UAPB boosts museum access with online portal

The history of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff — and, by extension, a significant portion of the modern history of the Pine Bluff community — will now be more readily accessible due to the launch of the University Museum and Cultural Center’s collections and archive search portal.

The portal will be a valuable resource for students, faculty, researchers and the public to explore the storied and unique culture and heritage of Pine Bluff and the surrounding area, according to UAPB. The user-friendly online platform provides access to digitized items that capture college life dating back to 1873, when the university was founded.

“[You] can conduct research at any time from any location,” rather than having to physically visit the museum, said Stephanie Sims, the museum’s director. People can “bring their history home with them.”

Items will continue to be added — UAPB homecoming and commencement programs beginning in 1891 are already visible — and individuals can explore the collection online at https://bit. ly/3TXgfyz, according to the university. The collection is a window into not only UAPB, but also the city of Pine Bluff, the Arkansas Delta, and Black history and culture.

“There’s more to come, [as] this is an ongoing process,” Sims said. “I see a lot more growth and visibility.”

For example, the portal will continue to add yearbooks, which are very popular, she said. “Lots of alumni have reached out, and we pay attention.”

UAPB — the oldest and largest of Arkansas’ historically Black colleges and universities — has an active and proud alumni base, which Sims knows firsthand, as she, too, is a graduate of the university.

Creating this online portal is one way to demonstrate “we listen to our alumni and hear them,” she said. “People are nostalgic,” and for many university alumni, revisiting materials from their time on campus is a way to “relive a time they enjoyed most.”

The museum and culture center’s activities are paid for in total or in part by funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Institutional Services Program, Title III Part B, and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities program.

“This portal is an important part of preserving and promoting the 150-year history and culture of UAPB, Arkansas AM&N, and Branch Normal College,” Chancellor Laurence Alexander said in a news release from the university. “By making our collections accessible to the public, we hope to inspire a greater understanding and appreciation of our shared heritage.”

In addition to the new online search portal, the museum and cultural center maintains normal business

hours Monday-Friday for those who do want to visit in person, and appointments can be scheduled, Sims said. “We’re also happy to work with anyone conducting research — just [contact] us” at (870) 575-8234 or museum@ uapb.edu.

Preserving the history of the university and the Black community in the Arkansas Delta has been a mission of the museum and cultural center since it started in 2004, and the online search portal is a major advance toward that aim, Sims said. “[We want] to share that narrative,” not only with “those who lived it” or heard about it from friends and/or family, but also with future generations who want to know about their history.

And no one should think Sims and others at the museum and cultural center or university are going to rest in their archiving efforts, she said. “History continues to be made, so we can’t stop.”