To paraphrase someone, it takes a village to preserve a village. It is not the job of just one person, to be the responsibility of everyone in the community to help save our past for future generations. If we only depend on one person, whether it be the Borough Historian or anyone else, we will lose too much of our precious past. Preserving and sharing our history is a job for everyone. As older Staten Islanders pass on, a lot of our history is passing on with them and we want to preserve their memories and make them available to as many other people as possible.

We are calling on everyone to get involved in helping to save pictures, documents and stories of days gone by.

There are several ways for you to help:

1.     You can look through your attics and basements for pictures, postcards, documents or other interesting artifacts of our past. While personal photographs are valuable to family members, we are more interested in pictures that show our island before it became to home for so many people. Donate them to us, along with a brief description and we will make them available to everyone on this site. Eventually, they will be given to one of the historical organizations on the Island to be archived.

2.     We are going to undertake a project to collect oral histories. These are stories and information about our Island that is not necessarily documented anywhere else. Older Staten Islanders will be interviewed and their stories documented. These stories will be made available to everyone first here and then published in book form for everyone to own.

3.     Volunteers will be needed to assist in collecting and cataloging historical information. You don’t need previous experience; all you need is the love of history. We will provide all the training you will need. Simply e-mail us with your name and contact information (phone number and e-mail address) using the Contact Us link at the top of this web site. All personal information will be kept confidential.