DIXFIELD — The efforts by many RSU 10 students and the historical societies of six towns during the past year will be on display next week when the Western Foothills History Project holds its open house.

The event runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. May 29 in the student community center at Dirigo High School.

RSU 10 Superintendent Tom Ward will kick off the evening.

Photographs, maps, letters and artifacts chronicling local history have been archived on the Internet, thanks to a grant from the Maine Community Heritage Project and the hard work of teachers, students and community members. Also assisting was University of Maine at Farmington associate professor of secondary education, Theresa Overall.

Nick Waugh, technology specialist at Dirigo Elementary School, wrote the grant and headed up the project.

Besides documenting the histories of Byron, Buckfield, Dixfield, Mexico, Peru and Rumford, Waugh said the project aimed to promote collegiality among the RSU 10 towns and to promote interest in local historical societies.

“It will address the curriculum needs of students, as well,” he said. “The project presented kids with real hands-on learning with the use of primary historical materials.”

All the material entered on the Web can be accessed by anyone interested in their local history by logging onto www.mainehistoricalsociety.org and following the link to The Maine Memory Network, beginning on May 29.

Students entered postcards, maps, letters, photographs of artifacts and other historical materials on to the Maine Memory Network website. Several teachers, including Dirigo High School social studies teacher Kurt Rowley and Holy Savior School teacher Michelle Ladd, played significant roles in the project.

At the open house, attendees will visit historical society and student displays of what they have learned and recorded.

Coffee and desserts will be served to visitors.

Waugh said he is currently working on a grant from the National Education Association that, if successful, would provide funds for an after-school program to continue with archiving artifacts.