Historical Society Plans Virtual Museum

 

This newspaper announcing President Lincoln’s death in 1865 is one of many priceless items owned by the Medford Historical Society.

– Allison Goldsberry

Soon all of Medford’s historical objects, currently crammed into the Medford Historical Society’s Governors Avenue home and in various buildings around the city, will be available to the public with a click of the mouse.

From arrowheads to books to paintings, there is no shortage of historical treasures in Medford, not to mention a priceless Civil War photo collection that is the fifth largest in the country.

Problem is, there is no place to store them so they are accessible to the public.  Just the Civil War photos and paraphernalia alone number in the thousands.  With so many valuable objects and no real place to showcase them, it seemed natural to create an online catalog useful for history buffs, researchers, and the average citizen alike.

According to Historical Society member Jim Kiely, the idea has been floating around for awhile.

“It’s a real priority to make this stuff publicly available, especially the Civil War photos,” said Kiely.

Under the new leadership of Historical Society President John Lonergan, the organization is taking steps closer to that goal. 

Right now the task at hand is cataloging thousands of items belonging to the Historical Society, a process that has been on-going for years and will surely continue for more.

Barbara Kerr, the Historical Society’s Director of Collections, along with other volunteers, have been spending their Sundays logging each possession one-by-one for the past several years.

Once an object is logged it’s ready for scanning into a computer with a special high-resolution scanner that can accomodate documents, slides, and odd sizes.  To pull this off, the Historical Society is in search of money to secure the necessary hardware and software, slated to cost around $7000.

More on the Historical Society…

The Historical Society is open to the public on Sundays from noon to 4PM and on the first Thursday evening of the month from 5:30PM to 8PM.

Homeowners can purchase custom-made historical markers to show the date their home was built.  Click here for more information and an order form.