SCAN-A-THON ~ September 14th ~ Switzerland County Historical Museum
Pictures and their stories are tangible ways to remember the past. A special project called The Indiana Album is capturing memories throughout Indiana that can then be viewed at www.indianaalbum.com. The Indiana Album, a non-profit organization, makes Indiana's hidden gems available by scanning, cataloging, and sharing historic items for all to discover and use. Subjects desired include photographs, postcards, and documents of all eras of Indiana houses, farms, businesses, schools, churches, bands, clubs, transportation, or interesting people (including portraits of prominent or pioneer residents, people participating in activities, or great snapshots of everyday life).
Do you have interesting photographs of a past or present family business, your ancestral home, street scenes, childhood snapshots, or other historic images? Have you collected postcards of Indiana? The public won't find them in your attic or tucked away in a drawer or closet. The Indiana Album scans privately owned photos and other documents and brings Hoosiers' collective history to the web -- one image at a time.
"Many lenders are too selective, mistakenly believing that their family items or recent snapshots are not significant enough," says The Indiana Album’s Executive Director Joan Hostetler. "We not only document history with a capital H, but also the everyday person's journey up to present day -- after all, history doesn't have an end date. We seek images of activities such as doing laundry, farming, construction, or going to the prom. Of particular interest are visuals of houses, commercial structures, or nearly any building as we plan to geo-tag the images and make them map searchable." Hostetler advises that if you are unsure if your photos fit the criteria, bring along the whole box for staff to decide.
Dig through your shoeboxes and albums and bring Indiana-related items to the Switzerland County Historical Museum at 208 East Market Street in Vevay on Saturday, September 14, 11:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m.
Volunteers will make high resolution scans while lenders wait. All items will be carefully handled and immediately returned to the owners. Later the scans and catalog records will be uploaded into the online catalog for The Indiana Album. It is preferable for participants to make a reservation for the Scan-a-thon or they can learn how to submit their own scans by contacting info@indianaalbum.com or call 317) 771-4129.
The Switzerland County Historical Museum and the “Life on the Ohio” River History Museum will be open during the Scan-a-thon. Guests and participants are welcome to tour free of charge.
The Scan-a-thon is a unique opportunity to share and preserve Switzerland County’s history as part of Indiana’s story. We welcome you to participate.