Celebrate Archives Month At New Exhibit At Richardson-Bates House Museum

October 10, 2008 Contributor

Submitted Article

OSWEGO, NY – It’s time for many to pack up and head south. But before you decide what to pack away and how to store it, you’ll want to visit Why Archives Matter, a new exhibit at the Oswego County Historical Society’s Richardson-Bates House Museum.

Historical records come in many unexpected forms.

A selection of the Civil War archives from the holdings of the Oswego County Historical Society. Archives and repositories hold a wealth of information, often caring for piece of history that, if destroyed, would be lost forever. This information is not only useful for researchers, but for the general public as well. Some documents held in repositories have been used in schools as resources for Document Based Question writing exercises. A day spent at a repository could uncover historical treasures about your family, community, or business in you area.
A selection of the Civil War archives from the holdings of the Oswego County Historical Society. Archives and repositories hold a wealth of information, often caring for piece of history that, if destroyed, would be lost forever. This information is not only useful for researchers, but for the general public as well. Some documents held in repositories have been used in schools as resources for Document Based Question writing exercises. A day spent at a repository could uncover historical treasures about your family, community, or business in you area.

Treasured photographs, scrapbooks, maps, diaries, personal letters, and business memoranda all document our histories; together they form a mosaic of a community’s experience, and capture a moment in time.

Why Archives Matter celebrates the heritage of our community in all those countless records that archives hold in trust for future generations.

Featured in the exhibit are several collections on display for the first time.

One celebrates the activities of a local singing group, the Philomelians, Philoettes, Philotones, Beta Mu Gamma, Philomelian Alumnae, that began with students at the Oswego High School in 1936 and contented entertaining audience throughout central New York, in a collection that contains over 65 years of photographs, new clippings, programs and correspondence.

Other unique treasures on display include the 1794 document selling 499,000 acres of central New York – much of which would become Oswego County, to George Scriba; Civil War letters and drawings; a 1946 architectural drawing of West First Street business renovations, and a local newspaper insert with a yellow ribbon from the 1990 Gulf War.

Why Archives Matter also gives tips on how to preserve those riches you decide to preserve.

For a limited time, the museum will be giving away Preserving Family Archives, a how-to pamphlet by the National Archives.

Supply is limited though, so be sure to visit the exhibition soon.

The core interpretive panels of Why Archive Matter were developed by the South Central Region of the Documentary Heritage Program and is administered by the Upstate History Alliance.

Why Archives Matter will be on exhibit at the museum through the month of October.

The Richardson-Bates House Museum is located at 135 E. Third St.

The museum hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Saturday from 1-5 p.m.

For more information, call 343-1342. missing or outdated ad config

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