Scanning Your Historical Letters to Preserve Family Memories

Scanning Your Historical Letters to Preserve Family Memories

Historical letters and documents are like a special time capsule all on their own. The letters your great-grandfather wrote home to his new bride during the war tell a story of love and hope for the future amidst the chaos. The handwriting of your grandmother as she scribbled a favorite recipe evokes memories of baking with her during the holidays. The dates and information included in letters or on forms can help genealogists in their family research, and can even help local historians with community history.

Why You Should Scan Historical Letters

As older generations pass away, firsthand memories begin to slip away, and eventually, details of family stories are forgotten. Ink fades and papers rip, making it difficult to read the letters where marriages, births, travel, and trials were shared with loved ones. Fires and floods can actually destroy precious historical letters, documents, and photographs. Scanning and digitizing historical letters is important for preserving history and passing on family legacies.

How Does Letter Scanning and Digitizing Work? 

Letter and document scanning services can quickly scan your historical documents while carefully preserving their integrity. Once they are scanned and converted to a digital format, they can be saved to your personal devices, stored online, or downloaded to a thumb drive and placed in a safety deposit box or other safekeeping location.

The Benefits of Digital Documents

In digital format, you can catalog your letters and documents. Different cataloging programs will allow you to tag documents with keywords, dates, and other important information, making it easy to search. You can quickly find and share letters and photos with family and friends through email or social media. You may also find information relevant to local history that would be interesting to pass on to museums or historical societies, without having to forfeit your original documents.

Scanning and digitizing historical letters gives you the assurance that your family’s memories will be preserved for future generations. If you have questions about scanning historical letters and documents, please contact us today!