Families Forever: A Cambria Memory Project

FAIN: PY-234009-16

Pennsylvania Highlands Community College (Johnstown, PA 15904-2948)
Barbara Zaborowski (Project Director: June 2015 to November 2016)

A series of community digitization events focusing on the immigrant history of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, through the collection of family photos, mementos, and artifacts. The Cambria County Historical Society, St. Francis University, the Johnstown Area Historical Association, and the Pennsylvania Highlands Community College would each serve as a scanning location and host cultural programs for the public, to include presentations entitled Healing African Dance, Pennsylvania German Groundhog Lodges, and Sevdalinka: A Musical Tour of Bosnia. In addition to the cultural heritage programming, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College in Johnstown would offer two workshops on how to handle and preserve family items using simple preservation materials readily available to the public.

Cambria County, Pennsylvania has a rich history of ethnic immigration. Families in the county have amassed historical relics brought from their native countries by grandparents and great-grandparents. In addition, there is a strong sense of family and genealogy. Many ethnic social organizations exist to keep alive the traditions of these various old world countries. This project will focus on capturing family photos, mementos, and artifacts in digital format. The digital images will be uploaded into a statewide repository, PowerLibrary, which will be a part of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). In order to generate interest in this project, a combination of social media, traditional print, and outdoor advertising will be used. A comprehensive series of public programs will also be offered to reinforce care and treatment of family heirlooms and the history of immigration. This project will highlight best practices and serve as a model for other organizations.

Associated Products

Cambria Memory Project (Web Resource)
Title: Cambria Memory Project
Author: Barbara Zaborowski
Abstract: The Cambria Memory Project has digitized thousands of items connected to the history of Cambria County. The items are stored both on the website and in the state repository, PA Photos and Docs. Items have been harvested to the Digital Public Library of America. The model for this project resulted in a statewide implementation of a similar scanning project in over 28 district library centers across the Commonwealth of PA.
Year: 2016
Primary URL: https://cambriamemory.org/
Primary URL Description: The homepage for the Cambria Memory Project.

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