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Linking Past to Present: Bixby Launches Digital Photograph Collection

photo provided The Great Fire of 1958, as seen from Green Street, destroyed an entire city block. Included in the collection are over one hundred spectacular color photographs of this fire.

photo provided Passengers and trains at the Vergennes Train Station, date unknown. The station still stands today and this photograph was taken at what is now the rear of the building, looking down the tracks toward Middlebury.

Tuesday April 26, 2011

By Cookie Steponaitis

     Where is your photo collection or even maybe slides that you have been meaning to sort? File cabinet? Box in the living room? Maybe even in the garage? What stories of your life and family do these photos hold? Like many Americans the digital age has left us with images that are stored the old fashioned way. They await our attention and our preservation, for unbeknownst to most of us, they are treasures.

     When the Bixby Library recently inventoried its collections for the upcoming centennial celebration, it was clear that one of the least known by the local people was the treasure trove of seven hundred and fifty 35 mm slide images, comprising 122 years of Vermont’s oldest city of Vergennes. Featuring a wide range of topics dating from the 1866 Civil War parade to the 1988 Bicentennial, the collection provides a comprehensive and unique look at small town life in northern Vermont. The photographs document the full visual spectrum of history in Vergennes, from business, industry, and transportation to natural scenery, paintings, and portraits of people who once walked the city’s then-muddy streets. So, the question of how to preserve the collection for future generations but still make it accessible to not only locals but people from around the nation was the topic of much debate.

     Local UVM senior Elias Baldwin who has a passion for history and is very well versed in the unique stories and heritage of the Otter Creek Basin decided to help. Elias is fascinated with the depth of the photo collection and latched on to the idea of bringing the technology of UVM and the collection of the Bixby together. “This project has two purposes,” reflected Elias. “First to make historical collections at the Bixby more accessible to the public, and to increase interest in and appreciation of local history. I can trace my feeling the need for this project back to last May when I was researching the Major General Samuel Strong house at the Bixby Library. Thumbing through a few articles about the house, I came across an inconspicuous envelope. Opening it, I found the original deed to the house: a two hundred-twenty-year-old piece of paper. Sitting there in the library, I was struck by a strong urge to spread the word on the fascinating material the Bixby has to offer. I also felt I needed to preserve it at the same time. It was an interesting feeling holding a scrap of paper that had been written when George Washington was alive. The fact that it had survived all that time made me feel powerful to determine its future. I put it back in the envelope, of course.”

     Elias brought to the Bixby Board of Trustees the proposal of using his time and talents and the hosting services and technology of the University of Vermont to create a permanent way to archive, protect and at the same time promote these wonderful images. The project is a result of a partnership between the Bixby Memorial Free Library and the Center for Digital Initiatives (CDI) at the UVM Library (Bailey-Howe). The CDI’s mission is to provide access to unique digital collections online for free and they enjoy partnering with other libraries. They provided the equipment, expertise, and hosting for the Bixby collection. The initial contacts were made last summer and fall and Elias began the process this year with the blessings of both groups. When asked to explain how the process worked, Elias remarked “This project has been in the works since September. First, I had to form the partnership between the Bixby and UVM; that meant several meetings to discuss contributions, rights, and responsibilities of each library. Everything was documented so there was a good deal of paperwork. I had to submit a proposal to the CDI Selection Committee and after they expressed interest in the project, the Bixby Board of Trustees had to approve the project, mostly because the slides would be brought to Burlington for scanning. The next phase, the scanning, took 65 hours. At the same time I logged each image onto a spreadsheet documenting each with an ID, place, date, title, etc. This information, called metadata, took about two months to finish off. I also spent those months assigning subjects to each image, so the collection is searchable by subject or location. If you want pictures of waterfalls, you click waterfalls and look through the results, something you can’t do with a box of slides. Lastly, in the next few months I’ll be taking the collection ‘on the road’ doing presentations, showing off what a useful resource it can be, and how entertaining looking at old photographs is.”

     The collection is titled “Photographs of Vergennes, Vermont,” and will soon be available at cdi.uvm.edu free of charge to all who are curious. Elias plans to take the new digital collection around to different organizations in the state to show everyone how easy it is to access and even become a part of this monumental recording of local history. “I am really excited to see how people will react to this part of the technology,” shared Elias. “Viewers can leave comments on any photo, same as they would on a Youtube video or Facebook page. The comments will be directed to the CDI, Bixby, and me. I am counting on these comments from viewers, because the slides were not the original photographs, and because I didn’t have the luxury of looking at all the originals, I imagine some historical information is inevitably left out. It’s up to the folks who know better to write in and tell me what I need to add, subtract, or correct. It’s a great way for people to participate in improving a historical resource. Also, I hope people come my presentations. I promise they won’t be boring!”

     Elias Baldwin’s passion for local history represents the next generation of historians, as he blends the knowledge and love of the past with the newest in technology to preserve, protect and present collections of immense size and local interest. Reaching out to connect younger people to the cause of studying local history, Elias helps to further link generations and sees this project as just a beginning of what is possible.

     “My passion was sparked in high school and college distractions never diluted it,” shared Elias. “I believe knowledge and appreciation of local history leads to increased community pride, and more respect for the people that came before us and the things that have lasted for centuries. Some of the people buried in Vergennes’ First Cemetery were born when Addison County was wilderness. Looking at their graves, knowing what came before, creates a feeling of the gravity of place, and understanding that if it is to exist 100 years from now, it’s up to us. I realize it’s up to my generation to maintain interest in it and preserve what’s survived up until now. Vergennes history is especially fascinating because it isn’t dehumidified behind glass, it’s tangible, and you can walk around the streets or look in the library and feel and touch it. You can stand down by the basin and think, Commodore MacDonough was here. I am standing where he once walked. Or you can go to the Bixby and see Mr. Bixby’s reading glasses and chess set. If you consign a tidbit or artifact to be lost or unavailable, you won’t learn the full story.”

    Another tantalizing part of the collection is the mystery behind the photos. The authors of these photographs remain undocumented and anonymous, except for a selection of photographs by local artist Harvey Custer Ingham (1863-1931), a personal friend of local businessman and library founder William Gove Bixby (1829-1907). Mr. Bixby left funds from his estate for the founding of a public library in the city of Vergennes, including the construction of the imposing Greek revival library building on Main Street. The library opened on November 4, 1912, and in 2012 celebrates a century of continued service to Vergennes and the surrounding towns of Addison, Panton, Waltham, and Ferrisburgh.

     While many Voice readers like to hold the photograph in their hand and Elias Baldwin sympathizes with you, he was quick to point out that this blending of technology and history preserves them in a way that increases visibility and guarantees their safety for the future. “More than most people of my generation,” commented Elias, “I like to touch the hard copy. I like to feel the object my hand. But technology is an unmatched way to improve access to artifacts without compromising their condition. No matter where you are, as long as you have computer and Internet access, you can view these images. They are organized, searchable, and of great quality. It makes the great primary historical resources we have at the Bixby widely available and in turn, awareness of what the Bixby Library has to offer increases. I want people to know about the wealth of materials at the Bixby but I also want it to last. Less handling of the materials is a good thing.”

     So arm chair historians, devoted history buffs and the curious alike, fire up your computers and go to http://cdi.uvm.edu and look up the “Photography of Vergennes, Vermont” new collection. It’s free and accessible anytime. While you are there, leave some comments for Elias or the Bixby staff as well as comments and suggestions for new ways to catalog and new caption tags for photos. It is a compilation of images reflecting the unique history of Vergennes and the Otter Creek Basin and begging each generation to weigh in on what they see, know and remember.

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