By Jenny Pedraza, University Marketing Communications

Patrick Moore, associate professor and director of the University of West Florida Public History Program, and students from the program are on a mission to preserve the rich social and cultural history of Pensacola's African-American community. Through a unique project that utilizes cutting-edge technology, they will safeguard one of the oldest methods of historical documentation - personal accounts passed down only through stories.

"Too many people overlook Pensacola's rich African-American heritage," said Moore. "Pensacola was heavily influenced by Caribbean culture - not just slavery and civil rights like many other Southern cities. Once the people pass away, the history will be gone forever, so it's very important to capture it now."

Working with Pensacola's African-American Heritage Society and West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc., public history graduate students Christy Hurt and Valerie Hollinger, along with 25 students in Moore's African-American Community History class, will network with members of Pensacola's African-American community, talking with residents, families, community leaders and business owners. The students expect to interview hundreds of people and document the changes to more than 30 historical buildings, mostly in the downtown Pensacola area.

Students will videotape the interviews, and Hurt will edit the footage and combine it into a podcast that can be downloaded from the Internet and watched via personal iPods or burned onto CDs. The podcasts should be available by December and will be free for people from all over the world to download. Future goals for the project include the ability to transfer the data for use in Global Positioning Systems in car navigation systems.

"We're looking into new ways of reaching people," Moore said. "People today want to interact with history and have immediate access to decades of preserved memories."

Although the group is just beginning the project, many stories are already surfacing. One touches on Pensacola's dynamic cultural influence in the entertainment industry years ago. Many singers, songwriters and performers came through the area to test their skills and develop a fan base.

"They used to say, 'If you can make it in Pensacola, you can make it anywhere,'" said Hurt. "To lose that information about this city's history would be tragic."

It's these testaments from the people who lived in Pensacola that highlight the importance of documenting history through first-hand accounts, something that directly relates to Hurt's studies and eventual career goals.

"A public historian's job is to get out there and talk to people," she said.

Moore said the study of public history is applicable to many career choices outside the academic realm. Opportunities exist in museums, exhibits, historic preservation, documentary production, business history and community organizations.

"The experience these students are getting on this project will give them a great advantage over other job applicants," he said. "I don't know of any other university that gives students the opportunity to study in a living, working lab like we have in downtown Pensacola."

For more information, visit the UWF Department of History Web site or contact Moore at (850) 474-2680 or e-mail pmoore@uwf.edu.

Archiveto:clan/162/topstory