Community Colllaborations: You Tell Us
By inviting the public into the museum with an opportunity to preserve a portion of their personal history we hope to enhance their view of us as a partner in the community and also collect pieces of our local history that we might not have the opportunity to obtain any other way. We will invite all participants as well as the general public to a viewing of this project by giving a power point presentation in our meeting room at the museum on a Saturday in late March to show the new photos we have collected through the workshops as well as photos from our collection that will enhance the presentation and tell the story of our community through the generations. We will survey both participants and guests about the project and ask for comments and suggestions how we can expand the project in the future to continue to capture history as it is being made.
This project proved to be more valuable than we anticipated as we have formed bonds with community members that had not been involved with the museum and opened their eyes to the good work we can do if we work together. Each individual that shared photos with us felt the importance there photos brought to our collection now as well as for generations in the future. Most photographs came with information about the individuals or events pictured and that alone is a treasure! As we showed the PowerPoint, many comments were shared and everyone learned and enjoyed the presentation. We feel that it has set a new tone for collaboration through groups and individuals and will help to form the type of story that will be told about our community now and in the future. We are very pleased with the outcome of this project and hopeful of new collaborations in the future. We had hoped to collect 300 photos and we are well over 900!
Freeborn County Genealogical Society, Freeborn County Historical Society Library, SELCO