Acknowledgements
Good, generous people are behind every digital history project. There is a large cast of characters that directly contributed to this project’s success.
Before there was a digital history project, there was an idea. I was fortunate enough to be helped in my initial investigations by my good friend Pam Demo. Much of my work builds upon the firm foundation established by her MA Thesis “Boise’s River Street Neighborhood: Lee, Ash, and Lover’s Lane/Pioneer Streets: The South Side of the Tracks.” Early on, I was also able to gain the support of Dr. Jill Gill of Boise State University who, coincidentally, is working on a project that parallels this research in River Street. She has been an excellent and generous collaborator.
I owe a special thanks to the “South Side of the Tracks Kids” who allowed me to attend their 2013 reunion and put up with my pesky questions. I also owe a heartfelt thanks to the members of St. Paul Baptist Church of Boise who have generously offered to let me delve into their memories for this project.
A host of other folks selflessly helped me collect, digitize, and process the archival materials for this website. I would like to sincerely thank Michal Davidson and the rest of the staff at the Idaho State Historical Society Archives in Boise. I would also like to thank Belinda Davis, Mary Anne Davis, and Shannon Vihlene at the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office for their time and effort. The staff at the Albertsons Library at Boise State University and the Boise Public Library provided invaluable support with locating and digitizing documents related to urban renewal and the River Street Neighborhood.
I would also like to thank Cannon Daughtrey and Rita Sulkosky for their awesome GIS and map digitization work. You guys really brought those maps to life.
Most importantly, I would like to thank those that gave me the first interviews for this site: John Bertram, Dick Madry, Lee Rice, II, and Warner Terrell, III. Without your time and generosity, this website would not have been possible.
Funding
In addition to time and effort, financial support for the 2014 fieldwork was provided by the following groups:
the Boise City Department of Arts and History who provided a Boise Arts and History grant that was used for the development of this website
the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies who provided travel funding, and
the University of Arizona where I received invaluable advice on how to conceive and execute this project and provided funding for transportation and lodging at conferences where I presented this data
Thanks to all who helped make this project a success. I apologize if I have forgotten to mention your name, but, I assure you, I truly appreciate your help.
Sincerely,
Bill White
PhD Student
School of Anthropology
University of Arizona