GOHS builds oral history of the city in ‘Remembering Oneonta’ exhibition

Growing up in Cooperstown in the 1960s and 70s meant looking forward to a drive down to Oneonta, shopping at Bresee’s, Woolworth’s, Barker’s, Jamesway, and others – made special by the fact that Main Street stores stayed open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Surely it was the same for others in the era, be they Oneonta residents or visitors from nearby villages – and it’s an era coming back to life through a summer-long exhibit open to the public at the Greater Oneonta Historical Society’s 183 Main Street headquarters.

“History is all around us here,” said Dr. Marcela Micucci, the Oneonta native appointed to become GOHS’s new director in February 2021. She made the comment after we had chatted briefly about the Woolworth’s door handles still remaining on the long-gone discount store’s front doors a few steps away at 203 Main Street.

“I just saw noticed those again on one of our guided walking tours around Oneonta,” she said. “When I was growing up here I can’t tell you how many times I used to go into ‘Building 203’ and never really noticed that detail. It’s just another example of how we live in this amazing historical space.”

Our discussion of all things Oneonta stemmed from a look at the Society’s Remembering Oneonta in the 1960s exhibition – a photographic and burgeoning oral history of the city during a decade of growth and transition. A photo display sparks memories of front-window displays and Bresee’s, students moving books to the new library at SUCO, buildings long gone or transformed, a city in transition.

“When we were envisioning what the 1960s exhibit could be, we wanted to do something different,” Dr. Micucci said. “Instead of writing a script, we could make the crux of the exhibition these oral history interviews, and they would become the script. Then it became a lot like our walking tours – kind of a nostalgic walk through Oneonta in the 1960s.”

“That’s why we decided to name it ‘Remembering Oneonta in the 1960s,’” she continued. “This decade is one of momentous change nationally, but also locally, and it has been really fascinating to meet Oneontans and talk with them about their experiences – not only living in Oneonta, but also how they were understanding and assimilating all the changes happening nationally in the 1960s.”

She’s collected a half-dozen interviews already – available for listening on the iPads at the exhibit – and plans to add many more throughout the summer.

“We’ll find local residents willing to be interviewed,” she said. “They come in and talk about their experiences, their most vivid memories, the places they used to go and what they used to do. For me as a historian it has just been incredible. I get to sit and listen to these fantastic stories.”

The photos serve as the jumping-off point for people going in to reminisce.

“The images on the walls are just a nod to some of the things we’ve heard in the interviews, and also to the changes that took place in Oneonta in the 1960s,” Dr. Micucci said, then listed several transformative events from the decade. “The new high school, urban renewal, what people were doing on Broad Street. We have in the interviews a lot of people who were teenagers in the 60s – they remember going down to the YMCA on Broad Street, or Mosca’s Pizza, or going to Woolworth’s on a Thursday night. High school sports with the Iroquois League – that’s like Division I sports today.”

“Collecting an oral history of this magnificent city, that’s the intention,” she said, noting that GOHS welcomes interviews with anyone who was in Oneonta in the 1960s.

The Society’s permanent exhibit launched anew in mid-May of this year after a nearly five-month renovation to the building that included protecting its historic tile floor by carefully covering it with hardwood laminate. Visitors can still see the detailed flooring through a sturdy Plexiglas window – adding a special historic accent to the exhibit space.

Dr. Micucci is an eager and knowledgeable tour guide with a special love for the city’s history.

“Obviously I’m a nerd,” she says as we walk through the welcoming space. “We thought it was important to show all of Oneonta’s history and expanded from just one wall in the building to this chronological walk from the landscape in transition and early Native American history all the way to the George Floyd protests.”

Starting with the title wall – “Small Community, Big Ideas, Greater Oneonta” – the GOHS space takes the visitor on an informative tour through the city’s railroad past, its days as the home of what has become the New York State Fair, urban renewal, downtown growth, and the infamous ‘Black List’ from 1992 that left scars throughout Oneonta. The permanent exhibit focuses, too, on the people and stories behind Oneonta’s past, present, and future. Along with a kids’ corner filled with activities, GOHS offers a tidy selection of society-branded gifts and collectibles sure to delight Oneontans at home and far away.

The GOHS History Center is located at 183 Main Street in Oneonta, and is open to the public Tuesdays through Fridays from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is free with donations appreciated. Find out more about the permanent exhibit, the GOHS walking tours, the ‘Remembering Oneonta in the 1960s’ opportunity and more at oneontahistory.org, and plan your visit today!