Engaged Scholar Program
And Then the Army Was Gone: Rio Grande City and Fort Ringgold in the 1930's and 1940's
In 1944, after nearly a century as a U.S. Army installation, Fort Ringgold in Rio Grande City was closed and the soldiers were sent to the Pacific theatre of the Second World War. The living memory of the interactions of the Army and the community are rapidly fading as the “Greatest Generation” who lived through the Great Depression and served in WWII die.
The Engaged Scholars assigned to this project will record, and transcribe oral histories about life in Rio Grande City in the 1930's and 40's by individuals born before 1927 who would have been 17 or older in 1944. This will be done in conjunction with a student from the Communications Program supervised by Dr. Nick Taylor who will film the interviews.
This portion of the larger project will result in transcriptions of all oral histories, and the creation of a narrative of generalizations pertaining to Rio Grande City and Fort Ringgold in the 1930's, 40's and beyond. The final report and copies of all transcriptions will be placed in the UTRGV Special Collections with copies to Revive Fort Ringgold (a 501 (C) (3) organization).
Video Transcript:
The CHAPS program brought history to life through PowerPoint and student presentations. Students Valerie Guerra and Jamie Trevino lead an hour long presentation as part of the UTRGV's Festidad. The presentation detail the students' work recording the histories in Rio Grande City. Guerra and Trevino discuss the evolution of the project, challenges associated with the interview process, and the concluded presentation of showing a video sample of the interview already conducted.
What influenced me to do this was I was asked by my professor and I'm really interested in the history and the really great area that is the Rio Grande Valley.
Guerra and Trevino's work on the Fort Ringgold projects is funded by a grant from UTRGV's Department of Engaged Scholarship. The presentation was delivered in part of two to help satisfy the terms of that grant.