The Reach launches digitized heritage photos website

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The Reach P5390- Children in costume, gathered on a stage at the Matsqui Hall for a winter pageant.

Accompanied by an article in the Abbotsford News, December 22, 1951 - Grade 5 students who performed in the play, "Jack Frost's Realm," directed by Mrs. Jessie Rottluff.

The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford has launched its new Pastperfect Online website through its community Archives.

The new PastPerfect site not only contains new enhanced features and searchability for the public 24/7, it also features information about The Reach’s material culture collection or artifacts. This Pastperfect Online has the capacity for The Reach’s crew to continue with its extensive photo digitization project while allowing for the digitization of its artifact collection. The actual Pastperfect software was funded through contributions from the Rotary Club of Abbotsford-Sumas, Reimer Hardwoods Ltd and more than a dozen generous local donors.

“While digitizing of the photo collection has taken priority over the past eight years, The Reach has also collected and catalogued over 5,000 artifacts. Although not all artifact records contain a photo at this time, our plan is to begin work on this over the next few years,” explains Kris Foulds, Curator of Historical Collections at The Reach.

The actual digitization of the photo archives is an ongoing project supported by the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. The Reach adds 5,000 images per year to its online archives, which is currently over 36,000 images.

The Reach Archives is the only source of the Abbotsford News images and the only online photo archives in our community. The News does not maintain an image archive, it has instead entrusted The Reach to conserve and share these images with the public. As the longest extant community newspaper, its photographers have chronicled the city’s history for 95 years, and documented the changes, challenges and triumphs of Abbotsford.

Adds Foulds, “We use the rich collection of treasured images with their accompanying history lessons in our arts and heritage programming and education packages, our popular weekly historical Throwback Thursdays on Facebook; even in partnership with local Ravens Brewing Company on their craft-brewed Clayburn Smoked Scotch Ale label, at Cabela’s Abbotsford, with local publications, and corporate offices.”

The public is invited to enjoy and learn about their local history through connecting to The Reach’s Pastperfect website at www.thereach.ca/research-and-collections/