One of Anne-Imelda Radice’s most emotional and memorable moments was looking at the Ellis Island record books signed by her Italian grandparents when they immigrated to the United States.
Today, Radice, director of the Washington-based federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, looked at books in the Denver Public Library that carry similar historical significance.
The books, dating from 1859 to 1900, list marriage records and real-estate transactions from Denver’s frontier days.
For the many American families now engaged in tracing their roots, the records can tell when great-great grandma married great-great granddad and where their ancestors lived in Denver and how their neighborhoods developed.
Now, the fragile books — more than 100 volumes — are being digitized.
Jim Kroll, manager of the library’s Western history/genealogy department says the digitized records will become “an excellent resource for our genealogy and house-history customers” and will ” document the unique stories of each (Denver) community.”
The digital images will be stored in the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries’ Alliance Digital Repository (ADR) and will be accessible through a Web interface on the Denver Public Library and ADR website.
Radice’s institute helped fund the project with a $779,000 grant.
Today, she toured the new state-of-the-art digitizing equipment in immaculate rooms in Denver’s Central Library.
Radice says her agency awarded the Denver project the money because of the city’s keen interest in preserving its historic treasures and the ability to do so in a facility as modern as the Denver Central Library.
“You are the best of the best,” said Radice. “You are a phenomenal city. You get it.”
The project is a partnership of the city of Denver and the Denver Public Library.
“Every library wonders what they are going to do with city records,” said Radice. “Cities send the records to libraries because they trust them not to lose them. I think seeing what is happening in Denver — that Denver has taken the ball and run with it — may” encourage other cities to follow suit and digitize city records.
Radice and the library officials said it is important to preserve old documents.
They noted that there are 4.8 billion artifacts held in the country’s archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
According to the nonprofit Heritage Preservation, which works to save objects that embody the nation’s history, 65 percent of the country’s collecting institutions have experienced damage due to improper storage.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
