Imaging Specialists is working with the Alleghany Historical – Genealogical Society on its award-winning series, Alleghany Memories. The series won a Paul Green Multimedia Award for the premier episode that featured Pauline Jolly and Mildred Torney- both former county librarians.
The current episode features an interview with Bobby Irwin, Vietnam-era Marine combat photographer and videographer, and was produced in conjunction with the Walter Frank Osborne, Jr. Deatachment 1298 Marine Corps League from Sparta, North Carolina.
ISI produced titles and a short slide show of Mr. Irwin’s images that airs at the end of the episode. The episode is available for viewing, online, at actv.me, Alleghany Community Television’s new streaming site.
The program is the first of four produced with the Marine Corps League and is hosted by current Commandant, John Irwin. Subsequent episodes will feature interviews of J.T. Pardue, Bill Sebastian and Charles Pugh- all members of the local detachment.
ISI is proud to be able to have a part in this interesting and historic series.
The newest edition of Alleghany County Cemeteries through 1986, available now at the Sparta Store
Imaging Specialists has reworked the Alleghany Cemeteries book to make it easier to use and more sturdy in the latest edition, available now. As the supply of the original books dwindled, the Alleghany Historical – Genealogical Society board knew changes had to be made.
The 8.5″ x 11″ books were originally perfect-bound (or paperback style binding) on the short dimension making them cumbersome to use as they were over 22″ wide when fully opened. This configuration also stressed the binding so much that most of the books’ spines would eventually break apart, releasing pages or groups of pages.
Even with these structural problems, the book has been in demand since it was introduced in 1986. The Historical Society at that time did such a good job of documenting existing cemeteries that their effort has become one of the most useful and respected resources ever produced by AHGS. The Society gets regular requests for an updated version or a second volume- a task that would probably exceed the original project as names and information for the past 27 years would have to be researched and added.
The original edition, edited by Lou Reed Landreth with “Computerization” by Lynn Lambert, and help from Elvira Crouse, Pearl Reeves and Marvie Shelor- and probably every able bodied volunteer they could muster- was printed by New River Graphics in 1988.
The new edition will be printed, “on-demand” as orders come in. In this way the society won’t have to initiate a traditional press run, or raise thousands of dollars in up-front production costs, or incur subsequent years of storage costs.
On-demand pricing is higher per unit, but it makes sense for a non-profit organization so that operating funds aren’t tied up in a long term inventory.
Spiral binding will allow field researchers to more easily keep their place whether they are at a single page or looking at a double page spread, without stress to the binding. Thicker pages should also add to the book’s longevity.
Pages from the first volume were individually scanned so the data is exactly as it appeared in the original.
Books are now available at the Sparta Store on Main Street in Sparta, North Carolina or here, online for $27 plus tax and shipping.
UPDATE: Due to the weather, the event has been postponed. We’ll let you know when it is rescheduled.
Monday afternoon, on Oct. 29, we’ll be a part of ReadFest at Alleghany County Public Library. The event will start at 1:00 and last till 4:00. Come out and join us and other local authors. (Suzanne Irwin will be there, as well.)
We’ll have copies of our history books and Paths and Passages with us, if you haven’t seen them yet. We’ll also have information on Star Route Books and publishing, if that’s something you’re considering.
We look forward to seeing you at the Library on Monday!
If you came to the release party for Paths & Passages -Navigating the Blue Ridge and Stratford Oaks Tales, The Tale of Gretchen, you’ve heard our latest news. If you weren’t able to attend, here it is:
Saturday, the 20th, we traveled to Mooresville, NC for the annual awards banquet of the North Carolina Society of Historians. Imaging Specialists was well represented this year: Claire Halsey was awarded a Paul Jehu Barringer, Jr. & Sr. Award of Excellence for her genealogy work and Jeff Halsey was named the NCSH Historian of the Year!
ISI also received a Willie Parker Peace History Book Awardfor the latest book in our history series, Regimental History of the 61st NC Infantry (published last fall) about Alleghany County men in the Civil War. We gathered text, photos, battle maps and battle summaries for the book; laid out and re-set the text; and optimized the photos for the book which is now available on-demand from Star Route Books and in our shop in Sparta.
Elizabeth Bray Sherrill, President NCSH and Jeff Halsey NCSH 2012 Historian of the Year
Imaging Specialists publishes the AHGS quarterly newsletters. We also produce the books in the Stratford Oaks series.
We plan to submit several projects and nominate others others in our community for consideration in 2013.
If you know of other projects you think deserve recognition, nomination forms are located on the NCSH site.
Imaging Specialists and the Halsey family is proud to have accepted these honors from the North Carolina Society of Historians. We sincerely appreciate the consideration of President Elizabeth Sherrill, the NCSH Board and the Judges. And we appreciate the help and support of the Alleghany Historical-Genealogical Society.
Imaging Specialists is working with the Alleghany Historical – Genealogical Society on its award-winning series, Alleghany Memories. The series won a Paul Green Multimedia Award for the premier episode that featured Pauline Jolly and Mildred Torney- both former county librarians.
