Students at the University of Houston are currently developing a new online archive to record the history of Black cowboys and cowgirls across the state of Texas.
Housed at the Houston Public Library’s African American Research Center, the Black Cowboy/girl Preservation Project will contribute to broader scholarship on Texas agriculture, ranching, and rodeo culture. Although Black Americans were actively involved in Western livestock management for centuries, Black cowboys and cowgirls have been historically left out of traditional Western films, art, and textbooks. Through a series of interviews with former rodeo participants, artifact collectors, and museum curators, the research team hopes to preserve Black cowboys’ and cowgirls’ contributions to American history and Western culture.
The project is interdisciplinary and open to students of all majors who are interested in gaining hands-on experience in oral history methodology, archival documentation, and community-based research. Once completed, the archive will be made accessible to the public.
