Students in my annual “Introduction to Public History” course at Texas State University support ongoing efforts to document and interpret socially inclusive landscapes in central Texas. Our projects include the following.
BETHANY CEMETERY PROJECT
We supported an ongoing public history initiative in Bethany Cemetery, the oldest independent Black cemetery in Austin, TX, in partnership with the Bethany Cemetery Association and Story + Reason. Our class conducted genealogical research and prepared text for QR code historical markers at gravesites. These markers were funded by my 2025 Research, Learning, and Community Engagement Grant from the College of Liberal Arts at Texas State University.
HAYDEN SPRINGS FREEDOM COLONY PROJECT
We helped document the history of a post-Emancipation Freedom Colony near Manor, TX known as Hayden Springs by contributing research to a report prepared by Preservation Central for the Travis County Historical Commission. Students shared their research with community members at an oral history workshop in Manor in Spring 2022. This project was supported by a Certified Local Government Grant.
TRAVIS COUNTY FREEDOM COLONIES PROJECT
We researched the family histories and mapped property boundaries of Black landowners in east Travis County to help document additional Freedom Settlements near Manor, TX. Our class research report for the Travis County Historical Commission supports ongoing study of independent Black farming communities after the Civil War.
EAST 6TH STREET BLACK BUSINESS DISTRICT PROJECT
We researched the history of Black businesses that populated Austin’s downtown East 6th Street before the city’s 1928 Master Plan accelerated racial segregation through zoning reform. The introduction to our (draft) report for the Travis County Historical Commission is available below.
Contact me if you want to view the full reports of any of these research projects.
RUBY ORAM 