Detroit Historical Museum

The Detroit Historical Society will digitize 750 hours of video and film archival footage including educational materials developed for the museum, public domain third-party footage (e.g. newsreels, amateur and home footage); official city event footage; public appearances by elected officials, area festivals and celebrations; and public access program footage. The project will identify, inventory, prioritize, and organize the video and film collection; footage will be digitized in high definition format and entered into PastPerfect; and digital "thumbnails" of footage will be made available online. The project will help meet the needs of three key audiences: K-12 teachers and students, independent scholars and researchers, and the general public, all of whom have requested the availability of video and film footage for classroom projects, research papers, commercially produced programs, and general enjoyment. Final products will include a robust free online collection database, lesson plans, a blog with interpretive content, an updated and complete inventory, finding aids, and catalog records for the collection.