Editorials and columns

You play an important role in helping tell the stories of old photos

My biggest nightmare working in museum collections is not the creepy antique dolls always lurking in storage, although they are a close second. The real nightmare? Photographs with no labels.

I spend a lot of time looking at old photographs, like A LOT. Hours and hours spent digitizing and cataloging some of the 20,000 photographs housed in the Besser Museum's collection. And to really understand the nightmare behind photographs with no labels, you must understand what it takes to digitize and catalog photographs in museum collections.

First up, deciding what gets digitized. With a little over 20,000 photographs in the collection, simply doing them all is a bit unrealistic. Instead, I try to prioritize what our audience is most interested in. I track the research questions pouring in and continuously check the most popular searches on our public database. For example, one of the most searched terms last month was "Chisholm." Not surprising, street names are always popular.

Next, I will do my own search, checking to see what photos of Chisholm have already been digitized and if there is more waiting to be added. Which usually there is. When I type the word "Chisholm" into the search, a whole list of photographs in our collection pop up containing the word "Chisholm" in their description. Before I can even go through the whole list, a photo that mentions a dog catches my attention. So, like any sane person would do, I choose the dog photo first. I check it and notice it is waiting to be digitized, so it is onto the next step.

For the next step, it's time to get scanning. When I first started the process of digitizing the museum's photo collection years ago, one word kept popping up in my research: "metadata." It sounded so technical and intimidating at first. So, what is it? Think of metadata as the digital version of writing information on the back of a photograph. It is the details that help identify, describe, and organize a photo, such as who or what is pictured, where and when it was taken, and any other information we know about it. In other words, metadata is basically a digital label. Anytime someone stops in the museum asking for advice about digitizing their own photo collections, this is the step I urge them to never skip. Digitizing is about way more than just scanning, it is about preservation and capturing those details is what preserves the most crucial details.

But we're still not done. After scanning, it is time to get to work cataloging.

This is my favorite part because I love to fall down a rabbit hole of research and this step always leads to one. I even had to enforce a thirty-minute time limit per photo, because sometimes the rabbit hole can suck you in too much and there's still thousands of photos waiting their turn. The goal of this step is to make each photograph as searchable as possible. That means looking for as many clues as I can about what the photo shows. Sometimes it means comparing other photographs, searching old newspapers, or looking through city directories. You never know what little detail might help solve the mystery.

Now, I look back at that photo of Chisholm with a dog in it and find my clues. I breathe a sigh of relief when I notice it has a label. Now, some labels are better than others. It may take some serious deciphering skills, especially if it is cursive from a hundred years ago. Therefore, I always like to double check names. I spot the name "Earl Shannon," and then cross reference it with cemetery records. The name has a matching burial record reassuring me I have the correct spelling and as a bonus helps me date the photo.

What else? It is my lucky day, and the label also names the location as the corner of Chisholm and First Avenue. I also make sure to note what is in the background, not everyone may be looking for photos of Earl Shannon and Chisholm, but they might be interested in the storefronts visible in the background. And if I want to name a specific business, I can use an old city directory to help.

The only question left in my mind: What's the dog's name? Like I mentioned earlier, a single photo can suck you into a rabbit hole. The catalog record I complete and ready to be added to the public database. But my curiosity lingers. Do we have more photos of Earl Shannon or his family? Next thing I know, my original search for Chisholm photos has turned into a deep dive into Earl Shannon and his family. That is when I find it, a second photo of Earl Shannon with his dog and guess what? His name was Fido; they made sure to label it on this one.

But why all that extra work? It is because someday, someone is going to search for that photograph. They might be looking for a family member, an old business, or a particular street. If those names and details are not included in the record, they may never find it. And that is what haunts me the most about photographs without labels. Someone could be looking for a photograph we have in our collection, but without the right information, we will never make the connection.

You play an important part, too, in helping us tell the stories behind photographs in the Besser Museums collection! Explore our online database at bessermuseum.catalogaccess.com. Recognize a face, place, or event? Share what you know! Even a small detail can help us create better labels and preserve our community’s history.

With more than 20,000 photographs in the Besser Museum’s collection, there are still plenty of mysteries waiting to be solved. Some we might figure out in minutes; others could take years. But every name, date, and detail we uncover brings us one step closer to making sure these photographs can be found and enjoyed for years to come.

So, the next time you come across an old photograph, take a minute to label it. Your future family members (and maybe a museum collections manager) will thank you!

Sarah Honeycutt is the collections manager at the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan, where she cares for a collection of more than 40,000 artifacts. She enjoys sharing the stories behind the collection and offering readers a glimpse into the work of preserving Northeast Michigan’s history.