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NYS Documentation Planning Project



State Archives Launches
New York Heritage Documentation Project

New York is in danger of losing a priceless treasure.  Scattered about the state in file drawers and boxes, in offices and attics, are innumerable reservoirs of information about our historical and recent past, the seeds of history and understanding for an educated and informed citizenry.  Much of this vital resource is being lost or destroyed, mostly from neglect, lack of understanding, or the lack of resources to save what needs saving. Whole industries, cultures, and areas of New York life, and many of its important events, people, and organizations are undocumented.  If unchecked, this deterioration will result in a shallow and uneven historical record that will leave critical parts of our history unknowable and untold. 

The State Archives and Records Administration of the New York State Education Department has begun a pilot project for a statewide initiative that will work to ensure the equitable and comprehensive documentation and accessibility of New York's extraordinarily rich history and culture. The New York Heritage Documentation Project, with funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, is refining and testing an approach that can be adopted and applied by all sectors of New York society, from ethnic population groups and social movements to business and industry, from local and state governments to non-profit organizations.

At the heart of the project is the understanding that different organizations and groups-governments, businesses, community groups, ethnic groups, families-have very different ways of thinking about and documenting their activities.  Therefore, this project is built on collaboration with people within each group who create, care for, and use historically valuable documentation. These are the people who can help identify what kinds of documentation exist, determine what is most important to save, and figure out how and where best to save it.  

In the two-year pilot phase of the project the method will be tested in the areas of mental health, environmental conservation, and the Latino communities--three areas that have rich and significant histories in New York, are going through dynamic developments in the present, and pose contrasting challenges for documentation planning. 

MENTAL HEALTH 
The role of New York State in the treatment of mental illness is a compelling and critical part of our history as New Yorkers.  But there is little information being saved that reflects the lives of people coping with mental illness, the people and organizations that provide services and assistance, or the development of policy and legislation.  

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
The final third of the twentieth century has seen human impact on the environment emerge as one of the most critical issues of this age.  The stream of environmental concern that was a trickle in New York a century ago has become a river in flood.  The documentary record from this extraordinarily broad and deep movement is vast but dangerously spotty.  Few activist organizations devote serious attention to their records, and few repositories collect in this critical area. 

LATINO COMMUNITIES
Long a home for Puerto Ricans, New York has in recent years become a destination for immigrants from throughout Mexico and South and Central America. Within the next decade Latinos will become New York's largest minority population, yet only two repositories in New York collect Latino materials as a matter of policy. 

In each of these areas of focus, the project will work with concerned individuals and groups to protect and preserve some of the most important materials, and it will raise public awareness of the value of an even and equitable historical record.

For more information about the New York Heritage Documentation Project, please contact John Suter at (518) 473-4258 or (607) 272-0576; email: jsuter@mail.nysed.gov.




____________________________________
John Suter
New York Heritage Documentation Project
Home office: 21 Brooktondale Rd.
                     Ithaca, NY  14850
                     607-272-0576 phone
Albany office: 9C71 Cultural Education Center
                      Albany, NY  12230
                      518-474-6926
jsuter@mail.nysed.gov
____________________________________
                     607-272-0685 fax

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