Christiansburg Institute, Inc. is in the process of digitally archiving photographs and documents related to the history of Christiansburg Industrial Institute and broader African American history in Southwest Virginia.
NEH grant fuels expansion of Christiansburg Institute digital archives
CHRISTIANSBURG – The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Christiansburg Institute, Inc. a grant of $349,126.
The successful grant proposal, titled “Unveiling 20th Century Black Life in Middle Appalachia: Digitizing School and Community Records for Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives” was awarded as part of the NEH’s Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant program. The project was selected as a part of the agency’s special initiative, American Tapestry: Weaving Together Past, Present, and Future, as a project that will “help emphasize the role of the humanities in tackling contemporary social challenges: strengthening our democracy, advancing equity for all, and addressing our changing climate.”
“Christiansburg Institute expresses profound gratitude and enthusiasm for the generous grant award from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which will greatly empower our organization, providing our team with the essential resources critical to preserving the rich 100-year legacy of the Christiansburg Industrial Institute (CII), the pioneering Booker T. Washington high school in Montgomery County that educated generations of African Americans for 100 years,” said Chris Sanchez, CI, Inc. Executive Director.
Jenny Nehrt, CI, Inc. Museum Curator, expressed enthusiasm for the grant as well.
“The Christiansburg Institute Museum & Archives (CIMA) is thrilled to expand digital access to the history of Christiansburg Institute and greater Black Appalachia through the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archives,” she said. “The NEH’s support affirms our commitment to inclusive community-based archives, ensuring underrepresented narratives are preserved and our collective history is understood more profoundly.”
The NEH grant will support the digitization of 48,157 manuscript pages, photographs, books, and other objects of material culture that speak to over a century of African American history in Southwest Virginia. Digital images will be hosted on the Christiansburg Institute Digital Archive and on Virginia Tech’s Southwest Virginia Digital Archive, creating online access to previously inaccessible materials. The databases will be created with community input and freely accessible to the Christiansburg Institute community, educators, and scholars.
According to the Christiansburg Institute’s website (christiansburginstitute.com), the Christiansburg Institute’s Digital Archives is a public, searchable archive of digital materials related to the history of Christiansburg Industrial Institute and broader African American history in Southwest Virginia. The archive was originally made possible through a 2022 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. Items in the archive are sourced from Christiansburg Institute Museum and Archives and from community members who donated digital copies to the digital archive.
The National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation.
Christiansburg Institute, Inc.
