Digitization Projects: University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center Makes Available Records of Appalachian Social Justice Organizations, Access Online

From the University of Kentucky Libraries:

University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) successfully completed work on its Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant, resulting in online access to the SCRC’s largest group of post-War on Poverty Appalachian primary sources.
“Action in Appalachia: Revealing Public Health, Housing, and Community Development records in the UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center” was a $156,439 grant to fully preserve, organize and make publicly available the records of seven community-driven organizations dedicated to improving quality of life for the Appalachian Region between 1965 and 1990.
All inventories generated by the project are available on the University of Kentucky Libraries digital library, ExploreUK.
Collections made available through “Action in Appalachia” include:

• Appalachian Leadership and Community Outreach, Inc. (ALCOR) records;
• Eastern Kentucky Health Services, Inc. (EKHS) records;
• Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA) records;
• Human/Economic Appalachian Development Corporation (HEAD) records;
• Marketing Appalachia’s Traditional Community Handcrafts (MATCH) records;
• Eastern Kentucky Housing Development Corporation (EKHDC) records; and
• Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE) records.

Founded after the declaration of the War on Poverty, these organizations sought to meet the needs of a region suffering from increased outmigration, poor sanitation, inadequate medical facilities and increasing school dropout rates. These records document the life cycle of community-driven initiatives that fought poverty in the Appalachian region through improvements in public health, housing, education, economic development and community life.
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The Bert T. Combs Appalachian Collection at UK Libraries SCRC includes collections of resources from several areas of Appalachian life, culture and history, including materials related to the coal industry; community; education and literacy; the lumber industry; medicine and public health; oil and iron; the railroad industry; regional and economic development; social reform; and the War on Poverty.

 
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