Carlisle, PA- December 16 - The Army Heritage Center was recently featured in the The Cumberlin Sentinel and on ABC27-News Harrisburg. The Army Heritage and Education Center (AHEC), the Army's premier historical research facility, showcased the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) collection.
PTFS has been helping AHEC meet their mission goals for over seven years, including the customization and deployment of the ArchivalWare-powered digital collection which is publically available online. AHEC's digital collection, along with the catalog for the center's library, are available through the U.S. Army Heritage Collection Online (AHCO). PTFS not only supports AHEC with these repositories and the web portal, but also provides high quality digitization of standard and fragile materials including photos, reports, and other historic documents.
Molly Bompane, AHEC's photo curator, noted in the Sentinel's Article AHEC Unveils Digitized Collection of Civil War Photos, "Not only have we preserved this collection for future generations, we have made it much more accessible to many researchers and enthusiasts around the globe." Ms. Bompane added, "It puts a face on war and what it looked like to be out on the field."
In the ABC 27 News story Ms. Bompane explained how MOLLUS was established in April 1865 as a fraternal organization for Union officers peaking at 12,000 members including famed commanders Grant and Sherman. In addition, Bompane provided a close up look of some unique and incredibly fragile photographs from historical moments in American military history.
Besides the daily staff at AHEC, renowned documentarian Ken Burns and his staff spent six weeks in Carlisle going through the MOLLUS collection to pull illustrations for his popular PBS series on the Civil War. Richard Sommers, senior historian at AHEC, explained the importance of the AHEC collections, "When the Military History Institute acquired this collection in December 1973, it was the most important discovery of Civil War photographs in the 20th century."
About PTFS
PTFS is an industry leader in content management and library solutions and has provided products and services to global organizations and government agencies for over 15 years. For more information on PTFS go to: http://www.ptfs.com
About ArchivalWare: ArchivalWare is PTFS' content management software. With over 200 different supported files, formats and fully customizable interfaces, ArchivalWare allows organizations to store, access, and manage archives and repositories within one easy to use system. For more information on ArchivalWare go to: http://www.archivalware.net.
About AHEC
AHEC fosters a greater understanding of the Army's central role in the growth, development and protection of the nation and its way of life, and connects Americans of all backgrounds, through all periods of American history with one another and their nation through the stories and voices of those who served in the Army.
As a centerpiece of the Army's Military History Program, AHEC and its supporting Foundation are developing a wide range of educational programs, both on-site and for distribution, to help Americans better understand the American soldier and the prominent role their Army has played in American history. PTFS continues to provide high quality support and cutting edge techniques to help AHEC achieve its goals of educating Americans on our military history with cutting edge and interactive technology.
