WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – The Wabash County Historical Museum will be hosting several engaging programs during the month of March. As part of their new “Your History. Your Museum.” campaign, these programs are designed to engage new and existing guests with the Museum.
“Most people have no idea everything the Museum has to offer to our county,” said Mitch Figert, President & CEO of the Museum. “As the largest local history organization in the county, we truly have something for everyone to get them engaged in our rich local history.”
First, the Museum is excited to announce that the President of the Huntington County Historical Society, Gib Young, will be speaking at the next History Hunter’s event on Thursday, March 8th at 12 p.m. at the Museum. Mr. Young will be speaking on Indiana’s role at Gettysburg. History Hunter’s is an hour long, adult speaker series held bi-monthly aimed at bringing a variety of topics to guests throughout the year.
Young was born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana but currently resides in Huntington with his wife. In addition to being the president of the Huntington County Historical Society, he is also a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and a veteran himself of the U.S. Navy.
Second, the Museum will be hosting a series of hands on workshops geared to teach participants specific skills needed to perform research and care for personal collections. Presenters Joan Hostetler and John Harris of the Indiana Album Project have helped dozens of libraries and museums interpret, archive, digitize, and preserve historic images and artifacts.
The four workshops being offered are intended to be much more than a lecture, they will allow participants to actively participate and learn skills that they can use in researching and caring for their personal and family’s collections. In addition, the presenters and Museum staff will be available after each workshop to provide further support and assistance. Workshops will be held from 10am to 2pm in the Porter Room at the Museum and will include a light lunch. The cost for each workshop is $20 for Museum Members and $25 for non-members. Guests can register by calling the Museum at (260) 563-9070.
From Daguerreotypes to Digital: Dating and identifying family photos
Tuesday, March 13th
Even unidentified photographs provide clues to help you unlock their history. Learn how to date, interpret, and preserve your one-of-a-kind family photographs, from daguerreotypes of the 1840s to today’s digital photographs. This workshop will cover the history of photography, present a hands-on identification of processes and formats, look at clues such as clothing and hairstyles, and discuss the best ways to preserve and organize your images. Attendees are invited to bring problematic or interesting photographs for a show-and-tell session.
Digitization Basics: Scanning family photos and documents
Thursday, March 15th
Digitization provides a great way to copy, enhance, and share family treasures. Learn the basics of scanning your photos and documents with a flatbed scanner. We’ll review how to select a scanner and software; technical choices such as resolution, file types, and bit depth; choosing files names; and backing-up your files. We’ll also demonstrate how to improve your faded images with Photoshop Elements. Bring along a couple photographs to scan during the hands-on session.
Researching Your Historic Home
Tuesday, March 20th
Have you ever wondered who lived in your house in years past? Do you wish your walls could talk? This workshop will guide participants through the steps to research their historic home or building. Learn how to use resources such as city directories, maps, deeds, building permits, photographs, online genealogy sites, and newspapers to determine when your house was built and who lived there. Stay after the workshop to use resources in the museum’s archive.
Preservation of Family Heirlooms
Thursday, March 22nd
Learn how to care, preserve, and display your family heirlooms and historical objects. We’ll discuss general preservation basics, including handling, light levels, temperature and humidity, and archival supplies, followed by more in-depth guidelines for care of specific items such as books, documents, photographs, furniture, clothing, and more.
In addition, during each of these workshops the Indiana Album Program will be onsite at the Museum to scan images from any community member, not just workshop participants. The Indiana Album, a community-submitted digital collection, digitizes Indiana-related photographs of businesses, buildings, houses and farms, events, or people doing interesting activities from past to present. Scans of Wabash County will be shared with the Wabash County Historical Museum. See www.indianaalbum.com for more details.
To learn more about any of these projects contact the Museum at 260-563-9070 or on their website at www.WabashMuseum.org.