Have you checked out Digital Maryland lately? The Pratt Library’s Maryland Department Photo Collection holds more than 30,000 historic photographs documenting life across Maryland, mostly black-and-white images from the 1930s and early 1940s.
For decades, this incredible collection existed without an index. Since 2018, the Maryland Department and Digital Maryland have been working to change that, scanning each photograph and creating detailed, searchable records so the public can easily discover them online. The Pratt Library’s Digital Metadata Technician, Bill, works exclusively on this project, carefully verifying information for every image and formatting metadata to make each photograph searchable before it’s published.
Here’s a few of our favorite Digital Maryland Collections to explore.
Francis Szczepanski Negatives Collection – Enoch Pratt Free Library
This collection consists of photographs taken by Stewart’s Department Store photographer Francis Valentine Szczepanski from 1954-1968.
Herbert H. Jones Family Loan Collection – College Park Aviation Museum
This collection consists of photographs, correspondence, and airport operation ephemera relating to the operation and history of Columbia Air Center (CAC), the nation’s first licensed Black-owned and operated airport.
Natural History Society of Maryland Collection
The Natural History Society of Maryland is a private nonprofit dedicated to conserving Maryland’s natural heritage and educating its citizens on the natural sciences.