Historic Documents Will Soon Be Available Online
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is beginning the daunting project of bringing its collection of documents from past centuries into the current one.
In early 2013, the first chapter of the Preserving American Freedom project will be online.
The project will be funded by a grant from Bank of America and will present 50 of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania's most treasured documents.
"My favorite example is probably the diary of a station agent on the Underground Railroad," digital project manager Rachel Moloshok said. "This guy kept a diary of all of the people who basically came through."
A lot of effort goes into connecting each document with the world around it.
"Any names that are mentioned in that excerpt are going to be links, that will allow people to basically click on the name and learn more about the person that's mentioned. Any events, is the same thing," Moloshok said.
She adds that this is just a hint of what The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has in its collection.
