Montgomery County Historical Society Inc

LIBRARY AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICESIn FY24 we took the 240 individual audio tracks from 95 oral history interviews, including 22 paper transcripts, and made them publicly available for the first time. We also made additional progress with our New Life for Old News campaign to digitize the now-defunct Montgomery County Gazettes as well as other valuable regional newspapers. In early 2023, we received a grant to digitize a portion of the records of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgomery County that date from 1848 through the turn of the century. Our project archivist scanned and uploaded more than 3,300 documents to our digital repository over the course of five months. The project was released for public access in March 2024.

COLLECTIONS, PUBLICATIONS AND MUSEUM ACTIVITIESIn FY24 we produced two issues of the Story. The Fall 2023 issue featured a timely article entitled In Slaverys Shadow: Surveying Montgomery County Public School Names. The Spring 2024 issue was nominated for a public history award and highlights one of the countys first and most prominent businesswoman: Negative Space: The Life of Rebecca G. Fields, Publisher & Proprietor of the Montgomery County Sentinel, 1871-1930. Our artifact collection was in temporary storage throughout FY24. However, we received 13 donations of artifacts totaling 123 objects.