Preserving Our Past For The Future

Since the early 19th century Arrowmen have been cheerfully serving in the Order of the Arrow. It all started with Dr. E. Urner Goodman. Since then, thousands of Arrowmen have been involved in the living history of the Order of the Arrow.  Each lodge has its own unique history which plays part in the overall national history of the OA.

It is important that the history of the Order of the Arrow is remembered not only through interviews with OA members but also from historical items such as pictures, written documents and memorabilia. Many of these historical items that tell the history of the OA belong to individual members of the OA. The items continue to age and may not be around much longer for future generations to see and learn form.

This week at NOAC the History and Preservation subcommittee has been hard at work scanning and archiving these documents so they will be preserved in a digital format for future generations to see. Many of the items being scanned are news articles, pictures, and official OA documents. Once all of the items have been scanned they will be put into a large database which will someday be put on the web for all to see and enjoy.

The committee is also conducting video interviews with many retired and current national Order of the Arrow committee members. The purpose of these interviews is to record the stories, information and most importantly the history that these members have experienced for future Arrowmen.  They are more then willing to tell what they know in hopes that it will be used in the future which is just will happens thanks to the hard work of the History and Preservation subcommittee.