George Fox University will record interviews this summer with longtime local citizens as part of a digital humanities project that has been funded by the Council of Independent Colleges’ Humanities Research for the Public Good program and the Mellon Foundation.

George Fox launched its Mapping Our History project in 2022, and it is hosted as part of a library research guide. This project highlights the history of Newberg’s downtown district by mapping addresses of East First Street and including business timelines and photographs. 

Last month, George Fox was awarded $2,500 to purchase podcasting equipment, signage, and marketing materials. The University Archivist will staff a booth at various Newberg festivals in the summer of 2025 where participants can engage in short-form oral history interviews. These interviews will be added to the university’s institutional repository (Digital Commons) as a part of the Mapping Our History project. 

The project team currently includes Dustin Kelley (University Archivist; Research & Instruction Librarian), Dr. Caitlin Corning (Professor of History; Museum Director), and Rob Felton (Chief of Staff; Director of University Relations). If you have any questions about this project or would like to be interviewed for the project, contact us via email at archives@georgefox.edu.