PORTLAND, Maine — HistoryIT announced today that it has acquired LifeWeb 360 and launched MemoryPort, a digital commemoration and engagement platform designed to help organizations preserve, access and use the stories of the people who define their communities. The announcement coincides with HistoryIT’s 15th anniversary, underscoring the company’s long-term commitment to trusted, accessible digital history.
MemoryPort is a digital commemoration and engagement platform designed for people-centered organizations, including nonprofits, alumni associations, faith-based organizations, professional associations and fraternal organizations. The platform enables organizations to invite members and alumni to share memories and upload photos through a branded, searchable Commemoration Site, while keeping communities informed through timely, opt-in updates. This community-generated content preserves the lives and legacies that shape organizational identity.
For 15 years, HistoryIT has helped organizations preserve historical materials and make them accessible in ways that transform history into a usable asset. With MemoryPort, that same philosophy now applies to history happening in the present, ensuring contemporary stories are captured as they are shared and organized in a structured, searchable and brand-aligned system.
“Organizations are increasingly expected to communicate thoughtfully around life events, especially moments of loss, while also strengthening connection and stewardship over time,” said Kristen Gwinn-Becker, PhD, Founder and CEO of HistoryIT. “MemoryPort brings the same care, structure and longevity we apply to archival preservation to the living stories that define belonging within a community.”
The acquisition of LifeWeb 360 represents a strategic investment in HistoryIT’s broader offerings, extending the company’s ability to preserve and activate organizational history beyond traditional archival collections. Rather than existing as a standalone tool, MemoryPort builds on HistoryIT’s established preservation services and software ecosystem.
MemoryPort complements HistoryIT’s existing services and integrates with Odyssey Preservation, the company’s proprietary digital preservation software, ensuring that stories, photos and tributes contributed by members and alumni can be preserved to professional standards for future generations. This integration allows organizations to treat contemporary stories with the same rigor, stewardship and longevity as historical collections.
Through MemoryPort, organizations can keep communities informed through centralized, subscriber-based updates; enable respectful tribute and memorial storytelling; replace manual, ad-hoc processes with a sustainable system that includes moderation, analytics and ongoing data enrichment support; and connect moments of remembrance to existing giving workflows.
By unifying remembrance, communication, stewardship and operational efficiency, MemoryPort helps organizations demonstrate care for their communities while reducing administrative burden.
“LifeWeb 360 was created to help grieving communities connect and celebrate a loved one through the stories they leave behind, reminding us not that they died, but how they lived,” said Ali Briggs, Founder of LifeWeb 360. “Through HistoryIT’s acquisition, these stories are preserved within the broader legacy of the communities that shaped them — ensuring moments of reflection, meaning, and belonging endure when they matter most.”
LifeWeb 360 was originally developed in Chicago, aligning with HistoryIT’s own founding in Chicago before the company established its headquarters in Portland, Maine.
“As we mark 15 years of HistoryIT, this moment reflects our long-term view of digital preservation,” Gwinn-Becker added. “Preserving history only matters if people can trust it, access it and use it. MemoryPort ensures the stories being shared today become part of an organization’s enduring legacy.”
About HistoryIT
HistoryIT gives history a future. Since 2011, HistoryIT has helped organizations protect their history—and put it to work—by transforming scattered and fragile archives into accessible institutional memory. Through a single, end-to-end digital preservation approach that combines expert services with purpose-built software, HistoryIT ensures history is preserved to a standard future generations can trust. The result is a digital archive that strengthens connection, advances fundraising, and ensures long-term organizational continuity.
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Audrey Carroll
Bear Icebox Communications
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