Phoenix history locked up in boxes, stored away, and forgotten


If you've ever seen the movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, you know that the hero, Indiana Jones, is a believer that certain things belong in museums. And by that he meant on display, with access for everyone, not locked up in a box, stored away, and forgotten.

In the last few years of working on my digital collection of images of Phoenix, I have come to realize that a lot of precious history is being lost, possibility forever, by people who don't quite know what to do with it. And it comes in many forms - there are people who are afraid to share photos they have for fear of copyright violation, there are people who are storing things away in garages, etc., and whose heirs will only see “ebay value”. There are museums which, for lack of funds, are unable to display things and have them locked away in boxes, in storage.

Since I'm a Photoshop person and a web designer, I am comfortable with scanning, optimizing, and uploading images. I have thousands that I have posted over the years. Because to me, the web is a museum, open to everyone.


Image above: Loring's Bazar (yes, that's how he spelled it), in 1880, corner of Cactus Alley on Washington (between Central and 1st Street nowadays, south side of Washington).
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Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 17, 2016 at 1:50 AM

    Thank You for the always fun and interesting history of Phoenix!

    ReplyDelete

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