PRESENTATION TO FOCUS ON WEST TENNESSEE HISTORY PRESERVATION

PRESENTATION TO FOCUS ON WEST TENNESSEE HISTORY PRESERVATION

MARTIN, Tenn. – Results from a West Tennessee Cultural Institutions Survey will be

the focus of a Dec. 15 presentation at the Martin Public Library located at 410 South Lindell

Street in Martin. The presentation is open to the public and will begin at 6:30 p.m. The project

was funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Sam Richardson, UT Martin archivist and J. Houston Gordon Museum curator, and Dr.

Erik Nordberg, Paul Meek Library dean, will provide project overview. Much of the detailed

work was completed by graduate research assistant Elysia Duke and summer student interns

Grant Bivens, Rhiannon Crossno, Elijah Davidson and Dan McDonough. During the event, the

students will share their experiences traveling to more than 100 agencies across 21 counties to

gather data, assess the general status of collections and encourage future collaboration.

The survey confirmed each agency’s status and created an institution-level summary of

research collections, staffing, budgeting and preservation conditions for heritage materials.

While the project intended to confirm, reveal and promote the availability of historical records

held by archives, museums, and municipal offices, the survey also reported on artifact

collections, historic sites and interpretive programs.

This event is part of the UT Martin Research Series and is co-sponsored by the Martin

Public Library, the Weakley County Historical and Genealogical Society, the university’s

Division of Academic Affairs, and the Paul Meek Library.

For more information, contact Nordberg at 731-881-7070 or Katie Parr, director of the

Martin Public Library, at 731-587-3148.