Years ago we were given several boxes of old large (4×6 and 5×7) photo negatives from the Severson Studio which was owned and operated by Herbert M. Severson (1885-1971) in Scottsbluff.  Most of the negatives were in old, thin paper sleeves that were literally breaking apart as they were handled.  Written on most but not all of the paper sleeves was a name which we presume is the surname of the individual in the photo.

The Severson Photo Negative Scanning Project was actually designed as two distinct projects.  Phase 1 of the project entailed removing each and every photo negative from its paper sleeve and then placing it in a new archival safe polyester photo negative sleeve.  We then copied any information from the paper sleeve to a new label and placed the label on the new sleeve.  The photo negatives, in their new archival safe sleeves, were then placed into archival safe lignin free boxes for long term storage.

Phase 2 of the project, when started, will be to digitally scan each and every photo negative in the collection and then place those images on this website.

This project and especially phase 2, will be one of those tedious and time consuming projects that may take a year or several to complete.  We have not yet purchased or setup the computer equipment that will be required to complete this project but once a project leader is assigned and other volunteers are brought on board, a designated work area at the Center will be allocated and the equipment will be purchased for the project.  Project volunteers will be able to work on this project at their convenience.  The project leader will be responsible for managing the project and will provide occasional status reports to the staff and director.