The Committee for the Preservation of Local History is excited to present the programs for this year's Long Island Archives Conference to be held on Monday, October 21st at SUNY Old Westbury. Our keynote speaker will be recently retired New York State Archivist Tom Ruller. Also presenting will be panelists and speakers discussing the way they seek to connect their particular communities to local history and how, as an community of archivists, we can use the resources we have to make a difference. "Community" is more than just a word; it's a vibrant mosaic of shared experiences, values, continued on next page and aspirations. Archival materials enrich our understanding of the present by providing information and context. By collecting anecdotes and photographs, we include everyone to join us on a journey of discovery and remembrance. Documenting our communities has never been more accessible, but it takes ingenuity and passion. We continue to search for techniques to effectively document and share our stories in the digital realm. Through innovative approaches, we harness the power of the archive to connect generations and preserve cultural heritage. Join us at the conference as we celebrate the transformative power of archival materials to unite, inspire, and empower. Living History Day: Town of Islip’s Annual Event Sharing the History of a Community That Wasn’t Meant to Be: Panelists include participants in Living History Day and organizers including Town of Islip including Town Historian George Munkenbeck. Long Island History Day Regional Coordinator Allison Sobel will speak to the importance of teaching students the importance of scholarly research and primary sources. Robert Anen, LILRC's Project Archivist, will review the extraordinary archives he has encountered during this year with the Accessing Archives Program. Academic Archives - Documenting the Campus Community and Using Archives to Connect With Alumni: Representatives from St. Joseph's University, Farmingdale State College, SUNY Old Westbury and Molloy University will speak about their methods to reach students and alumni. Regina Feeney, Village of Freeport Historian, librarian and archivist, will be our Master of Ceremonies. We hope to see you there!
"Memorial Day Parade 1964," courtesy of the Hicksville Historic Photographs collection at Hicksville Public Library accessed on New York Heritage Digital Collections (8/29/24 )https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16373coll80/id/1154/rec/72
Registration is open! Go to LILRC.org/Events or click HERE
Long island Archives
Transcending Barriers: Opening Archives, Opening Minds
September/October 2024 Volume 31 Issue 5
Upcoming Workshops Registration open - Go to LILRC.ORG
Safe Labeling and Marking of Historic Items Tuesday, September 10th, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM Hampton Library (Bridgehampton) Ideally, every object in a historic collection has a unique identifier, and that identifier is attached to the item securely, discretely, and with products that "do no harm." LILRC's Digitization and Archives Coordinator, Nicole Menchise, will lead a hands-on workshop to teach different techniques for labeling and marking objects with their identifiers. This will include objects, textiles and paper-based archives. Pros and cons will be discussed and debated. Recommended for individuals working in an archival repository and ‘lone-arrangers’. LILRC members $10 fee Supplies will be provided Limited to 8 people per workshop Workshop will not be recorded Light refreshments will be offered .2 CEU offered NOTE: Small amounts of wheat paste will be used during portions of this program. Register online at LILRC.org/events or HERE
Patents, Trademarks and Where to Search: a Brief Tour of the USPTO’s New Databases Thursday, November 21st, 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM Zoom meeting Got a great idea for an invention? Does the library patron in front of you have one? Will Salas from Smithtown Library will show you how to direct patrons to the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s new online databases, and how to get started with a patent search. Learn about the different types of intellectual property protection available and watch as Will demonstrates how to navigate the USPTO’s new databases for information. Will Salas is a United States Patent and Trademark Office USPTO accredited Patent and Trademark Resource Center PTRC Representative working out of The Smithtown Library. Basically, he helps inventors and entrepreneurs and at the last count about 1,300 of them since 2013. Free for ESLN/LILRC members; $10 for non-members .1 CEU for attendees Register online at LILRC.org/events or HERE
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Long Island Rail Road: Morris Park Shops By David D. Morrison "David D. Morrison, retired Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) branch line manager and railroad historian, has compiled rare photographs to showcase the shops that power the LIRR, the busiest railroad in North America. The LIRR provides passenger rail service from Midtown Manhattan to to the far ends of Long Island at Greenport and Montauk. A vast operation such as this requires a huge fleet of locomotives and cars. The reliability of the fleet rests mainly upon the shop maintenance facility. The Morris Park Shops, opened in 1889 and closed in the early 2000s, provided over a century of maintenance and repair service, allowing the LIRR to develop and expand through the years. The complexity of the shop facility, from the days of steam locomotives to multiple-unit electric cars and diesel locomotives, is a fascinating chapter in LIRR history." Available for purchase on October 14th through Arcadia Publishing (https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/) or wherever you purchase your books on local history.
