ACUNY, NY

I wrote this article for a recent issue of Excelsior! the journal of the Empire State Postal History Society

Military/ACUNY, NY

From May 8 1917 through July 31, 1947, the post office in Plattsburg had a branch (“Military”) on the grounds of Fort Plattsburg. On August 1, 1947 the name of the branch was changed from “Military” to “ACUNY”. According to Smith and Kay, this branch existed until October 1, 1954.

The illustrated card shows a machine cancel from the last day of Military, N.Y. which was a station/branch of the Plattsburg, N.Y. post office. The next day the name of the branch was changed to ACUNY, a funny name for a post office.

Here’s the story:

When World War II ended, millions of former servicemen returned home to an uncertain future. New York State’s educational response was to establish the Associated Colleges of Upper New York (ACUNY) since the State Education Department did not feel that the existing private and public colleges in New York State could handle the estimated 100,000 veterans who would be seeking college level education.

On May 17, 1946, the Board of Regents chartered ACUNY with the goal of providing the first two years of college education for any qualified veteran who was rejected from one of the state’s four year colleges because of “insufficient housing, overcrowded classrooms and lack of instructional staff”.

Initially 3 ACUNY school were established: Sampson College near Geneva (but in Seneca County) on the site of the US Naval Training Center, Mohawk College, the former Rhoads Hospital, Utica (Oneida County) and Champlain College in Plattsburgh (Clinton County). The three schools began operation in late 1946. In 1947, the Middletown Collegiate Center opened in Orange County. Both Mohawk and Sampson has postal branches on their campuses as well.

The schools were just a short term solution to an emergency situation and by the end of the 1940s, both Mohawk and Sampson had closed. Champlain College became the first liberal arts college in the SUNY system, but in 1953 it graduated its last class. In that year it was absorbed by Harpur College, which today is one of the six colleges of Binghamton University.

My area of interest is Clinton County. Plattsburgh had a large military presence since before the War of 1812 until 1995 when the Plattsburgh Air Force Base closed under the post-Cold War Base Realignment initiatives. As a matter of fact, the PAFB was the last base considered by the original Realignment committee. PAFB was active from 1954 through 1995. Champlain College was one of the casualties due to the building of PAFB because it was situated on the former home of the Plattsburg Barracks which the Air Force reclaimed under a “recapture clause” to build PAFB.

So now you know the rest of the story: ACUNY was actually the branch post office at Champlain College in Plattsburg, N.Y.