Bound Volumes, Hometown History
October 30, 2025
110 YEARS AGO
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday evening, the trustees of the Oneonta Public Library were represented by Arthur M. Curtis, Alva Seybolt, and Andrew B. Saxton, who appeared before the chamber for the purpose of explaining certain conditions relative to the library which now exists, and to ask for the active cooperation of the chamber in securing a permanent location. The matter was first presented by Mr. Saxton, who briefly sketched the history of the library from 1888, when it had but 400 volumes and was open only a few hours weekly, to the present time, when it has over 13,800 books upon its shelves, circulates 30,000 volumes annually, has 4,000 borrowers, and is open practically every weekday in the year. In that time it has thrice outgrown its quarters from the high school building to the Doyle & Smith building, to the Theatre block. The trustees have recently obtained an option on the Getman property at 17 Ford Avenue, adjoining the W.E. Yager property at 19 Ford Avenue. The Getman property would afford reasonable quarters for the library for a considerable time.
October 1915
50 YEARS AGO
A federal program permitting Social Security checks to be sent directly to a recipient’s bank has prompted bankers to court elderly customers they previously ignored. The program began in July. With its implementation this month in the northeast, it is now in operation across the country. The enrollment rate is four months ahead of original estimates. The U.S. Treasury, the banks, and the American Association of Retired Persons all say they are pleased with the results. Seven percent of all Social Security recipients have signed up according to the Treasury Department. The program is designed to save taxpayer money and frustrate forgers and thieves who break into mail boxes at housing projects on the day Social Security checks are due. When the price of first-class postage reaches 13 cents, the cost of printing and mailing 33 million Social Security checks is estimated at $5.28 million. Treasury hopes to reduce these costs by transmitting payments to recipients’ banks electronically, with the individual’s accounts being credited with the deposits although no cash or checks changed hands.
October 1975
30 YEARS AGO
Ntozake Shange, playwright, actress, novelist, poet, performance artist and educator, will give a dramatic reading presentation on November 8, in the Hunt Union ballroom on the SUNY Oneonta campus. She is best known as the author of the hit 1976 Broadway play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.” Born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in St. Louis she took her name (pronounced en-TOE-sa-kee SHAN-gay) shortly after graduating from Barnard College. The name is Zulu for “She who has her own things/She who walks with lions.” Shange’s third novel “Lilianne: Resurrection of a Daughter” has established her as a major African-American writer.
October 1995
20 YEARS AGO
Former Otsego County Board of Representatives Chairman David Brenner of Oneonta has proposed an in-depth study of whether the county should establish a manager’s position. Brenner’s proposal went to the county’s Administration committee and the committee agreed to submit it to the full board at a budget workshop next week. Brenner proposes to study “at least six rural counties of Otsego’s size, general characteristics and structure by interviewing key decision-makers regarding county management.” Brenner, a former Mayor of Oneonta, said he would conduct the study without bias, looking for counties where administrators have encountered difficulties as well as where they are apparently thriving.
October 2005
