As curator and repository for Ventura County’s history, the Museum of Ventura County is reaching out for community help to document personal experiences and stories of the shooting of 12 people at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks on Nov. 7, 2018. The museum has launched “rapid response collecting” to secure donations of photographs, links to video, artifacts, stories and other elements related to this tragic event.
“Rapid response collecting” is a term used by museums across the country, including those in Orlando and Las Vegas, in response to events such as mass shootings. The Museum of Ventura County is working with Pamela Schwartz, chief curator of the Orange County, Florida, Regional History Center, who led the documentation efforts for the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016. She will actively guide gathering photos, artifacts, documents and more that tell the stories of the Borderline shooting and that honors its victims and survivors.
The public can send submissions of photographs, links to video, and stories to the Museum via email at submissions@venturamuseum.org or can arrange to submit other formats by contacting Curator of Collections Anna Bermudez at abermudez@venturamuseum.org.