Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association, Inc. records

Collection

Identifier: ARL-011

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The records of the Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association, Inc. consist of business documents, correspondence, financial records, and audio-visual materials from the 1970s to the early 1990s. As a non-profit film production company, much energy was spent on financing projects and promotion. Business records include founding documents, budgets, outlines, scripts, and marketing materials. Correspondence includes routine communications regarding screenings, funding, and promotion. Financial records contain invoices, receipts, statements, and other materials showing the ongoing struggle of financing projects. Audio-visual materials include 16 mm film reels, broadcast media formats and audio tape for the film, The Adirondack: The Land Nobody Knows (1980).

Dates

Creation: 1964 - 1991

Creator

Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Historical Note

The Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association, Inc. evolved in 1974 from the Adirondack Hudson River Association, the group that led the state-wide battle to ban the Gooley Dam from being built on the upper Hudson River. Realizing the need to inform the public as to the value of New York State's wild lands, forests, and waters, the Association was incorporated in 1976 to produce educational materials about the Adirondacks with Paul Schaefer as its Executive Director. Schaefer had successfully used visual images to help educate people about the natural environment and issues endangering the Adirondacks in earlier conservation campaigns. The Association was a small, non-profit organization of volunteers. It produced 16mm motion picture films which were later transferred to various broadcast and home-video formats. After the success of their film, The Adirondack: The Land Nobody Knows, the Association began to set-up slide presentations and other forms of outreach. Senior members of the Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association, Inc. included Walter O. Haas, Thomas L. Cobb, Richard E. Weber, Jr., Ann Wait, Noel Reidinger-Johnson, Edwin J. Niedhammer, Jr., M. Lee Hunt, and Kay Steven. The organization was dissolved on May 14, 1991 and all property and rights transferred to the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.

Extent

5 Boxes

9 Reels

2.75 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The records of Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association, Inc. measure 2.75 cubic feet and date from 1964-1991. The collection includes correspondence, finances, audio-visual materials, and other records of the Association relating to its production of films about the Adirondacks.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged as four series. Materials are arranged alphabetically with the exception of correspondence which is chronological.

Series 1, Business Records, 1972-1991.

Series 2, Correspondence, 1973-1987.

Series 3, Financial Records, 1964-1991.

Series 4, Audiovisual, 1976-1980.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

On April 22, 2011, Protect the Adirondacks! placed the collection on permanent loan with Union College.

Related Materials

The Adirondack Research Library also holds a collection of audio-visual materials produced by the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks containing documentary films and events.