It is officially summer, and Tennessee Tech Archives would like to share some updates on our summer projects! Students may be on vacation, but the work in Tennessee Tech Archives does not slow down for summer break!
Renovation Updates
This last year, Tech Archives’ staff members were temporarily located while the archives workroom and reading room were renovated. The renovations, generously funded by Tech alums Scott and Mary Alice Edwards, sought to give the reading room a sophistication worthy of Tennessee Tech’s collections and create a better learning environment for students in the archives. The space is coming together, and we are finalizing details such as pictures, upholstery, and table lamps. We will have an open house for the Week of Welcome in August to show students and the public the new facility. We are incredibly excited to share the final space with the public!
Community Archives Project
Funded by Tennessee Tech’s Rural Reimagined grant, Tech Archives, Dr. Krystal Akehinmi, and the West End Connection began the “Empowering Voices” project, which aimed to create an archive for Cookeville’s historic black community in the West End. The grant supported the purchase of scanners and recorders along with the assistance of tremendous interns Ronaldo Malcom, Aaron Ross, Cheyenne Douthitt, Anna Grace Herrin, Kelley Fluker, and Laramie Eisenstein. The final project will create an enduring community archive that will serve as a testament to the resilience and vibrancy of the West End community.
WCTE Digitization
Tech Archives is assisting WCTE, the local PBS station, with its digitization project. Thanks to a generous grant from the American Archive for Public Broadcasting, more than 1500 programs from Cookeville’s WCTE will soon be available for streaming online at the American Archive for Public Broadcasting. Stay tuned for new content and check out the materials that are already digitized here: https://americanarchive.org/catalog?f%5Bcontributing_organizations%5D%5B%5D=WCTE+%28TN%29&f[access_types][]=online
New Scrapbook Donation
Lastly, we received a scrapbook this Spring from Linda Rollins. The scrapbook was her mother-in-law’s, Doris Wiley Rollins, a Tennessee Tech student in the early 1930s. She was the editor of The Oracle and Miss Tech during her time at Tennessee Tech. To see this unique perspective of Tennessee Tech in the 1930s from Wiley Rollins, follow this link: https://tntech.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_4406bcd8-20d8-4d5a-a666-caef14ba1f13/
We look forward to sharing more updates and engaging with our community. Thank you for your continued support of Tennessee Tech Archives!
