New media to solve old questions

Relatively new technology is helping a Prince Albert group identify pieces of the past.

Prince Albert’s Historical Museum has been posting photos on its Facebook page, asking the public for help to name and date them.

Interim curator Tim Panas said they get many mysterious and unknown items more often than people realize.

“We have people who donate objects or photographs or items or paper materials that do have a relevance to Prince Albert and area, but very little information surrounding them,” he explained.

This is why they use social media to reach out to residents in the area for help.

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 “By engaging the public we take advantage of their collective knowledge base, both of local history or of objects, so as frequently as it does come up, it also frequently does come up that these objects are identified as well,” he said.

“We do have a large knowledge base out there with the general public, so they can sit down, look at these photos and say ‘I can recognize this individual’ and then from everyone’s knowledge we can actually piece together a better idea of who all these people are.”

One of the latest photos posted to the page has this message attached “We have no information on this one, apart from the portrait of King George VI in the background and a framed certificate for the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. Anything or anyone look familiar? “

This is all the volunteer archivists can determine about the photo at this time.  For Panas, the chase is fun.

“Something like this it’s the mystery of being able to find out what this object was, or where this photo comes from.  Being able to find out the date that it was taken in the case of photos, who these individuals are, so it gives that object or the people from that photo back their identity and from that we’re able to learn more about our local history,” he said.

Panas said simply identifying this information can lead to other questions from that time period.

Interest in history on the rise

With websites like Ancenstry.ca and other genealogy searches in full swing, the public’s curiosity in their own personal history has been on the rise.

Panas said he’s recognized this for some time and explained even their requests for information have increased over the years.

 “This is, in a sense, an extension of that,” he said.  “It gives people a sense of continuity and belonging.”

“Testament to that is the historical society itself, which has been in existence … for actually more than 100 years,” he said.

Searching for your family’s past is something that is accessible to members of the general public just by asking.

Panas said they are largely volunteer-based organization, so those who are interested in local history can volunteers in the archives.

Panas said they are constantly taking in artifacts and photos, so there is much still left unsorted which could hold secrets to Prince Albert’s past.

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84