Porter County Clerk Archives team receives Centier Bank’s grant award. Pictured Center Left to Right: Victoria Vasquez, Archives Coordinator; Jessica Bailey, County Clerk; Victoria Jankowski, Deputy Archives Clerk. Photo Credit: Alex Salinas, Video Production & Design Manager, Centier Bank (Photo provided, Porter County Clerk’s Office)
In Portage, the Clerk Archives Department, a local unit operated by the Porter County Clerk of the Circuit Court’s Office, has received a $750 micro-grant award from Centier Bank to support the Archive Department’s digitization project. In July, the Clerk Archives team sought out grant funds to further the goals of the archives department formed in 2020 to preserve the court’s historical records dating back to 1836 when Porter County was first established.
The project seeks to centralize the record collections housed off-site at various facilities between Porter and Lake counties and digitize those records for public access, a news release said. One goal is to provide online record indexes of the historical records to make them available to the public for the first time on the world wide web, the office said. It will also help the archives staff retrieve items for open public record requests from genealogists, independent researchers, scholars, and the public. The archives staff says it has already processed international requests from Sweden and Italy with more expected from the online presence.
“We are grateful to have a valued community partner like Centier Bank supporting our Archiving Project. Porter County has a rich and vibrant history, and digitizing court records is a vital step in preserving that legacy for future generations. With the generous support of Centier Bank, the Clerk Archives will be able to accelerate the progress of this important initiative, ensuring that our historical records are accessible, protected, and celebrated for years to come.” said Jessica Bailey, Clerk of the Circuit Courts. The Centier Gives program is part of Centier Bank’s Community Relations Department.
