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News from SCRLC
New (to us) Collections: Canal Society of New York State
The Canal Society of NYS has been a long-time contributor to NY Heritage through the Erie Canal Museum, which is located in Syracuse and therefore a CLRC member. The Canal Society recently purchased a church in Port Byron in Cayuga County and has joined SCRLC as an Affiliate Member. We're working with them right now to upload new materials, but we should also highlight the five collections they've shared over the last decade. These materials (the Gayer Collection, the Madden Collection, the Horne Collection, the Soule Collection, and Barge Canal Construction: Middle Division) include views specifically of Seneca County and Cayuga County, and cover big topics like the building of the Panama Canal and, of course, the Erie Canal.
New Collection: Rose Spadaccino Papers
Rachel Dworkin of the Chemung County Historical Society recently digitized this fantastic collection from an Italian midwife in early 1900s Elmira. Rosario “Rose” Spadaccino (1873-1950) was born in Italy and came to Elmira around 1900. She delivered 551 babies between 1915 and 1935, which were recorded (and transcribed!) in her record book, with names, dates, and family members.
New Collection: African American Community of Broome County
Months ago, I stumbled upon a PDF on HathiTrust called "Race Relations in Broome County: A Profile for 1958," funded by the NYS Commission Against Discrimination. It's a truly fascinating read, because as noted in the introduction, Binghamton-Endicott-Johnson City was one of very few northern cities over 50,000 with a miniscule population of non-whites. That did eventually change over the coming decades, and we are grateful to the Broome County Historical Society for sharing these photos of the local vibrant Black community, which includes compelling photos of CORE events in the 1960s.
New Collection: World War 2 Veterans Killed Project
In 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center in Missouri destroyed millions of WW2 military records without any duplicates or index ever having been made. That loss of information makes projects like Hornell's WW2 Veterans Killed Project all the more important. Women in the 1940s filled out forms about the local men lost and added personal details, like family members, hobbies, and awards. They're heartbreaking to read through, as you can guess, but precious to retain and share.
New Collection: Jean Alve Scrapbook
Jean Alve served as the town historian for Spencer in Tioga County for many years. She compiled this scrapbook using copies of photographs from the collection and added notes throughout. From page to page, you can see the town change over the years, including some buildings wiped out by a 1935 fire.
New Collection: Edna Benedict Collection
Edna Georgia Benedict was born in 1888 in West Meredith in Delaware County. She grew up on a farm and taught at the local one-room schoolhouse. She found an interest in photography and documented the people and places around her, so today, we can see her family's early 20th century Christmas tree covered in hung pictures, the construction of an enormous "summer home" mansion in Delhi by an NYC millionaire, the family living room, and many other interesting scenes.
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