Local Museum Discovers Treasure Trove of Old Photos

For Release August 18, 2018? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Contact Melinda McCrary 510-2357387

Local Museum Discovers Treasure Trove of Old Photos

It isn?t every day that you find hidden treasure in your basement but that?s exactly what happened recently at a local museum.

The Richmond Museum of History uncovered 200 glass plate negatives of familiar sights such as Golden Gate Park, Castro Adobe in San Pablo and local Richmond businesses and people. The photos could be more than 100 years old as this medium was popular during 1880-1920.

According to Melina McCrary, the Museum?s Executive Director, local history museums rarely have the resources to catalogue donations. ?We?ve always strived for a higher level of professionalism and since 1951, we?ve taken donor information and assigned numbers to our collection, but no one has ever had a chance to search through individual items,? she said.

That all changed when the California State Library?s California Revealed project invited the Museum to accept a $10,000 grant to search through old collections. ?They know there are so many smaller historical museums like ours that have wonderful treasures in the basement can?t catalogue them,? McCrary said.

The grant allowed her to hire a team, who are all local people, to begin digging. ??Lo and behold ? there was a box of 200 glass plate negatives,? said McCrary.? In fact, some of the plates had been scanned in 2003 but not catalogued or stored properly. At that time, the Museum felt they didn?t want to share the images them with the public. They put them away and forgot about them.

?That?s the opposite of our current philosophy,? says McCrary, who has been the Director since 2013. ??We are a community museum and we want to share.?? Because glass plate negatives are very rare and very delicate, the Museum is being very careful not to handle them too much. They will transfer them to archival quality storage containers and display the scanned images.?The Museum plans to request that their new-found treasures be posted on the California Revealed website,?http://californiarevealed.org, along with California-related materials from many California libraries, archives, and museums.?# # #

Dia de los Muertos at the Richmond Museum of History

Day of the Dead at the Richmond Museum of History

Life, Love, Legacy | October 26 ? November 4, 2018

Click here to download the call for artists—->?RMH DDLM Call for Submissions_rev

Artists and community members are asked to submit proposals for ofrendas/altars that honor the deceased and/or pays tribute to departed ancestors. Ofrendas honoring the dearly departed members of the greater Richmond community will be given preference.

?DEADLINE: Sunday, 9/29/18 by 5:00 p.m. PST (Deadline Extended!!)

Family-friendly exhibition content is kindly requested. Interactive and interpretive ofrendas/altars are particularly encouraged (no larger than 6? x 4?). Open to all members of the Bay Area community as well as established and emerging artists of various mediums, schools, and community organizations. Food and live plants are prohibited.

The altars will be on display for the public in the Seaver Gallery. Artists will be provided a stipend for their time and talent at the completion of the exhibition. Artists must install/uninstall the altars, as well as, make a welfare check over the course of the exhibit week. We hope to have six altars, depending on the quality and quantity of the artist submission.

Participants will be invited to make an additional smaller one-day altar for the 4^th Annual Halloween Day Trick or Treat event on 23rd Street in Richmond for an additional stipend. The altars will be displayed in an area with a large prearranged ofrenda that the community will be asked to contribute images of departed loved ones. More information about the 23^rd Street event will be provided after the selection process.

DEADLINE: All submissions must be received no later than Sunday, 9/29/18 by 5:00 p.m. PST

Accepted proposals will be notified by mid-September. Submission materials will not be returned.? If accepted, all artwork must be installed at the Richmond Museum of History by 5:00 pm on Thursday – October 25, 2018.

*** The Richmond Museum of History reserves the right to alter the exhibition timeline and/or re-schedule or cancel this exhibition at any time. ***

Artists are strongly encouraged to attend the Day of Preparations and Celebration on

Saturday, October 27th from 11 am – 5 pm. (FREE)

Physical Address: 400 Nevin Ave, Richmond, CA 94801

Mailing Address: PO BOX 1267 Richmond, CA 94802

www.richmondmuseum.org