On August 4, 2018, residents of Wichita Falls and the surrounding area participated in a History Harvest at the Wichita Falls Public Library. Community members brought items from their family collections, including historic photographs, letters, and other documents. The objective of the History Harvest was to create a community collection from the area's families documenting local, regional, and national history.
Eight scanning stations were set up at the library. Staff from sponsoring organizations and volunteers from the community digitized hundreds of unique items and collected detailed documentation for each. The collection owners were able to take their original materials home along with free digital copies. The sponsoring organizations created and retained a digital copy with the owner's approval.
The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) also participated in the day’s events, collecting Texas-based film and video for free digitization as part of their Texas Film Round-Up program. These materials are digitized in Austin and returned by mail to the owners, along with a digital copy.
Sponsoring local organizations included the Wichita Falls Public Library, Moffett Library at Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls Museum of Art, Kemp Center for the Arts, Museum of North Texas History, Wichita Falls Alliance for Arts and Culture, and Wichita County Heritage Society.
View photos from the event, as well as some of the photographs and documents brought in by community members, in the slideshow below.