Nyack Library to Make Village History Digital

Brian Jennings is seeking to bridge a two-year gap in Nyack history.

The local history librarian at is currently working to digitize copies of the Rockland County Journal, Nyack's former newspaper of record, from 1890 to 1892—the dates of Edward Hopper's formative years in the village.

Currently, issues of Rockland County Journal—a weekly periodical that ceased publication in 1915—spanning from 1850 to 1884 are online.

"But the years we now seek to digitize offer the most complete information on what life was like in Nyack during the artist Hopper's formative years," Jennings said. Hopper, whose childhood house is now a museum on North Broadway, was born in 1882.

Jennings added that in many cases, the stories and headlines in the Rockland County Journal are the only records of Nyack during that period.

"This is our window into that time," he said, noting all people of that era have since passed on, and, other than the occasional footnote in an historical book, there is no comprehensive literature.

But converting antiquated ink and paper and negative reels to digital content can be a costly undertaking. Professionals have to scan the negatives, segment them by page, rename and date them, and ensue quality control—that is, take care that each page is focused and in proper order. 

"Quality control is the really expensive part," Jennings said.

For just the 1890 to 1982 negatives, Nyack Library will need $3,000. And while in the past the Historical Society of the Nyacks, library employees and volunteers, and village trustees have helped finance the project, Jennings decided to turn to the broader public.

"I though, 'let's see if online fundraising makes sense,'" he said. Jennings set up a Kickstarter website to raise money—anyone, anywhere can contribute to the $3,000 goal. If the number is met before April 22, the project moves forward. If not, all donors are refunded.

(It's the same fundraising approach Gypsy Donut, one of Nyack's newest eateries, is currently using. Learn more .)

Jennings' project has raised $2,645 from 46 donors as of Wednesday evening; Jennings needs to see about $300 in the next 10 days. 

"I feel it will work," Jennings said. "I felt the Hopper take would draw people internationally." Each year, the Hopper House hosts visitors from Europe and Asia.

Combing through news—some of it well over a century old—can yield interesting tidbits, too. Just recently, Jennings came across a story from the 1850s that spotlights the death of a Piermont firefighter who lost his life while battling a Nyack blaze. The most interesting detail? The late firefighter was African-American, and perhaps one of the first in the region.

Another portion of the broadsheet from the 1850s houses baseball box scores.

"That's very early in baseball's history," Jennings said. "And the game they were playing [was similar to] modern baseball."

The finds prove the digital archives would serve more than historians and genealogists—Jennings noted things like obituaries and real estate news would entice the everyday resident.

"This was a time when a lot of the older homes in Nyack were built," he said.

The prospect of digitized and well-ordered archives are exciting to Carol Weiss, Nyack's village historian, as well.

"You'd be able to browse from home," she said. Currently, Weiss is researching one of Nyack's first photographers, who shot family photographs, work portraits and funeral images in the late nineteenth century.

Looking ahead, Jennings has more plans.

"This is just the beginning," he said. "If we can get the weeky [newspapers] done, the major stories will be covered." From there, readers can look at the daily newspapers, which surfaced in the 1890s, for a closer look.

Beyond that, Jennings will work with grant money to make local history mobile and social—he hopes to create an application that would allow users to stand downtown and learn the history of their location.

"We want to help tell stories about the past," he said.

The details

• To donate, visit Nyack Library's Kickstarter website.

• A pledge of $5 or more earns donors a free cup of coffee from the library cafe, and waives any fines of $5 or less; $25 or more earns an image from the library's local history collection; $75 or more earns a history image and .tif issue of the Rockland County Journal; $1,000 or more earns the aforementioned, plus your name on a donors wall in the library.