Holiday Greetings

The Portal team extends its best wishes for the holiday season! The lab has been busy digitizing collections from around the state. Below are some highlights of recent collections that have been added to the Portal. Closer to home, the postcard on the right is from the Denton Public Library.

Collaboration at its best! The Austin History Center, the Texas General Land Office, and the Texas State Preservation Board received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to digitize their O. Henry materials.The O. Henry Collection includes letters, documents, and his many short stories.

UNT Libraries’ received a Texas Cultures Online grant, funded by the Amon Carter Foundation, to digitize ethnically diverse collections and a few are already online. The Gillespie Historical Society collection features photographs of German settlers, family portraits, local businesses, such as the Klaerner Opera House, the Ludwig Shoe Shop, and the original Probst Brewery.

The Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary showcases its archives of the Texas-Mexican Presbytery.The Presbytery established Mexican-Presbyterian churches, placed ministers, disbursed support funds, and established two Mexican-Presbyterian educational institutions

The Portal’s Digital Newspaper Program is growing by leaps and bounds and so far has more than 82,000 historical newspaper issues online. The most recent newspaper collections that were added are the Southern Mercury (1888-1907), El Regidor (1890-1903), and the Texas Jewish Post (2005-2011).

UNT Libraries received a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to digitize some of its civil war papers. The Civil War and its Aftermath: Diverse Perspectivescomprises eight archival collections reflecting the experiences of women, military men, Texas cattlemen, businesses, farmers, and government officials with vastly different political views and experiences.

Making a difference

Meet Kristy Gallahan, our student assistant who joined the Digital Projects team in May 2007 when she was a just freshman.  Kristy grew up in Gainesville, Texas attending a small public school, with only 500 students (K-12) in the small community of Era.

Kristy is a computer science and biochemistry double major at UNT, which is a lot of work.  With all the new research opportunities that are rapidly opening up in these fields, she is excited to be studying here at UNT.

Kristy says she has learned a many things working in the Digital Projects Lab.  She has developed her Photoshop skills, learned about Texas and American history, learned some Python (a computer programing language) and a lot about databases, as well as how to run our super-fast duplex scanner!

Kristy plans to continue her academic career by obtaining a Master’s degree in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and eventually, a PhD.  Then she wants to continue research in sequencing DNA and studying proteins.  She would love to be part of the team that cures cancer.  She also wants to publish a book, take up karate and learn to play the piano.  Kristy believes the sky is the limit!

Hot Comments 

“Thanks for placing these sketches of persons at First Street Cemetery on the Portal!”

“I adore this website. My pioneer grandpa was here in 1836. It has been a wonderful experience to use your website.”

“I enjoyed seeing a picture of the Hussars. Thanks.”

 

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