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Copyright Renewal Records Available for download

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Thanks to Jill Hurst-Wahl’s Digitization 101 blog, we learned last week that there may be some movement in the pace of book digitization with the release of bulk copyright renewal records from 1978 onward. This is big news for the online availability of many secondary sources of history.

Here is a snippet:

How do you find out whether a book was renewed? You have to check the U.S. Copyright Office records. Records from 1978 onward are online (see http://www.copyright.gov/records) but not downloadable in bulk. The Copyright Office hasn’t digitized their earlier records, but Carnegie Mellon scanned them as part of their Universal Library Project, and the tireless folks at Project Gutenberg and the Distributed Proofreaders painstakingly corrected the OCR.

Thanks to the efforts of Google software engineer Jarkko Hietaniemi, we’ve gathered the records from both sources, massaged them a bit for easier parsing, and combined them into a single XML file available for download here.

Jill also pointed us to comments made by Siva Vaidhyanathan of The Institute For The Future of The Book:

This is great news for historians, journalists, researchers, publishers, and librarians. It’s also great for the Open Content Alliance and other book digitization projects.

Of course, this does not help much with books published and copyrighted outside of the United States. But that’s always a complication

Google itself is going to use these records to change the format of many of the scanned books published between 1923 and 1963. Currently, these are only available in &#8220snippet&#8221 form. Will Google Book Search change significantly now that this file is available?

It looks promising that there may be an expansion of the online availability of titles published between 1923 and 1963 at Google Book Search, the Internet Archive, and places like Boing Boing. Today, the news that Microsoft’s Live Book Search is no more, seems even more antithetical to the trend.

New Tenement Museum Reflects Irish Immigration

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From the New York Times comes a report on the newest Tenement Museum in New York City:

The [Joseph and Bridget Moore family] place will become the sixth apartment of former immigrant residents of 97 Orchard Street to be recreated. The apartments are all nearly identical in size at about 325 square feet. One represents the home of a German Jewish family soon after the father disappeared- another a Lithuanian Jewish family whose father had just died. Another is the remade home of Italian Catholics about to be evicted.

The museum was established in 1988 in 97 Orchard, an 1864 brick building, and attracts 130,000 visitors a year. The building is a time capsule of primitive bathrooms and windowless passageways. In 1935, the building’s owners sealed off most of the 20 units rather than make changes to meet new housing codes.

The fourth-floor apartment for the Moores — it is not known exactly where in the building they lived — will be the museum’s earliest simulation and the first to reflect the huge influx of Irish immigrants in the 19th century.

“We take these dynamic, compelling family stories, and use them to draw people into the greater historical context of immigrants in America,” said Stephen H. Long, the vice president of collections and education at the museum. Members of the staff began researching the Moores five years ago.

The Moores’ experience, Mr. Long added, also made for teachable moments about the history of medicine and public health. “When the Moores lived here,” he said, “the mortality rate for Irish immigrant children was 25 percent.”

Only four of the Moores’ eight children, all girls, reached adulthood. Mrs. Moore died in 1882, when she was 36, shortly after giving birth to her eighth daughter. Curators speculate that the malnutrition that killed Agnes was brought on by drinking swill: milk from diseased cows, which street vendors ladled out of dirty vats and sometimes adulterated with chalk or ammonia.

A Virtual tour of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum is available on the web.

State Ed Department Wants Your Opinion

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The New York State Education Department (NYSED), which includes the New York Sate Library, is redesigning its web site. As part of the process, NYSED is conducting a brief survey to learn more about how visitors use the web site. If you use the SED and/or the Library site, take a few minutes to complete their six-question survey and let them know what you like or dislike about the site, and how it could be more useful.

3rd Annual Pethick Archaeological Site Open House

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The 3rd Annual Pethick Archaeological Site Open House will be held Monday, June 30th, and Tuesday, July 1st, 10am &#8211 2pm on Smith Road in Central Bridge (directions below).

The Pethick Site is in its fifth season of excavation as an archaeological field school co-taught by the University of Albany, SUNY, and the New York State Museum. It is a rich and important Native American site, and to date has yielded almost 200,000 artifacts and 350 soil features. Evidence recovered in the excavations suggests that this location has been used for several thousand years by the indigenous people of the Schoharie Valley.

