Members get update on the Fassbender collection

Richard Carlson is the Fassbender administrator

Both the president and the administrator of the historic Fassbender Photoghraphic Collection visited with members of the Lawrence County Historical Society on Sunday (1/20/13) at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC) in Deadwood.

That's where a growing force of volunteers come three days every week to help sort through the massive collection of 800,000 historical images that were collected by the Fassbender Black Hills Studio operation over six decades. 

Administrator Richard Carlson and Fassbender Board President Jean Martin, both of Lead, showed a variety of the pictures, negatives, proofs, and equipment that are all a part of the collection.  Carlson outlined the intricate process being used to preserve, protect, and prepare the collection for sharing with the public.

Purchased in 2011 by the cities of Lead, Deadwood, and Spearfish for $300,000, the materials were stored temporarily in a south Spearfish building until they could later be moved to a climate-controlled vault inside the HARCC.

More than 40 people have volunteered to assist with this massive undertaking -- but it's a process that will take time.

"By my early calculation, if we continued at the pace we started at, it could take up to 16 years to complete the project," said administrator Carlson.

But he noted that they've learned how to more effectively complete the process and save some time -- but just how long it will take is still a question.

"We've got to go through the hundreds of boxes, which have lots of 5 by 7 envelopes containing negatives, proofs, and sometimes prints," said Carlson.  Most of those envelopes have names and numbers that were used by the Fassbenders for filing their photographs.

Volunteers take everything out of those old envelopes envelopes, which are considered to be contaminated, and then carefully place the contents into acid-free paper envelopes.  The names, numbers, and other descriptors are noted on the new envelopes and passed to Carlson, who is putting the information into a database system.

Fassbender President Jean Martin of Lead
shows a sampling of Fassbender "proofs"

"We're even photocopying the old envelopes, since they often have information noted on them that can later be of use," said Carlson.

He gave a demonstration of how materials will be digitally scanned for storage and then be made readily accessible via their computer database.  Eventually, the materials will be available on a web site.   Attendees to this meeting were treating to a PowerPoint slide show of Fassbender photos projected onto a screen before and during the program.  You'll find one of the Fassbender photos -- along with others from this quarterly society meeting -- in our LCHS 2013 Photo Gallery. 

Carlson noted that the Fassbender Photographic Collection web site today is pretty rudimentary, but there are plans to expand it soon so that volunteers and the public can keep up to date with activities related to the collection.

There's been a growing interest in the old photos.  Samples from the collection have been reproduced and exhibited at various location in Deadwood, Spearfish, and Lead.  

Earlier this month, Carlson spoke to the Spearfish Area Historical Society.  Also on the program were Spearfish writer Paul Higbee and Betty Fassbender Johnson.  Higbee gave some insight into the history of the Fassbenders, and Mrs. Johnson offered some first-hand insight into the family business that captured so much area history on film that future generations will be able to enjoy.

Society president Norma Kraemer observed that there may be some LCHS members who would like to volunteer for the Fassbender project, and after the meeting Carlson visited with several folks about their interests.

Kraemer also introduced members of the LCHS Board of Directors -- including its newest member, Cindy Solaas of Deadwood.  This meeting also featured another great luncheon served up by Dave Brueckner and his crew from Cheyenne Crossing.  

The society is planning its Spring Tour on Saturday, April 27th.  Participants will visit the historic James Anderson Ranch just south of Whitewood for a brief tour before proceeding into Whitewood where a variety of events hosted by Whitewood citizens.

Then in May, the society will conduct its next quarterly meeting.  Keep an eye on this web site and local newspapers for dates, times, and further details.

LCHS moves in to the HARCC....home at last!

New home for the Lawrence County Historical Society.

About 20 members of the Lawrence County Historical Society braved sub-zero temperatures today (1/31/11) for a bit of celebrating, as the society held its first-ever meeting in the new Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC)  building in Deadwood.

The group enjoyed cake, coffee and punch, followed by a tour of the HARCC, which is located at 150 Sherman Street.

LCHS president Jerry Bryant and Adams House and Museum Director Mary Kopco signed an agreement some weeks ago that gives the society a home in perpetuity – or  at least as long as Adams Museum & House, Inc. “remains the custodian” of HARCC.  While a room there is named the Lawrence County Historical Society Room, it will be used for a variety of other functions as well.  It will, however, serve as a site for LCHS meetings and research.

The HARCC staff have outfitted the LCHS Room with a marvelous conference table and several side chairs – furniture that came from the old Homestake Mining Company.  “We’ll have the table top smoothed up a bit for you,” said Mary Kopco, who indicated that they’ll also place a desk in the room for society use, augmenting an existing filing cabinet.

A spacious kitchen lies adjacent to the LCHS room. 

Kopco and Assistant Adams H&M Director Carolyn Weber led the group on a tour through both the upstairs and downstairs of the building.  For most members, it was the first time they’d been in the 17,000 square foot structure, which is designed to protect over 10,000 cubic feet of original documents in a climate-controlled and secure environment.

In 2005, Barrick Gold Corporation, successor to the Homestake Mining Company, donated the Homestake archival records to the Adams House.  The Adams board of directors realized that a new building was necessary to care for the materials – and offer public accessibility to the records.  The City of Deadwood bought the building to serve as the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center.

Ed Furois outside the Fassbender
vault during the LCHS tour.

The facility is the repository for extensive collections, including 126 years of maps and drawings of the Black Hills region, 45,000 historic photographs, slides and glass plate negatives; and a wide array of assay ledgers, diaries, scrapbooks, correspondence, blueprints, archaeological drawings, and much more.

The much-heralded Fassbender collection is also archived at the HARCC.  Comprised of more than 800,000 photographs, negatives, slides and motion picture footage from over nearly 100 years, the collection is now at the HARCC.  Josef Fassbender owned and operated Black Hills Studios for many decades.  His son, George, took over the business in 1958 and operated it until the late 1980s.  When George Fassbender died in 1998, he willed the collection to Ed Furois and Johnny Sumners of Spearfish. 

Lawrence County Historical Society helped facilitate preservation of the collection, which was purchased last year by the cities of Deadwood, Lead and Spearfish.  The publicly-owned collection was then moved to the HARCC, where it is secured in a climate-controlled vault.

LCHS treasurer Jacke Mitchell (right) presents a first
installment check to Adams H&M Director Mary Kopco.

The HARCC hopes to provide easy access to a multitude of documents never before available to the public – and to host classes for secondary and post-secondary students on topics ranging from geology and astronomy to engineering and archaeology. 

We've placed a few HARCC tour photographs in the the LCHS Gallery.  There are some others there, too, that you might enjoy seeing.

While health issues prevented LCHS president Jerry Bryant from attending this special gathering, treasurer Jacke Mitchell took on the task of presenting Mary Kopco with the first of three $5,000 payments that the society will make over the next several months.

Another bit of good news for the society – South Dakota Secretary of State Jason Gant last week (1/24/11) signed the Articles of Incorporation documents for the Lawrence County Historical Society.  Revisions to society bylaws will be recommended to the LCHS board of directors when they meet at 3:00 p.m., on Friday, February 25^th at the HARCC in Deadwood.