A Brown House archiving project continues to preserve local history for future generations.
“The project got started [earlier this year] when we had archivist Jennifer Gehringer from Willamette University volunteer to help us with the project,” said Steve Poisson, vice president of the Santiam Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees. “We had inherited materials from both the Brown family and Ernst Lau that were in storage, and we wanted to preserve the materials and make them available for our use and public use.”
A variety of materials are being archived, including the Brown Family Bible from the late 1800s to newspaper clippings to postcards to photographs, Poisson said.
“We also have manuscripts for the books that Ernst wrote,” he added. “We are using correct practices for preservation and developing a finding aid so specific materials can be located when desired.”
Depending on how many, Poisson hopes project volunteers will be able to preserve and catalogue approximately 12 boxes of material.
“We have many ideas about possible uses, from research by educators and students, to use in our promotional and educational programs at Santiam Heritage Foundation,” Poisson said. “We also hope to develop a history curriculum and receive a grant to take local history to area schools.”
Poisson said the group believes it is important for young people to know about their roots and that schools tend to spend very little time on local history, which is important to their understanding of the past.
“Now that the restoration of the Brown House is nearly complete, our ongoing mission will be to bring cultural and historical programs to the valley,” he said. “It will finally give the Brown House the ability to serve the function originally intended, and will serve as a historical resources for our community and surrounding towns, both through the house itself and through historical materials we have collected and will continue to collect.”
The Brown House Event Center remains a nonprofit, and relies on donations of time and money to complete all projects.
“We are beginning to rent space in our building for offices and community events which will finally make the building self-sustaining, but our cultural and historic education programs will always require donations and grants, which usually require matching funds from the community,” Poisson said.
“We hope to educate the community on the importance of passing down our history and about how fortunate Stayton and the surrounding towns have such a grand example of a preserved landmark at a time when so many such buildings are being lost.”
Anyone wishing to learn proper archiving techniques and help with the Brown House project should email [email protected] to be added to the mailing list for monthly Saturday work sessions.
