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Texas Archives Month 2026 Poster – Preserving Texas History: One Community at Time

A PDF file of the 2026 Archives Month Poster is available for download. Suitable for printing.

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Preserving Texas History: One Community at a Time

Community archives are locally created collections of stories, documents, photos, and memories gathered around a central commonality such as identity, faith, geography, experience, occupation, interest or historical event. Rather than relying on large institutions, these archives are built and shaped by community members themselves, who decide what should be collected and how items should be shared. Community archives often emerge when groups feel their histories have been overlooked or underrepresented, and they offer a way for people to see their own experiences reflected in the historical record.

Community archives can take many forms—small grassroots projects, digital collections, or volunteer run organizations—and they frequently serve as welcoming spaces for learning, connection, and cultural expression. Some may be developed with broader institutional support from a local library, museum or university while others are maintained by individual community members or groups. No matter the structure of the repository, groups around the state are preserving Texas history, one community at a time.

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Community Archives Programs in Texas: A Few Examples

Texas Heritage Project
https://aitscm.org/texas-heritage-project/

From the website:

The Texas Heritage Project of American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions (AITSCM), established in December 2014, conducts humanities-based primary research to collect and showcase previously unreleased family artifacts with historical significance in South-Central Texas. Through community events known as “History Harvests,” families come together to display their artifacts, celebrating the cultural identity and contributions of Indigenous/Latino communities to the region’s rich heritage.

A photograph of a rope across a back yard with prints of archival photographs of various people. Image courtesy of the Texas Heritage Project of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions AIT-SCM

A photo of a multigenerational family next to a poster board of photographs and the text Villareal at the top. Image courtesy of the Texas Heritage Project of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions AIT-SCM

A black and white photograph of people and food at tables next to headstones at a cemetery. Image courtesy of the Texas Heritage Project of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions AIT-SCM

A photograph of couple speaking to a woman standing at a table of archival materials. Image courtesy of the Texas Heritage Project of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions AIT-SCM

A photograph of a woman looking at a laptop computer on a table with a crowd of people in the background. Image courtesy of the Texas Heritage Project of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions AIT-SCM

Images courtesy of the Texas Heritage Project of the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions (AIT-SCM). View the Texas Heritage Project gallery: https://aitscm.org/texas-heritage-project/#gallery

Austin History Center Community Archives Program
https://library.austintexas.gov/ahc/outreach

From the website:

The Community Archives Program at the Austin History Center is dedicated to collecting and preserving the history of underrepresented and marginalized groups in Austin and Travis County. This program strives to provide historical recognition and representation for the lives and experiences of Austin's diverse communities by intentionally documenting the histories of African American, Mexican American & Latine, and Asian Pacific American communities in Austin and Travis County.

Through community engagement and outreach initiatives, the Community Archives Program acquires historical materials (such as personal and family documents and photographs, periodicals, oral histories, business records, etc.) to add to the Austin History Center’s historical collection. The program also develops programming and events to educate the general public about a more inclusive and diverse history of Austin and Travis County.

For more information about the Community Archives Program, please contact the AHC at: communityarchives@austintexas.gov

An instructor next to a big screen with text on a screen of Community Archives Program. Images courtesy of the Austin History Center

A young girl looking at a covered outside booth with archival resources and archival photographs. Images courtesy of the Austin History Center

Images courtesy of the Austin History Center.

Mansfield African American Oral History Project
https://mansfieldcrisis.omeka.net/items/show/61

From the website:

The oral history project, conducted in December 1995, sheds light onto perspectives that African Americans shared about voting rights, Jim Crow laws, and life in Mansfield in the 1950s. The project was paid for partially through a Certified Local Government grant from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, and administered by the Texas Historical Commission. Additional funding was given via matching grants from the Mansfield Historical Society and the Bethlehem Baptist Church congregation.

Records also included in the Texas Historical Commission (THC) collection in the Texas Digital Archive (TDA) at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC).

An archival black and white photograph of an African American man with a black border on a blue background. Image courtesy of the Mansfield Oral History Project

A yellowed tattered cover of a book with the title of The History and Achievements of the Bethlehem Baptist Church for sixty-nine years December 23, 1949 - 8 pm. On a blue background Image courtesy of the Mansfield Oral History Project

A black and white photograph of a family of four and handwriting on it of Ed Lewis and Family. On a blue background. Image courtesy of the Mansfield Oral History Project

A black and photograph of a large gathering of people on the banks next to a body of water looking at people in the water. On a blue background. Image courtesy of the Mansfield Oral History Project