Roots of a Collector
Much of my work as a historian focuses on researching and sharing stories of the hearts and hands that shaped our communities. However, such a vision would not have been obtainable without my initial, and continued, interests as a collector. Apart from my “well-known” fields of collecting such as milk bottles and railroad artifacts from Orange County, NY as well as relics of the Catskills Borscht Belt, my interests of old, unusual, and sometimes forgotten pieces of our past has long fueled my work. From model trains to antique books, transistor radios, and even typewriters, collecting has defined much of my life though its purpose for me has evolved with time. As a young collector, I was fascinated by the objects themselves but often neglected to look deeper into their past. My first glimpse at this crucial link between a tangible object and its lucid history came in 2012 when I, along with the Woodbury Historical Society, helped to coordinate an event called “50 Items That Tell the Story of Woodbury.” Inspired by an article in The New York Times titled “50 Items That Tell the Story of New York,” the exhibition included fifty different items from the collection of the historical society that described the town’s past and welcomed the community to crowdsource artifacts from outside participants who wished to share different stories from our local history. Some of these “antiques” were collectible, like bottles, while others were somewhat pedestrian such as old receipts and pens with advertisements. One that I remember quite well was a detailed history of a local dairy farm complete with pictures and even included one embossed milk bottle. Each, however, told a different part of Woodbury’s history by establishing this vital link between the object itself and its past. More than ten years later, and now serving as president of that very same organization, the “50 Items” theme continues as well as invites other groups to contribute relics of their communal past that tell stories. Even with this transformation, the goal of these events continues to rest on the same principle: how history is interpreted by the material culture of those who preceded us.
The Stories Behind Objects
“50 Items That Tell the Story of Woodbury” taught me one of the most important lessons in my development as a historian: to look beyond an object and learn more about its stories. This transition from a collector to a historian is best illustrated when, in 2016, I debuted my lecture “Orange County’s Dairies and Their Milk Bottles.” Unlike past lectures, which generally had a PowerPoint program with some artifacts on display, the “visual aid” was (at the time) my entire collection of approximately two hundred local milk bottles. Presented before the Hudson Valley Bottle Club, the lecture was very well received given that the audience largely consisted of bottle collectors. However, as the program grew more popular among those with no intimate background knowledge concerning the bottles themselves, I understood that it was necessary to look beyond the bottles and research the history of Orange County’s dairy farms. That extra reach was well worth the effort; apart from transforming that particular program into one that was far more fascinating and approachable to all, I became hooked on Orange County’s history with milk—a place where the precious cargo was first transported by rail in 1842 and, by 1900, was populated by more than 2,900 dairy farms. Much as the “50 Items” event revealed to me, early lectures in my experience such as “Orange County’s Dairies and Their Milk Bottles” showed how the artifact only held half the story. Combining that artifact with diligent research not only made the overall story more enticing but directly led to my career’s transformation
From Collector to Historian
By delving beyond the tangible object, I discovered my voice as an author and lecturer for sharing history that could not be accomplished through collecting alone. Since my first lecture in 2013, I have developed more than twenty programs on various topics of local history (which can be seen in detail on my lectures page), and present approximately 170 times annually along with my popular cello shows. As an author, my knowledge of the local dairy industry was first published in 2020 by Marist College’s peer-reviewed Hudson River Valley Review journal though, over the next two years, I successfully published eight articles in total including a second article on the Ellenville Glass Works in the Hudson River Valley Review and a publication on the Gomez Mill House of Marlboro, NY in the New York Archives Magazine (please read more about my publications on my OFF THE PRESS page). Throughout this evolution, I have stayed true to my roots as a collector and welcome sharing the extensive knowledge I have gathered. Nearly all of my publications and/or lectures directly involve items that I have preserved and, currently, I steward six collections focusing on the rich history of Orange County, NY and the Hudson Valley:
Richard L. Benjamin Archive of Borscht Belt Tourism History
Walter C. Stanfield Collection of Local History
Marvin H. Cohen Library of American Railroad History
William S. Johnson Collection of Orange County, New York Dairy Farming History
Orange County Milk Bottle Museum
Edward J. Crist Collection of Orange County Railroad History
Each of these collections welcomes inquiries from those wishing to study our region’s past and it is my hope that they can offer both insight and research-based assistance. In addition to these collections, I maintain a strong network with historical societies and museums around Orange County as well as the Hudson Valley through my roles as president of the Woodbury Historical Society and Town Historian of Woodbury, NY. If you have an inquiry that I am unable to answer, I will do my best to direct you to one of the region’s knowledgeable historians. For more information on my involvement in the field of history, please view My Studies.
In my capacity as a historian for both my own collections and regional organizations, developing exciting and enticing displays for large audiences continues to be a focal strategy. In coordination with a strong team, the intricate use of 3-D augmented exhibit labels and ingenious methods of displaying artifacts has long been a staple of the work where I am involved.
Railroads of Orange County, NY:
Antique Bottles from Orange County, NY:
The Borscht Belt: Its Artifacts, Ephemera, and Memorabilia:
In addition to these groups, my work can be found on social media through these avenues:
Hello. I'm Alex. 