Brant County Digital History Finds International Audience

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New grant used to increase online history collection

St. George, ON – From Iceland to Chile, South Africa to St.George, people are discovering their past with the County’s online digital history records and thanks to a new grant, it’s only going to get better.

The South Dumfries Historical Society, in partnership with the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead, the Paris Museum and Historical Society, and the County of Brant Public Library, announced today that they have received a $29,300 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF).

The South Dumfries Historical Society and its partners hope to preserve our community’s history, and to make it more accessible and interactive through free online access.

Previous projects on the County of Brant Public Library Digital Collections have generated a lot of online interest, with users from as far away as Chile and Iceland benefitting from the wide range of historical information in the collection.

This collection expansion will encompass St. George, Glen Morris, and other corners of the South Dumfries area.

Lana Jobe, Curator at the Paris Museum points out that, “Even the Paris area has a rich heritage as part of South Dumfries Township, prior to annexation. We are very proud to be involved in such an important project.”

Over the next 15 months, the partners will work to digitize their historical collections and present them online through various websites, including the County of Brant Public Library Digital Collections at http://images.ourontario.ca/brant.

A virtual tour of the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead will also be created, allowing visitors from all over the world to get a glimpse inside this unique historical artefact.

“We’re so excited that this website is finding an audience! We’ve had emails from people in South Africa and Iceland telling us how happy they were to find pieces of their family history online. Closer to home, the community has been very involved in identifying mysterious people and buildings in some of the lesser known images. We’re very happy with the ongoing dialogue about county history,” says Christine MacArthur, project manager of the Library’s Digital Historical Collections.

A leading grantmaker in Canada, the Ontario Trillium Foundation strengthens the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives. An agency of the Government of Ontario, OTF builds healthy and vibrant communities.

www.trilliumfoundation.org