The Big Picture Across America Photo Project
Call to share American heritage from nostalgic photos announced by ScanMyPhotos.com from family photo album archives.
Our local history holds a treasure trove of interesting stories and tales about how our nation came to be. This history is also what helped to shape who we are, where we come from, and/or where we currently live. This is why we’re starting our #PictureLocalHistory challenge for the month of August.
While many historical societies and archivists throughout our country work hard to preserve local history, we’ve found that many of these clues and stories of the past are hiding away in the closets, attics, and basements of our customers.
That’s right—we’ve scanned 400 million vintage print photos that reveal how life was lived in American cities and towns 20, 50, and even sometimes 100 years ago. One of these photos might even be sitting in your closet right now, waiting to be preserved.
So, in honor of World Picture Day 2017—which falls on August 19—we’re challenging every city in America with a very special project: #PictureLocalHistory.
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What’s your hometown’s story?
Whether it’s a photo of your great grandfather riding his 1930s Harley from Wisconsin to San Diego or a photo of your great grandmother which shows a day in the life of your Chumash heritage, old print photos highlight bits and pieces of history across America.
And, of course, there are still more pieces out there to be discovered. With 3 1/2 trillion still-analog printed photo snapshots, they are awaiting to be scanned and digitized. These photos could reveal fun, interesting, or crazy pieces of local history—and now is our chance to bring them to life.
To participate in the #PictureLocalHistory project, join us and people across the nation to share decades-past historical photos:
1. Scan and preserve
If you haven’t scanned and digitized your old print photos, now is the time to do so. Send them to us today, and we can get you the digital copies so you can easily add them to any #PictureLocalHistory collection.
2. Start a collection
Work with your local community to add put these photos together in some sort of a collection—a photo book, online album, social media account dedicated to the photos, etc.
3. Hashtag it with #PictureLocalHistory
Make sure every photo uploaded online includes the hashtag: #PictureLocalHistory. This will help us all see the photos participating in the challenge across the U.S.
4. Enjoy!
There are long forgotten stories and history out there waiting to be re-discovered. Enjoy learning and sharing these local stories with your community.
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The sky’s the limit when it comes to which type of local history compilation you choose to do. The Daily Sun in Flagstaff, AZ put out a call for local photos as they intend to create a special book of the city’s history. While we agree this is a great idea if your city or town has the resources, you could also create a Facebook album online for free! Just start a public (but heavily moderated) Facebook group for your town and encourage everyone to upload and add their images of local history. Don’t forget to encourage everyone to share the context and stories surrounding each photo.
Let’s work together to preserve the historical photos that define your community’s history. Scan, digitize, and upload your local history photos today.
Lost artwork from LA’s history have recently been discovered in the basement of the oldest television station west of the Mississippi River, KTLA Television Channel 5 in Los Angeles (KTLA-TV-CH5-LA).
PRESS RELEASE
Preserving Local History: How We Are Capturing the Big Picture Across America
Every year families from different cities and towns across the country send their print photos to us to scan and digitize. As we’ve worked to preserve their precious memories, we noticed all these photos have something in common: they’re the source of incredible stories. In fact, we’ve heard so many touching and extraordinary stories regarding print photos that we created “Tales From The Pictures We Saved” podcast series dedicated to them.
But this got us thinking in terms of local history.
While we were busy scanning and digitizing more than 400 million printed photo snapshots sent to us from customers around the U.S. and overseas over the past 27 years, we’ve noticed something from digitizing the precious memories of families in cities and towns across the nation.
When we’re taught about U.S. history, we’re given a rundown of all the big events: colonization, The Revolutionary War, the Gold Rush, the Emancipation Proclamation, etc. But we rarely get a glimpse into the history of the individual villages, towns, and cities that make up our country.
While many historical societies throughout our country work hard to preserve local history, we’ve found that many of these clues and stories of the past are hiding away in the closets, attics, and basements of homes across the nation.
That’s right, we’ve scanned more than 400 million mostly vintage photos that reveal how life was lived in American cities and towns 20, 50, and even sometimes 100 years ago. One of these photos might even be sitting in your closet right now, waiting to be preserved.
Our local history is a treasure trove of interesting stories and tales about how our nation came to be. This history has also helped to shape who we are and the place where we currently live.
So, in honor of World Picture Day 2017—which falls on August 19—we’re challenging every city in America with a very special project: Let’s work together to preserve the historical photos that define your community’s history.
Most iconic photographs celebrating every city in America project
Look back at the photographs that have helped define the history of every town and city in America.
Promote national events for families to gather and watch the history of their communities through pictures. There’s a small city in New York that sits on the shore of the Hudson River. This city has roots in the early days of American colonialism, the Revolutionary War, and each city has similar history hidden away. What’s your hometown’s story?
As gentrification—and the controversy it’s currently stirring up—becomes a growing issue, preserving our local history’s more important than ever.
