In June, LancasterHistory completed a large digitization project of four historic scrapbooks and 850 individual historic documents, creating a total of 3,565 digital scans, which are now accessible to the public. The funding for the project came from a Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) Historic Archives & Records Care (HARC) grant of $5,000 that LancasterHistory received in 2021. The project focused on the digitization of four of the most significant and frequently requested scrapbooks in the LancasterHistory Archival Collections: "The George Steinman Album and Papers," "The Marietta Scrapbook," and two scrapbooks kept by Francis X. Reuss of Columbia.

Scrapbooks provide a unique record of individuals, families, organizations, and associations that may not be included in formal archival collections. Scrapbooks may include handwritten or typed personal letters or notes and other ephemera and memorabilia chronicling daily life. However, materials used to save items in scrapbooks are often detrimental to the long-term preservation of the objects, including poor-quality paper and harmful tapes and adhesives that can become brittle or yellow over time or degrade the objects saved in the scrapbooks. Because of the fragile conditions of the aforementioned scrapbooks, access to them has been restricted for more than a decade.

"The George Steinman Album and Papers" contains documents that represent local, state, and national history. The album, compiled by George Steinman, contains photographs and ephemera of places, people, and events related to Lancaster County. The subjects include Postlethwaite's Tavern, Lancaster's first seat of municipal government; hotels and taverns; firehouses; the Conestoga Massacre of 1763; churches; cemeteries; the Ephrata Cloister; prominent citizens and their homes; the Stehli Silk Mill; and several schools. Later items in the album include handwritten notes in the margins made by John Gibson, who donated the collection to LancasterHistory in 1968.

An accompanying collection of papers includes original correspondence, documents, photographs, and ephemera that largely relate to 18th- and 19th-century Lancaster. The Revolutionary War is highlighted, with documents and images related to George Washington, Lancaster's Atlee family, and Gen. Edward Hand. There are images relating to the Christiana Resistance in 1851 and to buildings in early Lancaster, including the old jail, the British prison, and Postlethwaite's Tavern. Also included in the collection are currency printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1764 and Confederate States currency and bonds.

"The Marietta Scrapbook" contains historical information about the towns of Marietta and Columbia and the rest of Lancaster County. The pages provide information on local history, including the topics of education, population, crime, taxes, elections, and occupations. The book also includes articles on the Pennsylvania Germans, personal histories, crime, and genealogical information.

The two scrapbooks from Reuss are resources about many aspects of life in Columbia. Both books focus on residents of the borough and the history of Columbia and Chiques Park. Both scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, handwritten correspondence, programs, photographs, and handwritten notes in the margins. Born in Columbia in 1847, Reuss was a founding member of the Society of Old Columbia Residents, an organization of former Columbia residents living in Philadelphia. Reuss' scrapbooks are often requested by those researching the history of Columbia.

The scrapbooks were digitized by Backstage Library Works in Bethlehem, Pa. Backstage Library Works previously digitized historic materials for LancasterHistory, including the James Buchanan Online Presidential Library and the Thaddeus Stevens & Black History Collections, which were also funded through PHMC HARC grants in 2018 and 2020, respectively. After receiving the final, high-resolution, and archival images and PDFs, LancasterHistory staff members and volunteers reviewed each object, created database records, and cataloged each item. In particular, LancasterHistory spent more than 150 hours re-cataloging previous items related to each newly digitized scrapbook, updating legacy descriptions that were inaccurate or incomplete, and making items more accessible to researchers.

The digital scans of the scrapbooks are available to view for free at https://collections.lancasterhistory.org.