Caldwell County Photography and Oral History Collection

Caldwell County Photographs by Dee Azadian

This photography collection was funded and photographed by Dee Azadian to document and celebrate the multicultural diversity and integrity of the older people in the county during the United States Bicentennial. The archive includes original black & white film negatives and original photo prints that have been digitally scanned.

Historical Note

Dee Azadian, a photographer and writer, visited and researched these communities as part of the Voluntary Action Center of Caldwell County. Azadian is a writer and photographer who lived among the communities in Caldwell County to document life there in and around the surrounding areas in 1976-1977. The book, Earth Has No Sorrow, was published as the result of Azadian's project, which brought more attention to the unique communities who lived in Caldwell County, and the conditions under which they worked, essentially allowing them to tell their stories to the public for the first time.

Caldwell County Oral Histories

A bicentennial project funded by the Federal Emergency School Aid Act to record oral histories of black, brown and white elderly residents of all economic and ethnic backgrounds. A curriculum was developed for Lockhart schools with slide shows and books based on the oral histories. The Voluntary Action Center of Caldwell County was the non-profit that administered the grant funds for a staff of three (Director: Claudette Harrell, Transcriber: Lupe Avalos, and Volunteer Coordinator: Dee Azadian). The original tapes are archived at the Briscoe Center of American History.