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The Wiregrass Archives at the Troy University Dothan Campus has received of one of just eight nationwide awards presented by the Society of American Archivists Foundation (SAAF).

The $5,000 Catalyst Grant, previously named the SAA Foundation Strategic Growth Grant, is helping to support a Wiregrass Archives project titled “Capturing Black History in the Wiregrass.”

Part of the project features the creation of nine video interviews of African American residents of Dothan who lived under racial segregation and through the desegregation era. The videos will be created by Dothan businessman and videographer Mit Kirkland and donated to the Wiregrass Archives, along with associated releases and other records.

“As with all communities, much more of the history of the African American community in Dothan and the Wiregrass is held in the memories of its senior members than in documents,” said Dr. Marty Olliff, Director of the Wiregrass Archives and Professor of History at Troy. “Oral history interviews like these ensure that at least some of those memories are preserved and available.”

The Wiregrass Archives plans to create a distinct collection of the videos and records, cataloging each of the videos individually, along with producing a website about the project that will also feature the videos. Two local meetings about the project will also be held and announced at a later date.

“Making these and similar interviews publicly available not only provides them to a wider community, but also stimulates viewers’ own memories,” he said. “We hope this small project will turn into a much larger program that captures the personal experiences of many more community members.”

Five of the nine videos have been produced but are not yet published. When available, the videos can also be found on Kirkland’s YouTube channel: the Wiregrass Black History Channel.

Kirkland holds a 50-year long career in radio working with television networks like the History Channel, the Military Channel, the Discovery Channel and Fox News. He retired as the Vice President of Operations for Scenic Cable Network in Dothan and was a 2022 inductee into the Wiregrass Business Hall of Fame.

A life-long resident of Dothan, Kirkland previously produced a 30-minute interview documentary with community members who integrated Dothan High School in the late 1960s, and a separate piece on individuals who are aging— “the bearers of their community history that exists outside written documentation.”

The Troy-Dothan Campus created the Wiregrass Archives in 2002 to identify, preserve and make available to researchers the records and papers of enduring value that document the history and development of the Wiregrass region of Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

About the SAA Foundation Catalyst Grant

The Society of American Archivists (SAA) Foundation Catalyst Grant program (formerly Strategic Grant Fund) provides funding to support complex archives projects. The Foundation prioritizes applications that demonstrate how the project will both advance one or more of the strategic goals of the SAA and SAA Foundation and articulate how the project can benefit the archival profession at large.