After nearly 10 years of serving as the Genealogy & Local History Coordinator at the Statesboro-Bulloch County Library, Lillian Wingate, has accepted a position in Thomasville, Georgia as the Executive Director of the Thomasville Genealogical Library at Thomas University.
On December 30, the library held a Farewell Event with the Friends of the Library providing refreshments.
Caroline Johnson, Statesboro-Bulloch County Library Director, shared some words of appreciation at the event as Friends of the Library members and library patrons gathered to wish Wingate well at her new position.
Wingate has what some would call “a cult following” in the area. Her love of genealogy is evident, made clear by her commitment to her work. Dedicated patrons with an affinity for genealogy have been attending her classes regularly, some for many years.
Wingate held her last Genealogy Basics class at the Statesboro library on January 3. Appreciation for Wingate was apparent as patrons lingered behind after class to share their thanks and regards as she leaves to take on her new position at Thomas University.
Wingate began her role at Statesboro Library part-time in 2015 then became full-time in 2019 as the regional Genealogy & Local History Coordinator. Her position full time gave her the ability to provide services and classes for the 6 libraries in our region. During her time as coordinator, Wingate has created and taught over 75 genealogy and history classes and had over 25 guest speakers.
Over the years, people have traveled from the states of Washington, Texas, Maine, Missouri, Kentucky, New Jersey, Virginia, California, New York, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio; as well as all surrounding states to do research at the Statesboro Library. She has assisted patrons from all across the country, even people in England and Germany.
During the challenging days of Covid, when in-person classes weren’t possible, she held virtual classes and shared videos, some of which Wingate says have over 17,000 views.
Wingate has also worked with the Georgia Southern University History Program to provide internships for students, with a total of 5 internships and 2 upcoming in the summer.
She also created and held the first Genealogy Resource Fair for the state of Georgia and is working on the 3rd Annual Genealogy Resource Fair that will be held in March 2025.
Over the years, Wingate has worked with and given presentations to various historical societies in the region including the Archibald Bulloch DAR Chapter, the Mill Creek SAR Chapter, the Claxton Rotary Club, the Evans County Historical Society, the Candler County Historical Society, Georgia Salzburger Society, Richmond Hill Historical Society and many more.
Wingate has also worked with Dr. Brent Tharp, director of the Georgia Southern Museum, Autumn Johnson with the Special Collections at GSU, and others at Georgia Southern University.
Wingate's accomplishments as the Genealogy & Local History Coordinator include: redoing the genealogy collections at the Pembroke and Richmond Hill libraries, remodeling and reorganizing the Swainsboro genealogy room, and updating the equipment and organizing the books in the Genealogy Rooms of the Claxton and Metter libraries.
She has also remodeled, updated equipment, added to the collection, and created guides for the Genealogy Department at the Statesboro Library.
Wingate says her new position is near her hometown in Mitchell County, allowing her to be closer to her family.
She says, "One of the wonderful things is that most of the founding families of Thomas County came from Bulloch and surrounding counties, so I will still be tracing many of the same families in the same areas.”
As evident from the Farewell event, Wingate is well-loved in the community and has many dedicated supporters wishing her the very best in her new endeavors.
"I hope to stay in touch with the many wonderful people I have met over the years and still assist with Bulloch County family research,” she said.
