The willow hill heritage and renaissance center will preserve an oral history collection documenting african american life in bulloch county and surrounding communities in southeast georgia

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded The Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center, Inc. $100,000 on September 1, 2026, under the Museum Grants for African American History and Culture program (CFDA 45.309).

The recipient will preserve an oral history collection documenting African American life in Bulloch County and surrounding communities in southeast Georgia. Project activities include hiring an archivist and digital collections assistant to conduct an inventory of the recordings, digitize 60 reel-to-reel tapes and 500 cassette tapes representing approximately 810 hours of recorded content, generate transcripts and metadata, and produce a comprehensive archival finding aid. Transcripts and descriptive metadata will enhance the collection's usability for researchers, educators, and students in historical research, genealogy projects, and educational programs centered on African American history.

Work is performed in Portal, Georgia. The period of performance runs from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2028. This is a project grant under IMLS's program to build the capacity of African American museums and support the growth and development of museum professionals.

Project activities involve hiring an archivist and digital collections assistant to conduct an inventory of the recordings, digitize the reel-to-reel and cassette recordings, generate transcripts and metadata of the recordings, and produce a comprehensive archival finding aid. Creating transcripts and descriptive metadata will enhance the collection's usability for researchers, educators, and students, allowing the recordings to be used in historical research, genealogy projects, and educational programs centered on african american history. The project will result in the preservation of 60 reel-to-reel tapes and 500 cassette tapes, representing an estimated 810 hours of recorded content, while ensuring the long-term preservation and access to these historically significant oral history recordings.