Ask An Archivist.... I am the keeper of my mother's papers, photos, etc, including letters and memoir drafts (perhaps around 180 lbs including plastic sheet protectors). Much of the collection was documents in plastic sheet protectors, organized in binders labeled by year(s). Do you recommend I keep the documents in plastic sheet protectors/binders? Ideally archival materials should be kept in polyester-based enclosures that are not made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials (from the web: "Sheet protectors are made of PVC through a scientific process that combines a complicated mix of chemicals such as vinyl chloride polymer, ethylene and chlorine."). I'll be frank, as long as you are keeping these items out of the sunlight and heat (no attics, basements or garages) and they are stored in a cool, dry and dark place, you could take your time replacing these PVC sheets. It's probably best to swap out the photographs first as they are the most vulnerable. Vendors will say their product is 'archival' but in this case, no covers are safe unless they pass the P.A.T. (photographic activity test). If a product has passed the P.A.T. they will proudly show it on their packaging. If you have questions, feel free to contact Nicole Menchise, Digitization and Archives Coordinator at nmenchise@lilrc.org or call 631-675-1570 x2004. You can also use the ESLN Ask The Archivist service. Go to www.esln.org/ask-the-archivist.
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The Long Ago Literary Corner Recently released and upcoming books about Long Island history
Funding Opportunities: CLIR, IMLS, and NHPRC The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has issued a Call for Proposals for its Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant program. Open to collecting organizations in the US and Canada, this program supports efforts to digitize material related to “hidden” histories of women; BIPOC communities; LGBTQ+ communities; immigrants; incarcerated, disenfranchised or enslaved persons; individuals with disabilities, etc. Applicants may request between $50,000 and $300,000. Deadline: Initial applications are due Thursday, October 31 Click here to learn more. https://www.clir.org/hiddencollections/ The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) is currently accepting applications for Archival Projects grants. Successful projects will improve online public discovery and use of historical archives, especially collections relating to BIPOC communities or the founding of the US. Applicants can request up to $150,000 and projects can last one or two years. Funds can be used to process, re-house, and/or digitize records as well as any other activities that helps make collections more accessible online. Deadline: Thursday, November 7 Click here to learn more. https://www.archives.gov/nhprc/announcement/archival.html The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has announced the latest cycle of several grant opportunities for museums. Deadline: Friday, November 15 for all grants described below Click here to learn more about all of the IMLS grants available: https://www.imls.gov/grants/grant-programs The Museums for America program supports museums of all sizes and disciplines in strategic, project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, professional development, community debate and dialogue, audience-focused studies, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation. The Museum Grants for African American History and Culture (AAHC) program is designed to build the capacity of African American museums and support the growth and development of museum professionals at African American museums. The AAHC program supports projects that nurture museum professionals, build institutional capacity, and increase access to museum and archival collections at African American museums and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services (NANH) grant program is designed to support Indian tribes and organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians in sustaining indigenous heritage, culture, and knowledge. The program supports projects such as exhibitions, educational services and programming, workforce professional development, organizational capacity building, and collections stewardship. Inspire! Grants for Small Museums is a special initiative of the Museums for America program. It is designed to support small museums of all disciplines in project-based efforts to serve the public through exhibitions, educational/interpretive programs, digital learning resources, policy development and institutional planning, technology enhancements, professional development, community outreach, audience development, and/or collections management, curation, care, and conservation.
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"Hawaiians have to be learning from the past. Our learning is sincere, our learning must help us evolve because if not we're just creating more information ...Anyone that says AI is smarter they don't really understand where true intelligence lies …true intelligence lies with people in service of people and land. AI is just a fast, good information processing [tool], thank goodness. Plenary speaker Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer, University of Hawaii, Collaboration and Introspection: (K)new Ethics in our Collective Work
Beginning in the left corner: One of the conference rooms at the Hilton Chicago; a pamphlet created by Duke University Archives titled Your Story Matters Here to encourage student organizations and groups to contribute their records. At left/center, a slide from the panel discussion,"(Re)Engaging: Archival Approaches to Sustainably Collecting Student Life". Immediately below is Dr. Doug Boyd (designer of the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer (OHMS) software, looks on as Ms. Jill Zawacki from the Barack Obama Presidential Library speaks. To the right, a slide from the presentation "Using Technology to Improve Access & Collections Management." Continuing clockwise, a tourist's delight : The famous Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza before the first set at the historic Jazz Showcase. The Grand Ballroom where Queen Elizabeth II dined on her visit to Chicago in 1959. Having a little fun at the Talas booth in the Exhibitors Hall, where one could see repeat demonstrations of the Contex HD Apeiron/42 large format scanner in the image just above. To the immediate right, downtown Chicago skyline at night taken from an evening river cruise.
Highlights from the Society of American Archivists 2024 Annual Conference held in Chicago, Illinois!
