This project started with a basic idea - identify, recognize and honor the names and lives of the African American individuals and families whose work contributed to the growth and maintenance of White Hall and Madison County, Kentucky. Owned by Green Clay, the largest slaveholder in the state during his lifetime, and later by his son Cassius, known as the state’s greatest champion of emancipation, White Hall is a historic site today owned and operated by Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). By engaging students, faculty and staff from departments across EKU and partnering with the local African American community, hundreds of relevant Clay family documents were transcribed, edited and analyzed to identify enslaved individuals. The role of the archives in this project was to instruct and guide over 300 students in transcribing historical documents and to create the online database. In addition to instruction and outreach, presenters will discuss how digital tools and platforms can be used to build accessible public history resources. This work exhibits how archives can serve as a hub connecting academic programs with public history, community engagement, and digital scholarship. These partnerships expanded the archives’ reach and established it as a space for co-creation, preservation, and dialogue, rather than just for information access.
Speakers Debbie Whalen, Eastern Kentucky University (Session Chair) Jackie Couture, Eastern Kentucky University
