The Washington Evening Journal Photo Archive brings together decades of images documenting the people, places, and events that have shaped our community. Our project aims to broaden the impact of Washington County's photographic history in tourism, community engagement and appreciation for the area's unique culture and customs by preserving photos produced by Washington Evening Journal photographers.
The images and other materials on this site are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license unless otherwise noted. This means you are welcome to copy, share, and adapt these materials for non-commercial purposes, provided you give appropriate credit. Please attribute the source as "Courtesy of the Southeast Iowa Union, digitized and made available through the Washington Public Library's Washington Evening Journal Project." Commercial use of these materials requires permission from the copyright holder.
This project is a great complement to the existing Southeast Iowa Digital Archive since users of the WEJ can link back to that site to learn more about a picture.
Project Background and History
In 2024 a large cache of film negatives taken by photographers and reporters at the Washington Evening Journal from 1957 to 2004 was discovered at the University of Iowa Library's Special Collections and Archives.
At about the same time The Washington (Iowa) Free Public Library (WFPL) opened its “Memory Lab” as part of the Library's MakeIT Place. The Memory Lab provides the community with equipment necessary to digitize and preserve photographic material including photographs, film, transparencies, movies, VHS tapes and audio tapes. Much of the original equipment and furnishings for the MakeIT Place was funded by a grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) with construction of the space funded by the Washington Public Library Foundation (WPLF). An additional supplementary grant, specifically for a local history project including the Washington Evening Journal project, was awarded to the WFPL in the Spring of 2025.
Mark Keedy, a 1975 graduate of Washington High School and a 1979 graduate of The University of Iowa, is a former photographer and writer for The Evening Journal. He tracked down the film with the help of Washington County historian Michael Zahs and began coordinating a plan to digitize the collection. It was Zahs who took charge of the film when the Evening Journal building was being remodeled, and delivered 18 boxes of materials to the UI. Because the UI Archives policy naturally prohibits the release of donated materials to individuals, Keedy, with the help of WFPL Director Cary Ann Siegfried, negotiated an arrangement in which the film is loaned – one box at time – to the WFPL and digitized in the Memory Lab under the Library's supervision. UI Special Collections staff provide guidance and materials to assist with organizing, packaging and generating metadata for the collection.
The digitized images, extensively documented by date, place and subject names, are available through multiple sources including the WFPL, the UI Libraries Special Collections and Archives, and through a unique online project called Fortepan.ia at the University of Northern Iowa.
We are grateful to the Southeast Iowa Union for permission to make the Washington Evening Journal collection available online. As the copyright holder, the Southeast Iowa Union allows the library to provide public access to these images under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license. Users are welcome to share and adapt the images for non-commercial purposes, provided they credit the Southeast Iowa Union as the copyright holder.
For physical access to the original film users may visit the University of Iowa University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Department.
We welcome volunteer help with the project to scan film, edit captions, or research information on unidentified subjects or locations. Depending on the assignment, some work can be done remotely. To offer your help visit the Library's volunteer page to download and submit an application. Indicate that you're applying for a Memory Lab Assistant position.
Follow our Memory Lab Facebook Page to join in the discussion