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University of North Georgia (̨Íåswag) senior Tyler Holman wanted to know how the Gwinnett County Courthouse caught on fire and burned down in 1871.

"There was a lack of an explanation," said the 24-year-old from Hoschton, Georgia.

His search for the answer evolved from a research paper for ̨Íåswag history professor Dr. Dee Gillespie's class to a submission to the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC). On Oct. 15, Holman won the , for his paper "'Drunken, Desperate Men': The Klans of Gwinnett County, Georgia, 1868-1872."

Christopher Davidson, state archivist and assistant vice chancellor for the University System of Georgia, presented the honor to Holman and 35 other winners at the 17th annual GHRAC Archives Awards ceremony at the Georgia Archives. The GHRAC awards recognize outstanding efforts in archives and records work in Georgia.

"I was really surprised because Dr. Gillespie and I found this opportunity at the last minute, and I didn't think I had time to prepare and polish it," Holman said.

Holman, a first-generation student pursuing a history degree, said he plans to conduct more research on his paper, hopefully in graduate school.

"This paper has refined my interest in what I want to work on in the future," he said. "I found answers to some of the questions I had, but that led me to start asking other questions about the interplay between class and racial violence during Reconstruction."