News and Updates

Exchange Club Freedom Shrine Rededicated To SGSC’s Waycross Campus

The Exchange Club of Waycross and South Georgia State College’s Waycross Campus held a rededication ceremony recently for a Freedom Shrine that was first installed over 40 years ago.

Exchange Club of Waycross President Michael Ray and Club Treasurer Bill Deason attended the ceremony with SGSC Waycross Campus Director Taylor Hereford, Director of Facilities Daniel Warren, and Physical Plant Coordinator Robbie Hart.

“The Freedom Shrine provides such an incredible lens into the history of our nation,” said Hereford. “It’s exciting to join the Exchange Club of Waycross in rededicating the Waycross Campus Freedom Shrine so that our students may view so many important historical documents.”

The Freedom Shrine was installed in the former Waycross Junior College Administrative Building in November 1976 and was removed in 2009 when the building underwent extensive renovations. The Freedom Shrine can now be seen inside the Waycross Campus Educational Building.

A project of Exchange Clubs around the country, the Freedom Shrine is a display of various documents of American history. Documents included in the display are copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Mayflower Compact, the Gettysburg Address, and Robert E. Lee’s accepting the Presidency of Washington College.

Also included are copies of the German Instrument of Surrender of World War II, McAuliffe’s Christmas message of 1944 to the 101st Airborne Division, the Northwest Ordinance, the Treaty of Paris of 1783 recognizing the independence of the United States, George Washington’s first inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson’s first inaugural address, and many others.

The Waycross Journal-Herald contributed to this story.

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TOP PHOTO: Members of the Freedom Shrine Committee of the Exchange Club of Waycross first dedicated a Freedom Shrine to the former Waycross Junior College in November 1976. (L-R) J.R. Childress, committee member; Dr. Ted Harris, chair of the Division of Social Sciences at the former Waycross Junior College; Waycross Junior College President Dr. James Dye; Exchange Club of Waycross President Lavier Murray; Herbert Zell, committee member; and Clyde Roberson, committee member. (Photo courtesy: Waycross Journal-Herald)

BOTTOM PHOTO: The 1976 Freedom Shrine was rededicated recently to South Georgia State College’s Waycross Campus. (L-R) Michael Ray, president of the Exchange Club of Waycross; Taylor Hereford, director of SGSC’s Waycross Campus; Robbie Hart, Waycross Campus physical plant coordinator; Daniel Warren, director of facilities for SGSC; and Bill Deason, treasurer of the Exchange Club of Waycross.