Digital PV Panther Project

22 Feb 2023 Caleb Brookins

About the project Alta Vista, Archival Assistants, Digital PV Panther Project, Ground Penetrating Radar, Jared Ellison Kirby, Special Collections & Archives Department

Caleb Brookins: A Rewarding Experience

Caleb Brookins working on the Digital PV Panther Project – Photo © T. DeWayne Moore 2022

Lucrative Work

When I first applied for the position of archival assistant on the Digital PV Panther Project, my goal was to generate an income stream while attending college. I had some available time in my schedule during the fall semester of 2022, and I wanted to fill it in a constructive manner. Prairie View A&M University sits in rural Waller County, Texas, and students do not have a multitude of work opportunities. Thus, I visited the website for student jobs, and I was excited about seeing a job that paid more than any other on campus.

Rewarding Experience

Little did I know the monumental impact the experience would have on my mindset moving forward. Indeed, I will always cherish my experience working on the Digital PV Panther Project.

Caleb Brookins – Photo © T. DeWayne Moore 2022

(L to R) Caleb Brookins, Hannah Harden, Lindsay Boknight, and Noah Jackson – Photo © T. DeWayne Moore 2022

Learning Experience

So many students do not know about the rich history of Prairie View A&M University, and I was certainly one of them when I started working on the Digital PV Panther Project in August 2022. Over the course of six months working in the archives, I not only learned about the history of slavery at Alta Vista, the plantation once owned by Jared Ellison Kirby, but I had the opportunity to process and digitize manuscript collections that former professors and administrators had donated to the university.

Serious Impact

It is amazing that I had the opportunity to preserve important documents in the university archives. Indeed, the importance of the work being done through the Digital PV Panther Project is the preservation of our history. There are countless boxes full of photos, documents, and audiotapes that convey stories about Prairie View. The digitization of this media will not only allow scholars and students to gain a better understanding of our history, but it will also enhance access to long-unexamined resources. This makes my contributions to the project stand the test of time.

Caleb Brookins – Photo © T. DeWayne Moore 2022

Ground Penetrating Radar

Caleb also helped document and map Prairie View Memorial Gardens, the cemetery to the north of campus that contains the graves of former PVAMU professors and administrators.

View the Cemetery Map

Forward Movement

Even though I am a Psychology major, this public history project captured my sincere interest, which demonstrates the impact that historic preservation at PVAMU can have on other students in the future. Though I must take advantage of new opportunities, I am proud to have spent the fall 2022 semester preventing the erasure of our history, and I am eternally grateful and honored to have had the opportunity.

Read Caleb's Previous Blog on the PV19

(L to R) Noah Jackson, Zynitra Durham, Caleb Brookins, and Kalayah Jammer during a photoshoot – Photo © T. DeWayne Moore 2022

21 Feb 2023 T. DeWayne Moore

Alta Vista Alta Vista, Ancestry.com, Digital PV Panther Project, Jared Ellison Kirby, Marco Robinson, President Ruth Simmons, Slave labor camp, Slave Schedules, Slave Ships, Special Collections & Archives Department, T. DeWayne Moore

Say My Name!

Searching for the Names of the Enslaved at PVAMU

Original Post

In 2020, PVAMU President Ruth Simmons and Simmons Center for Race & Justice Director Melanye Price asked PVAMU History Professor Dr. Marco Robinson to begin conducting research into the early history of Prairie View A&M University. He asked a group of scholars in the Division of Social Sciences to conduct their own personal investigations and incorporate research projects into their American History survey courses. With no funding at his disposal, Dr. Robinson also worked with a newly-hired public historian, Dr. T. DeWayne Moore, and the PVAMU archivists–Phyllis Earles and Lisa Stafford–to write a series of grant proposals.

One of the most startling discoveries in the initial months was the fact that we did not know the name of a single person who had been enslaved on the plantation that later became PVAMU. Thus, we had no way to track down the descendants of the formerly enslaved people who lived at Alta Vista.

This blog post reveals the first name we discovered in 2021.

What’s in a Name?