According to SUNY Archaeologist Sean Rafferty:

The Pethick Site is a newly discovered village and campsite located on a terrace overlooking Schoharie Creek, a major tributary of the Mohawk River. The site was discovered by the class of the 2004 summer field school based on information provided by local artifact collectors. A shovel test pit survey of the site indicated that there were extensive and rich archaeological deposits present. These were concentrated at one end of the site on a small rise in the local topography. Initial excavations were concentrated in that area.

Our excavations first uncovered a dark black organic layer, believed to represent a decomposed trash midden dating from the most recent occupations of the site. Based on artifacts recovered from the midden layer, the most recent and most extensive occupation at Pethick dates from approximately AD 1000 to AD 1400, a period archaeologists refer to as the &#8220Late Woodland Period&#8221 in northeastern North America. The occupants of the Schoharie Valley at that time are generally believed to have been the ancestors to modern Iroquois cultures, including the Mohawk. Remains from that period at the site include numerous hearths, fire cracked rock deposits, storage pits, and post-mold patterns. Artifacts from the site include numerous chipped stone waste flakes, stone tools including projectile points, and potter sherds. Preliminary analysis suggests the presence of at least one longhouse.

While the discovery of a possible early Iroquoian village site is a major occurrence, there is more to Pethick than this. Soil stratigraphy and artifacts indicate that Pethick is a multicomponent site, which was repeatedly occupied over thousands of years of prehistory. Artifacts recovered during the 2004 season indicate occupations during the pre-agricultural Early and Middle Woodland Periods, from approximately 1,000 BC to AD 200. Also identified were artifacts indicating occupations during the preceding Transitional Period, from approximately 1,500 to 1,000 BC. During these early periods the site probably served as a seasonal encampment where occupants could take advantage of locally gathered plant and animal resources, including fishing in the nearby Schoharie Creek.

We have been informed by local collectors that the site may also contain remains from the Early Archaic Period, dating to as early as 8,000 BC. If true, this would be a very rare occupation, dating to one of the earliest periods of New York State prehistory, just following the end of the last Ice Age. Surveying the areas purported to contain this evidence will also be a priority of the next field season.

Visitors to the site will be given tours by university students, but they are welcome to explore at their own pace and stay as long as they would like. Professional archaeologists, including State Archaeologist Dr. Christina Rieth and Dr. Sean Rafferty of the University at Albany, will be on hand to look at private artifact collections, which visitors are encouraged to bring. The site is fairly easily accessed (in a farm field). For safety reasons, guests will not be allowed to excavate.

Visitors of all ages are welcome! There is no cost for this event.

For more information, email or call: Jaime Donta, [email protected] or (413)237-2822

From Albany: Take I-88W to Exit 23&#8211 Schoharie/Central Bridge. At the end of the ramp, turn right. At the flashing red light, turn left onto 30/7A. Cross the Schoharie Creek, then take your first left onto Smith Rd. Follow to the end&#8211 the site is visible on the left.

NY Public Library Puts State Map Collection Online

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The New York Public Library has made available a number of New York State maps at their website. The collection includes David H. Burr’s atlases of 1829, 1838, 1841, along with Asher & Adams’ 1871 New Topographical Atlas and Gazetteer. There are also some 30 county level atlases, and city atlas for Albany (1876), Auburn (1882), Babylon, Islip, and Brookhaven (1888), Buffalo (1872), Elmira (1876, 1896), Oswego (1880), Saratoga and Ballston (1876), Troy, West Troy (now Watervliet) and Green Island (1869), Troy (1881), and Utica (1883). Many of these maps include individual homeowners names.

The interface leaves a lot to be desired. You should make sure that you have downloaded the proprietary viewer &#8211 the only indication it’s necessary is found here.

J. P. Morgan Papers Offered For Sale

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One of the blogs we follow here at New York History is ephemera: exploring the world of old paper. One of their recent posts caught our attention:

Since reading The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance, the towering biography of J.P. Morgan by John Chernow, I’ve been intrigued by the legacy of the great financier and others of his ilk. Several years ago, while in NYC for a few days, I visited the Morgan Library. While not as impressive as other shrines to rich and powerful men (e.g., George Vanderbilt’s Biltmore Estate), it was certainly an enjoyable and educational field trip. So, when I saw that Scott J. Winslow was presenting a catalog devoted to the financial giant, I thought it was worth a mention here. According to the Winslow site, the catalog traces the the course of Morgan’s prolific career, which saw presidencies from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt.

