This semester I received a grant by the Dailey Foundation to rehouse and process segments of the Fall Brook Coal Company and Fall Brook Railway Company records. These records are housed in Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania State Archives.
Within the collection are memorandums, correspondences, and further documentation of the operations of the Fall Brook Railroad and Fall Brook Coal Company. The combined rail and coal company was chartered in 1859 after businessman and politician, John Magee, acquired and leased railway lines in Tioga County and Southern New York. As the Fall Brook Coal Company grew, it established itself as a major coal mining and transportation operation.The company would have a major impact on the development of the bituminous coal fields of Northern Pennsylvania during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and significantly impact the economics of both New York and Pennsylvania.
This collection is in demand by rail, labor, and coal industry scholars from all over the United States, as the Fall Brook collection is one of the most complete collections of any railway in the United States. The collection is currently housed in acidic boxes and the documents are tri-folded. My job is to unfold the documents and flatten them. Once flattened, I arrange the documents chronically and place the collection in acid free folders and boxes. As I do this I am creating descriptions for the series. These descriptions will be placed on the Archives webpage and made available to researchers.
The records that I am processing have not been looked at in over 150 years. Each day that I am at the archives I find something new. Each new box contains treasures of the past that reveal how present-day politics, economics, and day-to-day life came to be.
I started the project knowing very little about document preservation and archival procedures, but after having worked with experts at the State Archives, I have acquired much knowledge in these areas as well as numerous skills that have applications beyond my work with the Fall Brook records. I am excited to keep working with this project!
Within the collection are memorandums, correspondences, and further documentation of the operations of the Fall Brook Railroad and Fall Brook Coal Company. The combined rail and coal company was chartered in 1859 after businessman and politician, John Magee, acquired and leased railway lines in Tioga County and Southern New York. As the Fall Brook Coal Company grew, it established itself as a major coal mining and transportation operation.The company would have a major impact on the development of the bituminous coal fields of Northern Pennsylvania during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and significantly impact the economics of both New York and Pennsylvania.
This collection is in demand by rail, labor, and coal industry scholars from all over the United States, as the Fall Brook collection is one of the most complete collections of any railway in the United States. The collection is currently housed in acidic boxes and the documents are tri-folded. My job is to unfold the documents and flatten them. Once flattened, I arrange the documents chronically and place the collection in acid free folders and boxes. As I do this I am creating descriptions for the series. These descriptions will be placed on the Archives webpage and made available to researchers.
The records that I am processing have not been looked at in over 150 years. Each day that I am at the archives I find something new. Each new box contains treasures of the past that reveal how present-day politics, economics, and day-to-day life came to be.
I started the project knowing very little about document preservation and archival procedures, but after having worked with experts at the State Archives, I have acquired much knowledge in these areas as well as numerous skills that have applications beyond my work with the Fall Brook records. I am excited to keep working with this project!
Before and after picture of the boxes processed.