Pictures solicited for history

The contributions don’t have to be photos of famous people or wondrous events, said Heather Cole, a historian and the project manager for the Mass. Memories Road Show. In fact, the more ordinary the subject matter, the better.

“People are going to want to know what life was like in Massachusetts in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and onward,’’ Cole said. “If we don’t save things now, they won’t be there for future generations.’’

The Mass. Memories Road Show is a digital history project funded by state grants and sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Boston library. Its goal is to document the state’s past — especially recent history — through family and community photos and stories.

Mass. Memories staff and trained volunteers partner with local groups such as libraries and historical associations, which host a “road show’’ day in their community. Past and present residents are invited to bring two or three photos of personal, family, or community significance. The photos are digitally scanned for the Joseph P. Healey Library archive and residents are videotaped talking about their photos. Participants are photographed holding one of their pictures for a keepsake to take home.

The Duxbury Free Library will host the town’s event in its meeting room from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with volunteers provided by the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society and the senior center.

Town historian Tony Kelso said he’s looking forward to bringing a photo of the old high school, now the library.

“As town historian, I think it’s a great project,’’ said Kelso, who urges others to bring pictures and stories from the ’40s and ’50s — “that stuff people don’t think of as history.’’ His mother, Dorothy Kelso, plans to bring an old photo of the beach where the Kelsos bought a summer cottage and made it a year-round home.

The scanned photos with caption information and comments are posted on the project’s website and kept in the library archive for scholars, genealogists, and other researchers to examine. Project staff also provide people with information on the best way to preserve their family photos. Magnetized album pages speed deterioration, Cole said; albums with paper pockets are better.

Road shows are informal and promote mingling. As they are scanned, the photos are projected onto a wall for all to see. Visitors can listen to others’ stories.

Before the project’s visit to Norwell last winter, Jeanne Ryer, adult services librarian, “called everybody I knew’’ to publicize it. She found people tend to think they have to have a photo of a “famous’’ Norwell ancestor to participate, but the project’s goal is just the opposite, she said. “It’s history from the average person’s perspective,’’ Ryer said.

In Norwell, snapshots included children and parades, an arrowhead collection, a parent posing with fighter Rocky Marciano 60 years ago, and two children in Halloween costumes from 1995. Intriguing family histories emerged, such as the resident who described her family’s involvement in the Resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II. One man brought his photo of the roller coaster at Nantasket Beach; to his delight, a publisher found it online and used it as a cover photo for a book.

The Mass. Memories project is interested in whether a family has been in a community for generations or a few years, Cole said. When the show came to Norwood a few years ago, some brought photos of ancestors who left Poland, Lithuania, and Italy in the early part of the 20th century to settle in South Norwood, a part of town where new Americans also live today. Local historians later used some of the photos in a pictorial history book on South Norwood.

People bring photos of family businesses, historic houses, renovations, Rotary Club honors, Cole said. “Whatever people bring is important to them. . . . Old photos, recent photos, photos of immigrant ancestors, family reunions, pets, weddings, community events.’’

In Quincy three years ago, the event became a teachable moment for passing on traditional culture plus family history, as Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants brought photos of ancestors and recounted their stories to children and grandchildren. The project and its local partners made an effort to draw in a good representation of the community’s diversity, Cole said. High school students were recruited to serve as translators.

“Historical societies say there’s a lack of 20th-century local history material for research,’’ Cole said. While there are many collections of artifacts from earlier periods, historians are beginning to worry that there won’t be enough material for future historians to study everyday life in the 20th and 21st centuries.

While the goal is to visit every community in the state, funding limits the road shows to six to eight a year. To take part, communities apply and assemble a local team. The project schedules a date for the event and begins planning and outreach effort months in advance.

Images and video from the road shows so far are at massmemories.net. More than 2,000 photographs and stories have been gathered.

Duxbury organizers hope to draw 200 to the show. To register, call the library at 781-934-2721, ext. 100.

Robert Knox can be reached at rc.knox2@gmail.com.