The Northfield History Collaborative, a local consortium dedicated to creating online access to documents and images related to Northfield history, has received a $43,950 grant from the Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage grants program.
The grant will support the second phase of the collaborative’s development. It will aid in the addition of six new partners and provide for the upload of a couple hundred digital objects, ranging from oral histories, historical photos, primary artifacts and documents held by the partner organizations. In addition, it will provide funds for a full time staff person for a period of nine months to coordinate the day-to-day operations of the collaborative.
“The goal of the NHC is to develop a Google-like, one-stop shopping center for Northfield area history,” said Hayes Scriven, co-chair of the NHC and executive director of Northfield Historical Society. “The long range goal is to broaden it to all of Rice County and to plug into a state or national database of historical records.”
The NHC was established in 2007 as a forum for local libraries, archives, museums and others to collaborate in identifying, describing, digitizing, and making accessible materials related to the history of Northfield. The initial partners of the NHC are the Northfield Historical Society, the Rice County Historical Society, the Northfield Public Library and Carleton College.
Sam Demas, co-chair of the NHC and college librarian for Carleton College, the collaborative has instituted standard technical protocol and a common technical platform that allows for easy access.
“Most important,” he said, “is our commitment to work together to provide comprehensive access to the records of Northfield history.”
The grant NHC received is from the Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant program, is administered by the Minnesota Historical Society. The grants were made possible through the passage of the Clean, Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution in November 2008. The grants are awarded to support projects of enduring value for the cause of history and historic preservations across the state. The Minnesota Historical Society will award $6.75 million during the 2010/2011 fiscal years.
“This is a really great time for history in Northfield and Rice County! I am really excited to start the second phase of the NHC!” Scriven stated.
