In 2005, for the 150th anniversary of the department, the director of the Municipal Library Manuel Belgrano, Sylvina Balmaceda, launched an invitation-entered its inhabitants: Godoy Cruz 150 years. You, what are you going to give away. The idea was to form a photo album with memories both milestones and everyday life of the past. Only two days later a man wearing all membership cards Antonio Tomba Club-where he was enrolled from before birth two tiny football boots and old photos of equipment. Thus began the collection of photos, pictures and documents, testimonies of customs and places now gone or have changed their appearance completely. Also trades (dairy, saddler, cooper) that many, especially younger ones, may not even have heard of. With over 500 photos, selected from 1,100 who contributed 138 people could create Godoy Cruz, all memory, a tribute album for the 150th anniversary of the department covering the period from 1880 to 1950 In the prologue, Sylvina Balmaceda, who he led a task in which the library team got involved, defines the spirit of the resulting product in one sentence: We know under what dynasty built the Great Wall of China. But where are written the names of those beings who placed each stone. Is that the book contains not only photographs of characters and famous sites, organized according to a chronological thread and certain major issues (such as wineries, water sports), but also small anecdotes. Thus, in the pages of images of houses alternate key personalities in the history of the department, a crowd gathered around a leader who is giving a speech in the central square of historic businesses, festivals, the first neighborhoods. A section devoted to the most renowned photographers of the time also appears curiously. The idea was growing in time, because the library has organized several competitions department’s history. One of the first, in 1987, was made in schools and also to answer a series of questions, children should submit the oldest photo I could find at home. Balmaceda explains that when the boys presented the photographic material, realized that some families kept incredible images that would be important to publicize. Moreover, fragments appear in the text of the papers presented at the various events, especially those who did not spread because they were not rewarded, but contained data allowing to know the daily life and customs of other times. Although today the album can allow many know other facets of the department’s history and some get excited recalling his childhood, collection work was not easy. The library director said that although there were people who spontaneously presented to offer your own photos and others who had been in the family for years, get some image was a little more complicated. This, as it considered that certain photographs Balmaceda could not miss and undertook the task of tracking until you find the material sought. Finally, after more than two years of work, the tribute album was presented at the Book Fair on 19 October, with the presence of several people who had contributed material, and can now be achieved in the library. Source: Diario Los Andes
