Preserving a 19th-Century Day Book
Shippensburg University’s Little Red Schoolhouse possesses a ledger belonging to John Hefflefinger, who was once a local official in the Newburg, PA area. The ledger is in poor physical condition, with the front cover and spine completely detached, although most of the content pages are in readable condition.
Using equipment at the Ezra Lehman Memorial Library at Shippensburg University, I digitized the ledger so that we can begin to study its contents without further damaging the volume. I also boxed the volume in archival acid-free tissue paper and cardboard, to preserve the physical object. The work will ensure historians’ access to the volume and its valuable content.
The ledger contains entries pertaining to personal, legal, educational, and other business from the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Various inserts including a business card and correspondence further add to the ledger’s historical value. It has not yet been fully analyzed an a primary document, but thanks to its digitization, it will soon be available to historians and other researchers.
Special thanks are due to Melanie Reed, of the Lehman Library’s Special Collections department, for providing advice and materials, and to Jeff Milburn, for the use of the library’s Inter-Library Loan department overhead scanner.
The digital scan of the ledger should be available soon at the Lehman Library.
Historical Chesnuts 