Gregg Grunow, a senior librarian who heads up the Virginiana Room at the Main Street Library in Newport News, has been scanning and posting historic documents to the city's website, including postcards and maps from the 1700s to the 1920s. Some examples are maps from the 18th century and land deeds signed by Collis P. Huntington, the railroad magnate who helped develop Newport News and its shipyard.
Soon to be posted are World War I-era photographs depicting life at U.S. Army Camp Morrison in what is now Newport News, and soldiers returning from the war under the Victory Arch.
Soon to be posted are World War I-era photographs depicting life at U.S. Army Camp Morrison in what is now Newport News, and soldiers returning from the war under the Victory Arch.
Grunow said many history buffs moved away from Newport News or can't easily make it here. "A lot of people are interested in what we have, but they can't get here," Grunow said. He said it also helps in preserving documents because there's fewer people touching the materials.
You can read more in an article in the DailyPress.com web site at http://www.dailypress.com/news/newport-news/dp-nws-digital-history-20100924,0,191014.story
To see historic Newport News documents from the 1700s to the early 1900s, check out http://www.nngov.com/library/resources/digital
My thanks to Janell Nickols for telling me about this article.