For African Americans, the genealogical research process is painful. It reflects the blunt historical truth about hereditary chattel slavery. Historical researchers do not look for evidence about the existence of people. Instead, we need to trace the way property changed hands. Consider the documents associated with buying a house or vehicle in 2023. Slaves were considered property in the nineteenth century, and we can find records associated with slaves. But those records are in the owner’s name.

The 1850 and 1860 censuses included “slave schedules,” and the census enumerators asked slaveowners to list the ages and genders of the enslaved people they held in bondage. The slave schedules, however, do not include their names. This fact has made it difficult to track down the descendants of the people enslaved at Alta Vista.

Jared Ellison Kirby

Slaveowner, Planter, and Confederate Soldier

One of the first steps in the research process was examining the life of Jared Ellison Kirby, the slaveowner and planter who owned the land on which the university sits before the Civil War. An excellent place to learn more about the lives of Americans in the nineteenth century is Ancestry.com, the world’s largest collection of online family history records and government documents.

The slave schedules in the 1860 United States Census reveal that J. E. Kirby owned 159 slaves–more than any other slave owner in Austin County at that time.

Besides census records and slave schedules, we located the manifest of the ship named Galveston, which transported slaves from New Orleans, Louisiana to Galveston, Texas in May 1858 for a domestic slave trading company, Fellows & Co.

Though an 1807 law banned the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the United States as of 1 January 1808, slaves could still be bought and sold (and transported) within the country. The same law that banned the foreign slave trade also regulated the internal transportation of slaves, requiring masters of vessels carrying slaves in coastal waters to provide a manifest detailing their slave cargo when leaving (“outward”) or entering (“inward”) a port.

The ship manifest contains the name of one person who likely lived at Kirby’s enslaved labor plantation, Alta Vista, in then-Austin County, Texas.

Source: The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels Filed at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1807-1860; Microfilm Serial: M1895; Microfilm Roll: 30.

Slave Ship Galveston

In May 1858, Captain Rathburn transported a fifteen year-old woman, who was five feet, one inch tall, on the Galveston.

Her name was Lucinda.

No consolidated database of slave ship manifests exists, but Ancestry.com is an important online resource that brings some of these records together in searchable database. Other primary sources–such as wills, estate inventories, deeds, and probates–can also reveal how human property changed hands in the antebellum period, but these records are often difficult to read, and most of them are not digitized or indexed for easy searching. Yet, a couple of genealogists who work with the Waller County Historical Commission have been working hard to digitize the records in the basement of the Waller County courthouse in Hempstead. Since Waller County did not exist until 1873, however, this effort will not provide much insight into antebellum slavery.

Indeed, it will be very difficult to track down the descendants of people enslaved at Alta Vista, but the increased interest in university history and digital preservation has positively changed the prospects for institutional historians at PVAMU. If we try harder to make the archival collections at PVAMU available—and visible and searchable—online, and if white researchers who find evidence of slaveholding in their families will make family documents public, for Black researchers to access and use, we can discover the names of more enslaved people in Waller County.

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.

14 Feb 2023 Malachi McMahon

Alta Vista, Black Digital Humanities 1970s, 1971 PVAMU Student Uprising, Civil Disobedience, Civil Rights, Civil Unrest, Digital PV Panther Project, Expulsion, Geneva Chapman, Historical Silences, Lawrence Tureaud (Mr. T), Rock Island Place, Rock Island Place (TX)

“Silence is a Very Good Weapon”

“Silence is a very good weapon”

By Malachi McMahon and T. DeWayne Moore

The Bryan (TX) Eagle, February 26, 1971.

“Silence is a very good weapon of the administration,” argued Lorenzo Williams, one of the students who met with PVAMU President A.I. Thomas in late February 1971, “and so the people (meaning the students) turned to violence as a means of being heard by the administration.” The meeting took place on Friday, February 26, two days after an estimated 1,000 PVAMU students marched to his home and presented him with a list of 19 demands, including his resignation. President Thomas refused to bow immediately to the demands, however, arguing that he did not feel that he should reply to any “demands under threat, coercion, intimidation or disruption,” and the students proceeded to destroy over $200,000 of property on campus. After leaving his home on Wednesday evening, the students burned down the campus security building, the Dean of Men’s offices, and the Office of Freshman Studies. They overturned a security patrol car and set it on fire, and they broke into and looted the College Exchange Store. On Thursday morning, the students set fire to the Army ROTC building and smashed windows in several dormitories.

