December 15, 1998

Historical CD makes history

By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
     
      Rare is the moment when you can say you've made history. But that is exactly what three local nonprofit organizations and twenty East Junior High students have done with the release of a new CD-ROM computer disk called, "Grand Traverse COMES ALIVE!"
      Nearly a year in the making, the computer-based program details the region's historical heritage in sights and sounds previously unavailable in a multimedia presentation. The disc contains more than 600 historic photographs and descriptions, a detailed timeline, video clips of historic reenactments, Native American dances, dozens of sound effects, oral histories and old-time music and sophisticated electronic maps of the historic Traverse area; all of which are simply a mouse click away.
      To celebrate the stamping of 1,500 CD-ROM's, those involved in the project are planning a public reception at 10 a.m. on Friday at the Con Foster Museum downtown. The programs creators and local historians will be on hand to demonstrate the multimedia computer program and discuss regional heritage.
      Land Information Access Association (LIAA), a nonprofit corporation in Traverse City that creates land-use planning and resource management software, in partnership with the Con Foster Historical Museum and the Grand Traverse Pioneer & Historical Society, developed the idea for a CD-ROM historical tour.
      Beginning last spring, the project partners were assisted by 20 ninth-grade students from East Junior High who received a "hands-on" lesson in local history.
      Students snapped photographs of buildings in the historic Central and Boardman neighborhoods, recorded data on each structure and scanned in 600 photographs from the Pioneer and Historical Society's archives. They also recorded sound bites of local historian Joe Kilpatrick as he gave a walking tour of downtown and Old Towne Traverse City and noted their geographic position utilizing a Geographic Information System computerized mapping system.
      "The project gave kids a chance to develop skills in a hands-on experiment you could not duplicate in the boundaries of the classroom," said Bob Sturtz, Educational Technology Specialist for the Traverse City Area Public Schools and project coordinator.
      While students involved in the project benefited, so will the entire school system. The compact disc, which will be distributed free to 300 area schools, provides a high-tech way to promote local history.
      "It's saddening that in our public schools, local history has been removed from the curriculum when these students are at an age where they could form a long-term interest in history," noted Bob Wilson, president of the Grand Traverse Pioneer & Historical Society. "Hopefully, this rejuvenates interest in local history and creates an atmosphere were heritage is important."
      Con Foster Historical Museum Director Ann Hoopfer said the compact disc realizes a similar effort the museum has striven years for: a "text book" of local history.
      Part of a $9,000 Rotary Charities grant for the project will pay for 150 hard copies of the historical tour for schools without access to CD-ROM, Hoopfer said.
      The "Grand Traverse History COMES ALIVE!" project, which cost $38,000, was supported by grants from the Rotary Charities of Traverse City and the Americana Foundation of Novi, said LIAA Information Specialist, Elizabeth Dell. Addition support was provided by in-kind donations and other grants.
      For those involved in the project, the CD-ROM opens up a new chapter in availability of local history - and hopefully, public interest.
      "This technology allows people to have access to historical photos so fragile they have to be kept safely tucked away in the archives," said Hoopfer, who noted the museum plans to have a computer available to run the CD-ROM program.
      "It's like having an encyclopedia of local history that students and the community can access at any time. It's a wonderful concept, this new technology that allows people to see these old treasures," she said.
      - Copies of "Grand Traverse History COMES ALIVE!" will be sold for $30 at the Con Foster Museum, Grand Traverse Pioneer & Historical Society, local book stores and other area retail outlets. Money raised through the sales will go to support the museum and the historical society.