Use Planned Giving to Leave a Legacy with OHS

Holiday and Research Fun from the Comfort of Home!

By:  JA Pryse, Digital Projects Archivist

Oklahoma Historical Society, Research Center

As the holidays are drawing near it is easy to reminisce about the days of youth, playing football in the backyard with family, eating pies, drinking cider and listening to stories from generations past. As an archivist involved in the Digital Collections Department, immersing oneself into the past is rather easy. Uncovering Thanksgiving Day road trips with Martha Blaine or Christmas festivities with the Colcord Family is a usual occurrence. A trip to the video and film department might even guide your senses through footage of Oklahoma holiday parades, visits from Santa or a family Christmas inside of the Colcord Home. Whether you prefer a visual or auditory journey the OHS archives provides the memories, experiences and those parts of Oklahoma history that shaped our great state, the Oklahomans that have lived here and the candid experiences of many before us. Exciting news from the OHS Research Division takes these experiences one step further, into your own home.

As the digital age has seemingly complicated aspects, the benefits of exploring those avenues are enormous. From the comfort of your living room, you can find countless videos on the Oklahoma Historical Society's YouTube channel or simply head to the OHS webpage and click on The Gateway to Oklahoma History link to find over 9,700 results by searching for the term 'Christmas' in our Oklahoma Newspaper Repository. One such article found in The Independent, Volume 6, No.33; December 18, 1913 reads:

"Free trip to Guthrie to do your Christmas shopping, Guthrie pays your railroad fare or pays your horse feed!" The article goes on to explain that "Persons driving to Guthrie to trade during December will be given a discount of 5% on their purchases until their horse feed bill is paid." and "To any person coming by railway we will refund railroad fare both ways on a basis of 5% on every dollar purchased."

 

One can almost hear the train on the tracks and imagine the festive decorations in historic downtown Guthrie. The streets filled with the hustle and bustle of excited families shopping for their loved ones, tunes echoing from the store fronts and, laughter of children overwhelmed with the experience and the smell of the city in the midst of the holiday season.

So whether you are able to visit our beautiful Research Center or choose to experience the holidays of Oklahoma past in your home, office or even by smartphone, all of us in the Research Division are always here to help facilitate your exploration. Please contact us with your comments or questions concerning your needs as we can help uncover your holiday spirit! Our office hours are M-F 10:00am-4:45pm.