In a subsequent issue of the newsletter for parents of students, The Guardian, he agreed to “discuss any issues of concern to our students provided they are presented in an orderly manner by appropriate student representatives,” and the March 1971 issue of the Prairie View Panther contained a list of demands and replies by the administration (Click HERE for the primary source). It also contained an article titled, “Academic Life Back to Normal Again,” which diminished the problems that gave rise to the protest and highlighted the administration’s decision to deny 127 students readmission for their participation in the protest.

One of the students denied readmission was Lawrence Tureaud (aka Mr. T), who served as the Vice President of the Freshman Class.

Freshman Class Officers in the 1971 Yearbook – Standing on the far right is Lawrence Tureaud (aka Mr. T)

Lawrence Tureaud (aka Mr. T) in the 1971 Panther Yearbook

The student uprising in February 1971 stemmed from a host of problems on campus, and the students later submitted a list of 19 demands to President Thomas. (Click HERE to read a list of all 19 demands and replies by the administration). Yet, a few specific developments in mid-February sparked the outbreak of violence. PVAMU tightened its shoplifting policies at the Campus Exchange Store, a policy which led to more serious punishments for anyone caught stealing, and the university also expelled an estimated 200 students for failing to maintain a good grade point average. Several of the students were members of a group called People for Afro-American Life, an organization that published an underground newspaper and had previously been banned on campus (See the (Tyler, TX) Morning Telegraph, February 26, 1971).

Dean of Men’s Building in Ruins

Geneva Chapman, editor of the student newspaper, The Prairie View Panther, from 1968 – 1971

Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, the university decided to expel Geneva Chapman, the outspoken editor of the student newspaper, The Prairie View Panther, who had defied the gendered dorm policies, which prevented female students from leaving campus on the weekends. On the weekend of February 20-21, she travelled to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras, and the university’s decision to expel her the following week gave rise to the student protests.

Several of the demands, such as the resignation of President Thomas, an extension of women’s curfew, better food on campus, and the return of all expelled students, pertained to longstanding problems on PVAMU campus, but others–such as calling for an end to the ROTC training program on campus–reflected the Anti-Vietnam War protests that had erupted on college campuses across the country.

Out of over one thousand protesters, the police arrested only two students involved in the uprising–20 year-old junior Leonard Baker and 28 year-old Air Force veteran Quincy Brooks were charged with acting to promote damage to school property. The judge set the two men’s bond at $100,000 each–an extremely large amount of money in 1971 that might be over a million dollars today. Waller County Sheriff Jimmy Whitworth told one Houston Chronicle reporter that he could not recall another misdemeanor charge with so high a bond. The attorney defending the two students claimed that the arrests were “based on that old logic of 20 years ago – you get the leaders and kill the protest.”

PVAMU President A.I. Thomas later blamed the protests on a couple of “real professional agitators.”

Two police officers on PVAMU campus after the uprising in February 1971

President Thomas declared that “real professional agitators” came from elsewhere to Prairie View with the intention to stir up trouble on an otherwise harmonious, peaceful institution of higher learning.

“troublemakers”

PVAMU President A.I. Thomas’s claims not only invoked the charges of white supremacists who sought to delegitimize the protests of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement, but they also reflect the contemporary political tactics of conservatives since the murder of George Floyd, who sought to delegitimize the marches, protests, and other acts of civil disobedience that erupted in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Portland, Oregon–among many other cities across the country. Conservative political pundits refused to admit that police brutality and other problems with the criminal justice system developed directly out of racial inequality in America. Instead, they blamed paid professional agitators, specifically members of a mysterious group called ANTIFA, for creating civil unrest across the country.

President A.I. Thomas in the 1970s

The_Bonham_Daily_Favorite_Fri__Feb_26__1971_

President Thomas shut down the momentum of a potentially powerful movement by adopting the same tactics used by administrators at Tuskegee University in 1968. He closed PVAMU campus indefinitely in March and dismissed the entire student body. Despite his claims that “real professional agitators” were responsible for the student uprising, he attempted to weed out the student organizers by forcing every single student to re-apply for admission. The students, however, did not have to re-register for classes. They simply picked up cards that allowed them to come back onto campus and classes resumed where they had left off when the school was closed.

