Date
1 - 6 of 6
NYC archives and the Western Reserve HS
|
Eric Hansmann
I recently moved to the Cleveland area and have been searching for employment. I applied for a
job at the Western Reserve HS in January and have not received any contact. As this thread came up concerning the NYC archives and placement in the Western Reserve HS, I thought there should be something on their website about a job or volunteer call to work on cataloging. I found nothing. A wider Google search brought news of layoffs there. This story from two weeks ago: http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/124643711041580.xml&coll=2 Hopefully this passes. While I'm not a NYC modeler, I do need prototype info on NYC rolling stock and would love to see more proper NYC freight cars available. I shudder at the thought of what could happen to archival material when a historical society fails. Let's hope the Western Reserve folks can right their 'ship'. Eric Eric Hansmann Chagrin Falls, Ohio Starting over in a new house: http://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/ |
|
|
|
Anthony Thompson <thompson@...>
Eric Hansmann wrote:
A wider Google search brought news of layoffs there. This story from two weeks ago:The scary part of the Plain Dealer story is the line, ". . . the society is also culling parts of its vast collection . . ." and we have to hope that the railroad parts are not considered expendable. Additional point: many railroad historical societies, in donating materials to some archive, have been careful to arrange a "right of first refusal" in case said archive decides to de-access all or part of the material they donated. Absent this, the archive is free to do what it likes with the material, once donated. Hopefully the NYCHS is among those who took this prudent step. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com (510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@... Publishers of books on railroad history |
|
|
|
I vaguely recall the Erie archives (or some of it) is at
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
the University of Akron (?) Ohio. Maybe some NYC fans in the Cleveland area could see about relocating the NYC archives? At 7/13/2009 02:22 PM Monday, you wrote:
Eric Hansmann wrote:A wider Google search brought news of layoffs there. This story fromThe scary part of the Plain Dealer story is the line, ". . . the |
|
|
|
Brian J Carlson <brian@...>
The ELHS archives as well as the NKPHTS archives are at Cleveland State
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
University. Some EL stuff still has to be moved. Brian Carlson On Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:30:40 -0400, Tim O'Connor wrote I vaguely recall the Erie archives (or some of it) is at |
|
|
|
Schuyler Larrabee
Tim's put me on the hot spot to respond to this, I guess.
The ELHS (including a lot of DL&W and some NYS&W material) WAS at the U of Akron. We were there for over ten years. We were obliged to leave there because, among other things, our archive was the most frequently accessed collection there. It seems that they did not want to have to deal with people coming in all the time to look at stuff. Go figure. After looking closely at at least five serious alternatives, and a couple of wishin' & hopin' options, including Steamtown, we ultimately settled on Cleveland State University. CSU presently hosts the ELHS, NKPH&TS, and the records for the CUT; I'm not sure if there is a "society" involved with CUT or not, but ALL of the records are there. One could build CUT again with the records there. A couple of key points. ELHS did not GIVE the material to CSU. We retain ownership of it. The only way it goes to CSU is if the ELHS folds, which in the long term is, I suppose, a possibility. That is addressed in our agreement with CSU. Recently, however, we have been growing, in contrast to a lot of other groups. IIRC, NKPH&TS also retained ownership of their materials. And the Archive there is run by a rail-friendly curator. Culling a collection may not be a bad thing. The ELHS has a number of ledger books which are of no use, as no one can deduce what they represent. We also don't really know where they came from. We have had them for over 15 years, with no insights in that time. They will be disposed of shortly. There are also a substantial number of duplicate items, which we will reduce. Those items will be offered for sale to ELHS members, first, and later perhaps to the general public. We have a program to scan virtually all 2d items so as to make them accessible in digital form. The entire Val Map collection of the ERIE (the original series from approximately 1914) has been scanned and will be available as soon as we figure out a viable scheme for fulfilling orders, which is more complex than you might think. DL&W maps are in process. Steamtown was a very appealing option, but we could not retain ownership there. It would become property of the Federal Government, with no assurances that it would permanently be on view and accessible. And given that the NPS is at best ambivalent about Steamtown, with continuous budget cuts at the NPS, IMHO, Steamtown's long term viability is less than 100% secure. If NYCHS has >>given<< the material to CWR University, I consider that an error of the first magnitude. Perhaps they were essentially forced to do so based on the exigencies of maintaining the material in storage, but IMHO they should have striven for an agreement such as ours. If university personnel are doing the culling, that is cause for concern. Contemporary archivists tend toward a desire to record the history of the people involved in 19th and 20th century railroading, and not so much (or at all) the hardware that made it all go. And this list is about hardware. SGL I vaguely recall the Erie archives (or some of it) is at<http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/> E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441) Database version: 6.12810 http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/ |
|
|
|
Eric Hansmann
--- Schuyler Larrabee wrote:
===================== Before there is confusion, be aware the article concerned the Western Reserve Historical Society, as it related to notice posted here of the NYC Historical Society depositing their archive with the Western Reserve Historical Society. Just about across the street from the Western Reserve Historical Society is the campus of Case Western Reserve University. As far as I know, there is no formal link between these two entities, except maybe the sidewalk. The Case libraries are noted here: http://www.case.edu/dir/libraries.html Two places, same part of town. Eric Eric Hansmann Chagrin Falls, Ohio Starting over in a new home: http://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/ |
|
|