Description
The purpose of the Texas Black History Preservation Project is to document the comprehensive history of African Americans in Texas through a series of books, a web site, and interactive DVDs. This is a landmark project in that no one has ever attempted a project of this magnitude and scope in regard to Black history in Texas. While there have been numerous works about segments of the Black community in Texas, there is nothing that ties those stories together, nothing that brings those stories together in a central location.
Because of that, we feel our project will have a profound effect on education, specifically in the teaching of Black history. We will conduct scholarly research and promote the history of African Americans in Texas to the benefit of teachers, students, and historians but also the general public, across racial lines, in Texas and most likely beyond. We feel there are still large gaps in the teaching of Black history and it is our hope that the fruits of this project will have a direct impact in classrooms, encouraging and increasing the ability for teachers to offer more in-depth lessons about local and statewide African American experiences, and present those lessons well beyond the boundaries of Black History Month.
Culturally, what we do will give African-American youth an increased sense of self and pride with an increased and deeper knowledge of what generations before them have contributed and accomplished in the growth of Texas.
