Photographer Dan Rios learned an important piece of information early into his career: Never throw away the negatives.

Rios found his passion when studying photography at San Diego Junior College (now San Diego City College). He then started working for the “Escondido Times-Advocate” in 1968. When the "Times-Advocate" was going to discard its old negatives in 1977, Rios preserved them, knowing their value. As he kept working, his collection kept growing.

The photojournalist retired in 2001 and his garage was filled with nearly 200 boxes containing ~1 million negatives. These images captured decades of local history, so Rios donated them to the California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) library Special Collections department.

We need to know who won this race. | From the Dan Rios Papers, California State University San Marcos Special Collections, University Library.

What's the goal?

They say a picture's worth a thousand words, but many of these photos have lost their stories to time. A project dubbed the "Dan Rios Papers" seeks to identify people, places, events, and dates captured in Rios' collection.

To do this, CSUSM hopes community members can help fill in the blanks. Most images are set in the 1970s or 1980s in San Diego's North County and its surrounding communities. University staff members have worked to match images to archived newspapers, but there are still a lot of photos that need information.

This photo is striking. | From the Dan Rios Papers, California State University San Marcos Special Collections, University Library.

How can you help?

You can explore the archives on Flickr, and if you know information about something depicted in a photo, leave a detailed comment on the site.

A representative from CSUSM told SDtoday no new images will be uploaded beyond this month, but comments will still be open and monitored to help update archives with data.