Using Digital Humanities Tools to Document the Black Experience in Waller County

Marco Robinson, Prairie View A&M University

People of African descent’s roots in Waller County, Texas go back to colonial times and more pronouncedly during the early years of the formation of the Republic of Texas. Black people, even though initially relegated to being property and second- class citizenship during the Jim Crow Era, left their imprint on the local economy and culture. However, traces of their existence in Waller County outside of Prairie View A &M University are scant. This paper explores the ongoing archival and digitization work in process which documents the Black experience in Waller County. More specifically, this paper highlights the collaborative work of the history faculty and special collections staff to recover, preserve and bring light to the black experience in Waller County through using digital humanities techniques. Marco Robinson is an Assistant Professor of History at Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View, Texas.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 187. Surfacing History from Below: Race and the Digital Humanities