With a busy week behind me, I decided to go check out the archives over the weekend. Unfortunately, the archivist does not work on the weekends and I could not be granted access to them unless she was in her office. On Monday, I decided to wake up early and try again. The student at the front desk of Milne Library asked her supervisor if he could bring me to the archives but he informed me that only Liz Argentieri could do that. The Special Collections Librarian, as her business card reads, asked me to distinguish which archive I was interested in (Geneseo college or Geneseo town archive). She unlocked the sliding doors behind the “fishbowl,” as Geneseo students call it, into a sunlit room with 4 rows of shelving full of documents (books, magazine, and documents in boxes).

I told her I was taking a class on intentional communities and that I would like to find any documentation about the Genesee Valley Cooperative. I did mention, however, that the organization is fairly new (only four years old to be exact). Argentieri told me my first step should be to search on the Livingston County News website and see what my options look like. From there, she also mentioned just a general search for the group. Argentieri was very helpful, but she told me she did not have much time to talk because a new intern would be arriving soon. I thanked her, and she let me walk around the archive by myself to peruse.

What strikes me as an important observation about this experience is the idea that there is a keeper of the archives. The documents are respected and cared for very well — they document the social, economic, and political history of this little town. If documents go missing, there are inevitable gaps formed in this history. When seen fit, there are displays created using documents and artifacts relating to a particular, focused topic. For instance, Geneseo or Big Tree, has a deep Native American history. Although there seemed to be many books in the archive dealing with this aspect of Geneseo, I stumbled across a blog of a Geneseo Native American studies professor who writes, “It happens all the time. We are curious. We ask questions and, sometimes, despite our best efforts, we cannot find an answer.” Sometimes, more information needs to become available. I hope that all of our projects, not just my own, open doors for other people who want, simply, to know more.

One of the first shelves I looked at was filled with books about the Shakers. Actually, quite a lot of books about one form of intentional community, and I’m especially curious why (I had never heard of a Shaker community in the Geneseo area). A quick Google search led me to a website called “The Freethought Trail” which details a short-lived Shaker community between Rochester and Syracuse called the Sodus Bay Phalanx. I’m not sure of the distance requirement for archives (what’s allowed in there and what belongs to other counties/municipalities) but either way, it was reassuring to see a familiar name.

Although I have not been able to find more documentation for the co-op, I plan on using their Facebook group as a source for more information. I will also be eating there on Wednesday night so I can ask them directly. Before I give up on the archive, I will be making an appointment with Argentieri and trying to focus the project as much as possible. Perhaps Geneseo has a history of cooperative living that I don’t even know about, or maybe legal documents that discuss the concept and the town’s reactions. Either way, there’s much more in that archive than meets the eye and I’m excited to find out where it leads me. – Dana