Annual Report for 2007

The Montgomery County Department of History & Archives, since its establishment in 1934, has been a Mecca for genealogical researchers across the nation. The valuable resources and outstanding staff have made this research library renowned to those in search of family history. While genealogy has helped attract visitors, the department is also very dedicated to preserving Montgomery County's local history, a history that has developed over the past 2 ½+ centuries. Teaching the public on events that impacted the county's culture, society, industry, transportation, education, etc. and recognizing their place in the national arena has been a long-standing mission of the department.

As liaison to the state agencies, the County Historian provides support to and organizes meetings of the county's municipal historians. The County Historian, as Records Management Officer, maintains physical and intellectual control of the inactive records created by county departments and placed in her custody. Additionally, she provides support and assistance with writing New York State Archives grants.

DEPARTMENT STAFF

1. Kelly Yacobucci Farquhar - County Historian/RMO - full-time
2. Earlene Melious - Historical Archives Assistant - full-time
3. Delores Dumar - Clerk/Typist - part-time
4. Lily Fiorenza - Office of the Aging - Jan.-March (20 hrs./wk)
5. Lestra Vertucci - Office of the Aging - Nov.-Dec (20 hrs/wk)

VOLUNTEERS

Without the assistance of volunteers, there are many projects in the Department of History & Archives that would go by the wayside due to insufficient time. Volunteers have contributed 766 hours to the following projects:

1. Indexing the 1875 New York State census for Montgomery County
2. Verification of microfilm with original copies of assessment rolls
3. Extract articles from local newspapers & photocopy for historical files collection
4. 24 books (church records, municipal meeting minutes, local histories) indexed
5. Compiling obituaries & 50th anniversary notices from local newspaper and index
6. Transcribing records of Fonda Methodist Episcopal Church
7. Inserting indexes into books & covering soft-cover books with laminate
8. Indexing 19th century records regarding estates of Lunatics
9. Labeling family file folders

RESEARCH LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES

1. COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT & PROJECTS
1. Assistance provided to public in the Research Library for which the total usage for the year was 1,466 (Staff)
2. Research fees are $20 per hour. Total of genealogy research requests answered in 2007 was 65, which resulted in $2,584.00 in revenues turned over to the County Treasurer.
3. The Catalog of the department's collections generating revenue of $100.00 that was turned over to the County Treasurer.
4. Containing a wealth of historical information, our pamphlet file collection is being entered into a database created by Data Processing. To date, of the 650+ files, 200 were entered in 2007(18 hours) for a total of 400 that have been entered overall. (Earlene)
5. Continued research on African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church that was incorporated in Canajoharie in 1857 - discovered newspaper article as evidence of church's existence & researching church property and surrounding deeds (Kelly)
6. Continued research on the history of the churches that existed in the towns of Florida, Charleston, Root, and Glen. This research necessitates cooperation, which has been generously given, from the historians appointed in those municipalities. (Kelly & Ryan Tatlock-intern)
7. Rehoused & indexed 4 boxes of court records relating to lunacy papers (Lestra - OFA)
8. Conducted research for Kentucky Derby Museum (Lexington, KY) on a Montgomery County resident who owned the 1929 Kentucky Derby winner (Kelly)
9. Received records (late 19th c. - early 20th c.) from 2 Montgomery County churches (Canajoharie United Methodist & St. Johnsville United Methodist) to copy and transcribe for use by our patrons
10. Continued organizing photo binders (Kelly)
11. 12 books were hard bound and placed upon shelves
12. Indexing of 1875 Montgomery County census -- 65 hours (Delores)
13. Accessions for the department: 65 items given by donors from across the nation - 52 for the library and 11 for the archives + 2 framed painting/artifact + 2 rolls of Amsterdam Evening Recorder June 1909-April 1910 newspaper microfilm (purchased by Dept.)
14. Retrievals of Archival Documents (both 2nd & 3rd floor) - 127
15. Retrievals of bound newspapers (from 3rd floor) - 27
16. Transcribing records of Fultonville Methodist Church (Kelly)


2. PUBLIC RELATIONS
1. Outreach programming, consisting of presentations, displays, etc. is vital to this department's success. Often, this programming takes place outside of the regular work hours. Outreach presentations included:
2. Book signing at Old Fort Johnson's Holiday Open House and Candlelight tour. (Kelly)
3. Requests for information (historical / genealogical / or general in nature) come into the department either by telephone, written correspondence or via e-mail. Requests for information come not only from the general public, but also from other county departments, various agencies (Chamber of Commerce, New York State Court System Historical Society, New York State Archives, etc.), 4th graders learning about NYS history, and media. In 2007, over 352 responses went out of this office answering these requests by mail and/or email. Staff also handled a daily average of 5-6 telephone calls (approx. 1,200 calls) of general inquiries for genealogy and local history. (Staff)
4. Worked with staff and photographer from the New York State Courts Historical Society regarding history of the Old Courthouse (Kelly)
5. Wrote letter to the Fort Plain D.A.R. chapter supporting their nomination for the National Society D.A.R. Historic Preservation Medal (Kelly)
6. Participated in BOCES Social Studies Teacher's Conference day, along with local educators and historic site representatives, discussing educational programming at Amsterdam High School (Kelly & Earlene)
7. Spearheaded erection and unveiling of historic marker (purchased by "Friends" group Heritage & Genealogical Society) for Central Asylum School for the Deaf outside of Canajoharie (Kelly & Earlene)
8. Hosted an Open House for the public during Archives Week (October)
9. The County Historian is a liaison between all of the Town/Village/City Historians and the State. The County Historian hosted a meeting of the Montgomery County Municipal Historians at the Stone Rose Bed & Breakfast in the Town of Root. The discussion centered around what each historian had worked on during the previous year and currently, as well as improving awareness of the history in our respective municipalities. There are a number of projects that we need to work on collectively in order to make this increased awareness happen including signage for tourists.
10. Participation in Job-Shadowing program with student from Fonda-Fultonville Central School (Earlene)


3. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
1. As Co-Coordinator of Region VII (APHNYS), hosted a workshop presented by staff of the Preservation League of New York in Dolgeville (Herkimer Co.). Ten Municipal Historians from across the region as well as members of local historical societies attended the Workshop. (Kelly)
2. Attended Spring 2007 Conference for Association of Public Historians of NYS (APHNYS) in Utica (Ryan Tatlock - intern)


4. PUBLICATIONS & WRITING
1. Writing is a significant aspect of any historian's job. The revenue generated from the royalties for the Montgomery County and Amsterdam Images of America series books and turned over to the County Treasurer totaled $677.28.
2. Wrote 10 articles for monthly column of Montgomery County local history, titled "Looking Back," for the Leader-Herald newspaper. (Kelly)

RECORDS MANAGEMENT

1. Hosted NYS Archives workshop "Electronic Records" at the Annex Building - April (Kelly)
2. 650 boxes (c.f.) inactive records re-organized & transferred to Records Storage Center (Kelly)
3. As a result of the June 2006 flooding, the RMO acted as contact with Document Reprocessors (vendor) and FEMA representatives for the recovery of flood-damaged records and associated cost estimates. RMO compiled an inventory, with assistance from each affected department, and NYS Archives recommended retention of those records. Additionally RMO coordinated 2 additional site visits to the freeze-drying facility in Middlesex, NY so that the affected departments could sort through and keep the most necessary and best-preserved records and recommend certain records for destruction. (Kelly)
4. Attended New York State Archives workshop "Providing Access to Your Records" in Fonda (Kelly & Earlene)
5. Grants -
1. Submitted successful grant application to New York State Council on the Humanities to cover fees of speaker on the Underground Railroad in Upstate New York for 5th Annual "Heritage Day" event held Sat. May 5th 2007.
2. Attended Grant Application Workshop for 2008-2009 Local Govt Records Mgmt Improvement Fund -- November (Kelly)

COMMITTEES

The County Historian/RMO served on the following committees:

1. Association of Public Historians of NYS (APHNYS) Spring 2007 Conference Planning Committee
2. Association of Public Historians of NYS (APHNYS) Cemetery Addendum Committee - Chair
3. Planning committee for Western Frontier symposium - held Oct. 2007 (compiled & edited symposium pre-print booklets)
4. Teacher packet subcommittee for Western Frontier symposium (Oct. 2007) - compiling educational resource packets of local history resources for masters' teachers who attended symposium
5. Montgomery County Records Advisory Board - Chair
6. Mohawk Valley Museum Consortium Nominating committee
7. New York History Conference (held in Cooperstown) Program Committee

There are a number of projects that have occupied my time as County Historian and Records Management Officer. A slight interruption of these projects occurred while I was out on maternity leave during the spring of 2007, however, my return got me back into the swing of things.

Over the past 31 years, the Department of History & Archives has benefited from the generosity of our "Friends" group, the Heritage & Genealogical Society. 2007 was no exception. The Society responded to our need for a computer that could be utilized by our patrons in anticipation that they could, in the future, have access to our collections databases. Additionally, in order to improve our building's appearance, the County Historian and staff recovered antique furniture, long ago bequeathed to the Department of History & Archives, from the old jail and set it up in the lobby of the Old Courthouse. The Heritage Society purchased paint

Ryan Tatlock, an American Studies major at the College of St. Rose and Montgomery County resident, interned at the Dept. of History & Archives for his last college semester in the spring. He was very enthusiastic and worked on a few projects that proved to be very useful to us. His research on the churches in his home Town of Florida resulted in a wonderful display that he exhibited while representing the Dept. at the APHNYS Conference in Utica. Ryan created a second display resulting from his research on the anti-slavery activity in Montgomery County.

We did acquire, from the Montgomery County Clerk's Office, the microfilming camera and equipment. It is our hope that we can utilize this equipment for the preservation of Montgomery County's long-term and permanent records without having to go to an outside source to do so.

For 2008, we look to continue improving public access to our records and expanding our collection. With the transfer of the County's inactive records to the newly renovated Records Storage Center completed in 2007, we also look forward to moving the archival records over there into a more adequate storage environment.

I wish to thank the Board of Supervisors, our volunteers, donors and Legislators for their continued support of this department and the Records Management Program.

Respectfully submitted,
Kelly A. Yacobucci Farquhar
County Historian/RMO

Annual Report for 2005

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