Wanted: Historians to fill local positions

It was nearly 100 years ago now that the New York State Legislature considered the role of a historian important enough to require every municipality to have one.

The “Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, Section 57.07,” passed in 1919, created the position of municipal historians in every county, city, town and village in New York. However, while the Albany lawmakers made clear the importance of the job, they offered only vague guidelines on how to administer and pay for the post.

As a result, some municipalities struggle to keep the job filled, and currently in Schenectady County, the city as well as the towns of Niskayuna and Rotterdam are all without historians. It’s not a situation anyone feels comfortable with, but finding a resourceful and knowledgeable individual to take on the responsibility isn’t always easy, according to Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy.

“We’d like to have someone in the position because it really adds something to the community ambience when you have somebody who can easily reference things in the past,” said McCarthy. “Finding someone, however, is difficult. It’s important because we’re doing a lot of interesting and exciting things in our community today and we have to make sure they are archived and recorded and put into a format so people will be able to look back 100 years from now and use them to research. We have to acknowledge how we got to where we are, and enhance our ability to learn from our history and not make the same mistakes.”

But in Schenectady, the City Council adopted a budget in 2011 that eliminated the $20,000 salary for the part-time position, and in 2012 the Schenectady County Legislature did pretty much the same to help its budget, saving $24,000. Don Rittner, who was working in both jobs having replaced long-time city and county historian Larry Hart, was left unemployed.

In 2014, former Schenectady County Historical Society President Ed Reilly was hired to fill the vacancy in the county position, accepting an annual salary of $12,000. But the city historian post remains unoccupied.

“The law says you have to have one, but apparently there’s no real penalty if you don’t,” said Reilly, the former town supervisor of Niskayuna. “I made a recommendation to the mayor a while ago but that didn’t pan out. The person changed her mind, so it can be hard finding someone.”

Big birthday

In Rotterdam, supervisor Steve Tommasone is ramping up his search for a historian because the town will be celebrating its 200th birthday in the year 2020.

“I really want to find a historian so they can take on the project of our 2020 celebration,” said Tommasone, who was elected as a Democrat in 2015 but also served as supervisor as a Republican from 2006-2009. “We’re looking, and there needs to be even more of an effort on our part. We have to let the community know that we have this position available, and we want somebody serious to do the job. That can be difficult to find sometimes.”

Long-time Rotterdam historian Dick Whalen retired in 2012 and was succeeded by Ron Severson and then Tim Bradt, each for just over a year.

“Dick Whalen did the job for years, he took it very seriously, and it was a real labor of love for him,” said Tommasone. “Unfortunately we can only offer a small stipend for the position, so it has to be somebody who really appreciates history.”

Whalen worked mostly out of his home, but Tommasone is planning on providing an office for a new historian.

“Right now a lot of our records are kept at the police department or our senior center,” he said. “When I was supervisor before, I wanted to create a real records retention room but I wasn’t able to complete the task. We do have some building space available, we are hoping to get a grant, so hopefully this time we will be able to create a historian’s office.”

In Niskayuna, town supervisor Joe Landry has been looking for a historian to replace Kathy Schoolcraft, who held the position from March of 2011 until 2013.

“It’s hard finding the proper individual who has the interest and is willing to do it,” said Niskayuna town supervisor Joe Landry. “All we have is a small stipend so it’s really almost a volunteer position. You almost need a retired person who has the time and the qualifications. But I think it’s a very important position and we will find someone, hopefully soon.”

The position rarely becomes a political football, although former long-time Niskayuna historian Linda Champagne and then-supervisor Luke Smith, a Democrat, clashed in 2007 over the fate of the Ingersoll Residence, a historic house in the town. When it became time to reappoint Champagne to her post, typically an annual routine matter, Smith declined and the post became vacant.

Vacancies in local historian positions are something Robert Weible, recently retired New York State historian, doesn’t like to see.

“Local historians serve three purposes, and those are educational, quality of life and economic development,” said Weible, a Clifton Park resident who is serving on the board of the Schenectady County Historical Society and Lakes to Lock Passage, another non-profit group based near Lake Champlain. “They educate people, and they do that in schools and for adult audiences, and that builds the quality of life in a community. They make Schenectady different than a town in West Virginia or Kansas, and give the place its own distinct flavor. Once you have that strong presence of history and a real interest in the past, people will become more invested in the community. That’s very important.”

CITY and COUNTY — Schenectady appointed its first city historian in 1936 when Mayor Robert W. Baxter, a Republican, selected Saratoga Springs native Nathaniel B. Spalding, a retired attorney and life-long Democrat, for the position. Following Spalding were Edwin Conde in 1940 and William Efner in 1946. Efner, a former newspaperman, had the archival space on the third floor of City Hall named after him, the Efner History Center, in 1988. The center has been run by the Schenectady County Historical Society and chief volunteer Cindy Seacord since 2004.

The position of county historian comes up in the city directory for the first time in 1951 with Percy Van Eps in the post. Others who served were Duane Featherstonhaugh, Don Keefer, Marjorie Featherstonhaugh and Lansing Christman.

DUANESBURG — Howard Ohlhous works as a research technician at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. He became town historian in 2011 after the death of Art Willis, who had succeeded his father, Ormond Dare Willis, in 1979. Clarence Foote was Duanesburg’s first official town historian, serving from 1933-64, and was succeeded by former WRGB newsman Lansing Christman. Ohlhous works with an annual budget of $650.

GLENVILLE — Percy Van Eps became the town’s first historian back in 1926, died in 1951 and was succeeded by Schenectady County historian Don Keefer. Henrietta Van der Veer took over from Keefer in 1962 and was historian for 30 years before being succeeded by Joan Szablewski, who now at the age of 84 is in her 25th year as town historian. She gets $1,200 a year along with a small budget, usually not in excess of $300.

NISKAYUNA — Lloyd Brinkman and then Linda Champagne were two long-time town historians for Niskayuna, Brinkman starting in the early 1950s and Champagne succeeding him in the late 1970s. Champagne’s long tenure ended in 2007, and Kathy Schoolcraft replaced her in 2011 and served for two years before moving out of the area. The position gets a $500 annual salary and $500 budget.

PRINCETOWN — Robert Joseph Jones is a foreign language and English professor at Fulton-Montgomery Community College. He took over in 2015, succeeding Irma Mastrean, who held the job for 39 years. Her predecessor was Edith Tulloch who took over from Charles Watrous sometime in the 1960s. The job has an annual salary of $850.

ROTTERDAM — Dick Whalen was the town historian from 2003 to 2011 before retiring at the age of 85. Both Ron Severson and Tim Bradt have served as interims since Whalen left, but the position has been vacant for two years. Scott Haefner was town historian before Whalen from 1998-2002, and John Papp before him for more than 25 years. William Bowers preceeded Papp. The position gets a $500 stipend and a $500 budget.

Reach Gazette reporter Bill Buell at 395-3190 or [email protected]

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