Museums for America - Digitizing the Photography Collections

The Harold McCracken Research Library recently received a federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). With this funding, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center’s McCracken Research Library is set to digitize photographs from five archival collections, eventually making the digital images available for worldwide use through the Historical Center's Web site.

The five collections include: the Dr. William and Anna Petzoldt Collection. This collection consists of 409 lantern slides images created by Rev. William A. Petzoldt, missionary to the Crow Indian Reservation in south central Montana in the early 20th century. The Reverend Petzoldt and his wife Anna lived among the Crow people at Lodge Grass, Montana running a Baptist Mission and a day school for children. It is assumed that the Petzoldt's used these slides of Crow Reservation life to give public presentations concerning their missionary work (see top image to right). The photographic images includes series that document activities such as the operation of a summer berry camp, the game of arrow throwing, early church services, parades, and many other aspects of Crow culture. Many of these slides have been hand colored, and some reproductions of the images can be seen in the Plains Indian Museum.

The Thomas Marquis Collection has photographs taken by physician and expert photographer Thomas B. Marquis (1864-1936). Dr. Marquis captured Northern Cheyenne life in numerous images taken from 1926 to 1935 (see third image to right). Dr. Marquis practiced medicine in Montana, was with the U. S. Medical Corps during World War I, and became the government physician on the Tongue River-Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana. Because of his interest in American Indian subjects he eventually gave up his medical practice and became devoted full time to gathering historical data and writing.

The Vincent Mercaldo Collection, with more than 2000 pieces, is a vast assortment of well known, historical Western images. Mercaldo collected photographs of western icons such as William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, Sitting Bull, "Wild Bill" Hickok, Chief Joseph, and many more - from the rich and famous to the infamous. He compiled a rich storehouse of photographs, articles, prints and drawings depicting Western people and subjects. The collection consists of prints and negatives of American Indians, Western explorers, lawmen and outlaws, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.

Photography collections from the Cody area include the Gabby Barrus Collection, consisting of 3000 objects, and featuring photographs of hunting and outfitting parties near the region from the 1920s and 1930s. Among the more famous participants are the likes of Tom Yawkey, legendary owner of the Boston Red Sox, and Ty Cobb, Baseball Hall of Famer, as well as others who enjoyed the beauty and outdoor opportunities of the Greater Yellowstone region. The Jack Richard Collection, with over 4000 pieces, documents the Yellowstone area from the 1940s to the 1980s, where Richard's (1909-1992) crisp, well composed images captured the Western way of life - from ranch activity to to national park wonders to the World War II internment of Japanese Americans at Heart Mountain Relocation Center near Cody (see second image to right). Richard's images tell the story of the uniqueness of northwestern Wyoming.

The $300,000 project, which consists of a $150,000 grant plus matching funds, enables the library to launch a two-year project to digitize 10,000 photographs from its significant Native American, natural history, and western American history collections. Not only does the project expand accessibility of the images for an unlimited off-site audience, it aids the library in preserving the original photographic prints and negatives by reducing handling.

Dr. Kurt Graham, Housel Curator of the McCracken Research Library, directs the project and selects the photographs to be included. “This federal funding allows us to digitize some of our most important photographic collections,” Graham said. “It gives us a much greater Web presence, which elevates our profile among researchers as well as the general public.”

U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), who toured the Library, expressed his continuing support. “During a recent visit to the McCracken Research Library, I saw firsthand the contributions they are making to Wyoming and to the study of the West,” Barrasso said. “This project is a great example of how leveraging federal dollars can expand educational opportunities at the Center.”

In addition to the purchase of digitizing equipment, the grant makes it possible for the Historical Center to hire two additional staff members to complete the project by August 2009. The searchable, visual database that results will include interpretive information on each image, as well as allow the public to order prints of the images from the Web site.

The IMLS is an independent grant-making agency of the federal government, whose mission is to lead the effort to create and sustain a “nation of learners.” The digitization grant received by the McCracken Research Library is one of 158 awarded by IMLS through its Museums for America grant program, which is set to distribute a total of $17.4 million over the next two years. This is the only Museums for America grant awarded in the state of Wyoming in 2007.

Museums for America is the agency’s largest grant program for museums and supports projects that strengthen museums as active resources for lifelong learning and key players in the establishment of livable communities. According to IMLS Director Dr. Anne-Imelda M. Radice, the grants “invest in our nation’s communities by supporting museums as active resources for lifelong learning, cultural heritage, and community engagement.”