The Digital PV Panther Project
About Us
Our mission at the Digital PV Panther Project is to eliminate historical silences through digital storytelling and prevent the erasure of African American history through historic preservation at PVAMU.
By processing, digitizing, and broadly disseminating primary historical resources at PVAMU, the Digital PV Panther Project will help future generations reach a consensus about the past and reflect on our quest for a more just, inclusive, and sustainable society.
The Digital PV Panther Project 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 the summer of 2022, the Digital PV Panther Project has hired more than two dozen student research assistants and purchased an estimated $100,000 in equipment to spur digitization preservation initiatives.
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
Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery – Geophysical Survey
In 2024, Dr. Chester P. Walker & Aundrea S. Thompson, of Archaeo-Geophysical Associates, conducted ground penetrating radar, magnetometer, and LIDAR studies of Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery, which sits on the north side of Prairie View A&M University in Texas. This report details their findings, which include a possible 140 unmarked burials.
Frank Edd White’s 1936 History of Waller County
Frank Edd White’s 1936 thesis contains the only interview ever conducted with Elizabeth Burney, a formerly enslaved woman who lived at Alta Vista, the slave labor plantation of Jared Ellison Kirby. His homeplace later became Prairie View A&M University. The interview begins on page 78.
New research funding at PVAMU to support study of Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery
Thanks to a $20,000 award from The Summerlee Foundation, the History Department at Prairie View A&M University has begun a comprehensive historical and archaeological study of Wyatt Chapel Community Cemetery, located behind PVAMU.
Our Progress
In 2024, we received another $50,000 grant from TSLAC to build upon our success. Since 2021, we closed a $447,000 grant from National Endowment for the Humanities and a $25,000 grant from the Texas State Library & Archives Commission, processed numerous manuscript collections, digitized over 200 analog recordings from the 1970s and 80s, and published a host of digital exhibitions on our website.
31+
Collections Processed
The Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC) funded the processing of more than 31 manuscript collections through TexTreasures Grant
31+
Finding Aids Created
The National Endowment for the Humanities funded the student workers who created more than 31 finding aids, which serve as a model for all future processing projects!
2 New Courses
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!
