DON HUNTER ARCHIVE PROJECT
Don Hunter, University of Oregon
Fort Rock, Oregon, Don L. Hunter
A 2003 National Leadership Grant for Library - Museum Collaboration has been awarded to the Don Hunter Digital Archive Project
The University of Oregon Museum of Natural History and University Libraries are pleased to announce we have been selected to receive an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) 2003 National Leadership Grant for Library-Museum Collaboration.
2003 National Leadership Grants for Library-Museum Collaborations were awarded to 16 organizations out of a total 85 applicants. The University of Oregon award was the only one of its kind in Oregon. The grant will cover a two-year period beginning October 2003, and the amount of the award is $240,894.
Click here for the University of Oregon News Release
IMLS Program Statement
Library-Museum Collaboration grants support innovative projects that model how museums and libraries can work together to expand their services to the public, with the emphasis on serving the community, using technology, or enhancing education.
Overview
In spring 2003, the University of Oregon Libraries and Museum of Natural History applied for the IMLS National Leadership Grant for a project that will enhance Oregon's visual and auditory history. Local photographer and audio archivist, Don Hunter has been documenting the sights and sounds of Oregon's people and places since the 1930s. In 1946 he founded and served as the director of the University of Oregon's audio-visual department, one of the first of its kind in the United States. He has been featured in numerous articles by such news organizations as the Associated Press and the Oregon Quarterly and in radio interviews on National Public Radio.
The Museum and Libraries are honored by Mr. Hunter's agreement to make his unique slide presentations of Oregon's sight and sounds available for digital archiving. Beginning in the 1950s, Don Hunter developed a type of multiple slide projector show creating a performance that becomes a cinematic event. His shows were cutting edge, precursors to current multi-media digital presentations. These shows have been shown throughout the Pacific Northwest covering everyday topics of Eugene's growth in "Then and Now", to the majestic scenery of Oregon in "The New Oregon Trail". They have also chronicled the Cascade volcanic range in "Mt. St. Helens and the Volcanic Cascades", and Pacific Northwest steam engines in "The Last of Steam".
This project will also establish a new partnership between the Museum and the Libraries, leveraging their resources and expertise to develop a useful and needed product, in a process that can easily be adapted by cultural heritage institutions. Through this partnership, the Museum will contribute its experience in working with Mr. Hunter, its long record of serving Oregon schools through outreach, and its expertise in bringing historical content to a wide audience. The Libraries will share their technical expertise in capturing the presentations, reformatting them, and producing an accessible professional product that can be easily shared and played in a variety of settings. In addition to media production expertise, the Libraries will also share Web development services, curriculum expertise, and intellectual access tools.
Click here for an exciting virtual tour of Don Hunter's collections
For more information contact:
Robert Voelker-Morris
Project Coordinator - Don Hunter Archive
541-346-3987
rmorris1@darkwing.uoregon.edu
Patricia Krier
Director of Public Programs
541-346-5089
pkrier@oregon.uoregon.edu
Museum of Natural History
Location: 1680 East 15th Avenue
Address: 1224 University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
97403
Phone: (541)346-3024
Fax: (541)346-5334
E-mail: mnh@oregon.uoregon.edu