LIU’s Palmer School recently received funding from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation to support its Digitizing Local History Sources project, providing students and faculty additional opportunities to preserve sensitive historical documents relevant to Long Island's history.

 

"This funding opportunity allows our students to further develop their archiving skills while enhancing their academic experience,” said Dr. Kimberly R. Cline, President, Long Island University.

 

Students enrolled in the Palmer School at LIU preserve local Long Island history through advanced digital technology to capture images of important historical documents. LIU students have archived documents from 46 historical organizations, including 75,000 images, amounting to a total of 4,600 gigabytes of data.

 

Since 2017, the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation has contributed more than $2.2 million to Long Island University's historical preservation projects. The funds presented by the Gardiner Foundation have enabled Palmer School students to digitize materials provided by various organizations in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

 

Students most recently preserved information from notable historical items, including Walt Whitman's family bible.

 

Book mark inside the Walt Whitman family bible. Photo: Walt Whitman Birthplace Association; digital surrogate prepared by the Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Long Island University, as part of the “Digitizing Local History Sources” Project funded by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

 

"Years ago, the Foundation asked me what I saw as the greatest need for our historical societies,” said Kathryn M. Curran, Executive Director of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. “I had recently been to a historic site that was underutilized, and underappreciated. For years this organization had been maintaining an incredible resource of archival material that was virtually unknown.”

 

Established in 1987, the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation primarily supports the study of New York State history. The organization's purpose is to cultivate, foster and promote interest in the culture, art and traditions of our local history. Foundation leaders aspire to encourage the collection and examination of documents and artifacts. 

 

"Our students are highly skilled and motivated in the digital archiving process", said Dr. Gregory Hunter, LIU professor and Project Director, Digitizing Local History Sources. "The added bonus is that Long Island residents benefit from this program, as important documents pertaining to local history are digitally preserved for all posterity."