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Dominick C. Lizzi
Valatie, New York, History Collection, ca. 1996-2009

SC23076

Quantity: 20 Boxes (ca. 20 cubic ft.) plus 3 oversize folders
Access: Open to research
Acquisition: Gift from Dominick C. Lizzi, June 2008; accretions received October 2008, March 2009; November 2011, and March 2012
Processed By: Vicki Weiss, Senior Librarian, Manuscripts & Special Collections, September 2010; revised March 2012

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Biographical Note:

Dominick C. Lizzi was born in Albany, New York, in 1941. He received his bachelor of arts degree in history from Siena College in 1963 and his master of arts degree in history from the State University of New York at Albany in 1964; he did post-graduate work in history at Cornell University.

Lizzi has been a resident of Columbia County since 1964, moving to Valatie in 1965. From 1964 until his retirement in 1996, he taught at Germantown High School. He served as Valatie Village Historian from 1996 to 2010.

He is the author of a biography of Valatie native Governor Martin H. Glynn (Martin H. Glynn: Forgotten Hero, Valatie, N.Y.: Valatie Press, 1994), Valatie: The Forgotten History: A Rural Mill Village, Microcosm of America (Valatie, N.Y.: Valatie Press, 2009), and Let There Be Light: The Forgotten History of the Chatham Public Library, a Carnegie Legacy (Valatie, N.Y.: Valatie Press, 2008). He also has written articles for local newspapers and other publications.

Scope and Content Note:

The collection consists chiefly of 34 binders of photocopies of materials collected and compiled by Dominick C. Lizzi in the 1990s and 2000s while researching Valatie: The Forgotten History. (The originals are located at the Valatie Free Library.) A broad range of topics are covered, including commerce, industry, culture, society, education, religion, politics, and government. The materials document Valatie from its earliest Native-American settlement to the present, with the bulk of the materials covering the 1820s through the 1960s.

Included are the text of interviews, notes, correspondence between Lizzi and various individuals, and photocopies of articles from newspapers, books and other publications. Of particular note are the copies of numerous articles from The Rough Notes (ca. 1820-ca. 1960), the local newspaper, the morgue of which was destroyed by fire in the 1940s. The articles Lizzi has assembled for this collection may be the most comprehensive and easily accessible record of the newspaper.

The contents of the binders are in the order Lizzi compiled them and have not been indexed.  The collection also includes some accretions and other loose materials that have not been fully processed.

Container List:


Box Binder Contents
1 1A Mills
1 1B Mills
1 2A Mills
2 2B Mills
2 3A Mill Owners/Families/Wild Family et al/Houses/Rathbone
2 3B Mill Owners/Families/Wild Family et al/Houses/Rathbone
3 4 Mill Terms, Families, People/Huyck
3 5 People/Families/Workers' Remembrances/Housman, Callan, Abbott, Rodgers, Purcell, Snyder's Tin Shop
3 6 Early Settlers
3 7 Native Americans
4 8 Rescue Squad/Fire Department/Fires
4 9 Cemeteries
4 10 Veterans' Graves
4 11A Ethnics/Gazetteers/Census/Race
5 11B Ethnics/Gazetteers/Census/ Race (continued)
5 12A Civil War/G.A.R./General Chrysler
5 12B Civil War/G.A.R./General Chrysler (continued)
5 13 Presbyterian and Methodist churches
6 14 St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Quakers
6A (folio) 15 Photographs of the Housman Residence and Grounds/Maury Harder Collection (loose papers) and unprocessed accretions
6 16 Major Non-textile Industries and People
6 17 Businesses/Farms
6 18A American Legion/Veterans Groups/WWI/WWII/Korea/Vietnam
7 18B American Legion/Veterans Groups/WWI/WWII/Korea/Vietnam (continued)
7 19 Schools
7 20 Government/Incorporations/Politics/Public Works
8 21 Telegraph/Telephone/Newspapers/Post Offices/Libraries/Railroads/
Trolley/Geography/Streets/Maps
8 22A People (Corning and Van Buren Families, Legal/Lawyers, Jail, Medical/Doctors, Houdini)
8 22B People (Corning and Van Buren Families, Legal/Lawyers, Jail, Medical/Doctors, Houdini) (continued)
9 23A Theaters/Opera House/Mills Hall/Celebrations/Sports/Recreation/Social Organizations/Houdini
9 23B Theaters/Opera House/Mills Hall/Celebrations/Sports/Recreation/Social Organizations/Houdini (continued)
9 24 New York State Cultural Reports on Houses
10 25 Santa Claus Club/General History
10 26 Miscellaneous
  EL1 Rough Notes (Valatie, N.Y. newspaper), March 13, 1888: Beaver Mill Fire and Blizzard of 1888 articles; Maury Harder Collection (from Binder 15)
  EL2 Rough Notes (Valatie, N.Y. newspaper), October 20, 1922. Article on Carpenter house fire; very fragile; only extant issue; has been scanned by NYSL/MSC (July 1, 2008) (from Binder 15)
11   Unprocessed materials to be added to binders 10-26 (accretion received November 2011)
12-20   Accretions of March 2012-March 2013 – Unprocessed
12  
  1. Joseph D'Onofrio research materials  (2 small cartons)
  2. Valatie Free Library – Local History Archives
13   Research materials, news clippings, memorabilia, etc. relative to village history and sesquicentennial celebration 2006
14   Research materials related to Valatie: The Forgotten History – archeological survey, architectural heritage, recreational area, and economic development
15   Research materials related to Valatie: The Forgotten History, and miscellany
  1. Accretion fro Binder #1: "Mills"
  2. Phonograph recording of the dedication of St. Luke's Lutheran Church, May 30, 1948 (78 rpm); in Glen Miller record jacket
  3. Santa Claus Cub video-cassette
  4. News clippings and other assorted papers
16   Research materials related to Valatie: The Forgotten History – assorted papers to be added to existing binders
17   Research materials related to Valatie: The Forgotten History
  1. World War II soldiers and veteran from Valatie
  2. Martin Glynn
  3. Family history
  4. Main Street deeds (copies)
  5. Sesquicentennial
  6. Miscellaneous
18   Research materials related to Valatie: The Forgotten History
  1. Maps
  2. Santa Club
  3. Miscellaneous
19   Research materials related to Valatie: The Forgotten History (folio box)
  1. Voters list 1934 (bound volume)
  2. Sesquicentennial Poster
  3. Valatie historical Markers (Scrapbook)
  4. School Photo 1925
  5. Honorary Certificates
  6. Maps (rolled)
20   Research materials related to Valatie: The Forgotten History, and miscellany
  1. Photograph of portraits of Charles Trimper, son of John T. and grandson of Adam Tremper, ca. 1854, and of Maria Titirch Tremper [sic], mother of Rev. A.A. Trimper, born Aug. 15, 1772, ca. 1852. Trimper served as mayor of Valatie.
  2. Centennial celebration slides, 1956
  3. Photographs – 1990s
  4. Santa Claus Park dedication photographs
  5. Miscellaneous photographs and postcards
  6. Lutheran Church photographs
  7. Aerial photographs of Valatie
  8. Miscellaneous articles
Loose EL Photograph: Albany Hospital School of Nursing, Class of 1910 (framed)
Last Updated: September 29, 2022