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The Descendants of the Prairie View Trail Riders Association
Abstract:
The first Prairie View A&M University Oral History Series project focuses on one of the long-standing traditions at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) since 1957 involving a community of horse-loving individuals and families called the Prairie View Trail Riders. The purpose of the Prairie View Trail Riders Association uplift agricultural-minded people, both active and retired; to promote agricultural interests, and young Americans, and to perpetuate those principles that have come to be regarded as the ideals and traditions of the Western World; And to participate in such undertakings as may be deemed to make for the happiness, well-being, and usefulness of the membership, and for the progress of the association. The project is meant to inspire other organizations in the Prairie View and Waller County area about the importance of preservation through Oral History Interviews. The participants will be asked a series of questions about the organization, the creation of the organization, how someone is related to the organization, and favorite moments while participating in the trail riding event. The creator intends to inspire more research into preserving student organizations and their records.Additionally, this Oral History initiative is to preserve stories that are not being collected or donated to the Prairie View A & M University Archives, yet, involving current traditions that are passed down through family legacies and not written down. The first project is focused on an older group but still relevantly new where the founders are still alive to tell their story of starting an African American Trail Ride. Since the decline of University Publications at PVAMU, we need to start collecting the history through Outreach projects like Oral History Interviews and digitizing current organizations, events, and programs to preserve the history of our HBCU campus.