Current Projects

Digitization of Village of Head of the Harbor Archives

The digitization of the Village Archives is a major initiative by Preservation Head of the Harbor to preserve the community’s historical records and make them publicly accessible, specifically to family researchers. While the Village of Head of the Harbor itself dates back to 1928, some materials in the Archives, collected by former Village Historian Barbara Ferris Van Liew, are much older. The project is being conducted in partnership with the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society’s (NYG&B) “Digitize New York” program in Manhattan.

To facilitate this project, Preservation Head of the Harbor has secured legal custodianship of the collection, and to prepare for the move to NYG&B, the committee has been holding dedicated work sessions to physically inventory and organize the collection. This preparation involves several tasks:

  • Identifying unique, original documents that cannot be found elsewhere and would be relevant to
    researchers.
  • Drafting categories, labeling fragile photographs, and ensuring items are grouped in the correct order.
  • Developing a system to easily merge all materials back together after they return from the digitization
    center.
  • Creating an index.

Current Status and Timeline:

In January of 2026, the application for the NYG&B “Digitize New York” program was formally approved by the committee and submitted to NYG&B, who in turn accepted the organization’s application. However, the physical inventory and boxing process has been temporarily suspended so the committee can focus its efforts on the “Three Sisters” summer 2026 exhibit. This delay aligns well with NYG&B’s availability. NYG&B coordinator Anna Gardner informed the committee that the NYC Digitization Center is fully booked and will not be available to take the Head of the Harbor archives until early 2027. The committee plans to resume their inventorying work in the fall of 2026 so the collection is ready to be transported to Manhattan by the time the digitization center opens up.