The Stewart Bell Jr. Archives is a local history and genealogy center jointly operated by the Handley Regional Library and the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. Our holdings include a variety of materials documenting the history of the Lower Shenandoah Valley from 1732 to the present, with an emphasis on the City of Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia.
Archives News & Events
Protecting your Family’s Memories
Do you have stacks of old family photographs collecting dust? Do you wish you could share these photographs with all your extended family? Do you worry about your photographs being destroyed or ruined? If so, come to our Preservation and Scanning of Photographs workshop on Saturday, April 20 @ 10:30 am in the Benham Gallery of Handley Library.
Stewart Bell Jr. Archives Manager Lorna Loring will lead a workshop demonstration explaining the three steps to begin your photography preservation efforts.
First step, Lorna will clarify the different types of photographs you may have in your possession and show you how to preserve them (ex. how to preserve a cased photograph vs. a loose photograph). Now that you have protected the original copies, the next step will answer how do you digitally preserve the photographs. Lorna will walk you through the best practices for scanning images and the different file formats used in computer images. Lastly, Lorna will explain how to maintain backups of those computer images.
Space is limited for this workshop, so registration is required. Click here to register for the event. If you have any questions, please contact the Archives at (540) 662-9041, Ext. 17
Your Home may have Stories to Tell
There are so many historic homes in our community. These homes can be a delight for their owners as well as their neighbors, offering interesting architectural elements and properties with long stories. Would you like to learn how to find those stories?
Come to our presentation: How to Research your Historic House. Our speaker, Maral Kalbian, will discuss the various methods and sources you may explore to learn more about the history of these properties.
This event will take place in the Robinson Auditorium of the Handley Library on Saturday, March 30 @ 10:30 am. Registration is not required. If you have any questions, please contact the Archives at (540) 662-9041, Ext. 17
It’s our First “Archives After Hours!”
The Archives is opening their doors after closing time! Throughout the year, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives will be holding “Archives After Hours.” At each event, archival staff will explain aspects of the archives that can be used to help you in your research. This first Archives After Hours will focus on Sanborn maps.
Sanborn maps were fire insurance maps of urban areas. These maps that date over 100 years old can provide insight for researchers such as where homes were located, what did the building look like, and what commercial centers were available to the citizens of Winchester during that time.
Following the introduction of Sanborn maps, archival staff will give the participants a behind-the-scenes tour of the archives.
Whether this is your first time to the Archives or you are a regular researcher of the space, this is the event for you! Due to the limited space in the archives, registration for the event is required. Please click here to register. If you have any questions, please contact the Archives at (540) 662-9041, Ext. 17