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Dear Friends,
It is with a heavy heart I'm saddened to announce, our beloved Webmaster/ Board Member, Dan Socha, passed away on December 29, 2020. He leaves behind his dear wife and two adult children. Dan was a man who thoroughly enjoyed learning and never shied away from technically challenging things. He was a quiet and modest leader whose legacy at Dartmouth Historical & Arts Society, will never be forgotten. Those of us who worked closely with Dan over the last several years are dedicated to preserving, sustaining, and growing that heritage and the wonderful website Dan conceived, designed, built, and maintained: DartmouthHAS.org. We have renamed the digital library on our website the Dan Socha Memorial Digital Library, as a tribute to his enduring legacy at Dartmouth. DHAS, and all the people interested in Dartmouth’s history and genealogy, know that Dan performed many additional critical functions within the society.
(1) He was the project manager and gatekeeper for our ambitious “Quaker Records Project,” where over 6,000 pages of original records from the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting, which began in 1699, are being preserved, transcribed, and published.
(2) He managed our Facebook and Mail Chimp operations, which comprise important elements of our visibility to the world of members and friends and the wider world of Dartmouth history enthusiasts.
(3) Dan was our technical leader, and, in this role took care of organizing, setting up, and hosting all of our Zoom meetings, which was so critical during this long pandemic.
(4) When the world was normal and we had gatherings and presentations at the Russells Mills Schoolhouse, it was our practice to videotape, edit, preserve and broadcast the programs utilizing DCM- (Dartmouth Community Media) equipment and facilities; Dan managed all of this for us.
(5) Over the years DHAS has recorded many programs and most of them have been made available to the public through links on our website and YouTube channel, which Dan also managed.
(6) In addition, much of what we do requires digitally scanning original documents and other historical items; Dan designed and built a clever system for efficiently and effectively processing these important papers.
To properly memorialize Dan our plan is to continue his wonderful work by increasing the visibility of his projects and creations at the society via the expanded use and advocacy of our web page (DartmouthHAS.org), Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DartmouthHistoricalandArtsSociety/), and Mail Chimp mailing list. Likewise, we will collect and post a compendium of photos, written memories, and tributes to Dan from the myriad of admirers who have benefited over the years from his creative and productive contributions.
Most of all, by girding ourselves for learning new skills, we as a membership body will accept the responsibilities Dan so comfortably carried for our dear DHAS and continue to advance and build on them.
Respectfully,
Bob Harding
It is with a heavy heart I'm saddened to announce, our beloved Webmaster/ Board Member, Dan Socha, passed away on December 29, 2020. He leaves behind his dear wife and two adult children. Dan was a man who thoroughly enjoyed learning and never shied away from technically challenging things. He was a quiet and modest leader whose legacy at Dartmouth Historical & Arts Society, will never be forgotten. Those of us who worked closely with Dan over the last several years are dedicated to preserving, sustaining, and growing that heritage and the wonderful website Dan conceived, designed, built, and maintained: DartmouthHAS.org. We have renamed the digital library on our website the Dan Socha Memorial Digital Library, as a tribute to his enduring legacy at Dartmouth. DHAS, and all the people interested in Dartmouth’s history and genealogy, know that Dan performed many additional critical functions within the society.
(1) He was the project manager and gatekeeper for our ambitious “Quaker Records Project,” where over 6,000 pages of original records from the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting, which began in 1699, are being preserved, transcribed, and published.
(2) He managed our Facebook and Mail Chimp operations, which comprise important elements of our visibility to the world of members and friends and the wider world of Dartmouth history enthusiasts.
(3) Dan was our technical leader, and, in this role took care of organizing, setting up, and hosting all of our Zoom meetings, which was so critical during this long pandemic.
(4) When the world was normal and we had gatherings and presentations at the Russells Mills Schoolhouse, it was our practice to videotape, edit, preserve and broadcast the programs utilizing DCM- (Dartmouth Community Media) equipment and facilities; Dan managed all of this for us.
(5) Over the years DHAS has recorded many programs and most of them have been made available to the public through links on our website and YouTube channel, which Dan also managed.
(6) In addition, much of what we do requires digitally scanning original documents and other historical items; Dan designed and built a clever system for efficiently and effectively processing these important papers.
To properly memorialize Dan our plan is to continue his wonderful work by increasing the visibility of his projects and creations at the society via the expanded use and advocacy of our web page (DartmouthHAS.org), Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DartmouthHistoricalandArtsSociety/), and Mail Chimp mailing list. Likewise, we will collect and post a compendium of photos, written memories, and tributes to Dan from the myriad of admirers who have benefited over the years from his creative and productive contributions.
Most of all, by girding ourselves for learning new skills, we as a membership body will accept the responsibilities Dan so comfortably carried for our dear DHAS and continue to advance and build on them.
Respectfully,
Bob Harding
Video of event is linked here.
