Preserving the histories of Texas communities

Portal to Texas History Director Ana Krahmer shows Phil Major some of the older newspaper editions preserved at the University of North Texas Library. Major joined members of the Mineola Landmark Commission to Denton when they delivered historic documents retrieved from a 1936 time capsule.

By PHIL MAJOR, Publisher, Wood County Monitor

Recently I had the privilege of accompanying two members of the Mineola Landmark Commission to the Portal to Texas History offices at the University of North Texas in Denton.

We were transporting the contents of a copper box that was sealed and placed inside the cornerstone of the new Mineola Post Office in 1936 and recently opened.

These glimpses of our town’s history will be scanned and available for all to see on the portal’s website.

While I had been familiar with the work of the portal, seeing it in action was quite impressive.

The staff were gracious hosts and filled us in on their processes for preserving Texas history, with a focus on newspapers.

They have stacks and stacks of bound books just like the ones in most newspaper offices, ready to be scanned and then put back together digitally and placed on the portal in searchable format.

If you have not had the chance to dig around on the portal website, I highly recommend it. You might discover little tidbits of family history. For instance, I now know what word my mother missed in the 8th grade spelling bee in Marshall in 1946.

What was especially impressive, and even heart-warming, was the enthusiasm of all the students who are doing the work at the portal. They displayed a very real sense that they understand and appreciate the significance of their efforts.

Among the papers they were working on during our visit were the Gainesville Daily Register from the 1970s, more recent editions of the Goldthwaite Eagle and much older copies of the newspaper in Gail, Borden County. That town and county drew its names from Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame publisher Gail Borden, who chronicled the Texas revolution, hauling his press on a wagon during the Runaway Scrape.

The staff was excited about seeing the contents of the 87-year-old time capsule.

Once they have processed it, our community and others will be able to view all the documents at our leisure, something that would not have been possible otherwise.

Included were a 1936 diamond jubilee edition of the Mineola Monitor and a 350-page progress edition of the Longview News, remarkably well preserved.

One of my traveling companions was born in Jacksonville in 1957. Coincidentally I saw the Jacksonville Banner on the shelf from that year. Someday soon maybe she can find her birth announcement.

If your newspaper or perhaps your local library is not or has not taken steps to get your old papers digitized, I suggest you contact Ana Krahmer at UNT libraries and get the ball rolling. There are grants to help with the process.

Having old papers available as a searchable data base was once a dream and is becoming a reality page by page, day by day, thanks to the great work going on at the Portal to Texas History.