By Quinn O’Hara

Since November of this year, K-State’s Chapman Center for Rural Studies has been aiding the Orphan Train Museum in Concordia in preserving their historical documents through digitization.

Digitization is a process that takes physical documents and scans them onto a computer to be stored electronically.

Mary Kohn is the Director of the Chapman Center, and says digitizing all of the Orphan Train Museum’s files is an extensive but necessary project:

The Chapman Center is dedicating volunteer time to organize, electronically scan, and return the documents to the Museum, says Kohn. Once the files are digitized, they will soon be available for the public to access online.

Kohn believes that now more than ever is a critical time to begin preserving the documents on Orphan Train riders:

The Chapman Center hopes to complete this project in a year’s time.

Those wishing to volunteer their time to the Chapman Center’s efforts can reach out to their email at chapmancenter@ksu.edu.

Monetary donations to help fund the Chapman Center’s future efforts can be given though the link below: https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/25371/donations/ne