A Glad Thanksgiving: Digitized

Among the good people, fortune, and places The Preservator will give thanks for this year, we wanted to take an especially nerdy moment to thank the good people of the world who work digitizing amazing collections, so that pieces of history can see the light of day on the internet. This is a big task and small armies of people help bring so many incredible resources to our fingertips.

I'm looking at you, PhillyHistory.org, the City Archives website, as well as your blog. I get lost in your geocoded image collections, culled from public agencies and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, mining the city's history. 

And you, Library of Congress, where to even begin? I am thankful for the digitized HABS/HAER/HALS "Built In America" collection and, my personal favorite,  "By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA 1936-1943 alone. That barely scratches the surface. 

This year, I've also loved falling down the rabbit hole of Flickr photostreams by powerhouse institutions like the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, U.S. National Archives, and DC Public Library, where public domain images have become even easier to find. 

On a more local note, Brooklyn Public Library, your Brooklynology blog makes me smile with images and strange tales of ephemera from your archives.

The Preservator will have a Glad Thanksgiving indeed. 

To see more of the NYPL's Vintage Thanksgiving Postcards, click here.


"A Glad Thanksgiving", Published by Whitney Valentine Co.
Vintage Holiday Postcard, NYPL
Image via New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan Library / Picture Collection Digital ID: 1588314