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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVOCH Historian 2016 Annual Report.pdf1 EXHIBIT 2017-099 page 1 of 2 2016 Annual Report Beatrice Szekely, Village of Cayuga Heights Historian Here in bullet format are highlights of a busy year shared by village historian Beatrice Szekely and deputy historian Patricia Longoria with Randi Kepecs and Carole Schiffman, village preservationists:  Use by the historians of space at Marcham Hall (the village municipal building): A table and four chairs were purchased for the jury room where the historians hold meetings and where significant village history records are stored. Steel map cases were donated by HOLT Architects of Ithaca, transported and set up in the jury room by members of the Cayuga Heights Department of Public Works.  Records Management: An initiative has been launched by Pat Longoria to scan and digitize village maps and plans; originals of significant historic value will be stored in the jury room map cases. 218 historic maps, infrastructure plans, and building permits located in the attic of Marcham Hall have been digitized to date. Carole Schiffman, Randi Kepecs and Bard College student intern Owen Hartmann contributed to this effort (using the scanner in the Tompkins County Clerk’s office and Cornell’s map room courtesy of Bob Kibbee, former university map librarian). With village department heads--Clerk Joan Mangione, Superintendent of Public Works Brent Cross, and Police Chief Jim Steinmetz, we are considering applying for a New York State Archives grant to create additional historical records storage space in the basement and/or attic of Marcham Hall. Clerk Mangione, who serves as records management officer of the village, has recently drafted a records management policy for the Mayor and Board of Trustees within which the historians will likely be named to a records management board.  The Cayuga Heights History Project website (www.CayugaHeightsHistory.weebly.com): Created initially by Randi Kepecs and Carole Schiffman, Pat Longoria is maintaining the site and taking it forward with them. Kepecs, who has a special interest in architecture, does a great deal of work researching and entering historical information about individual houses in the database underlying the site. Schiffman gave a presentation on the site at the annual conference of the Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS) in September with particular attention paid to the interactive map identifying over 950 properties in the village. The presentation was very well received.  Research and Writing: o Szekely wrote three pieces for the Cayuga Heights History Project website (www.cayugaheightshistory.weebly.com), one describing legal papers at the village hall relating to the history of village roads; one about the first village engineer Carl Crandall, and a third about the early history of zoning in Cayuga Heights published first in the December 2016 village newsletter. She is doing archival research on the history of the village from 1900 to 1940 using original documents at Marcham Hall, online records scanned by the county to Laserfiche, the John Marcham Library at The History Center in Tompkins County and the Rare and Manuscripts Collection of the Cornell University Library. o Longoria carried out many house history research projects often at the request of current or former residents; the results are reflected on The History Project website, for example the Tuttle apartment on Cayuga Heights Road (http://www.cayugaheightshistory.org/107-cayuga-heights-rd.html) and the Catherwood home on Highgate Road (http://www.cayugaheightshistory.org/304-highgate-rd.html). She researched the earliest deeds to Military Lot 90 within the village with Randi Kepecs; Gail Cashen, who is one of three village house historians; and Lynn Thommen, researcher at Historic Ithaca and Cornell Heights resident.  Oral History: Interviews this year have included one conducted by Szekely conducted with John H. Rogers, successor to Carl Crandall as village engineer from the 1960s to 1990s. 2 EXHIBIT 2017-099 page 2 of 2  Collaborative Efforts with local municipal historians: Szekely, Longoria, Schiffman and Kepecs attended the meetings of municipal historians convened by Tompkins County historian Carol Kammen. This year they contributed to initial planning for the Town of Ithaca brochure that is part of the series occasioned by the 2017 county bicentennial. o Under the auspices of the Office of the County Historian with the participation of Tompkins County municipal historians, Longoria is leading a project to revise the book Place Names in Tompkins County (edited by county historian Carol Kammen in 2004) under the title Names on the Land – Tompkins County (https://tcnames.wordpress.com). She is also contributing to The History Forge on-line mapping project coordinated by former Cornell map librarian Bob Kibbee, who is currently a trustee of The History Center: (http://historyforge.gorgesapps.us/about).  Collaboration with Historic Ithaca: Szekely, Longoria and Kepecs participated as docents in the summer 2016 old house tour in Trumansburg, New York.  Facebook: Pat Longoria is curating a Cayuga Heights History Project Facebook page with frequent posts that feature the lives of former residents and their homes, as well as links to other local history events in our area: https://www.facebook.com/cayugaheightshistory/?fref=ts.  Other Public Engagement: Two years after the launch of the Cayuga Heights History Project website we are pleased to be able to report a steady stream of interaction with individuals responding to the site. Here in the village we reach out by talking informally to friends and neighbors who are able to contribute information about the history of their houses. We are particularly pleased when we hear from previous residents, some now living far away. One example is a lovely poem received by email from a woman living in Wales accompanied by prose memories of growing up near Savage Farm before it became the site of Kendal at Ithaca. Another is a query about a house at 419 Cayuga Heights Road that Pat Longoria was able to answer with information from the county assessor’s office, municipal maps and property deeds retrieved from the database that underlies the History Project interactive map.  Outreach in Schools: Pat Longoria presented “People and Places” to three 4th grade Cayuga Heights Elementary School classrooms featuring the lives of 19th century villagers including farm girl Carrie Manning using the website as a pedagogical tool. She mentored an Ithaca high school student who wrote up her own house history and researched the lives of two women who lived here and taught at Cornell.  Recognition: In the summer the Cayuga Heights History Project received an award of merit from Historic Ithaca (http://www.historicithaca.org/2016/12/13/2017-preservation-awards-nominations/) and a leadership award from the American Association for State and Local History (http://about.aaslh.org/2016-leadership-in- history-award-winners/). Both awards have been announced in the Cayuga Heights village newsletter.  Thank you: Shortly after the start of the new year we are to receive one of several awards that will be presented by The History Center in Tompkins County on January 29, 2017 at their second annual awards ceremony to be held at Marcham Hall. We look forward to the opportunity to thank the colleagues in local history and historic preservation who make our work possible. We are continually grateful for the input and support received from Mayor Linda Woodard, the Cayuga Heights Board of Trustees and the entire village staff.