East Texas History Harvest

FAIN: PY-234231-16

Humanities Texas (Austin, TX 78701-1506)
Michael L. Gillette (Project Director: June 2015 to April 2018)

The creation of a “community collection” of primary source documents related to the local and regional history of East Texas with free, online access to the collection via the Portal to Texas History, and an array of public programming events, developed in partnership with local educational, historical, and cultural institutions. Programming would include a traveling exhibition featuring the collected material and a regional historical documentary produced by the Texas Archive of the Moving Image. The East Texas History Harvest would be the third in a series of four pilot programs organized by the applicant. Building on previous successes, the application includes detailed plans for the digitization event, including volunteer training materials and extensive community outreach strategies.

Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), recently initiated a series of pilot History Harvest programs, collaborating with Texas communities to document local, regional, and national heritage.  Humanities Texas seeks a $12,000 Common Heritage Grant from NEH to organize a History Harvest in East Texas in early fall 2016.  Partnering with representatives from local institutions, Humanities Texas will coordinate a day-long event, inviting residents to bring historic photos, letters, and other materials for scanning and preservation and producing a significant public collection of digitized materials documenting East Texas heritage.  The program will not only strengthen ties within the community, but also illustrate the importance of the area’s history.  Subsequent programming based on the collection will provide the community with a great understanding and appreciation of its past, as well as a desire to preserve and share their knowledge.