Reading the sad but well conceptualized article concerning the fate of the News-Press online archives brought mixed emotions. I fear that this wealth — yes, this has great wealth, socially, posterity-wise, and economic — will be lost forever, or worse, exploited or altered and destroyed in the wrong hands.
Chairman Mao and Joseph Stalin were not the only people to erase history. It is done every day by biased news sources, but the News-Press was for over 125 years very conscientious of ethical responsibility while chronicling the ebb and flow of life in and around Santa Barbara. Don’t let your history be sold to anyone but your own community. To my former classmates, I ask: Bid and buy the archives.
As an historian I can see the value, an intangible that knows no limits, and I can feel the loss, a loss that will follow in Santa Barbara forever. It is your city’s identity on the block. That is also an intangible, but like faith, love, and spirit, it is so very real and essential!
As such, I call all those with the economic resources to make a fungible contribution to your community. That action, if successful, would ensure that this incredible town will always know where it’s going, by knowing where it’s been. It will ensure the quality of life here that makes it so very unique and treasured!
I know you’re out there, and as a group, you can be of great service to your community. I ask this knowing that in the La Sallian educational community from which I was reared, April is the month of community service, so I call my old classmates and others of faith to join this noble cause. Don’t leave it to those in town who struggle just to pay the rent.
Get going. Now. Bid and buy your history for your community