“The reach of the internet is so important to the preservation of local history….”
Recently R&R received a number of new images and materials through the website’s share menu. With anticipation, these images are downloaded to reveal items that help fill in gaps, tell stories, and link the past to the present. Though it was not a shared item, an elderly lady called to thank R&R for the preservation work we had completed on her family’s drugstore, which had burned in the 1950s. She was overwhelmed with the knowledge that someone cared about her family history. We explained that her family history impacted that of hundreds within her community and it couldn’t be separated so easily.
An individual living in Israel, with historic ties to Charleston, S.C., also took the time to submit a number of items including a bill-receipt from her grandfather’s Charleston sash manufacturing company. Another donation was an image related to the Ronald Ramsey artwork depicting the Army Cycle Company on Meeting Street also in Charleston. The image shows the company prior to a newer building having been constructed. And if this is not enough, an author contacted R&R, saying he was providing digital copies, of four of his family history books for posting on R&R. Preserving old bills, letterheads, family images and ledgers are so easily done through the Share Menu, preservation through sharing works. Thanks for allowing Roots and Recall the privilege of preserving a piece of your family heritage – one address at a time. Click on the links to see featured properties:
Not only did we receive content but we have been informed that an upcountry historical agency is now going to be loading all of their data on R&R for preservation. It is just this type individual and institutional partnerships of which R&R is seeking with individuals, agencies and museums. Fairfield County’s museum of history was R&R’s first institutional partner and since doing so, visitation to their facility has reached all time highs. Not all of this is creditable to R&R’s presentation and preservation of Fairfield’s history but it has made a significant impact in telling the story of their beautiful architecture and friendly people.
One of the ways R&R brings content to the website is through the legal digitization of historic manuscripts, which are then loaded to the website posting the proper credits and accolades. Several organizations have simply donated their entire organization’s collection of old historical and genealogical magazine to R&R for this purpose. If you have a collection of old genealogical journals and manuscripts that you are interested in donating for digitization, let us hear from you – info@rootsandrecall.com. R&R is also very interested in preserving old store records, letters, farm journals, ledgers, and so much more. The new platform on which R&R is now operating the ability for larger collections to be displayed. Within the next month a number of very large collections which have not thus far been available will be posted. This type material is vital in linking data from one area of the state to another and as the Patrick Store papers have with Elora Tennessee, or the Garison collection to Arkansas, or….yes we could go one and on.
Roots and Recall would also like to say thank you to all the members who have signed up as volunteers in their communities. These individuals will be performing a wonderful function!
R&R Follow-up: Comments and corrections are always appreciated. Roots and Recall will be at several upcoming public events in the region: April 21 – S.C. State Preservation Conference at the SC Dept. of Archives and History and on May 6 – Prosperity, S.C. at the Railroad Depot (Palmetto Trust Headquarters). Please drop in – we would love to meet you!
From the Porch – Blog @ RootsandRecall.com – 4.13.17