Given to the university more than 20 years ago, the Langston Heritage Group Collection includes a wealth of historical information about Black churches, schools, civic clubs and organizations throughout Washington County from the end of the Civil War to the present.

Thanks to archivists at East Tennessee State University, the collection has been digitized and made available online to anyone interested in this history.

“The physical collection was first donated to ETSU in 2000, and it has since been accessed in the Archives’ reading room by dozens of researchers who have utilized the materials for scholarly and creative projects,” said Dr. Jeremy A. Smith, director of the Archives of Appalachia. “But digitizing and making this collection available online will push it out to a global audience, providing unprecedented access to this valuable resource while helping to draw attention to an essential but underrepresented part of Johnson City’s history.”

You can read more in an article published in the Rogersville Review web site at: https://bit.ly/3zypkDW and at https://archivesofappalachia.omeka.net/collections/show/135.