An archiving project that began at Columbia-Greene Community College is now available for anyone in the world to access, as one of the latest additions to the New York Heritage Digital Collection.
Photo Caption: This image, part of the Arthur Koweek Collection, depicts 6 – 8 Warren Street as it appeared in Hudson in April, 1965. This image and many more have been researched and curated by C-GCC History Professor Ted Hilscher, and are now available for viewing and use by the public through the New York Herital Digital Collection.
The New York Heritage Digital Collection is a collaborative project of the Empire State Library Network, and includes a broad range of materials including photographs, letters, diaries, maps, and other items. Currently, more than 25 other collections spanning 330 years of New York State history are available.
C-GCC’s contribution, a series of photos and accompanying text titled the Arthur Koweek Collection: Hudson Urban Renewal, documents the city’s urban renewal project of the early 1970s. Koweek, who once owned the slides, chaired the Hudson City Planning Commission in addition to owning his own business – Town Fair Toy and Baby Furniture – at the time.
The collection has been augmented by extensive research by Associate Professor of History Ted Hilscher, and the result marks the first time in nearly 50 years the images have been displayed publicly.
“The majority of the information was collected through person-to-person interviews, so there’s a lot of fresh information from primary sources,” said Hilscher, noting that he also utilized Beers Atlas of 1873 and Polk’s City Directory of 1962, and examined aerial photographs of the city to craft detailed descriptions.
“I took the time to identify as many sites as I could – most of the documented buildings were later demolished,” he said. “However, anything can be added in later. We want this to be a living, interactive collection, which is not common in the digital archive business.”
Geralynn Demarest, Professor, Librarian, and Chairperson of Library and Media Services at C-GCC, added that the Arthur Koweek Collection is a new resource for the college and the community that not only offers important historic context, but also invites anyone to be part of the archival process.
“This project began with a History professor using his knowledge to organize images in a way that tells a story, from oral histories, documents, and notes,” she said, noting that the Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, of which the C-GCC Library is a member, also assisted with the collection’s creation. “They’re ready for use by students and others in academic work, but in addition, now anyone can contribute to the digital heritage of the area. There is a contact page in place should anyone have further information about the images, and comments are directed specifically to Professor Hilscher.”
Demarest added that C-GCC is in the midst of a second digital archiving project detailing barns and other rural structures of years past in both Columbia and Greene counties. That project represents 30 years of work by Hilscher, and is expected to last several more years, culminating with approximately 700 images added to the collection.
“The forthcoming digital collections include images from Catskill, Hudson, and New Baltimore, as well as other hidden rural history from our local area,” she said. “We would also love to build a Columbia-Greene Community College History digital collection containing a selection of materials depicting the college’s early days.”
For more information, please visit https://nyheritage.org/contributors/columbia-greene-community-college-library-media-services or the C-GCC Library, Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
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