The Delaware County Historical Association is offering the public curated packets of historical information on the Cannonsville and Pepacton reservoirs and watersheds called Archives in an Envelope, available as of Sept. 3 through Jan. 1, 2025.
The packets are free for people interested in seeing the historic images and information found in the DCHA archives. The project was funded through a grant from the Catskill Watershed Corporation in partnership with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
Samantha Misa, educator at the DCHA, said Thursday, Sept. 12 that the idea stems around what historians do — getting a box of archival materials from which to tell a story with the materials by going through the primary sources in a collection.
“I had the idea of making some copies of the postcards and brochures before summer,” she said, “and made copies and historical-feeling materials, parchments, so that we could recreate the tactile feel of working with these items and background information and on the back of the postcard.”
There are two versions of the packet: one for grades 7-11 and one for the general public.
“We want to try to make it so that people can see the item themselves,” Misa said. “We were inspired to see how historians put this together, it’s tactile, and to see these historical articles in this way.”
DCHA has sent out 182 manilla envelopes as of Thursday.
“A lot of NYC schools have gotten packets, local expats and all the way up Maine are receiving the documents and sharing it,” Misa said.
The education packets include a question sheet that can be answered using the enclosed historic documents for students. The general audience packets include only the documents.
Hard copies of the Archive in an Envelope packets are limited. To order packets, contact DCHA at dchadelhi@gmail.com.