Historical society, SRU put county events on the Web
Butler County citizens put history on the map Thursday at the Sen. Walter Lowrie House.
Several photographs were donated and scanned for Butlerhistorical.org as part of a project created in a joint partnership by Slippery Rock University and the Butler County Historical Society.
Among them was the aftermath of the nitroglycerin explosion in 1927 that left homes destroyed in Summit Township. Also featured was a 1936-37 class photograph of the Bulford School in Penn Township, and a school picture and Martin School (Connoquenessing Township) honor card of Mildred Snodgrass, brought in by her daughter, Glenna Franko of Butler.
SRU history professor Aaron Cowan was glad for the additions to the website, which allows users to click on “pins” on a map of Butler County to see photographs of historical events and read and hear about those events.
“What we’re trying to do here is really involve the public, not just as consumers or readers but as contributors,” Cowan said. “In this way there are photographs and artifacts nobody even knows exist because they are in people’s private collections. So it adds a richness to stories we wouldn’t have otherwise.”
Slippery Rock students and website interns Brian Reed and Tom Wolfe spoke on the project.
Wolfe said the site is geared toward the younger generation, which is used to accessing the world at its fingertips.
“This whole project puts it all in one place for you and makes it easy to access local history,” he said.
Reed learned how difficult research can be.
“People have (information) but you don’t have easy access to it,” he said. “I found that it’s hard to find out some information.”
The website has some sample pins available on the map, but has around 35 more poised to go when the site is launched. Cowan said the goal is to launch the site by the end of April.
