Uncovered Century-Old Records Presented By School District To Towns

January 13, 2010 Contributor

OSWEGO, NY – Boxes of old records were being stored at Oswego High School and as they were being sorted for disposal valuable pieces of local history were uncovered.

School attendance records from the one-room schools in Minetto and the Town of Oswego from the late 1800s and early 1900s were discovered.

Town officials hold 100-year-old documents which provided a list of attendance in local one-room schools. From left are Town of Oswego Supervisor Victoria Mullen, Oswego Town Historian George DeMass, Oswego School District Records Clerk Liz Woods, Superintendent of Schools Bill Crist, Minetto Town Historian Kathy Mulcahey and Town of Minetto Supervisor Joe Hawksby.
Town officials hold 100-year-old documents which provided a list of attendance in local one-room schools. From left are Town of Oswego Supervisor Victoria Mullen, Oswego Town Historian George DeMass, Oswego School District Records Clerk Liz Woods, Superintendent of Schools Bill Crist, Minetto Town Historian Kathy Mulcahey and Town of Minetto Supervisor Joe Hawksby.

These historical records are now in the hands of the local town historians as the school district has donated them.

Bill Foley, Oswego City School District Records Management Officer, said, “Hundreds of boxes of old records had been stored in the basement of the Oswego High School. They needed to be examined to see if they were disposable. During the effort we uncovered these historical records of Oswego Town and Minetto schools which showed registration and other pertinent information. We felt it was important to maintain these records and donate them to the towns for historical purposes.”

Minetto Town Supervisor Joe Hawksby said, “I think this is great for the Town of Minetto and the Town of Oswego to have these old records. This was very generous on the school district’s part to set this up so we can have them. It means a lot to the towns and to the school district to keep this history alive.”

Minetto Town Historian Kathy Mulcahey was enthusiastic over the discovery of the century-old records.

She said, “This tells us who lived in Minetto, when and how many as well as ages. It is a great find and I am really excited over this donation from the school district.”

Oswego Town officials were extremely thankful for the donation.

Town Supervisor Victoria Mullen said, “The Town of Oswego is grateful to the OCSD for this wonderful find of attendance records. Our town is rich in history, and we keep history alive in Oswego Town. Knowing one’s past makes for a better future.”

Oswego Town Historian George DeMass said, “I am very grateful because these are records that need to be kept and not destroyed. I am very thankful that we will be able to preserve them because they are a great record of people who have lived here 100 years ago and went to our schools.”

Continuing he noted, “I can’t believe the quality. They are in very good condition. The script, handwriting, and penmanship still very good.”

Liz Woods, who is responsible for researching school district records, was excited over this discovery and noted, “It is amazing that they were in those damp conditions, for so long, but all of the writing stayed intact. For their age the only thing wrong is that they yellowed a bit.”

Thanks to the discovery of these century-old records history lives on in the Town of Oswego and Minetto. missing or outdated ad config

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