BRISTOL, Ind. -- The Elkhart Historical Museum is seeking community support for a major collections care project of over 40 years of film negatives from The Goshen News.

When The Goshen News moved to their new home in late 2025, they reached out to the Elkhart County Historical Society to see if ECHS wanted to collect their archive of film negatives going back to 1960. This archive contains images captured by reporters and photographers over 40 years, including ones that were never published. Initial assessment by the Museum’s Curator of Collections, Michelle Nash, estimates it is nearly a million individual images.

“After careful consideration, the Historical Society agreed to accept this offer, knowing that, while it would be a valuable resource for Elkhart County for years to come, it would also require a great deal of work and expense to care for and make accessible. To safely rehouse this collection, we estimate we will need at least 20,000 polyethylene sleeves, 1,000 archival folders, and 50 archival boxes,” said Nash, “The total cost will be around $8,000.”

With that goal in mind, the Elkhart County Historical Society is asking the community for help.

“We are very excited to be the repository for this important collection of Elkhart County history,” said Museum Administrator, Julie Parke, “We hope to make it available as soon as possible, and acquiring the needed supplies will help with that immensely.”

The Elkhart County Historical Museum is a partnership between the Elkhart County Parks and the Elkhart County Historical Society, which owns the historic collection. Donations to The Goshen News archive project will go to the Elkhart County Historical Society for the direct purchase of needed archival supplies.

To learn more about the fundraiser or to contribute, you can visit the Museum’s page on the Elkhart County Parks website or their Facebook page