For years, one of the least desired responsibilities of successive WDCGA Presidents was to take possession of the historic records of the WDCGA, including beautifully prepared, detailed scrapbooks dating back to 1934. Every two years, moments after the final luncheon, the outgoing President gleefully transferred multiple boxes to the newly inaugurated President.
In addition to assuming sole responsibility for the safekeeping of these important records, Presidents soon realized that they alone had access to our remarkable history. The logistical challenge of displaying these scrapbooks at any of our functions meant that the scrapbooks were never seen by our members. As the WDCGA moved to modernize and computerize operations, the digital preservation of our scrapbooks became an Executive priority.
This was not a normal auto-feed project; it was a challenge to find professionals capable of the enormous care necessary to preserve our antique, fragile pages. Over eighteen months from 2007 to 2009, the painstaking preservation was completed. The final step of the project was to upload the scrapbooks onto our website so that our wonderful history can now be enjoyed by all.