The_Waxahachie_Daily_Light_Fri__Feb_26__1971_

PVAMU was established on top of a former slave labor plantation known as Rock Island place, or Alta Vista. In 1876, the state bought it and turned into a land grant school for African Americans. The plantation may have been transformed into a college campus, but students and faculty told one reporter in the early 1970s that “a plantation mentality” lingered on at PVAMU–“complete with the endemic suspicion, fear and intrigue that once existed between” house servants and field workers.

San_Angelo_Standard_Times_Mon__Mar_1__1971_

Unlike in 1968 at Tuskegee, where a court injunction reinstated expelled student activists, the 127 students denied re-admission to PVAMU–as well as the estimated 200 students expelled in early February–never got the chance to finish their degrees on “The Hill.” Despite serving as the editor of the student newspaper for more than two years, Geneva Chapman never again roamed “The Hill” where she had so passionately and fearlessly editorialized about her experiences as a Black woman during the tumultuous late 1960s. Unfortunately she passed away recently, and we never got the chance to make a case to have her re-instated. To read more about the work of Geneva Chapman for the Prairie View Panther, please click HERE to search the digitally archived student newspapers in the John B. Coleman Library.

This blog post is dedicated to Geneva Chapman, Lawrence Tureaud (Mr. T), and all the other students who participated in the student uprising. It’s dedicated to all the students who felt silenced by the administration and took action to make their voices heard in 1971.

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.

Forced Resolution

By Geneva Chapman

As old term ends

And new begins,

I think that I

must make amends.

For courses failed

I will be jailed;

“On probation”,

for “F’s” prevailed.

Now, I must study

No more time for buddies.

My immediate future

looks real muddy.

So, I’ll do my best

To pass each test.

Just make good grades

and forget the rest.

For if I don’t

Pass, I won’t.

And my road to success

will not be walked on.

Geneva Chapman, “Thomas Bradley Spurs Hometown Pride,” PVP, January 13, 1970.

the students had no control over the student newspaper, and subsequent issues of the publication contained no news about the aftermath of the protest. The “troublemakers” had been expelled, and the administration had sent a clear message to any other students who might have a problem with the order of things and bring adverse publicity to PVAMU. Due to the politics of respectability, which African American communities developed to push back against the racial stereotypes that abounded during Jim Crow, a conservative culture of silence exists on the campus of HBCUs. In 1971, higher administration at PVAMU depended on this culture of silence to allow them to project an image of respectability to the outside world, and the students found a way to voice their complaints. In 2022, the student newspaper no longer exists, and higher administration once again depends on this conservative culture of silence to project a positive image to the outside world. Yet, things are not what they seem to be at PVAMU. If the university is not careful, the development of a higher consciousness might once again give rise to civil disobedience.

A culture of silence prevailed at PVAMU in 1971,

We want the immediate reinstatement of students expelled from school for voicing their opinions. Such as: Curtis Faulkner, Larry James Mass, Darron Hudson, and Geneva Chapman along with the other students who have been railroaded out of this mock institution, and are now declared by these organizations (S. D. I. A., S. P. A. D. E. as political administrative prisoners

Throughout my week I had the opportunity to go through different pictures taken at sporting events held here in Prairie View in the 1960’s. These photos were kept in great condition so I made sure to have on gloves when I went through them. At the events you can see that the teams are in unison and winning trophies in various sports, tennis, track and field, basketball. The Panthers were winners and nothing less. I made a collage video of the photos taken to highlight how the students were able to come together for a shared cause and use teamwork to be successful. When students are able to put their minds together and create a solution for a specific task it is possible for great things to be accomplished. Though student involvement on campus is encouraged, it can also bring fear to those who view it as a threat to authority.

As I continued my research for the week I came across an Article from the Houston Chronicle. The article detailed events that took place on campus in the early 1970s. In February 1971, PVAMU was hit by surprise when about half of the students launched a protest that would create quite a tense climate here on campus. Labeled as rioters, students took matters into their own hands when they began to set fire to several buildings including the Campus Police Department building and faculty vehicles. An estimated total of 50,000 dollars in damage was done amidst the “riot.”

