ACCESSIONS COLLECTION
Video segment of Hershey History Center's Accession Program
The Hershey History Center's Accession Room houses historical artifacts, documents, and photographs from the past.
We document every detail of each object, size, condition, date of submission, the item then gets a catalog number, is entered into our database, it is given a location, then it is brought down to the Accessions Room for archival storage.
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Regionally Trolley Car Photograph, Hershey History Center Archive
The Accessions process is time-consuming as it has to be done properly to ensure the preservation of the community’s historical artifacts. The reason for the thorough process is because there is a transfer of ownership from the artifact’s original owner to the Hershey History Center, and we want to make sure we get as much of the story as possible.
“Our goal is to complete logging all the items we currently have in our collection” said volunteer and curator Susan Mittan. “It’s a very prodigious task, but our hope is that with community support, and some time to focus on processing all of these artifacts, we can finish this project. There are almost 35 years of accumulated items in the collection.”
Many of the photographs that have been submitted are cataloged and are accessible through the Past Perfect archival database. This is free for anyone to access. https://hersheyhistory.pastperfectonline.com/
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If you are interested in purchasing a photo from the Archive, please email to photos@hersheyhistory.org
“Past Perfect is a very valuable asset because when people see photographs, they interact with us, tell us the invaluable stories behind these photographs and reveal how much they love this area, its history, and their part in it.”
The Accessions Room is not open to members or the public, but you can visit the Hershey History Center's Library. To schedule an appointment, call 717-520-0748 or send an email to research@hersheyhistory.org
Financial contributions are a really important factor in ensuring the continued preservation of our history and operations, such as the accessions archival process.
You can make a contribution directly to the society to support the costs of maintaining The Hershey History Center’s collections.
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