Video oral history of performer part of HistoryMakers Collection

A video oral history of Petrella, "The First Lady of Country-Soul" and a Hot Springs native, is now a permanent part of the HistoryMakers Collection at the Library of Congress, according to a news release.

"The HistoryMakers archive provides invaluable first-person accounts of both well-known and unsung African Americans, detailing their hopes, dreams and accomplishments-often in the face of adversity. This culturally important collection is a rich and diverse resource for scholars, teachers, students and documentarians seeking a more complete record of our nation's history and its people," James H. Billington, 13th librarian of Congress, said in the release.

"Petrella has gone beyond her own performances and has reached out and back to involve others in her upward journey," the release said. Petrella and her nonprofit "Dreams of the Heartland Foundation Inc." have been partnering with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum for the past four years to establish a paid internship for minority students at the museum in Nashville.

Two students from Fisk University are the first minorities to intern at the museum. Jada Marshall, a senior from Atlanta, is majoring in music and Alexandria Green, a sophomore from Memphis, is majoring in Art. Both are working at the museum in creating programs for community outreach, one for adults and one for youths.

During a visit by Petrella and Bob Pollefeyt, administrator of Dream of the Heartland, a representative from the museum, Meg Williams, announced that this paid internship for minority students will become a national endeavor for the museum as well as acknowledging Petrella's Foundation as a cofounding organization with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in the "Field Forward Internship Program."

Anyone interested in applying for the paid internship or anyone interested in supporting the program can get more information at https://countrymusichalloffame.org/internships/.

Dreams of the Heartland Foundation Inc. was established in 1996 as a 501(c)(3) organization. The board consists of Hot Springs natives Elaine Jones, Mozella Anderson, Charles and Jeannie Butler and Little Rock native William McCraw.