Academic Life Back to Normal Again

Although many evidences of the recent campus upheaval are lingering on, campus life in general is rapidly returning to normal conditions, particularly in academic affairs. Classes began as the College re-opened its doors on March 8 and day-to-day activities are completely back on schedule. Seemingly, a large percentage of the total number of students who were denied readmission has returned for hearings before a faculty-student court. Facts regarding the hearings on campus were not available to the Panther at press time. According to unofficial sources the total number of students denied re-admission was approximately 129 instead of the 62 figure which received widespread publicity. Dialogue between faculty members and students is being promoted through residence halls visitation. Committees of faculty members are visiting residence halls to talk with students on any possible subjects on which students may desire information: These dormitory sessions are scheduled at 10:30 p.m., Dr. Ivory Nelson, assistant to the Dean of College, announced. At least three or four “fact sheets”, assumingly published underground by students, have been distributed on campus since classes resumed. All have indicated concern about “campus hearings” for suspended students and other matters related to recent incidents on campus. There is an uneasy peace existing on campus. The actions of the American Civil Liberties Union, local campus actions, and the impending “investigation” by a member state senate committee have all members of the official PV family somewhat ill at ease. The disruptions which started on February 24-26 left three students jailed, two faculty members and an undetermined number of students suspended. The trouble started when, an estimated 1,000 students marched on the home of President A. I. Thomas and gave him a list of demands. The frame building which housed the campus security and Dean of Men’s offices was completely destroyed by fire. A security patrol car was overturned and set a fire, the office of Freshman Studies burned, The College Exchange Store broken into and looted and other less serious damages on campus. A list of the damages and a list of the student demands as answered by the president of the College are presented on page 4 of this issue.

9 Dec 2022 T. DeWayne Moore

About the project Black Digital Humanities, Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection, Digital Preservation, Digital PV Panther Project, Digitization, Special Collections & Archives Department

Progress to Date

The Digital PV

Panther Project

Accomplishments

We still have other collections to process and digitize, more skills to learn, and more research to publish, but the Digital PV Panther Project has established a strong foundation for the future of public history at PVAMU. This is a short list of our accomplishments in digital exhibition format for your viewing pleasure!

Archival Processing

We have rehoused over 60 linear feet of archival media in the Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection, which had been stored in old, deteriorating boxes since the late 2000s. We have also rehoused and processed the manuscript collections of former 31 former PVAMU professors and administrators. Click HERE to view the finding aids.

View the Finding Aids

Social Media – Community Engagement

We have established a social media presence on Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. We have gained almost 200 followers on Twitter, and some of our Tweets have received over 100 likes and 20 shares. We have created and published over 20 videos on TikTok, some of which have received in upwards of 1,000 views. Moreover, we have curated 148 posts on Instagram and organically acquired 300 followers!

Logo Design

The archival assistants working on the Digital PV Panther Project have also designed an official logo for the project.

December 12, 2022

31 Finding Aids Created

We processed, rehoused, and created finding aids for the manuscript collections of 31 former PVAMU professors and administrators.

Audio Digitization & Transcription

We digitized 211 analog audio tapes of historic lectures and events at PVAMU, and we have also transcribed 70 of the digital recordings as of Dec 10, 2022.

December 10, 2022

December 6, 2022

Digital Exhibition Software

We also purchased a subscription to Pass It Down software to create amazing digital storytelling experiences, engage visitors, and inspire research

86" & 66" Touchscreen Displays

We purchased a Newline 860IP 86″ 4K Ultra-HD LED (Capacitive Touch) display & two Newline 650IP 65″ 4K Ultra-HD LED (Capacitive Touch) displays to allow stakeholders to view digital archival media in John B. Coleman Library

December 1, 2022

November 19, 2022

i2S CopiBook OS A2 Book Scanner

We acquired a $35,000 i2S CopiBook OS A2 Book Scanner to digitize manuscript collections.

Epson 12000XL

We acquired two Epson 12000XL flatbed scanners with backlights

October 1, 2022

Epson V850s

We acquired two Epson V850 flatbed scanners with backlights

CZUR Book Scanner

We acquired a CZUR Book Scanner to digitize manuscript collections

September 26, 2022

July 2022

Project Blog

In the summer of 2022, we launched the project blog to update stakeholders on our progress!

