Historical photos online through Trumbull library

Staff report

WARREN

Historic photographs from the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library’s archives, starting with ones from the 1985 tornadoes, will be available for viewing on the Internet beginning today.

The Local History & Genealogy Center in the Main Library in Warren houses more than 1,300 historic photographs, primarily of Trumbull County. As part of the library’s Trumbull Memory Project, the photographs are being scanned and loaded onto a web site along with information known about each picture.

More than 100 photos document the series of tornadoes that hit Northeastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania May 31, 1985, leaving behind a wide path of destruction.

“Making these photos available online will allow them to be viewed by a broader audience,” said Elizabeth Glasgow, LH&G Center librarian.

The Memory Project website includes a data page with the subject and date of each photograph, notes and links to oral histories. Visitors to the Tornado Memory Collection section will have the opportunity to contribute their own stories and photographs through an online form.

The library was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Warren Area Chamber Education, Civic and Cultural Foundation Inc., to digitally preserve the library’s collection of historic photographs. The Warren Library Association also donated $5,000 to the library to support the project.

The funds were used to purchase a color scanner, a computer and web server, and computer software to facilitate the scanning. To view the Tornado Memory Collection, visit the Trumbull Memory Project site at www.trumbullmemory.org.

Additional collections of photographs that will be added to the Trumbull Memory Project include scenes of Warren and Trumbull County, people and families.