HeirLoom Project

Downtown Clarksville Cotton Sale 1910

Red River County Public Library has partnered with Texas A&M University-Commerce to create an online collection of documents and objects of local historical interest.

The HeirLoom Project at Texas A&M University-Commerce James G. Gee Library is a grant-funded project that works with public libraries in NortheastTexas to assist them with digitization projects. These digitization projects will focus on preserving local history and creating connections in the community. In this, the second year of the project, the focus in on African American History.

An "HeirLoom" is "something valuable that has been in the possession of a family for a long time and has been passed on from one generation to the next". Public libraries are an important part of community life and are enjoyed by generations of citizens from that community. We believe public libraries are, in a sense, community heirlooms-valuable and sustained through time.

Our goal is to solicit family heirlooms from the community so that we may photograph or scan them and include them in the online collection to be preserved and enjoyed by many.

To see a sample of the pictures offered in the collection, visit our Flickr page.

To browse the content that we have uploaded so far, visit our Digital Collection.

Please contact us if you have any documents you would be willing to contribute. Your heirlooms need not leave your possession while they are being processed. You will take them with you the same day, if you desire. We would be happy to answer any questions.

This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act.