Website Launched

We built a state-of-the-art website using Wordpress

June 2022

Spring 2022

The student workers on the Digital PV Panther Project

Archival Assistants

In the spring of 2022, we hired 12 undergraduates at PVAMU to work as archival assistants on the Digital PV Panther Project

Contact

[email protected]

936-261-3512

John B. Coleman Library, Room 111, Prairie View, Texas 77446

4 Dec 2022 T. DeWayne Moore

About the project Archival Assistants, Black Digital Humanities, Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection, Digital PV Panther Project, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Special Collections & Archives Department, T. DeWayne Moore

Grant Accomplishments – November 19, 2022

DPPP-Accomplishments-Nov-19-2022 Download

The Negro 4-H Club girls who received the State Fair of Texas Honor Awards at the Dallas Fair, October 13, 1947, are (reading from left to right) Willie Mae McDaniel, Jefferson County; Maxine Harris, Caldwell County; and Gladys Harrison, Smith County.; 7X9

25 Oct 2022 D'Asia Johnson

About the project Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection, Digital Preservation, Digital PV Panther Project, Henry Seward Estelle, processing, Social Media, Special Collections & Archives Department, Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC)

A Student’s Perspective inside the DPPP

A Student's Perspective From Inside the DPPP

My name is D'Asia Johnson

I have worked on the Digital PV Panther Project for about two months as an archival assistant, and I have embraced the role of historic preservationist at my HBCU. Whether curating social media posts, taking inventory of the archives, processing manuscript collections, or digitizing photographs, my goal is to encourage research in the rich historical collections in the archives at PVAMU.

I spent a lot of time taking inventory on the manuscript collections of former PVAMU professors and administrators who worked in the Cooperative Extension Service.

The inventory sheets for most of the Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection were outdated, having been completed originally by students in the early 2000s. Thus, I spent a lot of time revising inventory sheets in Microsoft Excel. In each instance, we checked the titles of each folder and made sure it was accounted for in each box. After making sure the folders were placed in the correct location and listed correctly, we went back through the boxes and noted the presence special media–maps, photographs, diagrams, etc. We made sure to check the accuracy of our work, because we had to have all the media in order prior to processing the collection.

I also compiled lists of source material in the Digital Commons, and I wrote summaries of each source in preparation for writing biographies of former professors for finding aids.wrote a biography on one of the many professors that attended this school. While I did not have much experience writing memoirs, I was assigned to write one on a professor who made a remarkable impact on Prairie View A&M, specifically Professor Henry Seward Estelle. He had an incredible effect on the Agricultural department from the early to mid-1900s. In addition, he partook in much more positions and events that occurred at Prairie View. If you want more information on Prof. Estelle, you can find his biography here Henry Seward Estelle – The Digital PV Panther Project.

I also assist in maintaining our social media pages. Being a part of our social media team, I help my coworkers develop ideas for posts. You can find me on a few of our Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok posts. In addition, we have made many posts that depict the rich history of PVAMU using photographs, blog posts, blueprints, and maps.

@digitalpvpantherproject Massive! The manuscript collections in the PVAMU Archives are massive in their scope and breadth! The Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection contains more than 100 linear feet of photographs, maps, and documents that date back more than 100 years and cover over 45 counties in Texas! #dppp #digitalpvpantherproject #hbcu #pvamuhistory ##pvamu##hbcuhistory##digitalcommons##archives##media##campus##digital ♬ Mission Impossible Theme (Movie Trailer Mix) – Dominik Hauser

PF73 Wildlife Conservation Camp, Prairie View Tx

I have also contributed to meetings with out team leaders, Dr. Moore, Ms. Earles, Lindsay Boknight, and Noah Jackson. We discuss our progress, our strategies, our upcoming projects, and our plans for the future. Indeed, I am amazed at the way that Dr. Moore incorporates our ideas into the project. The Digital PV Panther Project does not have the usual sort of top-down administrative style. Rather, Dr. Moore relies heavily on the input from myself and the other archival assistants to light the way. Whether it’s the method of taking inventory or processing collections, Dr. Moore always listens to our ideas about the project, and he allows the team leaders to manage our workflow.

