Paying homage to women this Women's History Month

Iron Mountain is thrilled to announce our partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation with the Oatlands Historic House and Gardens project. Iron Mountain’s Living Legacy Initiative is our company’s charitable commitment to preserve and make accessible cultural and historical information and artifacts. With this partnership, we exemplify our commitment to preserving the women’s voices from Oatlands, by digitizing their documents and supporting the National Trust’s efforts to display a new exhibit featuring the women’s written records.

In the early 19th century, Oatlands converted from a working plantation to an English-style country home. The Oatlands Historic House and Gardens is one of the properties owned and maintained by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Oatlands home has been open to the public since 1966. Their mission is to provide historical, educational and recreational experiences to our many visitors.

The role of women at Oatlands was integral and this partnership aims to share information about the women who managed the daily life at the plantation; the enslaved community; and the family that made Oatlands their home. Oatlands was originally a wheat plantation founded by George Carter and was later the estate of Mr. and Mrs. William Corcoran Eustis, an affluent family with political ties.

"The Women@Iron Mountain Employee Resource Group is proud of this important project that will showcase such a rare collection," said Amy Sheaves, Senior Business Development Executive of Sales and the chair of the group. "Not only will this exhibit share the history of the Carter women at Oatlands Plantation, but it also provides insight to the contributions of women in the family as leaders and documenters during such a monumental time in history. The Women@IM ERG works to promote and leverage our talent to help make our company and our communities stronger. Preserving and providing access to historical documents in women's voices are an important way to share the history of female leaders for continued discoverability and advancement."

Iron Mountain will digitize the collection, which includes diaries, letters, wills, cookbooks and more. The National Trust for Historic Preservation will be then use the digitized format to interpret and annotate the Elizabeth O. Carters' diary. "We were thrilled to work with the National Trust and Oatlands staff to digitize the documents," said Tom Steadman, Iron Mountain Territory Business Director. "We first visited the site and reviewed the records to ensure our success. That experience allowed us to fully understand the cultural and historical significance of this remarkable property and, further, underscored that our technical expertise would ensure these documents will help preserve history and enhance the education of future generations."

Once scanned, Oatlands staff will create an exhibition about the role of women at Oatlands, display the diary in a light and climate controlled case to protect the information for generations to come, and create a tablet version of the diary so visitors can flip through and reap the information. Oatlands is committed to interpreting the historical, cultural and natural significance of the property and to upholding its core values of stewardship, education, interpretation, research and community outreach.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is proud to manage the Oatlands site. "The National Trust is thrilled to partner with Iron Mountain to tell the story of women at Oatlands, a former wheat plantation and country home in Leesburg, VA," said Abigail Horrigan, Director of Marketing Partnerships at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "We are particularly excited to have access to Iron Mountain expertise to scan and preserve forever historic documents from the site including a Civil War era diary kept by Elizabeth O. Carter between 1861-1872."

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has more than one million members and supporters and has preserved 27 historic sites across the U.S., protecting the history and fabric of our country.