ALBANY, NY.- The New York State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust have announced that AT&T has given a $20,000 contribution to support the conservation and digitization of documents burned in the 1911 New York Capitol Fire. The documents that will be conserved and digitized are badly fire damaged and contain information about life in the Hudson Valley in the 1700s. Once preserved, the documents will be invaluable to students and scholars researching New York’s pre-Revolutionary War history.

“On behalf of the Board of Regents and the New York State Archives, I thank AT&T for their generous contribution,” said Thomas Ruller, Interim State Archivist and CEO of the Archives Partnership Trust. “The conservation and digitization of these documents continues our commitment to preserve and increase access to New York’s documentary heritage and make materials available for study and research by students and scholars everywhere.”

"The 1911 fire at the NYS Capitol, completed only a few years prior, proved to be a monumental loss to some of our state's precious historical documents and artifacts. I applaud AT&T's financial commitment to the New York State Archives to ensure these recovered documents are digitized and properly preserved for future generations of researchers and students," said Assemblymember Patricia A. Fahy (D-Albany).

“AT&T is proud to collaborate with the New York State Archives to conserve these historic and cultural state treasures that have been unavailable to the public since 1911,” said Marissa Shorenstein, New York President, AT&T. “We applaud the Archives’ use of technology to digitize these documents so they are preserved in perpetuity and accessible for future generations of students, academics, and researchers across the globe.”

The 1911 Capitol Fire destroyed most of New York’s Revolutionary War era records and almost one quarter of English colonial documents. The records that survived are significantly fire damaged. Although the written texts of the documents are somewhat legible, the edges are charred and so vulnerable to damage that researchers are not allowed to use the originals.

From the State Archives’ collections, a variety of unique documents from the British Colonial era will be conserved and digitized. The documents shed a new light on life in the Hudson Valley in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Topics include:

• Counterfeiting in the Hudson Valley, 1745 - Counterfeiting of paper money and other documents of monetary value was prevalent in the eighteenth century. During the 1740s, a strip of land along the Connecticut border in Dutchess County was a refuge for New England counterfeiters because of its remote location and disputed legal status. Documents contain information about Dutchess County counterfeiters and provide striking evidence of an underground economy and difficulties of law enforcement in the 18th century. The documents remain largely intact but in extremely fragile condition.

• First licensed ferry between Poughkeepsie and Kingston, 1752 - Although the Hudson River was the great interior highway of New York Colony, the river was a barrier to commerce between the two shores. Ferries appeared in the Dutch period and Jacob Kip started running a ferry between Poughkeepsie and Kingston around 1700. In 1749, Jacob’s son Abraham petitioned the Governor and Council for a ferry patent, and in 1752 the patent was issued. The petitions, related documents, and the patent tell a story of investment and enterprise in improved transportation in the mid-Hudson Valley. Some documents are intact while others require conservation before they can be used.

• Indian War in Orange and Ulster Counties, 1755 - During the French and Indian War settlers in New York suffered attacks by Indians allied with the French. The impact of those raids and unsuccessful attempts to resist them are documented in records. The documents require conservation before they can be used.