Voices from Small Places

When the economic power of a small rural community declines, there’s still value in the social history that defines a place. Researchers at Stephen F. Austin State University help communities preserve and pass on what’s most important about the places they’ve called home.

Voices from Small Places focuses on documenting and preserving the history of small places (population under 100) found throughout East Texas. It uses a unique combination of methods to create a multidimensional history including photovoice, oral history interviews, a site survey, and the development of a digital collection. Using these methods the history of these small communities is documented and made available to the public. In addition to providing information for research, by documenting the history of these small places and placing them back into the larger historical narrative, East Texas is better understood as a region.