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The Huntington Historical Society in New York has successfully conserved and digitised over 244 hours of oral history recordings, including 160 audio cassettes and 16 reel-to-reel tapes. Funded by a $39,000 grant from the New York State Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials, the project aimed to restore and make accessible these firsthand accounts of Huntington’s transformation from a rural community in the early 20th century to an urban landscape shaped by the 1960s and 1970s. A significant portion of the collection stems from the Reaching for a Dream project, which documented the experiences of African-American, Italian, and Latino communities between 1987 and 1988. Sixty-five interviews capture the migration patterns, cultural integration, and daily lives of these groups, offering a rare glimpse into Huntington’s ethnic diversity. For instance, the interviews with Italian immigrants highlight their arrival during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn by the town’s building boom, while Puerto Rican and later Central American migrants describe their roles in local farms and restaurants. The preservation effort ensures that these personal narratives—once at risk of degradation—are now available as intelligible MP3 files. The project underscores the importance of oral history in preserving the voices of ordinary people, whose stories often remain untold in traditional historical records. By digitising these accounts, the Huntington Historical Society has not only safeguarded a vital part of local heritage but also provided future researchers with direct access to the lived experiences of Huntington’s residents. Beyond the Reaching for a Dream project, the collection includes broader reflections on the town’s evolution, from the impact of urban renewal to the cultural shifts of the mid-20th century. The society’s work serves as a model for how smaller historical organisations can leverage grants and partnerships—such as with the Northeast Document Conservation Center—to breathe new life into fragile archival materials.
The Huntington Historical Society in New York has successfully conserved and digitised over 244 hours of oral history recordings, including 160 audio cassettes and 16 reel-to-reel tapes. Funded by a $39,000 grant from the New York State Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials, the project aimed to restore and make accessible these firsthand accounts of Huntington’s transformation from a rural community in the early 20th century to an urban landscape shaped by the 1960s and 1970s.
A significant portion of the collection stems from the Reaching for a Dream project, which documented the experiences of African-American, Italian, and Latino communities between 1987 and 1988. Sixty-five interviews capture the migration patterns, cultural integration, and daily lives of these groups, offering a rare glimpse into Huntington’s ethnic diversity. For instance, the interviews with Italian immigrants highlight their arrival during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn by the town’s building boom, while Puerto Rican and later Central American migrants describe their roles in local farms and restaurants.
The preservation effort ensures that these personal narratives—once at risk of degradation—are now available as intelligible MP3 files. The project underscores the importance of oral history in preserving the voices of ordinary people, whose stories often remain untold in traditional historical records. By digitising these accounts, the Huntington Historical Society has not only safeguarded a vital part of local heritage but also provided future researchers with direct access to the lived experiences of Huntington’s residents.
Beyond the Reaching for a Dream project, the collection includes broader reflections on the town’s evolution, from the impact of urban renewal to the cultural shifts of the mid-20th century. The society’s work serves as a model for how smaller historical organisations can leverage grants and partnerships—such as with the Northeast Document Conservation Center—to breathe new life into fragile archival materials.
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