Library unveils digitized fire department archive online

Stillwater Public Library presented its newly digitized Fire Department Collection to City Council on Monday, showcasing approximately 2,000 photographs and documents now available for public research through the library's online archive catalog.

Library Director Stacy Delano and Technical Services Supervisor Andrea Kane demonstrated the collection's accessibility during the Feb. 9 council presentation, walking through the search process and highlighting historic images spanning decades of firefighting history.

"We share cultural preservation duties with OSU and with the Stillwater History Museum," Delano said. "The library's focus, however, is on the history of Stillwater's governmental entities and its community organizations."

Historic Photos Online

The library received a $14,000 grant from Oklahoma Historical Society to digitize the Stillwater Fire Department Collection, which contains more than 42 boxes of photographs, documents, scrapbooks and log books. The grant funded digitization of approximately 40 percent of the total collection.

Technical Services Supervisor Andrea Kane (left) and Library Director Stacy Delano present the newly digitized Fire Department Collection to Stillwater City Council on Feb. 9. The computer screen (right) displays a dramatic 1914 photograph of the fire at Oklahoma A&M's Women's Building, one of approximately 2,000 images now searchable through the library's online archive catalog. – Photos by Chris Peters

The materials were previously housed at Oklahoma State University's Fire Protection Publications before being gifted to the library.

Kane, who oversees the technical services department responsible for archival preservation, explained the collection serves multiple research purposes including firefighting equipment and techniques, Stillwater historical research, genealogy, property history and business research.

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Notable images in the digitized collection include Stillwater's 1869 fire truck displayed in a parade, a 1941-era fire truck, a 1940s catch net demonstration and a dramatic 1914 photograph of Oklahoma A&M's Women's Building during a fire.

"We do expect to have interest in the collection on a state and national basis as well as interest from our community," Delano said.

Testing the System

The library is requesting public feedback on the collection's accessibility and user experience through an online survey.

Library staff emphasized that while digitized images are available online, researchers can access much higher resolution files by contacting the library directly. The entire 42-box collection remains available for in-person viewing and research at the library.

How to Search

Users can access the digital archive through the library's website by navigating to the Research tab, selecting Local History and Archive, then clicking Search Special Collections. The advanced search function allows filtering by collection name, date ranges, people and specific keywords.

Kane demonstrated searching for specific individuals like former Fire Chief Ray Davidson and specific events such as the 1976 Stillwater School Supplies fire that destroyed a building at what is now Chris Salmon Plaza.

Historic photographs from the 1940s document a Stillwater Fire Department catch net demonstration on the Oklahoma A&M campus. The sequence shows spectators gathered at the building's base, a person mid-jump, and multiple perspectives of the landing into the safety net held by firefighters. These catch nets were an essential rescue tool before modern aerial ladder trucks became standard equipment. The images are among approximately 2,000 photographs and documents in the Fire Department Collection that Stillwater Public Library digitized through a $14,000 grant from the Oklahoma Historical Society, preserving decades of firefighting techniques and equipment for researchers and community members. – SPL Digital Archive

The collection has already proven valuable for research requests from outside Oklahoma. The library recently assisted the Illinois Fire Service Institute with an instructor memorial project by locating information about a part-time student firefighter who attended OSU and worked in Stillwater during the 1950s.

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News Press Collection

Delano announced the library received an additional $15,000 grant from Oklahoma Historical Society to preserve and describe the Stillwater News Press photograph collection containing more than 29,000 files spanning the 1950s through 1990s.

"I think that this will result in being one of the largest photographic collections in Stillwater," Delano said.

The library will focus on preservation and description work before beginning digitization of the News Press collection in subsequent years.

The library's archive room now houses approximately 7,500 items on Stillwater history, with an official archive catalog added last year enabling community members to view digitized materials online.

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Mayor Will Joyce praised the presentation and expressed enthusiasm for exploring the collection.

"I wish we did this at every City Council meeting," Joyce said. "I love this kind of stuff, and I think it's awesome."

📺 Watch the presentation to City Council (timestamped)