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The Butler County Historical and Genealogical Society requests the community’s help to identify individuals pictured in donated historical photos.

“We would love for people to come by and help us identify them,” said society member Judy Taylor.

The society works to preserve the history of Butler County’s people, collecting donated books, photos, and other items which capture moments of county history.

Society member Deborah Salter scans donated photos and documents for digital access. She said the society has many photos in which individuals are not identified and the society welcomes area residents who may help them identify pictured persons.

“We have pictures which were in The Greenville Advocate at one time and we just cannot identify some of them,” Salter said. “We have some pictures dating way back to when we had a baseball team, things like that. But we can’t identify all the people.”

Historical society volunteers assist patrons who visit the Greenville-Butler County Public Library to investigate their ancestry, Salter said. Identifying pictured individuals helps the society document and file information which helps in the research.

“For the history room, we would like to be able to identify pictures so if people come in looking for a certain family, we can show them the pictures and give them some history of their family,” Salter said. “We have newspaper clippings as well, and file folders for each surname.”

Visitors can look through files, view Census records and maps, and review marriage records to discover family history. According to Salter, the society also has church history information too.

“[Visitors] can research their family, but we do ask that whatever they find, they make a copy and not take materials from the library,” Salter said.

Salter said the society can scan pictures, slides, and negatives. If researchers wish to retain their original instead of donating it to the society, Salter can scan it for the society’s records and can also improve the quality of some damaged or deteriorated images.

“I can scan pictures and place them in a family file,” Salter said. “If a picture is damaged, we have the capability of fixing some of them, depending on the damage.”

Area residents can access historical information during normal library hours, Salter said. To access digital information, researchers must visit on Tuesday or Friday, when the society’s volunteers are present. To view photographs, visitors are encouraged to stop by on Friday mornings.

Interested persons may join the society for $25. To become a member, visit Sweetheart Alabama or stop by the library on Tuesday or Friday.

For more information email bchsgnvl@gmail.com or visit the society’s Facebook page.