Online
Exhibitions:
Documenting
Change: Industry and Business in Troy and Rensselaer County, NY
Project Description and
Methodology
Troy and Rensselaer both have long histories as
centers of industry and commerce that go back to the late 18th
century. First the iron and steel industries and then the clothing
and textile industries played key roles in the economy of both
communities. Beginning around the turn of the 20th century, heavy
industries began to move out of the area to be closer to sources
of raw materials and cheaper labor. During all phases of their
development, these industries shaped not only the economy but
also the geography of these cities and the lives of their residents.
The records that document the impact of industry and subsequent
deindustrialization in Troy and Rensselaer have been largely uncatalogued
and, in many cases, unidentified until now. Efforts at revitalization,
which began just after World War II and continue today, have taken
the form of a fundamental shift away from heavy manufacturing.
The industries and other businesses that have slowly filled the
gaps left by earlier industries have tended to focus their production
in high technology and services like insurance and health care.
Institutionally, it has become apparent that RCHS needs to look
at this more recent past and at collection materials and documentation
that reflect the many changes and groups that have affected the
history of the county since World War II. This project adds important
information to the base which will be used to assess RCHS's current
collections and future collecting directions during the next few
years.
The people who worked for and ran these businesses
have formed the bulk of the population of these two communities
and have had their own impact on the life of the two cities. The
records that document their private lives are generally unavailable
for research. Institutional records, however, can provide glimpses
of these lives through personnel records, information on production,
etc. More importantly, these records can help to identify forces
that shaped the communities in terms of labor practices, economic
ups and downs and provide a context for the individuals' lives.
The documentation project looked for typical business archival
materials including charters, incorporation papers, correspondence
files, financial papers, personnel files, advertising materials,
photographic records of the firms as well as product information
and samples. Smaller firms and firms that did related work for
the bigger industries are hard to document and an attempt has
been made to locate their records. Equally important is the identification
of businesses that have developed to fill the gap left by deindustrialization
and newer firms were contacted for information about their records.
The Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce has been particularly
helpful in identifying firms involved in revitalization.
The first project task was to identify industries
that were here just prior to World War II and then identify the
ones that stayed open, left the area for other locations afterwards
or stopped production altogether. The Project Archivist used the
RCHS research library and many other repositories for this background
work. Some of the largest firms' records are in institutions,
i.e. Cluett, Peabody & Co., Inc. records are at RCHS. Other
firms who have stayed in business, like the Ross Valve Company
in Troy, have records that would be valuable research materials
but are not currently accessible in any form. Records of newer
firms that are part of revitalization efforts, such as some of
the high technology firms that began in the Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute's incubator program, have records which they often do
not realize are valuable for researchers.
Because records of the recent past are not generally
available, the materials surveyed and described in this resource
guide add substantially to the body of information available to
scholars and others with an interest in the period. When dealing
with newer firms that are actively in business there may be some
hesitation in providing access to records, particularly for competitive
reasons. Access issues were discussed and access notes are provided
in the guide. Materials documented in the survey will have a variety
of potential uses in terms of immediately adding to the limited
information known about post World War II Troy and Rensselaer.
They will also be used for RCHS programming at a variety of levels.
The results of the survey will be available to any other interested
group or individual at the RCHS research library. RCHS also plans
to share the results of the survey with the Hudson Mohawk Industrial
Gateway in Troy and the City of Rensselaer Historical Society,
two organizations that are already involved in this field, and
other libraries, town historians and historical societies. In
addition, those businesses and organizations that participated
in the survey will receive copies of the final report. RCHS plans
to mount the guide on its World Wide Web site opening this fall.
Finally, it is important to realize that most of these records
are still in private or corporate hands. RCHS is committed to
working with record holders to help preserve this valuable resource
and increase the awareness of their importance today and for years
to come.
Stacy Pomeroy Draper, Project Director
Philip B. Eppard, Project Archivist
Return to previous
page
|
