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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980s Arts Council of the Brazos Valley Oral History Project Proposal Section I page 1 Introduction The Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, a non - profit organization so designated by the Internal Revenue Service, has supported the development of historical awareness in the community for the past ten years and has a membership of 1500. The Council successfully administered a $350,000 5 year grant for cultural enrichment in the public schools. A further $30,000 in grants have been used for community projects, including historical interpretation (see appendix A). The Council is now moving into a major support of the last area. One such project was the preparation of an historic map of Bryan/ College Station with the assistance of the Texas Commission on the Arts and Humanities and a major local bank (see appendix B). There is a commitment from faculty members at Texas A &M University to provide professional assistance in the interpretive effort (see appendix C). The council will focus on the collection of oral histories, the preparation of television presentations, with the assistance of local television stations (see appendix 0), a publication series (see appendix E), and appropriate museum exhibits to serve the seven county region (see appendix F). L Section II page 1 Problem Statement and Documentation of Need The problem which this proposal addresses is the lack of awareness by residents of the Brazos Valley of the vital contributions made by the diverse flow of ethnic groups into the area in the nineteenth century and the complex forces of technological and social change that have been at work to produce a land- scape of considerable historic character. Documentation of Need Although a rich amount of archival material is known to exist in the area its usefulness is being diminished in four ways: (1) Outmigration from the rural parts of the Brazos Valley, in particular to large southern cities, is resulting in the dispersal of artifacts of local historical importance, as well as of family archives. In the last census period (1970 -80) rural population in the area dropped percent. (2) The most valuable resource for oral histories, the older members of the community, is reduced every year. (3) Existing Archival sources and compilations are at present highly dispersed in local libraries, museums, historical societies, and private hands. A centralized collection of such material, in either original or copied form, properly cataloged, would make research on the area much easier. The substantial amount of material at Texas ARM University Library will be included in the cataloging process. Letters are included in appendix - on the need for such a centralized catalog from area school teachers and from appropriate Texas A &M University faculty. Co" (4) Demographic growth in the Bryan /College Station area has been extremely Section II page 2 rapid. Population has risen from in 1950 to in 1980. Bryan /College Station alone now accounts for percent of the population of the seven county area. Some percent of the present population was born outside the State of Texas and usually has no clear understanding of Texan culture, in particular that produced by the complex ethnic mix that settled in the Brazos Valley. This lack of understanding of the material culture with which they come in daily contact means that a rich heritage is inaccessible to many new residents, in particular children of school age. Letters are included in appendix from area school teachers and appropriate Texas A &M University faculty. (rie c Section III page 1 Objectives (1) To complete an archive of material culture (artifacts and photographs) for use in exhibitions and for research. (2) To complete a file of tape recorded oral histories of the seven county area. (3) To provide an accessible data source and publications on the principal ethnic groups that have settled in the area (Southern Whites and Blacks, Germans, Bohemians (Czechs) and Italians) and their respective settlement strategies. (4) To provide an accessible data source and publications on the impact of changes in technology (transportation, agricultural machinery and organization) and social structure (emancipation, the direct immigration of European groups) on the development of the area. (5) To hold three in- service workshops for some five hundred area teachers on the historical interpretation of the landscape and material culture of the seven county region. (6) To disseminate findings to the widest possible range of the local pop- (re ulation by the preparation of N museum exhibits, N television programs, and a series of published and subsidized monographs on local history. (7) To locate the site of the Carter Homestead, the house site for the first Spanish land grant in the Brazos Valley, to acquire archeological land- mark status for it, and to acquire the surrounding area as the site for a regional historical facility. (8) To locate a historically suitable building, remove it to the site area, and renovate it for permanent use as a regional historical facility. L Section IV page 1 IL ? Methods Objective #(1) The executive director of the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, Jody Bates, will form a committee composed of representatives from each county (Brazos, yr P P y Washington, Burleson, Robertson, Leon, Madison, and Grimes) who will act as `I,' a liason person for collecting materials in that county. Gifts of artifacts (with appropriate authenication) which were in use during the settlement period will be solicited from local families. Such have already been volun- teered but discouraged because of the lack of an appropriate facility. A secure temporary storeroom will be made available at the headquarters of the Arts Council. Where such historical material as (photographs, maps, leases, ck1 deeds etc.) is available for loan to the Arts Council, but not as a gift, it will be copied by Dr. Peter J. Hugill. All material will be microfilmed for long term storage. Objective #(2) Mrs. Roy Pledger will chair the committee on Oral History which will identify senior citizens to be interviewed by Junior High School students. Transcriptions 0. 