Rockford’s Midway Village Museum is making it easier for people to access historic images from the city’s past.
The Museum often is asked for photos to help history buffs for family trees, business research, and school projects. Previously, you would have needed an appointment. Now, more than a thousand of the Museum’s most popular images are available online.
Laura Furman, Curator of Collections at Midway Village, says the project was made possible due to support from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois and the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board. It included the ability to digitize photos captured on rare glass-plate negatives.
“We didn’t have the right scanning equipment to scan them, and so they were kind of stuck in their format," Furman said. "There are some really charming pictures of community life in the early 1900s.”
Other artifacts include early 20th century postcards of Rockford, Civil War letters sent by local soldiers, and images related to the Rockford Peaches.
The collection is available at the Midway Village Museum’s website.
The digital photos include a watermark identifying the Midway Village Museum. Photos still can be requested without the watermark for a small fee.
