Special Note: This website was created by 3rd-5th grade gifted and talented students at Newton Collins Elementary between October of 2022 and December of 2023. The students worked with three archivists from the Austin History Center as well as several members of the Colllins family in order to bring this project to life. Below is a great portion of their research and work along with some additions from their teacher, Amy Gonzalez.
Our Archive:
Our goal is to share information about Newton Collins and his family land. We worked with archivists from the Austin History Center and with members of the Collins family to create our archive. We also had four teams of students from an elementary GT class at Newton Collins Elementary work on this archive. The Digital Team made this site. The other three teams were the Exhibit Team, the Documentary Team, and the Interview Team.
Newton Isaac Collins was born on 11 February 1826, in Alabama, United States as the son of Silas Collins and Black Slave Unknown Collins. Newton Collins married Sarah Elizabeth Harrington on 2 April 1854, in Manor, Travis, Texas, United States. They were the parents of 4 sons and 4 daughters (Easton Park). Their children were named Silas, Vinie, Newton Jr., George, Fanny, Lily, Dee Gabriel, and Elizabeth.
The Collins Family Scrapbook shows "two Texas families from slavery to today and adds significantly to our understanding of the region through the prism of race, class and culture". From the Collins Family Scrapbook
Interview Team
The interview team interviewed Mr. Ernest Collins, Newton Collins's great, great grandson on December 6, 2022. Aubrey and Sophie led the interview.
(GT class NCES 4th & 5th grade)
The Archive Videos
These videos are going to help you understand everything you need to know about our family archive and that the archive is a special place for everybody. They will help you know what's important, special, and great about the Collins family.
We would like to give a special thanks to: Jackie, Jennifer, and Nikki from the Austin History Center for allowing us to visit the Austin History Center, teaching us about archives, and visiting us to help us with our work.
We would like to give a thank you to Mr. Ernest Collins for collaborating with us and allowing us to interview him for our archive as well as to Mr. Ronald Collins and Ms. Lisa Nicole Collins for donating items to our archive.