As part of its mission, the Old Baldy Foundation maintains a permanent collection of artifacts, manuscripts and photographs illustrating the history of the Smith Island Complex. The collection has seen massive growth in 2021, with over 230 objects brought in for possible acquisition. Under the direction of a committee comprised of staff and board members, nearly 170 objects have been accepted into our collections and have found their permanent home telling the stories of Bald Head Island.
The biggest accession the Foundation received this year was from the Schmulling family. Elva and Harry Schmulling were members of the Generator Society and their four children donated 173 objects to the permanent collection and 5 objects to the subject files in their parents' memory. The donation included 132 photographs taken on the island from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, a ladies fishing trophy, and several Generator Society memorabilia. This donation allows people to understand this pivotal time in the island's history visually. Over the coming months, staff will digitize the photographs to be available for public view on our online database. In the meantime, a sneak peek of these photos are in this newsletter!
Stay tuned as we continue to announce some of the other unique pieces of history added to our permanent collection.
