The Upper Delaware Council will host a public presentation on the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River Oral History Project on Thursday, September 5, at 7:00 p.m. at the Upper Delaware Council office, 211 Bridge St., Narrowsburg, NY..

The program will also be available via Zoom. To participate remotely, contact UDC Administrative Support Stephanie Driscoll at (845) 252-3022 or stephanie@upperdelawarecouncil.org.

Co-presenters will be Alejandro Garcia-Maldonado, Cultural Resource Specialist at the National Park Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, and Avery Ohliger, Intern, Cultural Resource Management Program Assistant.

The Upper Delaware’s oral history collection spans more than 40 years of regional and river history, as narrated by local residents and former park unit employees.

The archival program was conceived in 1983 when former Cultural Resources Specialist Mary Curtis proposed capturing stories to preserve the river valley’s cultural history.

The NPS received funding for staff to begin collecting interviews in 1986.  Among the first topics covered were Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct, Zane Grey, and the Erie Railroad.

The scope then expanded to focus on places, activities, and artifacts in the river valley.

The status of these 150+ recorded interviews, transcriptions, and publication plans to make the tapes available for educational and research purposes will be shared.

“Alex” Garcia-Maldonado, whose Upper Delaware tenure began on May 13, 2022, serves as manager of the Cultural Resource Management Program, curator of the Zane Grey Museum, an interdisciplinary historian, and tribal relations coordinator.

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Edgewater, NJ, Garcia-Maldonado earned a 2015 B.A. degree in Multidisciplinary Studies (History, Humanities, and Fine Art-Music), a 2017 B.A. in Anthropology, and a 2019 M.A. in History from the University of Texas as El Paso, where he began his Ph.D. studies in 2020 and was working as a History Instructor before his Upper Delaware move.

Prior NPS experience had included cultural resource assignments at the Chamizal National Memorial Park in El Paso and NPS Washington, D.C. headquarters.

Avery Ohliger began interning with NPS Upper Delaware two years ago through the Wayne/Pike Workforce Alliance program. The Honesdale High School 2024 graduate is the son of Lisa Macchia-Ohliger and Jason Ohliger.

His primary responsibilities have been transcribing and converting the oral histories to a web-accessible format, along with doing research and assisting with other cultural resource tasks.

Ohliger just entered his freshman year at Tufts University, with plans to double-major in History and Political Science. He aspires to work in archival preservation or to become a professor of American history or politics.

Click Here for the complete meeting announcement.

The UDC’s monthly business meeting to immediately follow the presentation will include status reports from the Delaware River Basin Commission, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, National Park Service, and the UDC Executive Director; discussion of old and new business; and public comment.

All UDC meetings are open to the public.

Visit the Upper Delaware Council website for more information on programs, initiatives, upcoming events and how you can get involved.

(Photo: Alejandro Garcia-Maldonado, Cultural Resource Specialist at the National Park Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, and Avery Ohliger, Intern, Cultural Resource Management Program Assistant.)

[Posted: August 23, 2024]

8/26/2024