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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02 PH Progress Report 02.26.2006 PROGRESS REPORT Anne Boykin Heritage Coordinator Neighborhood Services Feb. 6 — Feb. 26, 2006 Preface • These "not so" weekly reports are evolving into a form that I feel will be helpful for me in documenting the progress of Project HOLD. In the interest of time involved in writing these reports, I am considering issuing them once a month. Any and all feedback is welcome. Project HOLD (PH) • Acquisitions — 59 files resulting in 256 pages scanned • From Jerry Cooper, a data CD of current photographs of the Campus Houses. The CD also includes a current listing of owners, residents and previous owners. • Also from Jerry Cooper, three Abstracts of Title for the property at 602 Bell Street. From 1928 — 1936. In addition, there are several early plats of College Park. • From Bill Page via Jerry Cooper, documentation on early surnames associated with the establishment of A &M College. • From Regina and Charles Opersteny, a second photo album of "Early Polish Settlers of Brazos County." The album includes photographs of a wedding party outside the original St. Joseph's Church, numerous WWI soldiers, and several old school house photos. • From Mary & Bill Lancaster numerous photos and memorabilia from their 1953 wedding. • From Deborah Grace, a 1929 Valentine from to her Mother. • From Hillary Jessup, an original trolley token from A.M. Waldrop's issued just before 1900, a news article about George Jessup and his Mount Aggie ski school, and a news article about Hillary Jessup as a cancer survivor. • From Mrs. Luther Moon, numerous photos documenting her family's ownership of the Handy Burger restaurant behind the Campus Theater on University. The Handy Burger is now The Deluxe Diner and slated for demolition. I will be working on acquiring a subject marker for the business. • Connections • Katie Letton from TEEX is working with Volunteer Mary Hamlin to pinpoint members of the African- American community to add to our ever gorwing list of oral history interviews. • Arena Welch, of The Eagle, located an old copy of a news article on the Brazos County Birthday Celebration for me. The particular article in Project HOLD, was missing the second page. • I connected with Jacqulynn (Carroll) Pinkney at the Soul Food Luncheon at Lincoln Center. Jacquie and I were classmates at A &M Consolidated. Jacquie has been active with the Lincoln School alumni and has promised to help me better document the history of Lincoln School and the African- American community. • Oral History Interviews • Mary Hamlin and I interviewed Nan Alexander as the last of the Alexander interviews. The Alexanders have been instrumental in the creation of Brazos Valley Rehabilitation. Their youngest son has cerebral palsy. • Mary Hamlin and I also interviewed Jessie Mae Walton, a lifetime Home Economics teacher. Brides of the Brazos Exhibit • The exhibit was installed with the help of Volunteer Ruth Bramson and Katyla Boykin. The display will change periodically to showcase more photos and memorabilia from other families in the area. According to Grace Calbert- Vrooman at the Conference Center, the exhibit has initiated a lot of interest and has been very well received. Historic Preservation Committee (HPC) • Received word from the Texas Historical Commission that the Texas in WWII Steering Committee has won the Award for Excellence in Preserving History. Preparations are underway to attend the THC annual conference and award presentation in Galveston in April. Laserfiche • The HP desk top scanner is no more. Katie and I are looking at the possibility of replacing it with a Fujitsu scanner similar to the one across from Jessica. Until then, the volunteer desk has no scanning capabilities except for the large format Scanworks scanner. Volunteer Colleen Risinger and I will be scanning a few newspapers on the Scanworks scanner Monday. • I spoke with Casey Skelton about the possibility of creating a more user - friendly web page that would become the home page for Project HOLD. It would showcase some of our latest acquisitions and include links to instructions on how to use the website. I have already written the instructions and posted them on Project HOLD but they don't have very high visibility there. • I have not been able to locate a suitable digital camera with a sufficient optical zoom to replace our current digital camera. I am looking for one similar to my personal digital camera that is an Olympus Camedia with a 10X optical (not digital) zoom. The price range could be somewhere around $800. • I am continuing to document the bugs that crop up from time to time while using Laserfiche. Brochures • I have completed the Project HOLD and EXPLORE brochures for 2006. The Historic Marker brochure is almost finished leaving the Seminar Supper and Neighborhood Partnership brochures left to go. Volunteers • I am continuing my efforts to fully register our volunteer program with the Points of Light Foundation. Just yesterday, I received word that we have been accepted as an Official Certifying Organization for the President's Volunteer Service Awards.