PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The Pittsfield Parks Department scrapbooks have been digitized and, information can now be viewed through a link on the library's website, pittsfieldlibrary.org.

 

The content reflects 62 scrapbooks spanning materials from 1943 to 2007. Compiled by city staff, and totaling over 8,700 pages, included items reflect news clippings, documents and programs with names and photos of local sports teams, parades, Winter Carnival Queen contests, diaper derbies, easter egg hunts, local playground events and a host of other significant happenings in Pittsfield's history.

 

The scrapbooks were given to the athenaeum by Jim McGrath, the city's park, open space, and natural resource program manager.

 

"We're thrilled to have worked with the staff from the Local History Room to get these scrapbooks digitized. For too long, these important historical records sat at the Springside House, nearly inaccessible to the public. Now, anyone with internet access can be transported back in time to an earlier era in Pittsfield parks history," said McGrath.

 

The content was digitized thanks to funding from a Community Preservation Grant. The original scrapbooks remain housed in a climate-controlled vault in the library's Local History Department.