Residents of southwest Missouri with photographs, letters, pamphlets and other artifacts related to African-American history are wanted.

The State Historical Society of Missouri put out a call for individuals to bring the personal and family items to a free digitization event.

The free event is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20 at the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, Missouri. It is located 65 miles west of Springfield in Newton County.

Residents of Newton, Jasper, McDonald, Barry, Barton and Dade counties — and others living in the southwest part of the state — are invited.

“By participating, residents will not only be advised on the best practices for protecting these materials, but also offered the opportunity to digitize and preserve them as part of the larger African American Heritage in the Ozarks Project,” said Sean Rost, oral historian and project lead, in a news release.

Families will be able to submit their items to be digitized, and preserved, and they will also receive complimentary copies of their digital files. They will also be asked to record an interview with an oral historian about their items, community history and genealogy.

You can read more in an article written by Claudette Riley and published in the Springfield News-Leader web site at: https://bit.ly/3AlubtX.