Help preserve images by adding to Indiana Album - Dubois County Free Press, Inc.

Some of our state’s most important historic images aren’t in museums. They’re in your house.

Jasper Public Library hosting Indiana Album Scan-a-Thon

*Women at gravesite of Frank X. Kunkler, St. Ferdinand Catholic Cemetery, Ferdinand, circa 1940. From the Indiana Album: Tara L. Uebelhor Bayse Collection.*

Do you have interesting photographs of Grandpa’s business, your ancestral home, street scenes, childhood snapshots, class photos, or other historical images from any era? Have you collected postcards of Indiana? The public won’t find them in your attic, so the Indiana Album, a non-profit organization, scans privately owned photos and other documents and brings Hoosiers’ collective history to the web — one image at a time.

Dig through your shoeboxes and albums and bring Indiana-related items to the Jasper-Dubois County Public Library at 100 Third Ave. in Jasper on Saturday, October 19, 2024, from 9:30 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. The Indiana Album makes Indiana’s hidden gems available by scanning, cataloging, and sharing historic items for students of all ages to discover and use. Subjects desired include photographs, postcards, and documents of all eras of Indiana houses, farms, businesses, schools, churches, buildings, bands, clubs, transportation, or interesting people (including portraits of prominent or pioneer residents, people participating in activities, or great snapshots of everyday life).

*2. Chili Albert working at D-X Station, 525 Main St., Ferdinand. From the Indiana Album: Tara L. Uebelhor Bayse Collection*.

“Many lenders are too selective, mistakenly believing that their family items or recent snapshots are not significant enough,” says Executive Director Joan Hostetler. “We not only document history with a capital H, but also the everyday person’s journey up to present day — after all, history doesn’t have an end date. We seek images of activities such as laundry day, farming, construction, church and club events, or going to the prom. Of particular interest are visuals of houses, commercial structures, or nearly any building as we plan to geo-tag the images and make them map searchable.”

Hostetler advises that if you are unsure if your photos fit the criteria, bring along the whole box for staff to decide.

Volunteers will make high-resolution scans while lenders wait (or you may leave them at the museum in advance). Later, the scans and catalog records will be uploaded into the online catalog at www.indianaalbum.com. All items will be carefully handled and immediately returned to their owners. Make a reservation or learn how to submit your own scans by contacting reference/genealogy librarian Jill Watson at (812) 482-2712 x6109 or jwatson@jdcpl.us.

Rustic Tavern interior, 1933. The Rustic Tavern, located three miles north of Jasper in a woods on State road 45-56, opened on July 4, 1933. The dance hall, which also served as a roller skating rink, was originally operated by Hilbert Fritch and Cyril “Toots” Haller. It was later known as the Sportsman Club and the Legion Club Canteen. From the Indiana Album: Flick Family Collection.

The Jasper Public Library is well-equipped to help you scan family photographs year-round, so visit the genealogy room or the makerspace to learn how to copy and preserve your family documents.

Formed in 2012, the Indiana Album has digitized over 25,000 items shared by over 540 lenders so far. Visit the Indiana Album web page (www.indianaalbum.com) to search the catalog or email info@indianaalbum.com to learn how to participate.