Preserving history
I was cleaning off a shelf at the museum the other day and I came across some old leaflets from the American Association of State and Local History. They were all about how to work with museum displays.
Although they are rather dated – they were written in the 1970s – they still contain some useful information that will be helpful as we continue to work on reorganizing some of the displays at our local museum.
One of the leaflets talks about historical photographs. This is of particular interest to me because I’m the archivist for the museum. I take care of hundreds of photos, some dating back to years before Othello existed.
I recently watched a program on TV about preserving photos. I was worried about the old pictures because they are beginning to deteriorate. The commentator said there is no way to stop this and recommended scanning the photos onto a computer disk.
He said all photos, no matter how they have been cared for, will begin to deteriorate rapidly when they reach 100 years of age.
So, the next question is how to decide which pictures are important to save. The leaflet said to look for those that depict a “first” or shows the beginning of something. Then, consider those that show a person, place or object of importance. Other ways to evaluate include those related to local stories or folklore, evidence of local pride, samplings of appearances in the environment, sites or events marked by local news, pictures that provide a good comparison with earlier or later photographs and those that tell a story on their own.
After that, you want to consider what not to save. If you have many different photographs of the same subject, pick out the best and discard the rest. Likewise, get rid of those that are out of focus or show the subject as dull or stupid.
This is good advice not only for museums, but for individuals as well. Many people have boxes of old photos in their closets they should sort through. Make sure you mark them before you forget what they are showing and get rid of the redundant ones or those so out of focus as to be a waste of space.
The picture of Aunt Ethel falling into the mud puddle may be funny, but is it really worth showing if it embarrasses her every time the family gets together?
Once you decide which ones you want to keep, scan them onto a computer disk and put it away for safekeeping. You can then use the originals for your scrapbooks or photo albums.
Remember, nothing lasts forever and old photos are no exception.
Here’s a great recipe to use those wonderful fresh strawberries that are available now.
Chocolate strawberry shortcake
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cold butter, cut up
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoons brown sugar
2 squares semi-sweet chocolate
1 tub (8 ounces) whipped topping, thawed
3 cups quartered fresh strawberries
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix first four ingredients in large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add next three ingredients; mix well. Pour into two greased and floured nine-inch round pans. Mix 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and the brown sugar; sprinkle over batter.
Bake 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.
Melt semi-sweet chocolate as directed on package. Place one cake layer on plate; top with half each of whipped topping and berries. Cover with second cake layer. Top with remaining whipped topping and berries; drizzle with semi-sweet chocolate.
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