The $22,000 order the Archives of Michigan recently landed is just the beginning of what State Archivist Mark Harvey hopes will be a surge in productivity.
The Archives of Michigan is run by the State of Michigan and has nearly one million historical state images. Organizations, businesses and educational institutions buy these images for varying reasons.
Marriott Towneplace Hotels, for example, placed a $22,000 order for several images as part of its renovation efforts in the southern part of the state. The chain is using Michigan Archives photographs in its Troy, Sterling Heights and Livonia hotels.
“Rather than pull some generic historical photos, they wanted to make sure it was relative to the region,” Harvey says, adding that the photos feature the Detroit area.
The Archives of Michigan is undergoing an effort to bring in more orders like the Marriott Townplace Hotels order.
“While we’re making a big deal about it now, our goal is to make this maybe not the norm, but something close to it,” he says.
Before the site was re-launched in March 2009, users from 93 countries speaking 33 different languages visited the site.
The Archives of Michigan is located at 702 W. Kalamazoo St. in Lansing. The site and equipment is managed by the Michigan History Foundation, which acts as the Archives’ business conduit.
Source: Mark Harvey, Archives of Michigan
Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.