By Heather Perry

After her grandfather passed away in 2021, Savannah Lanza inherited boxes of photo slides. Thousands of them.

Each one labeled, sorted and stored with care. He had spoken little about his past. What remained was a record she had never seen.

Through Johnson County Library, she found a way in.

The Library’s Film to Digital Converter Kits allow residents to scan slides, negatives and film and convert them into digital images. The impact can be lasting.

Lanza’s grandfather, Perry, served in the Air Force in Thailand during the Vietnam War. At the time, his wife and infant daughter were back home. He stayed connected through letters and small gifts, including jewelry he mailed across the ocean.

For Lanza, the images filled in the parts of his life he never spoke about. She saw him young and smiling, standing near military planes. Walking through city streets. Photographing temples, flowers and everyday life in late 1960s Thailand.

“This part of his life was unknown to me,” she said. “Seeing those slides for the first time was really meaningful.”

After setup, she scanned about 100 slides in under an hour. Sometimes she paused to send photos to family, other times just to take it in.

Even the surprises felt familiar. A batch of black slides turned out to be intentional – her grandfather’s “dud box.” Organized, even in what he chose not to keep.

When she shared the images, her grandmother responded right away. Calls, texts, memories tied to each frame. Stories returned with the photos. The kits saved time and cost, but more importantly, they opened access to a personal history that had long been out of reach.

Johnson County Library encourages anyone with boxes of slides, negatives or film to check out a Film to Digital Converter Kit or visit the Memory Lab at Central Resource Library, Overland Park, where staff and genealogy volunteers can help.

Learn more and reserve a kit by visiting jocolibrary.org. Discover the stories waiting in your own family archives.

Heather Perry is Communications Specialist at Johnson County Library.