The Sarnia Observer Negative Collection is one of the most interesting and accessible collections at the Lambton County Archives. It is comprised of over 58,000 negatives of photographs that appeared in the Sarnia Observer in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Sarnia Observer Negative Collection was almost lost before it could begin. When local historian and writer George Smith discovered that the Observer was discarding its collection of old negatives, he stepped in to save the collection.
The photographic negatives are used to create prints of images that appeared in the newspaper in the 1950s and 1960s. The Archives have the newspapers on microfilm, but the pictures often do not show up well on microfilm, and when they are printed the results are often disappointing. With the Sarnia Observer Negative Collection, we can locate the original negatives and make significantly better-quality scans and prints of the images.
For over two decades the Sarnia Observer Negative Collection of 58,000 negatives has been indexed by summer our students, and this index is available online. Lambton County Libraries, Museums and Gallery web page has a link to the "Museum Catalogue." In this catalogue, you can browse the Sarnia Observer Negative Collection by searching for "Sarnia Observer Negative" in the drop-down search bar. All the photographs are indexed by the event, location, and names of the individuals featured.
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