10 ,c,c1t of tapes will be undertaken by Senior High School typing students and will » L ✓ form part of the data collection housed at the Regional Historical facility. .ip". L' Oral histories collected for the Texas A &M University Department of Geography Bicentennial project will be reproduced for addition to the main collection. Objective #(3) b 0(9 Dr. Peter J. Hugill will direct Beverly Kremenak and Debbie Lange, graduate students in geography at Texas A &M University, in the collection of data on I � � ,,,n ethnic settlement from the original census returns (for which Texas A &M University Library is a regional repository); on resources available in the Section IV page 2 seven county courthouses in the area (deeds, wills of significant settlers, plat books, tax rolls); on data available from land abstract companies; on church membership and other records (where available); on private and family archives; and on local newspapers. Material that may be removed or copied for inclusion in the Regional Historical Facility will be identified. Maps and a five thousand worn report on the history and pattern of settlement of each of the five major ethnic groups (southern whites and blacks, Germans, Bohemians (Czechs), and Italians) will be prepared for free distribution to area public school teachers as well as to interested citizens at cost. , A report will be published on resources available in each county court- house on a similar cost basis. Objective #(4) Dr. Peter Hugill will direct John Diem and David Wilson, graduate students in geography at Texas A &M University, in the collection of data on the development of systems of transportation in the area, the social and economic pattern of settlement in the area, and changes in agricultural technology and the organization of labor. Maps and a five thousand word report will be produced on each of these. The relationship of changes in these three forces to the value of agricultural land will be analyzed in a fourth report. Reports will be made available free to public school teachers and at cost to other interested persons. Objective #(5) Teacher in service workshops will be conducted in co- ordination with the several independent school districts in the area. Each of three identical IL workshops will serve some one hundred and fifty teachers and will consist of morning lectures, an afternoon field trip, and a planning workshop P P 9 P on . Section IV page 3 local projects. Lectures will be iven b Dr. Campbell W. Pennington o 9 Y p 9 on the ethnic composition of the area, by Dr. Peter Hugill on the impact of tech- nological change on the settlement and use of the area, and by Dr. Clarissa T. Kimber on the development of a distinctive regional character, material culture, and landscape. Short field trips for small groups will be led by Margaret van Bavel to Boonville Cemetary, and/or by Dr. Paul Van Riper to a restored Victorian house, and /or by Dr. Peter J. Hugill to the old Bryan Utilities diesel engine electricity generating plant and with WPA Reservoir and /or by Professor David Woodcock to the Bryson Park historical homes district. The group will reassemble in late afternoon for a workshop on the use of local field trips to development student awareness of historical resources in their own parts of the service area. (be' Each workshop participant will receive the set of reports produced under objectives 3 and 4 as well as material on archaeological sites, the architectural history of the area, and local field trip planning. Objective #(6) Findings of the Regional Historical Facility will be disseminated in three ways other than through the public schools. The Facility will co- ordinate an exhibit on the material culture of the area within nine months of the beginning of the project. This will last two to three months at an appropriate local facility, such as the Brazos Community ( Center of the Memorial Student Center of Texas A &M University. Arts Council members will be involved in the creation of this exhibit and as docents during the period of exhibition. Two television programs will be developed and aired at four months and eight months after the start of the project on the local commercial, educational, r . . Section IV page 4 and /or cable channels. The first will deal with an exploration of the Carter grant (objective 8), its homestead site, and the acquisition of this by the Arts Council and the City of College Station. The second will present the findings of the oral history project (objective 2) stressing the value of contact between older and younger generations of the community, and conclude with a preview of the exhibition of material culture. The monograph series on local history will begin with John W. Diem, "Place Naming in Brazos County as a Social and Historical Process," and be followed by Beverly Krernenak, "Cemetery Associations and the Preservation of Community." These will be made available at cost. Objective #(7) The exact site of the Carter Homestead will be located using existing aerial photographic coverage followed by a ground survey in which members of the Arts Council will work under the supervision of Dr. Peter Hugill. Dr of the Department of Anthropology, Texas A &M University, will provide archaeological verification. Archaeological landmark status will then be applied for. The present owners of the site area, Tenneco Corporation, will be approached with a view to their donating the site of the homestead to the City of College Station. It is further proposed that the City, which is short of park space in relation to its population, consider the acquisition of the land around the homestead as a city park to provide an appropriate setting for the Regional Historic Facility. A suitable building will be located in the area, acquired, moved to the homestead area, and renovated as a headquarters for the Regional Historical Facility. Several y e eral such buildings are known to exist.