Thus far, my work on the Digital PV Panther Project has been eye-opening. To have the opportunity to work with such remarkable people and partake in such a significant project is astounding, to say the least. I hope to be able to continue to work on this project and share the incredible history of Prairie View with my peers, university staff and faculty, and with those across the nation. There are so many collections in the archives to discover and share with the public, and I am very appreciative of having the opportunity ro work on the Digital PV Panther Project.

The history of our HBCU should not be forgotten.

16 Oct 2022 Kasedi Eason

About the project Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection, Digital PV Panther Project, Dr. Musa Olaka, Dr. Myeshia Babers, Interviews, processing, Special Collections & Archives Department, T. DeWayne Moore, Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC), TikTok

Digital Preservation at PVAMU

By Kasedi Eason

Identifying Texas Freedom Colonies

My name is Kasedi Eason, and I started working as an archival assistant on the Digital PV Panther Project in late August 2022. I document my work on the project daily, and it allows me to share with the public my experience in the archives. On August 31st, for example, I started to examine the archival media in the Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection, specifically he photographs taken by Cooperative Extension agents to demonstrate their work in the rural African American communities in Texas. The county agents worked very hard to improve the quality of life in rural communities through scientific farming and homemaking. Considering that so many of these communities no longer exist, and that the number of Black landowners significantly declined in the 1950s, this collection is especially significant because it documents the Black experience in Texas Freedom Colonies.

A future aspect of the Digital PV Panther Project will be adding data to the WebAtlas of the Texas Freedom Colonies Project–an educational and social justice initiative dedicated to supporting the preservation of Black settlement landscapes, heritage, and grassroots preservation practices through research.

1940s Map of Texas Freedom Colonies in Grimes County

Courtesy of the Special Collections & Archives Department (SCAD), John B. Coleman Library, PVAMU

One family loading their luggage into a Cooperative Extension Service Vehicle

Courtesy of the Special Collections & Archives Department (SCAD), John B. Coleman Library, PVAMU

Meticulous data entry

The CE&HD Collection contains documents, maps, and photographs that date back to the 1920s, and the county agents wrote about all their activities–from growing crops, to raising farm animals, to constructing houses. The agents also maintained meticulous records that detailed how much money they spent on each project.

100 years of records

I found it very interesting how the cursive handwriting was readable, and my work on the Digital PV Panther Project has instilled a better appreciation for the manuscripts in the archives. Indeed, I am grateful that these collections were preserved and not thrown away, and I look forward to making this collection available to researchers. Some of the records are over one hundred years old!

Children at Morgan School (Guadalupe County) exercising in 1933 exercises, with agent supervising

Courtesy of the Special Collections & Archives Department (SCAD), John B. Coleman Library, PVAMU

@digitalpvpantherproject Massive! The manuscript collections in the PVAMU Archives are massive in their scope and breadth! The Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection contains more than 100 linear feet of photographs, maps, and documents that date back more than 100 years and cover over 45 counties in Texas! #dppp #digitalpvpantherproject #hbcu #pvamuhistory ##pvamu##hbcuhistory##digitalcommons##archives##media##campus##digital ♬ Mission Impossible Theme (Movie Trailer Mix) – Dominik Hauser

I am also proud to work on the social media team for the Digital PV Panther Project. I have created multiple TikTok videos showcasing my work as an archival assistant, and I am glad to put my skillset to work promoting the archival collections at PVAMU. For example, the TikTok video to the left demonstrates the vast amount of archival media in the CE&HD Collection.

This project also gave the opportunity to work with some amazing scholars of African American History, specifically anthropologist Myeshia Babers–a professor of Africana Studies at Texas A&M University, who conducted interviews with several members of the team. Dr. Babers agreed to conduct interviews with archival assistants shortly after the project began, and she plans to edit the interviews for future publication online. In fact, we hope to expand the scope of our social media output by creating a Youtube channel, and we plan to publish the interviews with Dr. Babers to get us started. During my interview on September 2, I explained about my work thus far on the project, and I prognosticated about what I expect to get out of this job. It should be interesting to compare my initial interview with the interview we plan to conduct at the end of the project.

