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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVOCH Historian 2015 Annual Report.pdf2015 Annual Report Beatrice Szekely, Village of Cayuga Heights Historian The highlight of 2015 was the year-long Cayuga Heights Centennial Celebration, marking the incorporation of the village in June 1915. Intended to enhance the sense of community shared by the 2,800 Cayuga Heights residents, by all accounts the centennial celebration was a great success. Four talks in the speaker series, publicity for which was funded in part by Celebrations Grant from the Tompkins County Office of Tourism, were very well attended. The Old House Tour undertaken in partnership with Historic Ithaca drew roughly twice as many participants as any previous annual house tour in Tompkins County. A follow-up house history workshop was led by Historic Ithaca staff member Christine O’Malley in September. Tangible outcomes of the centennial are the restored lighting fixtures and the exhibit of drawings of village life by the late Cornell professor Jack Lambert on the walls of the courtroom in the renovated village hall, also funded in part by a county tourism grant. The groundbreaking Cayuga Heights History website was launched for the centennial by village preservationists, Carole Schiffman and Randi Kepecs with input from deputy historian Patricia Longoria: www.cayugaheightshistory.weebly.com. An interactive map on the site at http://cayugaheightshistory.weebly.com/interactive-map.html allows visitors to click on anyone of some 1,000 village address and explore its architectural and residential history. Other segments present nineteenth century farmhouses and a history of Pleasant Grove Cemetery prepared by Pat Longoria and Randi Kepecs in coordination with the History Center in Tompkins County exhibit “In Memoriam: Cemeteries in Tompkins County” which culminated in a late October tour. Publications this year, other than extensive text on the Cayuga Heights History website, include The Story of Marcham Hall by Beatrice Szekely and From Farm to Suburb, a History of Place Names in Cayuga Heights by Patricia Longoria. Video recordings of the talks in the centennial speaker series by Carol Sisler on the village’s architectural history, by Fred Cowett on its natural history, and by Beatrice Szekely with visuals by Patricia Longoria on its early farm history may be viewed on the website. A village history Facebook page provides updates and a social media connection to current research: https://www.facebook.com/cayugaheightshistory/?fref=nf. Having obtained a county grant, Village Clerk Joan Mangione has overseen digitization of village records, including Board of Trustees minutes dating to 1923, made accessible for research by information aide Tayo Johnson. In consultation with map archivist and History Center board member Bob Kibbee an effort to catalogue and preserve hundreds of historic village maps is under way. The article appended by Beatrice Szekely, written for the January 2016 Cayuga Heights village newsletter thanking the many people in the community who came together to make the centennial possible, provides an outline of the kinds of contacts Szekely, Longoria, Schiffman and Kepecs maintained in 2015; an estimate of the time they expended altogether during the year would likely average about 80 hours weekly, much more if research and writing times were added in. Thanks for the Success of the Village Centennial Now that the fun of celebrating the village centennial in 2015 is over, it’s time to say thank you to everyone who made it possible. The many people who produced the blockbuster June 13 house tour were mentioned in the last issue. Many others made the other events possible. County historian and former Cayuga Heights resident, Carol Kammen, suggested application for the Tompkins County tourism office grant that, in part, funded the speaker series. Monthly meetings of all the municipal historians in the county presided over by Carol at The History Center of Tompkins County contributed to the planning process. Rod Howe, director of The History Center, offered constant encouragement, and archivist Donna Eschenbrenner provided access to valuable materials for research including the photo album of Dorothy Cornell chronicling the construction of Marcham Hall in 1928. Of note, the library at The History Center was named this year to honor noted local historian, editor and author John Marcham, son of Frederick Marcham, village mayor from 1956 to 1988, who grew up in Cayuga Heights at 112 Oak Hill Road. At the Cornell University Library other individuals have been of great help in research, especially villager Laura Linke at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections of Kroch Library where Anne Sauer, who with her husband Jeff opened her home for the centennial house tour, is the new director. Pursuing interest in Pleasant Grove Cemetery has been facilitated by sexton Charlie Pomada, and in Lake View Cemetery by villager Darlene Klein who is involved in its preservation. Bob Kibbee, retired Cornell map librarian and board member at The History Center, has been a consultant for the mapping work underlying the Cayuga Heights History Project website as have staff of the Tompkins County Geographic Information Systems office. Stay tuned for the launch of the new on-line map of Cayuga Heights where you will be able to click on every village address to retrieve the histories of its architecture and past residents. Thanks to Paul Anderson for much of that effort. Mike Montgomery of Vintage Lighting in Aurora restored Dorothy Cornell’s chandeliers in the Marcham Hall courtroom. How nicely their glow sets off the drawings by late Professor Jack Lambert donated to the village by his daughter Sarah. They were framed by Ariel Bullion Eckland of the Corners Gallery and then prepared for hanging and grouped on the walls drawing on the curatorial experience of village neighbor Sarah Roberts. Publicity and financial support for the centennial have come from many sources. Local author Jane Marsh Dieckmann, anoter past resident, wrote an article for the Ithaca Times before the house tour. Graphics designer Terry Marcus contributed her expertise for mailings and brochures. The costs of publicity for the series of talks by Carol Sisler, Fred Cowett, Pat Longoria and myself, as well as the panel hosted by the Kendal Residents Council and chaired by Ralph Janis, were made possible by the grant from the Tompkins County Office of Tourism where Tom Knipe provided professional guidance. Thanks are due to both Paul Anderson and Pearse Anderson for taping the speaker series events. Finally, the professional staff of the village contributed throughout the centennial year. Clerk and Treasurer Joan Mangione oversaw the work of the Public Works Department crew in refurbishing the clerical office upstairs in Marcham Hall. She has also participated in the courtroom lighting and other projects undertaken to preserve the historical integrity of the building. Superintendent of Public Works Brent Cross, who oversaw the addition to the building a few years ago funded in part by the grant secured by Village Justice Glenn Galbreath, has given advice and help. Back upstairs, deputy clerk and information aide Tayo Johnson have answered every request for help in research and the organization of activities. Mayor Kate Supron and the Board of Trustees have supported all our efforts. Carrying forward the momentum of the centennial is the new priority. Follow us along on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cayugaheightshistory/. Better yet join us, as Gail Wagner, Lee Moon and Gail Cashen have done, and become a staff writer gathering the stories of village houses for http://cayugaheightshistory.weebly.com/. There will be more history talks and other events. That only a hundred years could yield such a fine harvest is a tribute to everyone who has lived in this little 1.8 square mile community and made it interesting. Thanks to everyone who came to the centennial events; please join in the fun ahead.