The Washington County Community Foundation recently presented a grant check for the Washington County Historical Society at its Annual Meeting of the Membership this past Saturday, Nov. 9.
On Oct. 22, the Washington County Historical Society was announced as one of the grantee's for the WCCF's 2024 Fall Grant Cycle. This grant awarded $10,345.00 for the Digitization Initiative, which will allow for the purchase of updated computers, laptops, scanners, archival materials, and software to begin the digitization of the incredible records stored at the Stevens Memorial Museum Genealogical Library. There is an array of bound newspapers, scrapbooks, photographs and more that will be further protected by being digitized. This will allow better access to materials when assisting visitors with genealogical research.
The historical society staff is grateful to the Washington County Community Foundation for the grant, and they are very excited to get the process underway. It is hoped the initiative will inspire the community to get involved with the digitization process. There are plans to accept new volunteers, have training sessions, and "Scan-a-thons." The community is asked to watch the group's social posts and website for more information as the project gets underway.
Kaylee Seabolt, office manager and librarian at The John Hay Center, also thanks the public and members for donations to the project.