DENTON (UNT), Texas — The Portal to Texas History at the University of North Texas has reached a multi-million-dollar fundraising milestone to support continuing growth of its transformative online collection of Texas history and culture.
UNT Libraries had a goal of raising $1.5 million over the last four years to receive the entirety of a $500,000 Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Earlier this semester it surpassed that mark, reaching $2.3 million in funds raised.
“I’m proud of the amazing team bringing Texas history to the world,” said Dean of Libraries Diane Bruxvoort. “The Portal is a free and public online gateway to primary source materials about Texas and thanks to the support from our donors and the National Endowment for the Humanities, we can ensure this resource will be accessible for generations to come.”
The Portal includes more than 1.5 million historical materials from newspapers and photos to maps and letters. Each month, there are more than one million uses from around the world of the rare pieces of the state’s cultural and historical heritage collected from the Portal’s partners at museums, libraries and archives across Texas.
The money raised will go into the Cathy Nelson Hartman Portal to Texas History Endowment, which funds:
- Future technology development, acquisition and support for the collection
- Research fellowships
- Rescuing Texas History program
- Educational initiatives such as the Portal’s new Texas Edges Lecture Series