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Community in a Virtual World
SOCIAL MEDIA SITES FOR SENIORS MAKE REPOSITORIES OF LOCAL HISTORY
BY CARRIE SCOZZARO
Winter and the holidays can be espe-
cially challenging to maintain social
connections, including for those with
limited mobility, yet virtual technology
enables communicating regardless of
weather or circumstance.
Friends and family are just a phone
call or email away, and, while maybe
not as good as the real thing, virtual
platforms offer new ways to engage with
like-minded others.
Facebook, for example, provide endless
special interest “groups,” which for history
buffs facilitates sharing vital knowledge of
time and place that is especially relevant to
every community’s elders.
Gary Coffrin no longer lives in Miles
City, Mont., where his father ran Coffrin’s
Old West Gallery until 1980. Yet Coffrin
stays well-connected to the region.
From his home in northern California
where he restores photos and provides
valuations and printing of high-quality
Western imagery, Coffrin is a frequent
poster on sites catering to local history.
Coffrin, who considers himself tech-
savvy and has even taught PC application
courses, got into photo restoration after
taking a Photoshop class four to five
years ago at a local college. Eventually he
posted those images on Facebook, then
sought out vintage photos, primarily of
eastern the Montana and occasionally
the Dakotas.
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Although he doesn’t post as often as
he used to, Coffrin pays attention to the
number and types of comments he gets
on each post. When readers posted iden-
tifying details on several images from
the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, for
example, Coffrin was able to easily update
his original posts.
The only drawback to social media?
Gary Coffrin connects with history buffs by posting photo- “It’s a time suck, of course,” said
graphs to social media. He holds the largest collection of Coffrin, laughing.
glass negatives by photographer L.A. Huffman. Pictured
here is a Huffman photo from 1906. Photo courtesy Post Falls, Idaho-based Keva Wolfe
Montana Historical Society, the Montana Memory Project. figures her involvement in social media
is a full-time job, yet she eschews
In addition to his own Facebook site, financial gain.
Coffrin posts to MONTANICA!, a private “What I get out of this is connecting
group with 29 moderators and more than people with their community who other-
92,000 members. He has contributed to wise are disconnected,” said Wolfe, who
Miles City’s Range Riders Museum and started the group, Old School North Idaho
Montana Memory Project, about which he on Facebook in 2015 after spending two
has also posted. years contributing to another local site
“With each post, I could do enough and liking it.
research to add some historical context “Having those deep roots and
to each photo,” said Coffrin, who studied growing up in this community—on
philosophy at both Arizona State University horseback—I knew everyone,” said
and University of Montana. “I always felt Wolfe, a fourth-generation local whose
that posting a photo without background father was one of 11 boys.
information and info about the photogra- Wolfe and two siblings run their father’s
pher was either frustrating or a tease.” Post Falls bar, where Wolfe installed a
He limits his posts to 850 character and photographic display of local history. And
figures he spends an equal amount of time when one of her bartenders was accosted at
on restoration as research. work, Wolfe witnessed the power of social
Coffrin is partial to Old West photog- media firsthand.
raphers, like Frank Jay “F. Jay” Haynes, After Wolfe posted about the incident
William Henry Jackson, and especially online, the alleged perpetrator was discov-
Layton Allen “LA” Huffman, whose pho- ered several states away via social media
tography graced Coffrin’s home as a child within 30 minutes.
in Miles City. The rules for Old School North Idaho
“Part of the reason I like LA Huffman is are simple: Be kind and courteous. That
he captured things in eastern Montana that means no profanity—civilized discus-
sion is welcome—no hate speech or
were never going to be seen again,” said
Coffrin, who has the largest private collec- bullying, no promotions or spam, no
political rhetoric.
plate negatives. “Huffman’s documentation The most popular posts tend to revolve
of cowboy life on the open range—their around food, but also local landmarks,
terminology such as a pop, not a soda and a
were organized—was unparalleled.” crick, not a creek—prominent families, and
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