The following week, Dr. Moore organized a team meeting with University Archivist Ms. Phyllis Earles, who invited Dr. Musa Olaka, the library director, and Karl Henson, the assistant library director, to speak to us. Dr. Olaka told us about the benefits and opportunities we had working on this project, and he explained that Dr. Moore had written over $700,000 in grants to fund this project and hire students to do the work of historic preservation at PVAMU. None of our archival collections are processed, and the only real finding aids that we have are the ones that Dr. Moore wrote a grant to produce last year. Dr. Olaka told us that other students who worked for Ms. Earles and Dr. Moore had gone on to stellar careers, and his words have certainly inspired us to work harder and achieve the goals of the Digital PV Panther Project.

At the meeting, we also talked about our progress on the project, and Dr. Moore compiled a project guidebook, which contains rules, guidelines, and instructions for various aspects of the project–from social media curation, to blogging, and the addition of media to Wordpress. One of my fellow archival assistants, Malachi McMahon, also took a moment to stress the significance of the project. His research has provided some of the most insightful and engaging blog posts to date, and it shows in his drive and determination to make positive changes in the world.

On September 27, I created a Tiktok video about the Abner Davis Memorial, which is the focus of Malachi’s best blog post to date (Click HERE to read it). The memorial is located on campus in front of the George Ruble Woolfolk Building. Abner Davis was a member of the varsity football team in 1927, and he broke his neck while trying to make a tackle against Texas College on Thanksgiving Day. He passed away due to the severity of the injuries. Since he was recognized as a great example of student success at PVAMU, his classmates and teammates created several different memorials over the years to their fallen hero.

@digitalpvpantherproject Check out the Abner Davis Statue located in front of the G.R. Woolfolk Social & Political Science Building on campus! 💜💛 #dppp #pvamu #hbcu #pvamuhistory #hbcuculture #history ♬ original sound – DIGITALPVPANTHERPROJECT

In the past couple of weeks, my work has focused on creating inventories spreadsheets for the numerous boxes in the CE&HD Collection, and I have also helped edit the finding aids of 31 former professors and administrators. We hope to complete the finding aids before October 31st. I have also developed a list of ideas for upcoming social media posts and TikTok videos.

Though I have only been an archival assistant for two months, I have gained a sincere appreciation for historic preservation during that time, and I have developed a much clearer understanding of the importance of the Digital PV Panther Project.

We plan to prevent the erasure of African American History by all means available to us, and I could not be more excited about the future!

13 Jul 2022 DeZhane Johnson

Archival Processing Cooperative Agricultural Research Center (CARC), Cooperative Extension & Home Demonstration Collection, Digital PV Panther Project, Myrtle Garrett, pvamu, Texas State Library & Archives Commission (TSLAC)

The First Few Collections

Over the course of my first few weeks of being an assistant in the archives and making my way through the various collections, I have learned a lot more about the history of my HBCU. My first job on campus in 2020 was in the Cooperative Agricultural Research Center (CARC), but it was not until last week while going through the manuscript collection of a female extension agent who worked at PVAMU and TAMU named Myrtle Garrett that I learned the history of the CARC. It began as the agriculture department and was segregated by gender, Home Economics for women and Farming/Agriculture for men. In the 1960s, Myrtle Garrett spent her time as a Home Demonstration Agent as well as serving as the Program Specialist for the Limited Income program of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service at A&M. She helped over four thousand families in Texas during her time as the Program Specialist.

DeZhane Johnson in the archives
(Photo: T. DeWayne Moore, 2022)

Garrett spent her entire career being of service to the people around her while simultaneously spearheading a program that helped thousands more all across Texas. By the end of her archival collection, I learned how Myrtle had become an extremely well-respected and beloved figure in her community. Myrtle worked over 30 years as a federal employee for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For 20 years, she was a charter member of the alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta at PVAMU.

Her collection features a farewell binder filled with adoring letters from the women of all races whom she had taught or worked alongside throughout her career. Her collection not only inspired me to be a more involved member of my Prairie View community but to also learn more about the people that were crucial to the making of the Prairie View I have come to know and love.

Sincerely,

DeZhane Johnson