Celebrating Southold's Rich History: Library Preserves Traveler Watchman Newpaper for Future Generations

NORTH FORK, NY - The rich pages of Southold's history once chronicled in the Traveler Watchman newspapr have now been preserved for posterity.

The Traveler Watchman evolved into numerous incarnations since it was created in 1850 until it was sold to the Independent in East Hampton in 2005. Over the years, the paper was known as the The Long Island Traveler, The Watchman, The Watchman of the Sunrise Trail, The Long Island Traveler Mattituck Watchman, and the Long Island Traveler Watchman.

Within its pages, the history of Southold unfolded — and a dedicated group of volunteers have worked tirelessly at the Southold Free Library to preserve those memories forever.

To that end, the project kicked off in 2010, with an eye toward putting all the content of the bound volumes onto microfilm. The entire project was just recently completed.

Melissa Andruski, director of adult programming worked alongside Southold Free Library Director Caroline MacArthur on the preservation of Southold's rich legacy.

In addition, the march to digitalize the articles has begun. Currently, MacArthur said, a person can go to the Southold Free Library site, click on "Local History Room" under "Library Services," and then, click on Suffolk Historic Newspapers for the chance to peruse articles from decades past. Articles are available up until 1990 digitally and work is ongoing to ensure all the work is digitalized soon, MacArthur said.

The project has been deeply fulfilling to Andruski. "It's wonderful. It's a way to keep the information, the history, alive," she said.

The fabric of the community

Whitney Booth was the first and key player in the microfilming project, Andruski said. In 1961, Booth, who also served on the Libary's board of directors, purchased the Long Island-Traveler Mattituck Watchman, along with Walter Gagen. They purchased the paper from Frederick Hawkins, who purchased The Long Island Traveler and The Mattituck Watchman and combined them.

Booth was editor and publisher for over a decade and later married the-now Antonia Booth, who was a former Traveler Watchman editor.

In his later years, Andruski said it was Booth's wish and goal to get the Traveler Watchman onto microfilm.

With the help of a private donation by Brad Wiley, the microfilming commenced and recently, was completed.

"What motivated me to do the fundraising and contributing was partly in honor of Whitney, but also of all local journalism everywhere, its archival value to the community it reports on with respect to roots, heritage, and with the hope the local education system appreciates that value as an educational tool for students across many grades. I hope that’s happened in Southold," he said.

Hudsom MicroImaging actually did the microfilming, Andruski said.

"It's just a wonderful piece of history that we have here," she added, saying she wished more people knew the service existed.

Currently, if someone wants to see the reels, they can ask; the reels are locked up in the history room. Once they've been brought out, the patron can peruse the reels on the microfilm machine and then have various articles and information scanned, printed out or sent to them by email.

Schoolchildren also are able to take a look back into history, via the collection, Andruski said.

Another facet of the project spotlighted an index of obituaries from the Long Island Traveler for the years 1924 to 1969; intern Rebecca Plock was instrumental in that project, Andruski said. Some requests have come in already for the obituary; one couple from Illinois sought information on a couple who died in 2002, weeks apart.

There is no charge for using the microfilm equipment or reels, Andruski said.

Seeing the last of the issues on microfilm was rewarding, Andruski said. "Now we have a complete set."

The paper, she added, includes not only news, but columnists writing about the weddings and social events, feature stories and school bulletins, all the things that comprise "the fabric of the community," she said.

Crumbled pages don't last forever

MacArthur said the first steps toward preserving the legacy began when the Traveler Watchman was sold in 2005 to the Independent in East Hampton and former owner Manny Kontokosta gave the bound volumes to the library for free.

Bound volumes don't last forever, MacArthur said, so the Library teamed up with other branches in Suffolk County to create the Suffolk Historic Newspapers project and get the editions online.

When Booth passed away in 2007, MacArthur said, "We had this treasure trove of newspapers and we weren't sure what to do with them."

Wiley, a cousin of Booth's who lives in California, saved the day with his generous donation, she said. Eventually, MacArthur added, all the issues will be completely digitalized; readers can search by subject and date online.

"This was a very big project," MacArthur said, adding that she and Andruski have been working on preserving the microfilm, a vibrant link to Southold's past, since 2010.

Some of the pages from the late 1800s to the early 1900s were too crumbled and fragile to copy. That's why the rush to preserve what still existed was urgent, MacArthur said.

"In terms of local history, it's priceless," she said. "It's something that now, hopefully is timeless."