MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer
Posted: Sunday, April 26, 2009 7:35 am

Shacklett’s Photography has partnered with MTSU and the Rutherford County Archives to try and preserve some of the historic photographs in its collection with the Heritage Reclamation Project.

“This is very highly historically important and valuable for documenting the history and heritage of our county for our citizens,” Rutherford County Archivist John Lodl said.

The collection is so important to local history, the Tennessee State Library and Archives has designated it as one of the three most important photograph collections in the state in terms of size and historical significance, Lodl said.

Shackett’s has become a repository of community photographs over the years and as other photographers retired, they’re collections ended up at Shacklett’s.

Eventually, people in the community began to bring damaged and worn photographs in for repair.

“These were the days before Photoshop,” owner of Shacklett’s photography Bill Shacklett said in a previous interview, explaining his father used his painting skills to touch up the old photos by hand.

“One thing led to another and people would start bringing us photographs from grandma’s estate …” Shacklett said. “We ended up having copies as people found them.”

The first of the preserved photographs will be on display in a free exhibit, “Visions of the Past: Through the Lens of Shacklett’s Photography,” beginning Thursday, April 30, from 4 to 7 p.m. at The Heritage Center, located at 225 West College Street.

“The exhibit looks at four aspects of local culture: religion, education, sports and the changing landscape,” said exhibit director Layton Carr. There will also be a piece on photo conservation, which explains the cleaning and digitization processes employed in restoring the collection, Carr added.

So far Shacklett’s has allowed 100 photographs to be digitized at very high resolution.

In the near future, the partnership has the potential to save hundreds of historic photographs from deterioration by digitizing the negatives.

“The Heritage Reclamation Project is setting a standard through such exhibits for preserving historically significant photographs,” Shacklett said.

The exhibit will be on display until July 31. The Heritage Center is open from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Lodl said they hope to develop a model for public, business and community for preservation.

“This is a pilot project with Shacklett’s to figure out how to capture and preserve the historic community pictures of Murfreesboro,” Lodl said.

The Heritage Reclamation Project has an upside for the community as well, with Lodl hoping to make the photos accessible to the public, possibly through a Web site and exhibits.

“It is going to be much easier to find a photo from say the Civil War, or the 1890s or about women,” Director of MTSU’s public history program Bren Martin said. “We’ll be able to pull it up and find it.”

For more information about the historic photographs, contact Lodl at the Rutherford County Archives, 615-867-4609 or jlodl@rutherfordcounty.org.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.