North Adams Historical Commission Seeks to Preserve Records
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Historical Commission is hoping to be more active in the preservation of materials important to the city's history.
Former city clerks Maryanne Abuisi and Marilyn Gomeau were invited to Monday's meeting to provide some background on what had been done in the past to maintain records in that office.
Abuisi worked in the city clerk's office for 28 years, retiring in 2003, when Gomeau took over as city clerk for 15.
Chair Gabrielle West said commissioners were looking for some guidance on how to proceed based on prior efforts.
Gomeau said a lot of the preservation during her term had been taken on by Alan Horbal and Gene Carlson, members of the North Adams Historical Society. "They did a phenomenal job through a grant," she said.
The grant had allowed for the purchase of archival materials through University Products, which was started by a former salesman at L.L. Brown in Adams. The company maintains a manufacturing facility in Holyoke and produces and sells a range of archival storage cases, tools and conservation materials.
"This company, I will tell you, is a great company," she said. "I've dealt with them when I was working and I still deal with them now up in Clarksburg, because I've restored a lot of the records up in Clarksburg, because they too were in shambles."
Gomeau, now town clerk in Clarksburg, said it would be in the commission's interest to speak with Horbal on what he had done. She said it had including cleaning, vacuuming and customizing the boxes to fit the city's records. He had also labeled all the boxes to identify the records.
She suggested the commission have a meeting with current City Clerk Tina Leonesio before considering grants to see how she felt about a preservation project and what she thought was needed. Gomeau had been willing to work with Horbal because he had talked it over with her, said he would pursue the money, and took on the project.
Both Gomeau and Abuisi cautioned that the clerk would probably not want to take on a project that would require that amount lot of time. They said the clerk's office had been extremely busy when they had worked in there and doubted it had gotten any easier.
"You don't have time to do those little things. You say you're going to do them. Oh, I'm going to clean this out. And you never do, you never get to it," said Gomeau. "Just because you have other things that are far more prioritized and far more important [at the moment]."
The city clerk's office is in charge of handling council papers, ordinances and vital records, among other responsibilities. Abuisi said paper records are required because documents will have original signatures of mayors, council presidents and clerks. "Those records are priceless," added Gomeau.
Abuisi spoke of one time she had to read out a handwritten deed in court for a property dispute from when the city was part of Adams. They both stressed the importance of preserving records as both historical and legal documents. And reminded the commission there are more records in other offices in City Hall that might need help.
Paper records are fragile and can be damaged by dust mites, dampness and mold. There was concern about boxes being stored in the basement but Abuisi said there wasn't much space for them. She suggested looking into having the old engineer's room in the basement retrofitted as a climate controlled storage area.
The commission will set up a meeting with Leonesio and reach out to Horbal for more information.
The commission also welcomed new member Allison Bergeron.
Tags: historical documents,
