Past Awards: 2004
The Michigan Alliance for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage has selected
the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society and Museum for our first Heritage
Guardian award in 2004. This volunteer organization of over 500 members has
invested thousands of dollars to create a Tech Center devoted to the collection,
preservation, archiving and reproduction of paper and photographic materials
relating to the area's history and geography. This effort began in 1996, with
the acquisition of over 3000 negatives of daily life in Saugatuck taken by
local photographer, newspaper editor and artist Bill Simmons from 1941 to
1960. In 2001, volunteers identified and archived the negatives, and scanned
about 1/3 of them. The images were used to create the book,"Off the Record:
The Unpublished Photographs of Bill Simmons". The text provides well-researched
historical context for the photos. This book, written and designed by volunteers,
won a Michigan Historical Society Book of the Year award, and a gold "Quest
for Excellence" graphic design award from the Michigan Museums Association.
The Society also created a CD with a selection of images from the book, as
well as a museum exhibit featuring the photographs.
These projects are only part of a varied program that has included production
of the Saugatuck-Douglas Building Survey (electronic database of over 600
structures with images and documentation) used by the city council, historic
district commission, and planning commission. They have published 8 books
on historical topics, seven of which have won awards. Their museum features
exhibits on the same topics, an efficient use of research time! The society
also has a Heritage Awards program that recognizes preservation, renovation
and new construction projects that promote or enhance the area's historic
character. The society has taken heritage education out of the museum and
created the Harborfront Outdoor Learning Stations. These are a series of five
permanent panels that illustrate and interprete the history of the harbor.
They also organized a heritage festival in 2002, and in 2003, began a stewardship
fund for donation of development easements as another tool to preserve the
historic character of the community. In short, the conservation efforts, which
we would like to recognize are part of a comprehensive effort to guard and
interpret the cultural heritage of the Saugatuck-Douglas community.
The award committee was impressed not only with the Society's efforts to physically
preserve their area's documents and photographs, but also their devotion to
effectively presenting the collections so effectively to the community. These
efforts give the community the opportunity of incorporating these documents
of the past into the community's sense of identity and meaning.
