Exploring Rockingham's Past

Description

Exploring Rockingham’s Past (ERP) is a collaborative project between James Madison University and the Rockingham County Circuit Courthouse that is making rare documents from Rockingham County’s storied past accessible to the public. This ongoing project will digitize and publish collections from the courthouse’s substantial archival materials, which have long been inaccessible to researchers. Each year, a graduate history intern, in coordination with Courthouse leadership and staff, will select and digitize a collection of documents from the courthouse archives. In addition to gaining valuable experience in archival and digital historical methods, the graduate intern will then use those records to develop an interpretive historical essay and publish it on ERP. This dual approach—publishing archival documents and an interpretation from those documents—will allow the public to explore Rockingham’s past on their own and see how emerging professional historians employ and interpret the same materials. The Shenandoah Valley Technology Council hosted their annual awards gala – Tech Nite – on April 29th. The event recognized eight award winners out of a total of 32 nominations, with ERP chosen for the Innovation in Community Impact Award, presented by the College of Integrated Science and Engineering. From their website, “ Exploring Rockingham’s Past is a collaborative project between James Madison University (the History Department and JMU Libraries) and the Rockingham County Circuit Courthouse that is making rare documents from Rockingham County’s storied past accessible to the public.”

Web Presence

https://omeka.lib.jmu.edu/erp/

Involvement

Involves Students, Involves Faculty, Involves Staff, Involves Participants External to JMU

Scope

Regional US Scope

Date

2019-05-01

Frequency

One Time Only

Areas of Engagement

Civic Engagement, Engaged Learning, Community Engagement

Format

Award

On/Off campus

On campus