Published: January 24, 2009 07:33 pm      

For the love of history

Stringer taking on pictorial book project for Corsicana

Someone asked Dr. Tommy Stringer on Thursday if he’d ever considered writing a book.

Stringer, executive director of the Navarro College Foundation and a long-time history teacher, chronicles Texas history in a Daily Sun column and a daily radio broadcast on KAND.

“Oh, no,” he said modestly with a smile.

But, he is working on a book project — one that will tell the story of Corsicana and Navarro County history through pictures. And, he is asking for your help.

Stringer’s project is in conjunction with Arcadia Publishing, a South Carolina firm that specializes in local history publications with an emphasis on pictorials, and currently has more than 5,000 titles in print, according to its Web site.

“They want to do a local history of Corsicana,” Stringer said, a project that piqued his interest. And, he’s asking for the public’s help in uncovering old pictures of life in Corsicana to be considered for inclusion in the publication. He already has Pioneer Village on board with the project, with permission to go through their archives.

Still, Stringer thinks that more pictures exist that may help tell stories about Corsicana.

Plans call for the book to feature several different topics, including business, political, government, schools, along with notable and everyday people, and life in early Corsicana.

Stringer offers a very matter-of-fact reasoning for the effort.

“It just needs to be done,” he said. “Corsicana’s got a great story, and we’ve got a rich history.”

Some of that history he plans to tell through the book will touch on stories that aren’t as well known as some, he added.

Some recent finds that could make their way into the book include an old postcard with a picture of the old YMCA building, a picture of First Baptist Church from the 1920s, and one of the old high school.

“It was the one even before Drane in the late 19th Century. It was a magnificent building,” he said. “We’re going to go all the way back to the beginning, but not necessarily in chronological order. It will be done topically,” Stringer said.

Stringer said he’s seen a publication the company did for Tyler, and was pleased with the quality of the product. Plans call for a book of about “120 to 130 pages” with two to three pictures per page with brief passages about them.

Stringer said he hopes to have the project completed and to the publisher by September of this year, with the soft-cover book available around the first of 2010. It’s expected to retail for around $20, he said.

Anyone with photos they would like to have considered for the project can contact Stringer at (903) 875-7380, or by e-mail at tommy.stringer@navarrocollege.edu.

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On the net:

www.arcadiapublishing.com

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Bob Belcher may be reached via e-mail at belcher@corsicanadailysun.com.