History

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1) Origin - The Collection is based upon the photographs taken by Thomas Barnard and Nellie Stockbridge between 1893-1965.  Upon the death of Nellie Stockbridge, two men local to the area, Harry Magnuson and Henry Day, saw the collection of over 200,000 images be preserved by removing it from the Wallace studio and into the University of Idaho Library Special Collections Unit.  The photographs have been digitized by the University.

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2) Museum Founding - Beginning in 2017, several leaders in Wallace felt the need to return the photograph collection back to the place that is truly "home" of the photographs.  This led to meetings with the University, creation of the Board of Directors, and the creation of the Barnard - Stockbridge Wallace Extension.  That organization has now modified its name to do business as "The Barnard - Stockbridge Museum."

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3) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) - In 2019, the University and the Barnard - Stockbridge Museum executed a Memorandum of Understanding that allows the Museum full access and use of the Barnard Stockbridge Photography Museum Collection.  The University does not provide any directly operating guidance or fund the Museum, in whole or in part.  With this MOU, the Museum has downloaded all the 33,000 digitized portraits in the collection and has that data "In House" in Wallace.

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4) Opening - The Barnard - Stockbridge Museum opened in the Summer of 2019.