The Woolfolk Digital Preservation Lab
About Us
The Woolfolk Digital Preservation Lab was founded in Room 103 of the George Ruble Woolfolk Building in August 2025. It developed from a 2021 National Endowment for the Humanities Grant to establish the Digital PV Panther Project, which aimed to prevent the erasure of African American history through historic preservation and digital humanities at PVAMU. The mission has remained the same, and the focus on training students to build trust between the university and the rural communities of East Texas has also remained unchanged.
By processing, digitizing, and broadly disseminating archival collections from surrounding communities, the Woolfolk Digital Preservation Lab will help future generations reach consensus about the past and reflect on our quest for a more just, inclusive, and sustainable society.
The Woolfolk Digital Preservation Lab reminds Americans that not only do the basic goals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness endure over time, but so do the challenges of redressing the legacy of slavery and segregation and strengthening our democratic institutions.
Our Impact
Since Fall 2025, the Woolfolk Digital Preservation Lab (WDPL) has hired a dozen student research assistants and expanded its operations from Room 103 in the Woolfolk Building to Rooms 103 & 104. It has processed and created finding aids for the DeWayne Charleston Collection, transcribed over 150 audio recordings in the Historic PVAMU Recordings Collection, created digital surrogates for over 40 historical issues of The Griot academic journal, and copyedited and published issue 43:1 of The Griot journal in print and online in February 2026.
300+ reel-to-reel audio tapes of speeches, lectures, and events in the 70s
86" & 66" Inch Touchscreen Displays and State-of-the-Art Digital Exhibition Software
$40,000+ of high quality scanning equipment
Our Impact
Finding Home at Bethlehem
Dr. T. DeWayne Moore explains what it feels like to find a home for his family at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Hempstead, Texas.
From Brush Arbors to Digital Archives
The collaboration between Bethlehem United Methodist Church (BUMC) and the Woolfolk Digital Preservation Lab seeks to safeguard and share the rich history of Black life in Waller County, Texas. Through decades of homecoming programs, BUMC chronicles pivotal moments in Black religious life, education, and community involvement, reflecting resilience and the fight against erasure. These documents serve not just as records of worship but as archives revealing the church’s significant role in social responsibility and community development over time.
Opening the Archives
WDPL graduate student Zha’Mauri Howard spent the day with longtime church member Geneva Moore and her daughter working inside Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Hempstead, Texas, organizing and assessing the church’s remarkable archival collection.
Our Progress
In 2026, WDPL worked with local preservationist and activist Pamela Morgan to host the 2026 Juneteenth Celebration at Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery. Ms. Morgan also introduced WDPL to the trustees of the Bethlehem United Methodist Church (BUMC) in Hempstead, Texas. Founded in 1869 by the formerly enslaved–about one block away from the eventual location of the Waller County courthouse–BUMC is one of the oldest continuously active African American Methodist congregations in Waller County. WDPL helped BUMC write a 65-page narrative history and request a Determination of Eligibility from the Texas Historical Commission for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
100+
Collections Processed
The Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) funded the processing of more than 31 manuscript collections through a 2021 TexTreasures Grant, and the National Endowment for the Humanities funded the processing of over 60 linear feet of reports, maps, and photographs in the Texas Black Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection.
Since Fall 2025, WDPL has processed several additional collections, including the DeWayne Charleston Collection, the PVAMU Historic Audio Recordings Collection, the Frank Jackson/PV 19 Collection, and the Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery Collection–the last of which contains the geophysical survey of the burial ground as well as oral histories with descendants of known internments.
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Finding Aids Created
The Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities funded the work of students who created more than 30 finding aids for the manuscript collections of former PVAMU professors and administrators, which serve as a model for all future processing projects! Students also created more than 60 finding aids for each county represented in the Texas Black Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection.
Since Fall 2025, WDPL has created several additional finding aids for the DeWayne Charleston Collection, the PVAMU Historic Audio Recordings Collection, the Frank Jackson/PV 19 Collection, and the Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery Collection–the last of which contains the geophysical survey of the burial ground as well as oral histories with descendants of known internments.
2 New Courses & New Minor
Digital Storytelling
In Fall 2023, the Digital PV Panther Project worked with Dr. Bequita Pegram and Dr. Malachi Crawford to develop a new History program minor in Digital Storytelling as well as 2 new courses: HIST 3330: Intro to Digital Storytelling and HIST 3331: Podcasting Oral History.
Our Progress
Preserving & Promoting Place
Working together on campus, across divisions, and in local communities to design projects that bridge the digital divide to promote a better understanding of the Black experience
Community Engagement
Read the Research Blog!
Meet the Team!
Black Digital Humanities
We recognize the importance of elevating the HBCU experience through historic preservation. By collaborating to achieve common goals, we hope to re-build the sense of community lost during the pandemic. By promoting the institutional history of PVAMU, the Digital PV Panther Project gives students and other stakeholders a sense of purpose about promoting the Black experience!