Ironically, it was almost exactly 100 years ago when old J.P. bailed out the country by loaning millions to the banks during the financial panic of 1907. Without J.P.’s cash infusion, the U.S. might have suffered a catastrophy that might have altered the course of the 20th century. Who would we turn to today?

Ephemera collectors [and New York historians!] will undoubtedly appreciate this extensive catalog featuring Morgan and his many influential associates and partners, including John D. Rockefeller, Jay Cooke, Anthony Drexel, and Jay Gould.

Other posts on the ephemera blog that have recently caught our attention include:

Luggage Label Collector Tom Schifanella Interview

Vintage Advertising Collector Jamie Bradburn Interview

The Peterhof Museum of Playing Cards

Pulp Magazine Expert Avi Abrams Interview

Vintage Lingerie Ephemera &#8211 Slip of a Girl Interview

Rick Prelinger &#8211 Panorama Ephemera Film Project Interview

American Motel Roadside Ephemera Collector Andrew Wood Interview

From Shaker Lands and Shaker Hands &#8211 Interview with M. Stephen Miller

Photograph Kodak Collector Martha Cooper Interview

Antique Fishing Lures Collector Rob Pavey Interview

When Content Was King: Turn of the Century Magazines

Phillip Stager Venereal Disease Ephemera Collection Interview

Casino Chip Collector Travis Lewin Cashes In

Beer Coaster Collector George Barone Interview

Erie Canal Exhibit at Canandaigua Historical Museum

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Ed Varno of the Ontario County Historical Society forwards us this note:

The Historical Museum located at 55 north Main Street in Canandaigua will host a reception for its latest exhibit, The Erie Canal: Where Water Flows Uphill. It will be today Saturday June 21. Stop in for a glass of wine and some friendly talk. The event begins at 7 PM and lasts until 9 PM.

A Western New York Online Historical Resource

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Forwarded from Tim Stowell who posted it to the NYDUTCHE (Dutchess County NY) genealogical mailing list, is notice of this massive online archive from the Western New York Library Resources Council. It includes a tremendous collection of maps of the Holland Patent area which are held by the State University of New York at Fredonia.

According to Stowell, &#8220These maps are mainly about New York state and western New York at that &#8211 from Herkimer west, but also contain early maps from Pennsylvania to Maine to Georgia and points in between.&#8221

New Woodstock Museum Opens Today

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Built on the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair, the Museum at Bethel Woods includes a 6,278 square foot exhibit gallery space, a 132-seat theater, an events gallery, a museum shop, a 1,000-seat outdoor terrace stage and more.

The Poughkeepsie Journal has some of the best coverage of the new museum including photos and video. According to the paper:

The Museum at Bethel Woods opens Monday. On display are seven high-definition monitors, 15 interactive touch-screen computers, more than 300 objects and photographs and more than 2,000 pieces of music and film, as well as photographs, included in the films and interactive exhibits.

Alan Gerry, the cable television magnate who built Bethel Woods, sees the museum as he viewed a 15,000-seat concert pavilion he opened two years ago on the same property &#8211 as an economic engine to help a region of the state that was once flush with tourism.

&#8220We think the addition of the museum to the performing arts center is going to be the catalyst to keep this place open 12 months a year,&#8221 Gerry said during opening remarks Wednesday. &#8220It’s going to attract more tourism and that was the whole idea in the beginning, trying to do something to resurrect our community &#8211 to put it back on the map.&#8221

The museum’s exhibits take visitors on a journey through the music of the 1960s, explain who played the Woodstock concert, who didn’t play and why. There is an actual school bus painted in psychedelic colors and art, with a film about cross-country journeys to the Woodstock concert projected onto the windshield. And there is a Volkswagen Bug.

On the web you can check out the Woodstock Project, an attempt at a complete Woodstock Discography. You can also take a look at someone’s photos of the original Woodstock here.

2009 Conference on New York State History

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The 29th Conference on New York State History will begin on Thursday, June 5th at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.

Among the presenters will be the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Oral History folks who will discuss their current exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans.

The full conference program is here registration info is here.

The conference is described as:

&#8230-an annual meeting of historians, librarians, archivists, educators, and community members who are interested in the history, people, and culture of New York State and who want to share information and ideas about historical research and programming. Each year the Conference brings together several hundred interested scholars and students at locations across the state of New York.

The Conference on New York State History is sponsored by New York State Historical Association in collaboration with New York State Archives Partnership Trust and co-sponsored by New York Council for the Humanities.