The study, compilation and maintenance of historic records is generally a slow, contemplative task.

On a typical day at the Senator Walter Lowrie House in Butler, that is the order of the day. Save for the preparation of a fundraiser or an educational event, there’s likely not what most people would consider a whole lot of excitement in the world of local historians.

On July 12 of this year, Historical Society members likely knew they were going to have a new file on their hands, as former President Donald Trump was coming to town for a rally to promote his new campaign for the presidency the next day.

They likely figured that file would be as simple to compile as any other that had been compiled over the years.

Little did they know.

The attempted assassination of Trump, as well as the death of one spectator and injury of two others, turned what may have otherwise been a historical blip into a historical crater. And Eagle correspondent Sheri Berg told us in a story in the Tuesday Eagle what that means for the Historical Society.

Whatever plans they had for a file on the Trump visit were flipped over. The team shifted gears and set to work building a file the county’s and nation’s future history researchers would be able to turn to as a source on the local perspective of a national event.

Jennifer Ford, the society’s executive director, said, “if you’re researching the history of the typhoid outbreak in Butler, you can find lots of records,” she said. “What you can’t find is how people reacted, what did they feel? And that’s what we’re going for. We’re the ones responsible for keeping Butler’s reaction to this event.”

Part of the archive will include oral and written stories from those who experienced the event firsthand.

“Written stories are fine, but we’re also interested in audio recordings and video,” Ford said. “We’re focusing on digital images, and if people have souvenirs from that day, we’ll take some of those as well.”

This will mean painful conversations and extensive research, which will require resources and assistance.

Historians have their hands full right now, few more so than the Butler County Historical Society. We’ll be reporting on their efforts to record history, and we hope you’ll be a part of those efforts.

— RJ