Delmas Collections Grant

The archives at the Oneida Community Mansion House contain primary source material from the 19th century Oneida Community, its 20th century offspring company, Oneida (Community) Ltd., and former members and descendants of the Community. These materials offer an invaluable glimpse into the operations and philosophies of the Oneida Community and Oneida Ltd., as well as a broader view of contemporary events in our nation and the world from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s.

 

In addition to preserving the materials of the utopian Oneida Community, the archives and collections record responses to the momentous events of that time including the Women’s Rights Movement, the Civil War, Emancipation, both World Wars, Women’s Suffrage, and so much more. All of these books, pamphlets, newspapers, letters, diaries, ledgers, business papers, advertising material, artwork, maps and plans are rare, and many of them are irreplaceable. 

The aims of this Project are to inventory, image, rehouse, and relocate the archival and related collections materials. As part of this process, each item will be imaged; its documentation in our collections database, PastPerfect, will be updated to include new location and condition information, or a new entry will be created; it will be rehoused in an appropriate archival storage unit, and moved to new shelving.