Collective Memory Project

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of photos should I contribute?

Anything from local events to family memories to favorite places is worth saving! Choose photos that are unique and depict something, somewhere, or someone important to you. 

Need some ideas? Here are a few questions to get you thinking about what photos you would like to share: 

• What is something you built here (e.g. a friendship, a garden, a club)? 
• What is a place or time in Watertown that is important to you, but may be underappreciated (e.g. a restaurant, street corner, a park bench, an annual event)? 
• What’s something you wish more people knew about you, your family, or Watertown? 
• Someone thirty years from now wants to know how you spend your time! What do you show them? 
• Lots of things change. What is something important—in your life, or in Watertown—that has changed, or is changing? 

Still not sure? Share your favorite photo of yourself! 

Why is there a limit to the number of photos I can digitize at a digitization day?

Every member of the Watertown community is invited to participate in the Watertown Collective Memory Project and contribute to the collection. That’s a lot of people! We ask that individuals bring no more than three photos to digitize so that we have room for contributions from as many people as possible in the collection. 

Can my group or organization contribute photos to the Watertown Collective Memory Project?  

The Watertown Collective Memory Project is an opportunity to share and preserve personal photos that document life in Watertown. This includes the people and activities of Watertown organizations.  

Every single person in our community is encouraged to identify and share some of their own photos with the project. If your organization has people, then those people should contribute photos! The best way to ensure your organization is included in the project is to help your community contribute photos by hosting a digitization day and sharing the digital upload form.  

We cannot include photos contributed on behalf of an organization, or specifically as a record of that organization, in the Watertown Collective Memory Project. However, groups and organizations are also important keepers of local and community history, and their records may have a place in the Watertown Free Public Library Local History Collection. While we cannot scan and return organizational records at this time, we encourage donations of physical materials. Visit the Local History Contribution Page to learn more!