What’s your Watertown?

WATERTOWN, Mass.—The Watertown Free Public Library’s Local History Collection includes photographs and artifacts dating back to the city’s founding, but there is a problem. There exists very little record of what happened in Watertown during your lifetime.

That’s why the Watertown Free Public Library (WFPL) is embarking on a mission to collect stories and images from Watertown’s recent history, from 1950 to the present day, to preserve them in the Local History Collection.

“When people in the future try to figure out what happened in Watertown in the 1980s, 90s, or recently, what will they find?” asks librarian Caroline Littlewood. “That’s up to us. We are experts on our own experiences and our own personal histories. Whether you have decades of memories here or are just settling in, you are a part of Watertown, and so you have something to contribute to this project.”

All Watertown community members (residents and non-residents alike) are invited to contribute up to three photographs to the Library’s collection. There are two ways to contribute:

Attend a ‘Digitization Day’ at the Library on Sunday, April 3 (for physical photos)

Bring your three photos to the Library. WFPL staff and volunteers will scan and return them to you on the same day. There will be more digitization days in 2022 and 2023.

Upload Online (for digital photos)

Don’t forget, the Library is also documenting recent history: digital snapshots, Instagram pictures and flip phone photos can help tell the story of your experience in Watertown.

Do you know a group of people that have a lot of local history to share? You can co-host a digitization day! The WFPL will bring scanners and volunteers to your organization, business, church or club meeting to collect photos and stories from members. Contact Marissa Monteiro if you are interested: mmonteiro@watertown-ma.gov.

The Watertown Collective Memory Project by the Watertown Free Public Library is brought to you with federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.