Local History and Genealogy
    
        

     1st Digitization Project Almost Completed!

    Our project to digitize collections and make them available on the Internet is well underway.  Thanks to a partnership with TAMU@Commerce, we have digitized the majority of our Cotton Belt Railroad collection.  Over 100 photographs were scanned as well as railroad artifacts such as lanterns, uniform insignias, pins, and even a cuspidor!  Employee records, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Union ledgers from 1894-1950s that include attendance and meeting minutes, and official railroad correspondence are also among the items scanned.  Not only does this process help preserve the collection, it also makes them much more visible to the public by being accessible online.        The digitization project is an ongoing collaboration between the Library and the University, funded, in part, through a LSTA Grant.  The data is processed through the university's CONTENTdm software and housed in their databanks.  Go to the following link to access the :

Commerce Public Library Digital Collections

http://dmc.tamu-commerce.edu/cdm4/browse.php

Scroll down to "Commerce Public Library" in the browsing drop down menu and click on "go"

    The Local History and Genealogy Room on the main floor of the Library is open during regular hours of operation.   It contains more than 500 volumes relating to Commerce, Hunt county, and other counties in the region. Also, on the walls are photographs from the 1800's to 1965 of early Commerce and local citizens.  The Local History Archives are located in the basement of the library and house the majority of the local history collections.  It includes thousands of photographs dating back to the late 1800's as well as detailed information on many of the families and businesses in the area, fraternities, women's clubs, public schools dating back to the 1800's, yearbooks, city directories, memorabilia, and much more.  Issues of the Commerce Journal dating back to 1901 are on microfilm and available for patrons.

    Adding more information to the Archives is our constant goal.  One of our ongoing projects is learning more about the many rural schools that were in the area in the early to mid 1900's.  Hunt County had 146 school districts in 1907, but we know very little about their history.  Some schools in the Commerce area included Charity, Theta, Cross Timbers, Scatter Branch, Jardin, and Durham, just to name a few.  We would very much appreciate any information that you may have regarding these schools including location, students, teachers, class photos, etc.

The Archives Wish List includes donations of past Commerce city directories and high school year books for the years 1965-1970, 1974, 1985, 1986, 1997-2006.  Also needed are monetary contributions that could go toward the purchase of archival materials needed for preservation such as acid-free boxes, photo albums, milar sleeves, etc.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Cheryl Westhafer, our Local History & Genealogy Librarian, is at the Library on Wednesdays 9:00-5:00 and Thursdays 10:00-6:00.  She would be happy to give you a tour or help you with any questions or research.  You can contact her by email at cwlocalhistory@yahoo.com .

 Please take the opportunity to come by and see how much our town has changed throughout the years and share your knowledge of Commerce History.

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