Cataloging Our History
In 2016, Donna Stevens answered the call to organize over 70 years of New England Region SCCA history. Starting in the 1960’s, Ted Goddard served as the Region Archivist. But when he passed away, all the materials he collected were left without a comprehensive catalog or way to locate specific items or materials. Donna stepped up to take on this Herculean task and has been hard at work on creating a cohesive inventory and organizational system.
Every year at our Annual Meeting, Donna gives the region an update on her progress. To date: Over 3,000 documents have been recorded, preserved, and filed in 50 storage boxes for BOD Administration, Rally, Solo and Racing by date. There are 16 cabinet drawers with a treasured collection of Regional Awards, photos, GCRs and rule book specifications dating back to 1962. We also have regional charters, 520 Pit Talks from 1953 through the 2020 yearbook, trophies, posters, banners and the original NER Bylaws and Articles of Organization and Incorporation.
Pit Talk Digitized
As part of the archival process, Donna partnered up with Denise Patten on scanning and creating digital copies of all the Pit Talk magazines through the decades. A project that took over a year to finish, the region now has full digital copies of all Pit Talk publications since the original debut in 1953. These archives are now available on PitTalk.org for everyone to enjoy!
Take a minute and visit the Pit Talk Archive page and browse through the decades. Check out the minutes from BOD meetings in the 1950s. Enjoy the photos of cars that were “new” in the 1960s. Watch how color slowly was added – from just the headers in the 1980s, to full color versions in the 2000’s. And lastly, starting in 2018, the latest evolution to an annual yearbook with the debut of PitTalk.org.
What’s Next: More Digital Archives
As more of our region communications become digital – we recognize the need to continue keeping these records for posterity and making them available to our members. With the re-design of the NER.org website, many digital files of results, supps, and event details were restored and downloaded for safe keeping. The next step in our digital archival process will be sorting these by program type (rally, solo, club racing, region) and making those available with the region websites as well. Stay tuned for the announcement of this next step being completed.
