Project
GIRES, the Global Institute for Research, Education & Scholarship explores international history and focuses on the formation of modern national identities, the creation of political cultures and also the ways that collective and individual memory are shaped and (often) manipulated.

GIRES supports with all its powers, scholar Kaila Austin, the soul of the idea, creator and leader of the project,  focusing on the Norwood Community Archives which is a grass-roots effort to preserve the legacy of the US Colored Troops in the Southeast quadrant of Indianapolis as development threatens to push them from their ancestral homes. Initially formed by Ms. Flinora Frazier, matriarch of Norwood, and community historian, Kaila Austin, the archives consist of family collections and oral histories as told by the descendants of the USCT. The archives span the undocumented history of the quadrant as the hunting grounds of the Delaware Indians to its formal colonization in 1820s and its transition into a Freetown in the years following the Civil War.

Project Analysis
The goal of the Natural Historians Program is to learn from and with the descendants of the US Colored Troops in the Southeast quadrant of Indianapolis. Unearthing the history of this area created a cultural revival that allows the USCT descendants to tell their stories, using their own voices. My team and I will be conducting surveys and interviews to help us identify individuals that could be described as “natural historians”, people who have an inclination to do the detective work that historical engagement requires, a skillset the Norwood community has already proven they have. Through both oral histories and family archives, the Natural Historians Program will give descendants paid opportunities to build the Norwood Community Archives from its very first stages of its development. The oral history program will train and partner descendants with community historians and writers to lead them through the process. The program will allow us to create a white book to assist other communities with the implementation of the Natural Historians Program.
This program will give preference to two groups: 1) adult descendants who have already shown an interest in preserving the history of their community and 2) descendant children who will continue this legacy for another generation. This project will be a collaboration between the Norwood Community Archives, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASAALH) and the Indiana State Museum. Through partnership with ASAALH, we will mobilize their Black Families program to record the story of the descendants of the USCT in the southeast quadrant during their annual Family Reunion program, hosted in August every year.

Call for Volunteers
We are  looking for researchers and enthusiasts to support the projects both from the United States and the world. This is project that Kaila Austin is running and GIRES offers its help with all its powers. People with knowledge of the area and/or from Indianapolis and the related areas are welcome to support the project and become part of the community.

Outcome
All the partners wish to safeguard and shed light upon hidden stories. The oral histories will be collected with the intention of creating a repository in the future.

Our history is our memories!
If you share our vision, you are more than welcome to join the cause!