The Georgia College & State University Foundation and the Andalusia Foundation celebrate a new beginning for the nationally recognized landmark Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 8:30 a.m. at Andalusia.

Through collaboration and a mutual interest in the future of the historic landmark, the Andalusia Foundation has gifted the final home of Georgia College alumna Flannery O’Connor to the GCSU Foundation.

“This is a great opportunity for Georgia College and the GCSU Foundation to help preserve, protect and enhance the memory of one of our most influential alumni, Flannery O’Connor,” said Dr. Steve Dorman, president of Georgia College. “We are grateful to the Andalusia Foundation for entrusting us with its future and look forward to continuing to share this piece of American history with the world.”

O’Connor, who graduated from Georgia State College for Women, now Georgia College, in 1945, lived at Andalusia from 1951 until her death in 1964. Many of her famous works were written during that time.

“The Andalusia Foundation is devoted to continuing the legacy of Flannery O’Connor by protecting the homestead where she wrote and that served as the inspiration for and setting for many of her stories. In making this gift to Georgia College, we are confident that by entrusting the care of that legacy to her alma mater we will ensure that Andalusia can continue to be a focal point for those who wish to study her works, honor her talents and further their own literary pursuits,” said Donna Barwick, with the Andalusia Foundation.

“The GCSU Foundation exists to enable the dreams and aspirations of the students, faculty and staff of Georgia College,” said Susan Stewart GCSU Foundation board of trustees chair. “Accepting this gift allows us to support the university as it becomes a hub for the study and promotion of southern literature and honors the enduring works of my fellow alumna, Flannery O’Connor.”

Private gifts, such as this, not only give Georgia College and the GCSU Foundation the opportunity to preserve history, but they also allow the university to provide the resources necessary to offer an outstanding educational experience for students.

“Transformational gifts like this one create a lasting legacy for our institution. We are proud and honored that the Andalusia Foundation has chosen to partner with the Georgia College & State University Foundation to make this possible,” said Monica Delisa, vice president for University Advancement at Georgia College. “Private giving improves the lives of students, faculty and staff at Georgia College, and helps us create milestones on our path to preeminence.”

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Andalusia is brought to life on many occasions in O’Connor’s published letters. In the 1950s, Andalusia was a dairy farm operated by O’Connor’s mother, Regina Cline O’Connor. The agricultural setting of Andalusia not only provided O’Connor a place to live and write, but also a landscape in which to set her fiction.

Andalusia is an attraction that brings many tourists to Milledgeville. Georgia College intends to continue to grow the economic impact this piece of history provides to the local community.

“Andalusia, the home of Flannery O’Connor, is one of Milledgeville’s greatest treasures and has become a major tourist attraction, bringing Flannery’s fans from across the United States and from many foreign countries,” said Jane Sowell with the Milledgeville-Baldwin Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Under Georgia College’s stewardship, Andalusia will provide these visitors with a rich experience and a greater appreciation for O’Connor and her impact. We are very encouraged that this beautiful farm and home will continue to be preserved and open to both residents and guests of historic Milledgeville.”