69 items)
Kevin Brown and Mandi Johnson processed these visual materials in April and July 2010.
Part of the Archives and Special Collections, Library, Georgia Institute of Technology Repository