UA Little Rock Sequoyah National Research Center receives $58k grant for Trail of Tears project

July 9-15, 2018

By Angelita Faller

 

The Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has received nearly $58,000 to create an interactive history of the Trail of Tears in Arkansas utilizing touch-screen technology.

 

The Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council awarded the center a $57,960 grant to create a touch-screen surface table that will incorporate the center’s existing research to create a visual journey of the Trail of Tears in Arkansas.

 

“We are very pleased to undertake this project that will allow educators and the general public to access the Trail of Tears materials in a new, more approachable format,” Archivist Erin Fehr said. “The subject of Indian removal can be a difficult one to approach, but by using touch-screen technology, we hope to engage learners in a way that brings the past to life.”

 

The project will include maps of removal routes of the five tribes that journeyed on the Trail of Tears, key sites along each tribe’s routes, historical information, photographs, timelines, and documents.

 

The Sequoyah National Research Center will also create a companion website so researchers around the world can access the project, which will aid educators in telling a more complete history of the Trail of Tears through Arkansas that encompasses all five tribes.

 

For more information, contact Fehr at 501-569-8336 or ehfehr@ualr.edu.

 

About the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council

 

The Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council (ANCRC) was established by the Arkansas Legislature in 1987 to manage and supervise a grants and trust fund for the acquisition, management and stewardship of state-owned properties acquired or used for ANCRC approved purposes. The grants, funded through the state’s real estate transfer tax, support projects that protect and maintain state-owned natural areas, historic sites and outdoor recreation. The ANCRC consists of 11 voting members and is administered by the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

 

About the Sequoyah National Research Center

 

The Sequoyah National Research Center is the world’s largest assemblage of Native American expression. Located at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, SNRC is a unique facility dedicated to the collection, preservation, and dissemination of all forms of Native North American expression and has served as an archive for Native Americans since 1983.

 

Source: UA Little Rock Office of Communications 

 

PHOTO CAPTION:

 

Archivist Erin Fehr at work in Sequoyah National Research Center’s archives. (Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/UA Little Rock Communications)