Document Digitization Project: July 29 and 30

The Civil War 150 Legacy Project is coming to Winchester on July 29-30 at the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center. The project is an effort to scan Civil War-era (or related) documents and photographs from private collections.

Citizens are encouraged to bring original family materials to be scanned and included in the Project. This is a unique opportunity to share original family Civil War documents and photographs with a wider audience – without giving up ownership or any rights to those original materials.

Please note:

Materials must be originals.

Materials must be from private collections.

Only flat materials can be scanned; no three-dimensional objects can be included.

This is not an appraisal opportunity. (Library of Virginia personnel will not be able to give any kind of valuation to the materials.)

Participants in the project should call ahead to make a scanning appointment. Appointments will be scheduled between 10 am and 4pm on both July 29 and 30. To schedule an appointment, participants should call the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor Center at 540-542-1326.

The length of the appointments will vary depending upon the material to be scanned:

Diary: 30-45 minutes per diary

Letter – 5 pages or less: 10 minutes

Letter – 6-15 pages: 20 minutes

Photograph: 5 minutes per item

While the digitizing and display of the materials that have been scanned at previous events is an ongoing process, you can see a sample of what’s been scanned at the “Virginia Memory: CW Legacy Project” section of the Library of Virginia website at http://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/cw150.