Kentucky Hispanic Project (RPA Pilot / Seed Project)

The mission of the Kentucky Hispanic Heritage Project (KHHP) is to maintain a digital space dedicated to the history, culture, achievements, and contemporary experience of people of Hispanic descent living in Kentucky and, by doing so, to advance understanding and promote education about this population. Our primary goal at present is to build the capacity and community responsiveness of the KHHP site to strengthen our ability to serve as a resource for non-profit organizations, researchers, teachers, and students throughout the state. As the premier source for historical information, socio-economic data, personal narratives, and creative production by and about Hispanic people and communities in Kentucky, the KHHP serves an important role in supporting, and justifying, the work that these stakeholders do in the programming, research, instruction, and advocacy that promote justice, equity, and inclusion in the Commonwealth. Our application for the Unite Humanities and Social Services Pilot Grant focuses on two important steps in reaching this goal: (1) improving the search functionality and breadth of sources hosted on the site and; (2) gathering input on the types of sources and information that would be most valuable to community stakeholders. Funding from this grant would allow us to build capacity and position the project to not only be a valuable resource locally, but also to serve as a national model of how the work of the Digital and Public Humanities can provide concrete tools to both empower local communities and produce alternate narratives that support equity for marginalized populations.