Peabody City Council votes on local preservation matters

PEABODY-In addition to voting to preserve the salaries of several public employees, union and non-union, City Councilors also voted Thursday night to preserve the city’s rich history.Through two separate appropriations, the Council voted to approve funds from the Community Preservation Act for the purchase of microfilm equipment at the Peabody Institute Library, as well as to convert the George Peabody House Museum’s “Leather Soul” documentary tapes to DVD.?Access to historic resources is vital for researchers and students,” wrote Martha Holden, Library Director. “People use the microfilm readers on a daily basis for genealogy, school projects, and professional publishing.”Holden said that the new set up will allow patrons to view items in the library’s microfilm collection and print research material from a networked printer. The user will also have the option to select material and save or send it to his or her email account.?These options are important as they are basic to library, Internet, and database searches,” Holden wrote.The total request for $6,485 was approved.Merritt Kirkpatrick, Curator at the George Peabody House, wrote in her request that the conversion project “serves to preserve part of Peabody’s leather-working history.”The 1980s-era betamax-format tapes contain bits of local interviews and other material recorded during the taping of “Leather Soul.” Most were not used in the final cut of the documentary, but supporters say that doesn’t negate their importance to Peabody.?These interviews are more valuable than ever since they were conducted to capture a time in our city’s history that is now mostly gone,” wrote Archivist Nancy Barthelemy in a letter to the Community Preservation Committee. “As oral history, the insights and memories given by these workers will not only enhance the Peabody Leather Museum, but also remind us of the contributions they, and the tanneries they worked for, made to our city.”Councilors also approved the total request of this project, which came to $2,460.