Picturing Change: Community Photo Project

The McCully Heritage Project and the Center for American Archeology in Kampsville are putting out a call to all residents of Calhoun, Jersey, Pike Greene and nearby counties to contribute historic photographs and to tell their stories.  The groups have partnered to launch a citizen science project entitled Picturing Change and are looking for historic photographs taken before 1930. The goal of the project is to document historic-era environmental modifications in the Lower Illinois River valley through early photographs. The project seeks to identify, scan, and catalog these images, making them available to historical societies, researchers and everyday citizens.

“Photographs are one source of historical information easily overlooked by archeologists. This is somewhat surprising, because all photographs are taken with the idea of conveying information into the future,” said Dr. Gregory Vogel, Research Director at the Center for American Archeology. “As soon as a camera shutter snaps, the image it captured becomes a time machine. We are the future to previous generations, so earlier images provide a direct window into one moment forever gone. A small window, maybe, but one that would never have opened otherwise.”
           
The project provides the opportunity for residents to have digital copies made of old photographs free-of-charge and provides this service to area historical societies who may not have the resources to digitally archive their photographic collections.

“Our hope is that county residents will search their attics and their basements for those old photographs that they’ve been meaning to get out and share with the kids or grandkids,” said Michelle Berg Vogel of the McCully Heritage Project, “This is an incredible opportunity to have quality copies of those images made, and to share them with family members, but also to help us understand the history of our area.”

Residents who would like to participate in the project should contact Michelle at the McCully Heritage Project at 618-653-4687.