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Thousands of historic newspapers, including early editions of the Daily Freeman, are now preserved in a climate-controlled vault at the Ulster County Hall of Records in Kingston. These newspapers, dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, were rescued decades ago from disposal and have been carefully archived for future research.
The collection, consisting of 541 volumes, was saved thanks to the efforts of former Freeman photographer Bob Haines, local historian Eugene Dauner, and former Kingston Historian Edwin Ford. In the late 1960s, these materials were nearly lost after a microfilming project, but Haines and Dauner managed to save them by storing the newspapers in their basements for several decades.
In the late 1990s, the collection was transferred to the care of the Ulster County Historian. It was finally moved to the Ulster County Hall of Records in late 2023, where it underwent a thorough cataloging process. Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck emphasized the importance of preserving the original papers, stating that they provide an invaluable resource for historians and future digitization projects.
According to Daily Freeman, the collection includes other notable newspapers such as The Kingston Weekly Freeman, Kingston Journal, and Rondout Courier. Freeman Senior Editor Ivan Lajara praised the preservation effort, calling it "invaluable" for chronicling the history of Ulster County and the Mid-Hudson Valley.