Oral History Collection
Hudson River Commercial Fishermen's Oral History Collection
The Hudson River Maritime Museum’s oral history collection consists of approximately 30 interviews with Hudson River commercial fishermen and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation officers conducted by Marjorie Holloway between 1989 and 1999. Approximately half of these oral histories have been digitized. You can listen to them on Hudson River Valley Heritage.
Conducted between 1989 and 2000 by interviewer Marguerite Holloway for the Hudson Valley Greenway, these interviews cover a range of topics, but focusing on the commercial fishing of shad, sturgeon, striped bass, and other fish like herring, as well as the changing water quality of the river, changes in fishing gear and techniques, and personal anecdotes.
This collection was digitized in part through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, in cooperation with the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley.
Other Collections
The Hudson River Maritime Museum also has an undigitized oral history collection from a project called "Rondout Remembers," as well as video interviews with area boat captains. We are also actively collecting new oral histories in straight-to-digital format with area people connected to the history of the Hudson River. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone you know to be interviewed for an oral history, please contact Sarah Wassberg at swassberg@hrmm.org.
Digitizing
Most of our audio-visual collection is on cassette tape, video tape, or KCS-20 professional broadcast tape. Magnetic tape has a life span of about 30 years, after which the sound and video quality begins to deteriorate. Most of this collection was recorded in the mid- to late-1980s and early 1990s, so we are approaching the end of the life span for these tapes.
The museum would very much like to digitize its entire audio-visual collection and has volunteers interested in doing the project, but lacks the funding to purchase digitizing equipment. Some tapes, like the professional broadcast tapes, must be digitized by professionals and only a few businesses in the country can still transfer them.
If you are interested in helping us preserve this important collection and make it accessible to the general public free of charge, please consider making a donation. Simply scroll to the bottom of the donation page to earmark your donation for "tape digitization."
The Hudson River Maritime Museum’s oral history collection consists of approximately 30 interviews with Hudson River commercial fishermen and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation officers conducted by Marjorie Holloway between 1989 and 1999. Approximately half of these oral histories have been digitized. You can listen to them on Hudson River Valley Heritage.
Conducted between 1989 and 2000 by interviewer Marguerite Holloway for the Hudson Valley Greenway, these interviews cover a range of topics, but focusing on the commercial fishing of shad, sturgeon, striped bass, and other fish like herring, as well as the changing water quality of the river, changes in fishing gear and techniques, and personal anecdotes.
This collection was digitized in part through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, in cooperation with the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley.
Other Collections
The Hudson River Maritime Museum also has an undigitized oral history collection from a project called "Rondout Remembers," as well as video interviews with area boat captains. We are also actively collecting new oral histories in straight-to-digital format with area people connected to the history of the Hudson River. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone you know to be interviewed for an oral history, please contact Sarah Wassberg at swassberg@hrmm.org.
Digitizing
Most of our audio-visual collection is on cassette tape, video tape, or KCS-20 professional broadcast tape. Magnetic tape has a life span of about 30 years, after which the sound and video quality begins to deteriorate. Most of this collection was recorded in the mid- to late-1980s and early 1990s, so we are approaching the end of the life span for these tapes.
The museum would very much like to digitize its entire audio-visual collection and has volunteers interested in doing the project, but lacks the funding to purchase digitizing equipment. Some tapes, like the professional broadcast tapes, must be digitized by professionals and only a few businesses in the country can still transfer them.
If you are interested in helping us preserve this important collection and make it accessible to the general public free of charge, please consider making a donation. Simply scroll to the bottom of the donation page to earmark your donation for "tape digitization."
Voices of the Hudson Valley Grant
In 2011 the Hudson River Maritime Museum joined four other organizations as part of the Year of Sounds & Stories Project, led and managed by the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley. The Sounds & Stories project is a 3 year grant funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services designed to digitize old oral histories and share them with the public through the Hudson River Valley Heritage database, SoundCloud, HistoryPin, a custom-built iPhone App, and more.
Partner organizations include the Greater Hudson Heritage Network, Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, and the Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College.
Other participating organizations (like HRMM) include the New Rochelle Public Library, Nyack Library, Somers Historical Society, and the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site.
This grant was completed in 2014. To listen to our short audio stories, edited from the original oral histories, please visit our A Year of Sounds & Stories page or download the app in the iTunes store.
Listen to Other Stories
Want to listen to more Hudson Valley history? Check out the SoundCloud accounts of our other participating organizations:
Somers Historical Society
Nyack Library
New Rochelle Public Library
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
Sound & Story Project of the Hudson Valley
Project Support By
Partner organizations include the Greater Hudson Heritage Network, Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, and the Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College.
Other participating organizations (like HRMM) include the New Rochelle Public Library, Nyack Library, Somers Historical Society, and the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site.
This grant was completed in 2014. To listen to our short audio stories, edited from the original oral histories, please visit our A Year of Sounds & Stories page or download the app in the iTunes store.
Listen to Other Stories
Want to listen to more Hudson Valley history? Check out the SoundCloud accounts of our other participating organizations:
Somers Historical Society
Nyack Library
New Rochelle Public Library
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
Sound & Story Project of the Hudson Valley
Project Support By
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