We are thrilled to be working with the Washington Island museums this spring as part of the Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative!
Their project includes photographing and digitizing materials held by the Jacobsens Museum, part of the Town of Washington Museums group. This includes boat models (schooners) built by Jens Jacobsen (1867-1952) in the late 1800s, wooden scrollwork and decorative carvings found in homes, and photos and archival materials documenting the Jacobsen family on Washington Island and in Denmark.
Located on Washington Island, the Jacobsens Musuem was constructed in 1931 by Jens Jacobsen to house his collection of local natural and historical artifacts. Jacobsen was a craftsman, creating models of boats, and producing beautiful and intricate pieces of scrollwork displayed in the museum. Two hand-built cabins sit adjacent to the museum. One was Jens Jacobsen’s summer home and another was built by renowned Wisconsin economist, sociologist and writer Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929).
Leading Team Washington Island Museums is Jaime Jorns. Jaime is a photographer, artist, and MLIS student at San Jose State University. She is a native of Door County, Wisconsin and has a deep connection (five generations!) to the history and folklore of the area. When she is not working in archives, she enjoys the beautiful scenery and exploring all of the forgotten corners of the place she calls home.
Jaime will be working closely with Nina Herbst. Following a long career in fundraising which began in her native London in 1993 and continued after her move to Chicago in 2002, Herbst now lives in Wisconsin and is Director of Town Museums for Washington Island in Door County. Herbst has a BA in Theatre and was an actor until she transitioned to her fundraising career. In London she worked for a wide range of nonprofits and became a published author in 2002 working on four editions of The Complete Fundraising Handbook (UK, Directory of Social Change). In Chicago Herbst spent almost 12 years fundraising for the University of Chicago, subsequently working for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and DePaul University. She has a particular interest in architecture and the preservation of historic buildings and volunteered for two house museums in Chicago giving tours of both and serving on the board of The Glessner House on Prairie Avenue.
Shout out to Egg Harbor Library for providing space and equipment to facilitate scanning and digital photography.
The Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative brings together Wisconsin content partners and information school graduate students to create new digital collections. Content partners will choose collections to digitize, and student staff will handle the digitization, metadata work, and project documentation creation as part of a paid practicum or independent study experience. Most digitized collections will be added to Recollection Wisconsin throughout the year. Thanks to the State of Wisconsin for funding this important work.
Interested in participating in the Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative? Visit our program website for more information.
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