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 A LEEF faculty fellow is designing a course that partners students with the Texas Historical Commission, writing historical marker narratives and inscriptions for commemorations across the state.

“Most people have had some kind of experience walking around a historical marker,” said ToniAnn Treviño, assistant history professor and Curriculum Connector fellow. “They oftentimes don’t think about those markers as people making choices of interpretation and what goes into those decisions.”

In the fall 2027 semester, Treviño’s HIST 4009 Community Partner Historical Research class will collaborate with the Texas Historical Commission and assist with its Historical Marker Program.

HIST 4009 can be taken by both undergraduate and graduate students. It is open to any major and does not have prerequisites, although students may want to take HIST 3000 The Historian’s Craft beforehand.

Working in teams, students will research state historical markers pre-approved by the Texas Historical Commission. After the group writes a long-form narrative on the topic, often totaling 20 pages or more, they distill the research into a few paragraphs for the marker inscription. The state agency can use these documents to develop the plaques placed across the state.

The partnership addresses the production backlog that can delay a marker's installation by years. 

“I think students like having these experiences and assignments where they feel like it matters,” Treviño said. “There’s a tangible outcome; you’re doing something rather than just getting a grade.”

Alongside the research and writing that goes into inscriptions, the physical location of historical markers also requires careful deliberation. Treviño will walk her class through the process, highlighting how public historians often speak to community members to inform their choices.

“There are lots of ways to be a historian that aren’t just writing a paper in an office,” Treviño said. “There’s not just one deliverable or one kind of profession.”

Treviño prioritizes assignments that give her students memorable experiences and transferable skills. Class activities will include historical writing for a broad audience; researching, fact-checking and revising long documents; professional public history experiences; utilizing various archival resources and research methods; and more.

The fellowship project is an intersection of her teaching philosophy and her background working in public history. Treviño herself assisted with the Historical Marker Program as a Texas Historical Commission summer intern.

“It made me a better historian,” she said. “It also fundamentally changed the way I thought of myself as a scholar.”

Today, Treviño has authored multiple historical markers that are located across the state. Her class could prompt more marker nominations in the Denton area and beyond.

Treviño said the class is an important work-integrated opportunity for students who are unable to move to Austin for unpaid internships or similar professional experiences. Texas Historical Commission representatives will visit the class either in-person or virtually, offering students the chance to network.

As part of Treviño’s project, she will develop the syllabus and course structure, as well as a best practices paper and resource suite for other educators interested in pursuing similar community partnerships.

“I think one of the biggest barriers to having a class like this is just the intimidation factor,” Treviño said. “This process is a little easier when you’re able to lean on folks, so hopefully my resources provide that kind of support.”

Treviño would like to teach the class every year and continue the Texas Historical Commission partnership. She also hopes to incorporate the collaboration into the upcoming Texas Community History Lab, which will connect students to “really important opportunities to be public historians before even leaving Denton.”