Re: (erielack) Volunteering at Steamtown

[Pat_McKnight_@_nps.gov]

One note on all this.  Phil contacted me in advance and I was able to get
him into a project that he was interested in.  I have a number of different
projects that can be worked on with minimal supervision for the Erie and
DL&W (in the future we have a Lehigh Valley archive that will need to be
worked on).  If you show up at Steamtown offering your services without
advance notice, I might not be able to help.

Also, I only handle volunteers working on the park's archives, library and
museum collection.  We have quite a few more who assist with the trains, as
well as assisting the rangers that give tours.

Volunteer assistance in processing the archives at Steamtown helps make
this information available to all researchers.  Until I know what is in the
box, have it refoldered with basic conservation treatment, and data entered
on the computer, the information is inaccessible to everyone.

Pat McKnight
Historian/Archivist/Librarian
Steamtown NHS


                                                                                                       
                      Neil Weinberg                                                                    
                      <laurellines_@_gmail.        To:       Schuyler Larrabee                           
                      com>                        <schuyler.larrabee_@_verizon.net>                      
                      Sent by:                   cc:       Philip Albano <palbano_@_earthlink.net>,      
                      erielack-owner_@_list         erielack@lists.elhts.org, (bcc: Pat                  
                      s.elhts.org                 McKnight/STEA/NPS)                                   
                                                 Subject:  Re: (erielack) Volunteering at Steamtown    
                                                                                                       
                      08/29/2005 11:28 AM                                                              
                      AST                                                                              
                      Please respond to                                                                
                      Neil Weinberg                                                                    
                                                                                                       
                                                                                                       




Phil! I took the liberty to reprint your comments in the September issue of

Laurel Lines. I'm the editor. Neil Weinberg

On 8/28/05, Schuyler Larrabee <schuyler.larrabee_@_verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Phil, thanks for your efforts and the time you put into this. I wish I
> lived a bit closer and could
> assist, but it's a seven hour trip . . .
>
> SGL
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org
> > [mailto:erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org] On Behalf Of Philip Albano
> > Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2005 7:25 AM
> > To: erielack_@_lists.elhts.org
> > Subject: (erielack) Volunteering at Steamtown
> >
> > Just got back from a trip to Steamtown volunteering in the
> > archives. Mr. Pat McKnight, Historian/Archivist has hundreds
> > of boxes of D.L.&W. and Erie records going as far back as
> > 1910-1920's.To make them available for research they need to
> > be processed: remove the old rusty metal fasteners and pins
> > used back then, place in new folders with record numbers,
> > date and a description of the record written on the file
> > folder and the information entered into the computer. The
> > files range from ordinary (records of digging waterlines and
> > normal track maintenance) to interesting (installing
> > electrical service in stations and towers) to very
> > interesting (changes in interlocking, one new tower replacing
> > two old ones) to unintentionally humorous (elaborate
> > correspondence between the auditor's office and the division
> > engineer over a 25 cent mistake on a contract) to surprising
> > (found my grandfathers name on a payroll record!)
> >
> > The surrondings are pleasant - working in a remodeled D.L.&W.
> > office building with steam engines nearby. If you volunteer
> > be prepared to get dirty. Some of the records are brittle
> > from age and require careful handling.It may be a good idea
> > to get a tetanus booster shot just in case you nick yourself
> > on a 80 year old rusty pin. It may not be as glamorous as
> > working on the steam engines, but the information in these
> > records have their own special attraction and is a great
> > resource that will need hundreds of hours of volunteer work
> > to make them accessible to us.
> >
> > Philip Albano
> >
> > The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
> > Sponsored by the ELH&TS
> > http://www.elhts.org
> >
>
>
> The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
> Sponsored by the ELH&TS
> http://www.elhts.org
>


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