National Endowment for the Humanities - Spotlight on Humanities in Higher Education: Development Grants: Southland History Collective Grant

Southland History Collective Grant

Funder: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) - Spotlight on Humanities in Higher Education: Development Grants

Overview

A two-year oral history and archival project to document, teach, and offer public programs on the histories of communities surrounding Governors State University. The project aims to uncover and document the rich and diverse history of Chicago's southland, specifically in the minority-majority villages surrounding GSU in southern Cook and Will counties.

Purpose

These communities' stories risk being forgotten without careful commemoration and preservation. The project disrupts archival trends that have silenced the voices and histories of marginalized communities, providing an accessible set of resources for local educators, teacher candidates, and researchers to use in curriculum development and original research.

Activities

• GSU students and scholars from multiple disciplines participate in collecting and organizing a growing archive
• Create lesson plans
• Present learning to the community
• Digital project exploring local sites, stories, and networks connected to the region's abolitionist past and Underground Railroad connections

Geographic Scope

Chicago Southland region, including southern Cook and Will counties, Illinois

Leadership

Led by Dr. Fackler and the Southland History Collective team

Contact

College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Office