When it comes to preserving Texas history, who better to handle the task than the state’s oldest institution of higher learning — Baylor University?
The well-known Texas Collection isn’t the only depository of the state’s past at Baylor; since 1970, the Institute for Oral History has been recording and preserving the recollections of individuals who helped weave the fabric of history. For their efforts, the institute has received the Texas Historical Commission’s 2011 Award of Excellence in Preserving History.
The institute “has established itself as the benchmark in Texas for providing a voice to previously under-represented segments of this state that document memories representing the diversity and historical significance of Texas history,” wrote William McWhorter, the Texas Historical Commission’s coordinator for military sites and oral history program. He also said Baylor has earned “an impressive reputation for multidisciplinary outreach to both academic scholars and community historians by providing professional training, education tools and research opportunities.”
We wrote about the Institute last fall as it became the home for a series of recordings documenting African American experiences leading up to the Civil Rights Movement. Other archived collections include “Building History: The Mart Black History Project” and “Country Churches in Texas,” chronicling the survival of rural congregations in the era of urbanization. Many of the Institute’s interviews have been transcribed and made available online for researchers or casual history buffs; click here to learn more.
Sic ’em, Institute for Oral History!
