Saturday, October 10, 2026
The Valley Stream Historical Society has completed a six-week project to reorganize its archives and digitize selected materials from its collection.
In August, the society engaged Robert Anen, project archivist with the Long Island Library Resources Council, to conduct the work at its headquarters, the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration on Hendrickson Avenue.
The circa-1880s landmarked building was once home to the Pagan, Fletcher and Fairchild families and has been owned by the Village of Valley Stream since 1977. Anen, who grew up in Valley Stream, earned a master’s degree in moving image archiving and preservation from New York University’s Martin Scorsese Institute of Global Cinematic Arts in 2017.
LILRC is a nonprofit regional library organization serving academic institutions, hospitals, schools, public library systems, museums and historical societies throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. Its mission includes improving access to information, encouraging resource sharing, promoting innovation and advocating for libraries and cultural institutions.
The project marked Anen’s seventh partnership with LILRC’s Accessing Archives Program this year. The program gives participating organizations an opportunity to improve access to their archival collections through projects that generally can be completed within six weeks.
LILRC members, including the Valley Stream Historical Society, can apply to the program by proposing projects that meet its criteria. The society’s application was accepted with the assistance of its archivist, Joseph Coen, a recently retired archivist for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. Work began in mid-August.
Anen’s assignment had two components: conducting a comprehensive folder-level inventory and reorganization of the society’s archives and digitizing selected portions of the collection. The folder-level inventory gives the society greater control over its collections and represents the first comprehensive archival project of its kind undertaken by the society.
The first part of the project focused on reorganizing the society’s collections. Anen sorted and catalogued photographs, newspapers, albums, event programs, scrapbooks, videos, audio recordings, matchbooks and other materials accumulated by the society since it moved to the Restoration in 1992.
Anen said the assistance he received throughout the project was important to its success.
“Without the help of Village of Valley Stream Historian Carol McKenna and Joe Coen, this project would not have gone as smoothly as it did,” Anen said.
Nicole Menchise, LILRC’s digitization and archives coordinator, also participated in the project.
“Nicole joined Carol and me every week to help guide the project and inventory the textiles found in the Archives Room and other areas of the Restoration,” Anen said.
After the physical inventory was completed, additional shelving and archival-quality boxes were purchased. Anen labeled the boxes in the Archives Room and organized the materials into a cohesive structure.
He also developed a folder-level inventory, which he described as a dynamic, “living” document that will continue to evolve as archival materials are added.
The second part of the project focused on digitization. Anen digitized a selection of materials from the collections he organized. Those materials were subsequently made available through the New York Heritage Digital Collections, a collaborative partner of LILRC and the society.
Although Anen’s assignment at the Restoration has ended, his involvement with the society will continue.
“I plan to stick around as both a member and a resource to the historical society — there is a lot more to accomplish — digitizing the massive oral history collection, for one,” Anen said.
The project is expected to provide the society with a foundation for future digitization efforts while making more of its historical materials accessible to the public.
The society encourages residents to join if they have not already done so. Membership and participation help the organization preserve and share Valley Stream’s history for future generations.
