Knox County Historical Society details digitization push and community programs

Mark Grama, president of the Knox County Historical Society, and Michael Sherfy, the museum director, visited the Knox County Commissioners on July 23 to review the museum’s recent activities and priorities. Grama told the commissioners that Sherfy began late last year and that the museum has been focusing on organizing collections and expanding public programming. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Mark Grama,” Grama said when introducing the presenters.

Sherfy described work behind the scenes to make collections more accessible and said the museum recently received grant funding to buy equipment for digitizing photographs. “We’ve got a small grant for — well, it’s a good‑size grant for what we needed for some equipment to do digitization of some photographs,” Sherfy said, adding the goal is to make images available for public viewing online. The presentation also noted an ongoing project to digitize county newspapers with an outside vendor and volunteer support. Commissioners asked follow‑up questions about yearbooks and local directories; Sherfy said volunteers are compiling inventories and he expects more complete counts next year.

The presenters outlined public programming that ties into the America250 commemoration and regular monthly events during the museum season, including documentary screenings, local-history talks and a reminiscence roundtable that encourages attendance by providing refreshments. They said membership options (individual and family) will be available at a modest museum table during the county fair and urged residents to follow the museum’s Facebook page for updates.

The visit closed with Grama thanking the commissioners for their continuing financial support, which museum leaders said is important for ongoing conservation and outreach work.