News-Leader and Library Partner for Photo Digitization Project
Ozarkers are passionate about preserving the images and stories that define our culture. The News-Leader Media Group and the Springfield-Greene County Library District share that passion, and are partnering on an exciting project that will preserve and share our unique photographic history.
The News-Leader is providing access to its files so library staff can digitally scan and make available online some 7,000 photographs and negatives from the Springfield Daily News and Springfield Leader & Press photo archives covering 1947-1962. They will also include many additional images that were never published in the papers. Project work begins June 1.
"These 15 years represent a crucial period of development and growth in Springfield and the Ozarks," says Brian Grubbs, manager of the library district’s Local History and Genealogy Department. "From the Darkroom: Springfield’s Historic Newspaper Photographs" includes images of U.S. Route 66, the Frisco Railroad, women in the workforce, economic and urban growth, agricultural developments, political movements, cultural changes and daily life and visiting celebrities.
"The Springfield-Greene County Library District is so very excited to collaborate with the Springfield News-Leader on this project," Grubbs adds. "The News-Leader and its predecessors have documented daily life in the Ozarks for 149 years.
"This image collection is extremely significant to Springfield and Ozarks history," he added. "'From the Darkroom' will establish public access to these images, enhancing the understanding of Ozarks’ history."
The project is supported by a $40,701 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the Missouri State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. The library district provided a match of $26,121 for project costs.
Digital and print copies of images from Springfield newspapers are among the most-requested items from library patrons, Grubbs explained.
"This project brings together two entities vested in Ozarks’ history and, for the first time, establishes public access to one of the most significant photographic collections in the region," Grubbs said.
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