Residents of Sandersville and the surrounding community are invited to drop off their old home movies so they can be brought into the modern era, thanks to the work of archivists from the Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, a special collections unit of the University of Georgia Libraries.
The “Free the Tapes” project is headed to the east central Georgia area after three successful rounds in Athens, which has resulted in the digitization of more than 500 family films.
“So many memories are stored on old VHS tapes, yet the next generation misses out because they don’t have any way to play the tapes,” said Ruta Abolins, director of the Brown Media Archives. “Through Free the Tapes, we can take home movies from any out-of-date format and bring those memories back to your modern-day screens while sharing our passion for media preservation.”
Households can submit up to three items for digitization, but slots are limited. Registration is required, and begins Thursday, Feb. 26.
Registered participants can drop off their materials with Brown Media archivists, who will be at the Washington County Chamber of Commerce from 1 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 5 and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, March 6.
On Saturday, May 2, the community is invited to a public screening of the home movies at the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. Participants can pick up their materials during the event, set for 1 to 3 p.m.
This program is available in collaboration with UGA’s Archway Partnership program.
The Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collections, a unit of the University of Georgia Special Collections Libraries, is the third-largest public archive devoted to the preservation of broadcast media in the nation. In addition to the Peabody Awards archive, which includes award-nominated radio, television, and film dating back to the 1940s, collections include newsfilm, home movies, field recordings, and more.