One of DCNRHS’ major projects is to professionally preserve and put on-line/digitize resources related to railway heritage from the Washington, D.C. area. The project, called the Digital DC Railway Heritage Project, includes professionally digitizing historic photos, timetables, information and stories, and other rail road ephemera. Some of the materials such as photos may also be made available for sale as reproductions. DCNRHS received a major boost for the project in 2012 with a grant from the NRHS to help defray the technology, archive, and digitization costs.
In addition, DCNRHS is incorporating oral histories of Washington, D.C. area railroaders into the project, an effort that got underway the fall of 2013. The oral history component, which will capture the stories and recollections in video and written form as told through the railroaders’ first-hand experiences. This effort is especially critical as father time marches on. We want their stories available for future generations.
We are looking for individuals to participate in and contribute to the project in the following ways:
- Railroaders to tell their stories as part of the oral histories
- Stenographers/transcribers to listen to audio and video tapes and produce written transcripts of the histories
- Contributors of railroad ephemera and photographs that are suitable for digitization and putting on-line
- Contributors of vintage digitized videos (film may be accepted but is not preferred) of the Washington, D.C. area railroading prior to 1988. We can take analog formats and VHS, S-VHS, Hi-8, and DVD and analog formats. Send us an email and let us know what meterial you have and what format it is in. We can then make a best determination of how to proceed.
- Scanners to help us catalog, digitize, and archive materials for on-line presentation (we can teach you)
- Computer and tech saavy individuals to help us set up the on-line systems and populate them with content
- Videographers to help us record the oral histories
- Interpreters to conduct the oral history interviews
If you have questions about the project or would like to contribute in any of the ways mentioned in this article, Please contact us.. We will also accept monetary gifts to help support the project. Go to www.dcnrhs.org to donate.