Today I want to talk about of my favorite resources when it comes to genealogy in the Tuscaloosa area. Now full disclosure it is one of my favorite resources because it is a project I have worked on for quite a few years, but I also love it because of how unique it is.
The source I am talking about is the Tuscaloosa Area Virtual Museum (TAVM), (https://www.facebook.com/TuscaloosaAreaVirtualMuseum). The TAVM has nearly 2000 images of the West Alabama Area that are freely available to students, researchers and anyone interested in the history of the area. The TAVM is unique because unlike other museums, we are virtual so we never close. TAVM is also unique because it is a partnership between a number of historical, and government agencies along with private volunteers. Now anyone who has worked in government knows that sometimes getting agencies to work together without caring who gets the credit is not always easy. The TAVM began as a way for the news librarian at the Tuscaloosa News Betty Slowe to showcase the numerous historical photographs that had been given to her through the years and were sitting in a desk drawer.
The project was first a class project at the University of Alabama’s School of Library and Information Studies before the scope of organizations was broadened including bringing in the Tuscaloosa Public Library to be a partner. The library is now one of the largest partners in the TAVM, and will know in December whether or not we received a federal grant to aid in expanding the TAVM even more. Other agencies involved include the Tuscaloosa Preservation Society, the Jemison Mansion, the Bryant Museum along with quite a few individual volunteers. One of our individual volunteers went into the Druid City Hospital Archives and loaded many valuable images of the early days of the hospital. In addition through the years individuals have found the TAVM and offered things in their personal collections to be made publicly available for the first time.
One the parts of the TAVM I personally am proudest of are the listings of those who have died in service to their country. Right now we have at least some information on those killed from World War I through the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with plans to eventually add World War I dead. There are a few men in the more recent conflicts that we have little information on and I encourage anyone who knows more about those men to please e-mail that information to tavm@tuscaloosa-library.org.
In fact if you have historical photographs of the West Alabama area please e-mail them to the above address or if they are not digital and not too large I can scan them in to add them. We are always looking for new photographs and images.
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