The Abridged version:
- Four local institutions opened to the public for free during the Sacramento Archives Crawl, which also features exhibits, tours and documents from 20 regional archival institutions.
- The free event helps bring awareness to the local institutions. “We’re a useful place. People just don’t know about us,” said Kim Hayden, archivist with the Center for Sacramento History.
- The annual event has happened since 2011.
Marla Crane, hoping to find some of those unique Sacramento-themed historical nuggets not found any other day of the year, was one of the first in line to enter the Center for Sacramento History when the doors opened at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17 to kick off another Sacramento Archives Crawl.
“I come every year,” said Crane, who lives in the South Natomas area of Sacramento. “It’s fun to see the different displays they have, do a little tour of the archives, and they tell you what’s available for the public throughout the year.”
Since 2011, it’s the free yearly event when the California State Archives, California State Library, Center for Sacramento History and Sacramento Room at the Sacramento Public Library all open to the public for one day, with dozens of exhibits, tours and documents from 20 regional archival institutions. Many of the items to explore — like the Center’s storage vault — are open for the only time all year without needing an appointment.
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Kim Hayden, archivist with the Center, said the Sacramento Archives Crawl is a good chance to showcase all of the region’s historical resources they can use throughout the year.
“That’s kind of the purpose of this,” Hayden said. “People know about libraries, they know about museums, they know less about the existence of archives and how we can be useful to people. We get people every week — I just got in today and had five emails from people asking questions about their house, about a business, about looking for their ancestors’ naturalization papers. We’re a useful place. People just don’t know about us.”
The tour brought out many groups, like members of the Golden State Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogy, who took the shuttle to each location looking to find resources to help them with their genealogy research, said genealogist Lisa Gorrell.
“We’re looking to see who has the state and local records, and then also special collections,” Gorrell said as the group of five waited outside the Center for Sacramento History before heading downtown to the other locations. “Maybe families that we might be researching might have donated their papers to one of these kinds of archives.”
Gorrell said they were pleasantly surprised to see other organizations there including the Yolo County Archives and an exhibit from West Sacramento, as well as a State Parks exhibit on the Angel Island immigration station.
Over at the Sacramento Public Library’s Special Collections room, California Reveal, a 2010 California State Library initiative that allowed hundreds of archive institutions, public libraries, museums, historical societies and local heritage groups to preserve the state’s history through digitization and free online access, was on full display, along with art books, directories, newspapers and yearbooks.
Tonia Nichols, there with her husband Russell, let out a “I just found it!” while going through a 1957 Sacramento phone directory.
Nichols, of Cameron Park, said she had been hoping to find the listing for her grandparents Al and Dorothy Gomes, and she was ecstatic to see the listing for the first time.
