Minutes of Meeting of the Social, Economic, and Neighborhood Working Group
on January 3, 2002. 215 Milne, Downtown Campus, SUNY-Albany. Attending: Dick
Andress, Wes Balla,, Thomas Carroll, Tricia Barbagallo, Brian Keough, David
Klinge, John Logan, Susan McCormick, Karen Norton,  Marggie Skinner, Harvey
Strum, Gerry Zahavi.

  The Social, Economic, and Neighborhood Working Group met to flesh out
further proposed projects and programs identified with the Albany Heritage
Program of 2002. The meeting began with a review of  proposals made at the
December 13, 2001 meeting. John Logan of the Mumford Center for Comparative
Urban and Regional Research at SUNYA confirmed the Center’s plans to work on
demographic maps of Albany for the late 19th and first half of the 20th
centuries. Wes Balla, Curator of History at the Albany Institute of History
and Art, discussed his hopes that several of the Institute’s exhibits might
be converted into Web sites. Gerald Zahavi suggested that he might have
students available to work on these. Dr. Harvey Strum of the Sage Colleges
sat in for Jim Wilson, Director of the Rathbone Gallery and reported on the
planned Albany Jewish neighborhood exhibit, as well as on his own research
on Irish Famine relief in Albany. He noted that there was extensive
fund-raising activities for Ireland here in Albany. This research might be
presented in the form of a lecture, perhaps in conjunction with John McEneny
’s proposal for a lecture on the impact of the Irish Famine on Irish
immigration to Albany.
 Marggie Skinner reported on her contacts with Albany Senior Services and
the League of Women concerning the oral history project. She gave the
contact information to Susan McCormick (Department of History, SUNYA) for
follow-up. Tricia Barbagallo, a new member of the committee, works as an
Assistant Editor on the Encyclopedia of New York State and has also worked
for the Colonial Albany Social History Project. She reported on her work on
the Albany poor and on her oral history project focusing on Albany
neighborhoods and new immigrants in the late 20th century. She also reported
on several sources of possible Albany maps and suggested the compilation of
historic Albany maps as one “product” and collaboration that could emerge
from the Albany Heritage Program. Tricia suggested contacting the Times
Union and encouraging them to run a historical series to parallel the
programs we are planning; she volunteered to make the contacts with
reporters.
 Gerry Zahavi reported on the two projects mounted by the History Department
at SUNYA, “Capital Voices, Capital Soundscapes,” an oral/aural history
project devoted to preserving the oral and aural history of the city, and
the on-line "Encyclopedia of Albany History." Dick Andress, of the New York
State Library, confirmed his interest in the projects he described in our
first meeting – profiles of those who built the New York State Capital, and
developing databases of Albany newspapers, Albany-based publishers and
authors, and libraries in Albany neighborhoods. John Logan felt it would be
good to have products that endure—perhaps utilizing the Encyclopedia as a
repository of Andress’ databases and other digital projects.
 Tom Carroll, Executive Director of Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway,
elaborated on his proposal for a program on bells, time, and industrial
discipline—to complement celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth
of Andrew Meneely, founder of Meneely Bell Co. The program could also be
expanded into a Web site and exhibits on bells in the Albany area. David
Klinge, of Hartgen Archaeological Associates, reiterated Bill Bouchard’s
proposal (of Dec. 13th) to offer public lectures and presentations on old
Albany boarding houses and immigrant life on Albany’s waterfront—based on
archaeological evidence unearthed by Hartgen.
 Brian Keough, Curator of SUNYA Archives, expressed his willingness to talk
about the role of Albany clergy in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s
and 1960s. He also noted that the SUNY-Albany archive could provide
architectural images for various exhibits, as well.
 Following these specific discussions, the group conceptually organized all
of the various suggestions: a lecture series (ideally to be recorded and
preserved), a series of exhibits mounted by individual institutions (the
Albany Institute, the Rathbone Gallery, and so on), and a number of
products—including digital versions of exhibits as CD-ROMS or Web-based
installations. Coordination of exhibits and lectures should take place with
the other committees. We recognized the need to begin to formulate a
schedule of the planned events and to develop realistic budgets for those
not currently funded. In addition, a number of members emphasized the need
to share our proposals with the education committee and to coordinate the
development of school curricular material based on our projects. We also
discussed the need to balance our program--to make sure that we are not
neglecting important groups, themes, or periods in Albany’s history: we need
to insure coherence and thematic unity.  One suggestion was to utilize the
lecture series to fill in identified gaps in the overall plan of our efforts
 Finally, the committee reiterated the need to contact and utilize the media
to promote and publicize our work.

The next meeting date and time was tentatively set for Tuesday, January
29th, at 10am in 215 Milne, Downtown SUNYA campus (pending confirmation of
room availability).

Gerry Zahavi