Preserving The McCoy Scrapbooks for the future

Original scrapbook pages

Reproduction scrapbook pages

As Curatorial Assistant at the museum this summer, one of my tasks has been to digitize and re-create our McCoy Scrapbook collection…

          

These scrapbooks were created, and donated to the museum by local history enthusiast Mildred McCoy, a resident of Richmond. Who cut out articles from area papers pertaining to the lives of Goulbourn residents. There are 23 books in all, spanning the years 1907 to 1987. The articles cover a variety of topics from births, deaths, and marriages to municipal politics, local businesses, and church groups. The books are indexed by last name, so looking up articles on a specific person is easily done.
                

Due to the age of the books, many pages were falling a part and in poor condition, or the newspaper clippings were becoming too dark to read. In order to preserve the information held in each book the museum decided to have all the articles scanned, printed, and placed in to new scrapbooks using acid free pages and glue. As soon as all the books have been reproduced, the originals will be put away in storage, and the re-productions will be used for reference and research.
            

So far 9 scrapbooks have been preserved …This is an important project for the museum since it will allow future generations to read the stories of their families and communities…For me personally, I have found my grandma’s birth announcement, great grandparents wedding announcement, and an article on my great grandfathers death while working on the scrapbooks…You should stop in and take a look…you never know what you might find.