Thomasville Chapter DAR presents Excellence in Historic Preservation Award to the Thomasville History Center
May 25—THOMASVILLE- The May meeting of the Thomasville Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) featured a program by Ephraim Rotter. Chapter Regent Charlotte Brown introduced the speaker. Rotter has been Curator of the Thomasville History Center since 2007. A native of Montclair, New Jersey, Rotter previously worked as the Assistant Curator aboard the Battleship New Jersey Museum & Memorial and as a writing instructor and research assistant at Rutgers University, where he received his master's degree in public history. He served as President of the Georgia Association of Museums 2021-2022 and is currently on the board of directors. He also served on the Thomasville Historic Preservation Commission for nine years and is a two-time Georgia Humanities Scholar.
May is Historic Preservation month. Rotter presented a program about the preservation of items such as family photographs and important documents that a person wants to save for the next generation. In his job as Curator, the Thomasville History Center uses acid free folders and buffered boxes to store these types of items for the museum. Historical and family items need protection from mold and humidity but paper is resilient too. "Without a plan in place to preserve personal items and family heirlooms, most end up being thrown away after a family member dies," Rotter said. Ideally, there are family members that have an interest in genealogy which will help find a place for those photographs. He said to also check with the History Center, other museums or archives about donating historical records to their collections.
Another suggestion is framing copies of photographs instead of using the originals. This protects the older photos from damage that may occur from the glass of the frame. Most photos donated to the History Center are taken out of the frames since that takes up less space and allows for better preservation. If individuals are planning to donate their photos to a family member, do so without the frames. Most people have lots of framed photos and this makes the donation more space friendly. Place the photos in albums or photo boxes. The first step is to organize the photos by type, size and condition. Is it a Daguerreotype, 35mm slide or a studio photo? Check the back of photographs for names, dates, developing codes, where it was printed or the type of paper used to help organize the items. Once organized, store photographs in labeled pocket folders or three ring binders and then begin the important process of identifying the people in the photographs including ones of yourself. If the people shown are unknown, is there a date or location of when the photo was taken? Any clues found from the photos can be helpful to the person or archives receiving these items in the future. Add this information to the back of the photos for easy access when stored in photo boxes. The information can also be added beside photos in albums or scrapbooks. "The important thing is identifying the photographs when possible to ensure that these items will be saved and treasured by future generations and not thrown away," Rotter said. If you have printed copies of photographs taken of the same location, take the time to pick the best ones and throw away duplicates not needed.
In preservation of documents, most will have the person's name making them easier to organize. Important documents can be stored in Mylar archival material or three ring binders. The oversized documents can also be framed. "Be your own curator," Rotter said. Organize, identify and preserve family history and the important memories of your lifetime and then determine who the items will be given to in the future.
After the program, Chapter Regent Charlotte Brown thanked Rotter for his presentation. "One of the missions of DAR is to promote Historic Preservation," Regent Brown said. The Thomasville Chapter, NSDAR would like to recognize the Thomasville History Center for its achievements since 1952 to restore historic buildings and preserve historical collections about Thomas County, its citizens and the Thomasville community. "It is through this appreciation that the Thomasville Chapter would like to present the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Excellence in Historic Preservation Award to the Thomasville History Center," Regent Charlotte Brown said. Executive Director Anne McCudden and Rotter accepted the award for the Thomasville History Center. "Thank you very much. We appreciate the honor of the award. The History Center is a vital part of this community. It has been and will continue to be," McCudden said.
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 190,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world's largest and most active service organizations. More than one million women have joined the DAR since it was founded. To learn more about the work of today's DAR, visit www.DAR.org. For more information about the Thomasville Chapter DAR, visit thomasville.georgiastatedar.org or facebook.com/ThomasvilleChapterNSDAR.
