GROW IT
Your personal history isn’t doesn’t begin or end with a single document, book, or the research that was put into developing a family tree. Your history has been recorded in countless formats over the years, from letters, photos, and video, to old family recipes, journals, and newspaper clippings.
Not only is it impractical to organize and access your physical original materials, handling them too often leads to damage and eventually, loss. Photos can tear, fade, or discolor. Videos and film can become brittle and crack or break, it is easy to scratch, and plastic cassettes are not as durable as you might think. Paper is fragile, making it vulnerable, and at risk of being lost to the ravages of time.
The originals should be stored properly for safekeeping and handled as little as possible. Fortunately, preserving the original materials does not mean you can’t have access to them.
On the contrary, you have the option of making them more accessible than ever before. By digitizing your past, and creating a "My History Archive", you will be able to explore, view, and share your collection from anywhere in the world, at any time, using an Apple iPad, iPhone, Android phone or tablet, computer, Mac, Chromebook, or even a smart TV.
We can archive:
Printed Photos, Slides, Photo Negatives, Scrapbooks, Family History Books, Yearbooks, Journals, Diaries, Family Trees, Genealogical Research, Annuals, Census Records, Local History Books, Programs, Cookbooks, Newsletters, Record Books, Ledgers, Meeting Minutes, Directories, Manuscripts, Visitor Books, Muster Rolls, Documents, Marriage Certificates...
...Birth Announcements, Obituaries, Death Notices, Children’s Artwork, Postcards, Church Records, Correspondence, Handouts, Recipe Cards, Newspapers, Clippings, Memorabilia, Military Records, Drawings, Awards, Index Cards, Maps, Meeting Minutes, Heritage Collections, Property Records, Abstracts, Schedules, Bulletins, Immigration Records, Public Announcements, Transcripts, Oral Histories, Greeting Cards, Home Movies, Microfilm, Digital Photos...
...and almost anything else you can think of!
Additionally, you can leverage the hundreds of free Community History Archives created by libraries, genealogical societies, heritage centers, and other institutions across the country. We have made it simple to clip articles or other sections of documents and add them to your "My History Archive" with just a few clicks. You can also explore, clip, and share information you find on any "My History Archive" that an owner has made available to use as a free resource for others.
This Is YOUR History
Preserve It!
The history documented in the pictures, slides, negatives, papers, and recordings you have accumulated over the years represents your personal history. You may not realize it, but that history is fading away a little bit each day. Your photos, home movies, documents, and slides are losing their color, beginning to become brittle, and losing the battle in the war against time. By creating a digital copy of the recorded accounts of your history, you capture the past in a format that is not susceptible to the same risk factors as your analog collection.
Archive It!
The "My History Archive" is an online hosting, search platform, and access tools that power your archive, transforming your collection of files into an archive that can be explored for new discoveries, or for reliving old memories. You can share what you discover with others, and connect with your past in a way you could not with a box of old photos, a scrapbook of clippings, or a DVD of pictures. As more people create open "My History Archive"s a network of free genealogical tools will emerge, allowing for “crowdsourcing” of your family history research.
Share It!
Family history does not need to be locked behind a paywall or exclusively available via a prohibitively expensive subscription service. This is YOUR history, and you can share it with anyone you choose, at any time, and on any device. You can also explore, clip, and share information you find on any "My History Archive" that an owner has made available to use as a free resource for others, or leverage the hundreds of free Community History Archives created by libraries, genealogical societies, heritage centers, and other institutions across the country.