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Library

Dominic Merante

June 27, 2025

|

Hudson, NY

Song

Recorded by

Megan Voeller

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Summary:

This interview was conducted with Dominic Merante at his office at the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley, where Merante isa program coordinator, on June 27, 2025. Merante grew up in the City of Hudson as one of seven siblings and his early life was shaped by a strong sense of community centered on his father’s grocery store at Third and Columbia Streets, known as the IGA store and Tony’s Superette at different times. In the interview, Merante recounts his journey through a decades-long career of public service, from youth soccer coaching to becoming executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Hudson (now the City-run Hudson Youth Center) during the1990s. In 2018, Merante was elected to the City’s Common Council as a 5th Ward council member and currently serves as Minority Leader. Some subjects that come up in this interview include: cross-generational mentorship, father-son relationships, the Americans with Disabilities Act and its application to City services and infrastructure, Coarc, local nonprofits, social and cultural changes in Hudson from the 1960s to 2020s.

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Themes:
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Interviewer Bio:
Megan Voeller
Additional Info:
Interview language(s):
English
,
Audio quality:
high

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Permissions: 

This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please click here to inquire about permissions.

Part of this interview may be played in a radio broadcast or podcast.

Oral history is an iterative process. In keeping with oral history values of anti-fixity, interviewees will have an opportunity to add, annotate and reflect upon their lives and interviews in perpetuity. Talking back to the archive is a form of “shared authority.”

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