OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The Durham Photo Archive is comprised of more than one million photos taken in the Omaha area, going as far back as the 1850s.
- The different collections which make up the archive were donated by photographers, estates, and auction buyers, for example.
- In 2010, staff and volunteers began digitizing the images. Today, roughly one-third of those images are online.
- Though many of the photos have historical significance, some are more personal: "Having a picture of (someone's) grandmother that passed away... means a lot."
Continue reading for the story as it aired.
Set in brick. Howard Street is the heart of the Old Market. Picturesque at holiday time. This block was nearly destroyed by its first massive fire 120 years ago.
This icy and iconic image from that day is one of more than a million negatives in the Durham Museum Photo Archive.
"Things that you would think of - for more of those bigger - like more front page news stories, as opposed to those back page shoe-kicking competitions," Collection Manager Kristen Rowley said of the archive's breadth.
She's quick to explain she's not the only one who's had a hand in organizing it.
"We have had decades upon decades of volunteers that have put together all of these boxes and binders and everything that you see."
Negatives are first organized by photographer or who donated the collection. Then, letters and numbers provide a roadmap for what's inside.
But, today, about 360,000 photos are digitally searchable. Think - keywords.
A photo archive facilitator at The Durham, Katie Dykstra demonstrated the process using donated negatives from the Omaha Sun.
Where a search of 'Millard' or 'track meet' or '1972' could lead to those shots. In a nutshell, getting the physical online is Dykstra's job, which she described as fulfilling.
"It might not seem important to everyone else, but like, to this person, having a picture of their grandmother that passed away, and we have a photo, means a lot to them."
So, while half of requests to their office are from the likes of students, authors and designers, the personal accounts for the rest.
Rowley herself found a picture of her great-great-grandmother's deli called Rocho's.
"Very prominent. You can easily read the sign, so I printed that out for my dad for Christmas one year," she said of the image.
Some photos are so special, they inspire exhibits.
These were part of a more recent donation to the Archive. Beyond Combat: World War I Through the Lens of "Doc" Cook runs into January. Cook served and later lived in Omaha.
His photos - like others on the first floor of the museum - show moments which are impossible to recreate.
"Can you smell that? It smells a little bit like vinegar. This is something that just happens to acetate negatives sometimes," Rowley explained as she removed a negative which had dried out with time.
That particular image (of a passenger on a train) was digitized in 2010 before it was so far gone.
Rowley defines an archive's purpose as not to curate, but just make available.
The photos, like BF 362-006 of the fire in 1905, help complete the record. Though, in some cases, whats in the boxes and binders could be the extent of the record.
New photos are added to the online archive each week and all of them are for sale. This link has the details needed to begin that process.