Huntington - Town Clerk Andrew P. Raia hosted the dedication of the Town of Huntington Jo-Ann Raia Records Center and Archives after its creator, Huntington’s longest-serving and award-winning Town Clerk, Jo-Ann Raia, at Huntington Town Hall on Wednesday, May 5.
Town Clerk Andrew P. Raia stated, “It was truly heartwarming to preside over the dedication of the Jo-Ann Raia Records Center and Archives. Throughout my entire life, I saw firsthand the passion and devotion my mother had as Huntington Town Clerk, and this dedication ceremony has truly cemented her legacy as one of the best Town Clerks to have ever served in New York State and the nation at-large.”
Former Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia stated, “I was overwhelmed by the kind remarks made about me by dignitaries who were in attendance. I was honored and humbled by the naming of the Jo-Ann Raia Records Center and Archives after me. Yesterday was an event I will always cherish and I thank everyone who was involved in making the event a success.”
Joining Town Clerk Andrew P. Raia representing the Town of Huntington at the event were Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci, Deputy Supervisor and Councilman Ed Smyth, Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, Councilwoman Joan Cergol, Superintendent of Highways Kevin S. Orelli and Receiver of Taxes Jillian Guthman.
New York State Assemblyman Keith Brown, Suffolk County Clerk Judith Pascale, and Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (also former Brookhaven Town Clerk) were in attendance, as well as former State Senator Carl L. Marcellino (also former Oyster Bay Town Clerk), and a representative from Assemblyman Steve Stern’s office.
Lorraine Hill-Campbell, Regional Advisory Officer for the New York State Archives Metro-Long Island Region, attended the ceremony along with Town Clerks from around Long Island, including North Hempstead Town Clerk Wayne H. Wink Jr., Oyster Bay Town Clerk Richard LaMarca, Smithtown Town Clerk Vincent Puleo, Southold Town Clerk Elizabeth Neville, and former Babylon Town Clerk Carol Quirk.
Representative from various organizations were represented at the dedication ceremony, including Joann Albano, Assistant Director of Commack Public Library, Ryan Athanas, Director of Harborfields Public Library, Teresa Schwind, Assistant Director of Huntington Public Library, James Olney, Director of Northport-East Northport Public Library, Deanne Rathke, Director and Tony Guarnaschelli, Treasurer of Greenlawn-Centerport Historical Association, Tracy Pfaff, Executive Director and Robert “Toby” Kissam, Treasurer of Huntington Historical Society, Teresa Reid, Collection Manager for Northport Historical Society, and Cynthia Shor, Executive Director of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association.
Guests gathered at Town Hall to pay tribute to Huntington’s longest-serving Town Clerk, Jo-Ann Raia, who served for 38 years, taking office in 1982 and retiring in 2019. Jo-Ann Raia is credited with developing a world-class records management program, including the creation of the Huntington Town Archives, considered the “gold standard” in records management to which other municipalities strive.
Elected officials in attendance joined former Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia, her daughter, Diane, and son and successor, Town Clerk Andrew P. Raia to unveil the plaque at the entrance to the Jo-Ann Raia Records Center and Archives in the lower level of Town Hall. Small groups of attendees were escorted to the Archives after the unveiling to view the plaque and visit the collection of records. The Town Clerk’s “Farming in Huntington” exhibit, located on all three floors of Town Hall, was available to escorted guests waiting to visit the Archives.
At its April 16, 2019 meeting, the Town Board renamed the Town Clerk’s Archives and Records Center the Jo-Ann Raia Records Center and Archives, after Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia. Jo-Ann Raia, Huntington’s longest-serving Town Clerk. The resolution to rename the archives and records center was proposed by Councilwoman Joan Cergol and was co-sponsored by Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci and Councilman Eugene Cook. The measure passed with unanimous support.
Situated in Town Hall, the Town of Huntington Jo-Ann Raia Records Management Program is a division of the Town Clerk’s Department and consists of the Records Center and the Archives. The Records Center was established in 1982, by Jo-Ann Raia, then-Huntington Town Clerk. It houses approximately 7,000 boxes of inactive Town records, 800 of which are destroyed every year following the standards given to local governments by the New York State Education Department Local Government Records Administration.
The Archives was established in 1993, again under the direction of Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia. It houses a total of 1,295.50 linear feet of permanent records. The manuscript collection consists of over 300 volumes and 45 linear feet of material dating back to 1653, the date the Town was founded. The collection includes Indian deeds and patents, chattel mortgages, thatch and underwater leases, highway, town accounts, assessment and tax records, documents pertaining to the Revolutionary Era and the Civil War, court records dealing with all aspects of life, vital statistics, records regarding elections, schools, the abolition of slavery, the poor, and town trustees. The mission of the repository is to identify, collect, preserve and organize resources essential to the Town’s legal, fiscal, administrative and historical needs. Dedicated to promoting local history and teaching through the use of historical documents, the Archives makes its holdings available to scholars, students, filmmakers, reporters, elected officials, business people and the community. It conducts research, issues publications, prepares exhibits and presentations, hosts tours and activities and participates in local history events.
In addition, the Archives is focused on improving access to the manuscripts through digitization. To that end, in 2015, the Town Clerk’s Archives staff initiated a digital project using the web-based software ContentDM. The goal was to offer public access worldwide to a wide range of our historical documents as a contribution to education and research. ContentDM is digital collection management software founded in the 1960s by the OCLC (online catalogue library consortium.) More than 2000 archival repositories, museums, libraries and cultural heritage organizations worldwide use ContentDM to make their collections available online globally to professional organizations, schools, and Ph.D. candidates.
Today, the Jo-Ann Raia Archives has been recognized nationally winning numerous awards. It is viewed as a model for other municipal archives to follow.
VIDEO: https://huntingtonny.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=4&clip_id=2502
In the photo: Former Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia and Town Clerk Andrew Raia with Jo-Ann Raia Records Center and Archives Plaque.
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