Hello gentle members of LILRC and elsewhere, Since I wrote my last newsletter, I have wrapped up two more projects with the Accessing Archives Program; one with the Long Beach Historical & Preservation Society and the second with the Peninsula Public Library in Lawrence, New York. For the Long Beach Historical & Preservation Society, I finally brought to fruition and completed a project I first started when I worked as a graduate fellow for NYU’s Regional Media Legacies Project. In August 2021, I digitized nineteen audio cassette tapes in their collection with the complete intention of digitizing all of their audio cassette tapes along with their video tape collection. This project allowed me to complete the work I started three years ago. Though, the benefit of having three years go by since I last worked on this project is that I gained more expertise in handling tapes that suffered by different forms of deterioration and how to deal with them. In this collection, two audio cassette tapes suffered from a form of tape deterioration called sticky shed syndrome. This happens when a tape absorbs moisture and causes the tape to stick to itself. This renders it useless but it is a reversible issue and can be corrected by using a food dehydrator. LILRC happened to have an unused food dehydrator and with the permission from the Long Beach Historical & Preservation Society, I went ahead with it. This turned out to be a complete success and saved two oral histories from never being heard again. The tapes were inside for 7 hours at 120 degrees. I digitized both tapes the next day. The Long Beach Historical & Preservation Society was very happy with the results. The collection pages were created but are currently empty since New York Heritage was recently suffering from some technical issues. In the coming weeks I will add both oral histories and video tapes to the collection pages found here: Long Beach Video Tape Collection and Long Beach Oral History Collection. The more recent project with the Peninsula Public Library involved organizing their scrapbook collection and library documents. The project focused primarily on the digitization of the scrapbook collection that can now be found here: Peninsula Public Library Scrapbook Collection. This was my first time working on a scrapbook collection and was a great learning experience for me as an archivist. Most of the scrapbooks detailed the history of the library from 1951 to the early 2000s and an interesting discovery was made. Along with the library’s scrapbooks were four scrapbooks that once belonged to the Nassau County Library Association (NCLA). These scrapbooks document Nassau County library history from 1938 to 1953 using newspaper clippings from various newspapers of that time. They are now available on New York Heritage and are word searchable. Many or most libraries in Nassau County that existed at that time are mentioned in some form in these scrapbooks. The Peninsula Public Library is very happy with the results and I hope you enjoy them as well as search for your library within those scrapbooks.
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LATEST FROM THE ACCESSING ARCHIVES PROGRAM By Robert Anen
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Welcome the LILRC's GOVERNMENT RESOURCES AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE page. Sharing online portals and forums for government agency and publication information. Pressroom Official news from the Office of the Governor https://www.governor.ny.gov/news August 30, 2024: Governor Hochul Signs Legislation Memorializing Public Servants and Historical Figures Governor Hochul signed legislation designating portions of highways, bridges and overpasses in memory of six individuals whose legacies carry significance to their communities and New York State as a whole. “The legacies of enslaved New Yorkers, law enforcement killed while protecting their communities and lifelong public servants are stories of courage and self-sacrifice,” Governor Hochul said. “By honoring their memories, we forever pay tribute to their lives and to the spirit which defines the best of our state.” The following designations are related to overpasses and bridges on Long Island. Read the full article: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-legislation-memorializing-public-servants-and-historical-figures Legislation S.7588A/A.7123A honors NYPD Detective Brian P. Simonsen by renaming the Halsey Manor Road overpass at the Long Island Expressway in the Town of Brookhaven as the “NYPD Detective Brian P. Simonsen Memorial Bridge.” Detective Simonsen was killed in the line of duty in 2019. Assemblymember Jodi Giglio said, “Detective Simonsen exemplified the highest standards of courage and dedication. It was only fitting we honor his memory in a way that will be a lasting testament to his contributions to our community." Legislation S.7707A/A.8186A honors Medford Fire Department Commissioner Niel Marturiello by renaming the bridge on County Road 16 crossing I-495 in Brookhaven as the “Medford FD Commissioner Niel Marturiello Memorial Bridge.” Commissioner Marturiello served in the Fire Department for more than 50 years and was a responder to the September 11 terrorist attacks. State Senator Dean Murray said, “Niel Marturiello was a fixture in Medford and beloved by his community. A decorated war hero, Niel received a Purple Heart and a National Medal of Honor while serving his country. At home in Medford, Niel received over 75 additional awards & recognitions for his over 50 years of service in the Medford Fire Department as well as his volunteer service with the Medford Chamber of Commerce, VFW Post 2937 and American Legion Post 1848. If it happened in Medford, Niel had a hand in making it happen." Legislation S.9262/A.5564B honors Senior Investigator Thomas M. O’Neill by renaming the Crooked Hill Road Overpass crossing over the Sagtikos Parkway in the town of Islip as the “Senior Investigator Thomas M. O’Neill Memorial Bridge.” Senior Investigator O’Neill died while on duty in 2005. Assemblymember Keith P. Brown said, “Senior Investigator Thomas M. O'Neill exemplified the true spirit of service and sacrifice. His dedication to protecting our community, even at the cost of his own life, deserves the highest honor. The designation of the highway will forever honor his heroic service and ensures that his legacy will continue to inspire future generations of law enforcement officers.” To get the most up-to-date news about the Governor's office, keep this resource handy.
Want to join? Go to LILRC.org/government-information-committee
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Long Island Archives - September/October 2024 Editor: Nicole Menchise, Digitization and Archives Coordinator LILRC - 627 N. Sunrise Service Rd., Bellport, NY 11713, www.lilrc.org.