"Reel" Ely: Help Preserve the Past Before It Fades

Welcome to our Give MN fundraising page!

This year, we’re continuing raising funds to upgrade our museum technology and bring our media collections back to life. 

From first canoe trips to campfire laughter, home movies housed in the historical society collection capture the wonder of vacations in Ely and the Boundary Waters. They hold memories of resorts that introduced families to new adventures and the beauty of the Northwoods. Many of our film reels, VHS tapes, and DVDs feature the joy of resorts and recreation in the Ely area - family vacations, cabin life, fishing trips, and adventures that shaped our community’s history.

But time is catching up with these treasures...

• Aging film reels are becoming brittle and discolored

• VHS tapes degrade with each viewing

• DVDs and their players are quickly becoming obsolete

Without digitization, these windows into the past may be lost forever.

By converting these films to modern formats, we can:

• Protect irreplaceable footage from decay

• Make history accessible to museum visitors, students, and researchers

• Share the personal stories that shaped Ely’s tourism legacy

With your help, we can digitize these fragile formats and purchase a new flat-screen display for an engaging, interactive exhibit. Together, we can ensure these stories aren’t lost to outdated technology, but preserved and shared for generations to come.

BACKGROUND

The mission of the Ely-Winton Historical Society is to identify, collect and preserve artifacts, photographs, documents, and other articles relating to the Ely-Winton area, and to share information about the history and culture of the local area through public display of relics and evidence of history.  The Society maintains a museum and historical research center and sells publications about local history. As a non-profit organization, the Society relies upon grants and donations from the public for its continued operation.