The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. has partnered with HistoryIT to digitize the documents in its archives. Once-exclusive artifacts are being made public in a series of installments to the website collection.baseballhall.org.
In 2015, HistoryIT partnered with the Baseball Hall of Fame to begin digitizing materials and tagging them. HistoryIT’s team of historians and digital strategists evaluated the Museum in order to begin aiding in sharing its content with the general public around the world. People will continue to have access to the website and its content in the coming years.
In September, Babe Ruth’s scrapbooks were released online as an interactive exhibit that enabled anyone with computer access to go through the 25 volumes and more than 1,400 pages. Previously, they had never been on public display and were only made available to researchers who made special arrangements to view them in Cooperstown.
This month, newly-released cartoon collections featuring Ruth and Lou Gehrig were made available for viewing on the website, along with newly digitized correspondence from Ty Cobb.
Get The Latest MLB Tech News In Your Inbox!
HistoryIT develops and uses technology to preserve and digitize collections of archives. The company strategizes how to create an online library, and how to make the library accessible and searchable for intended audiences.
“I am so very proud of HistoryIT’s role in this digital process,” CEO Kristen Gwinn-Becker, Ph.D., wrote on the company website. “We believe that historical materials are just as valuable to the general public as to the scholar and are delighted to partner with this storied institution for its digitization initiative to broaden the reach of their extraordinary collection.”
The HistoryIT digitization project with the Baseball Hall of Fame will take between five and six years to complete, and will cost about $15 million. To donate toward the project, click here.
#Baseball HOFers Ty Cobb & Babe Ruth before opening day in 1927. The @Yankees won @baseballhall #sportshistory https://t.co/rfMRWAk6G9 pic.twitter.com/KgUogPZTdp
— HistoryIT (@HistoryIT) October 7, 2016