Western Heritage Center – Digitization Project

In 2012, the Western Heritage Center and Billings Public Library staff began documenting and preserving an amazing collection of documents that were stored in the file cabinets of the Montana Room of the library for over 75 years. In 2014, the Western Heritage Center used MHF funds to digitize, research, and share a set of 150 historic documents including original Homestead Act pamphlets, socialist publications from the 1920s, and historic documents from the National Parks and Montana’s Indian Reservations.

The historic documents can now be searched online and are contextualized to ensure that the public can understand the items’ significance. This project added an invaluable resource to the depth and understanding of Montana history.