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4 2008Annual Report County Historian's Office As County Historian, it was my privilege to represent Livingston County in several community outreach projects throughout the year at the county, regional and state level. Over the course of 2008 visitors utilizing the office research center increased to the highest level in five years since the office moved from the former location in Geneseo. In addition s and phone requests spiked as well with many favorable comments related to the expanded County Historian s record index now available online through the County website. The first half of 2008 was primarily focused on my project to document the impact of the Viet Nam War on Livingston County. The public reception for this project vastly exceeded my expectations. This project broadened the interest in this war locally and greatly expanded the County Historian s military files. In conjunction with this project has been the cataloging and indexing of the locally based program called Operation Morale. Vietnam Veteran James Clark of Avon donated this collection of national significance. Included are hundreds of original letters, photographs and memorabilia from soldiers serving in Vietnam from Three other significant collaborative projects and events were accomplished in 2008 and are worthy of particular note: After several years of lobbying efforts by myself, the Groveland Town Historian and the Leicester Town Historian the two western-most Revolutionary War historic sites were officially recognized in March by Heritage New York, a division of the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The Ambuscade in Groveland and Boyd & Parker Memorial Park in Cuylerville were finally added to the prestigious New York State Revolutionary War Heritage Trail. In collaboration with the Mt. Morris Town Historian, a dedication was organized in June and a historic marker was placed on Chapel Street in the Village of Mt. Morris in honor of Major John Wesley Powell. This was the first official recognition locally of this national hero who has been immortalized at the John Wesley Powell Memorial Museum in Arizona as well as in numerous books and documentaries. Powell s numerous contributions to the U.S. included his distinguished service during the Civil War, his work in establishing the U. S. Geographical Survey and founding of the National Geographic Society. A photograph I submitted from our Livingston County Archival Collection was selected for the 2008 NYS Archives October Month Poster with the theme Celebrations." The posters were distributed to every library and archive across the state. The projects mentioned above are only a few of numerous activities I was involved in throughout Very little would be accomplished without the assistance of my office clerk Sally Schmoldt, genealogist Mary Beth Bimber and volunteers Linda Dodd, Christine Thompson, Nichole Menarchem and James Somerville. Through their dedicated service thousands of records this past year were indexed, cataloged, and made available for public reference. As always, I look forward to further expanding services and greatly appreciate the continued support of the Board of Supervisors, County Administrator, County Departments Heads and Town Historians. I. Office Management, Collection Development 1. Preservation and expansion historical records collection: a. The public research room now contains approximately 275 subject binders accessible to researchers. The binders are organized by general topics pertaining to Livingston County and also by subjects related specifically to individual towns. b. The deaths database has been increased to over 33,000 entries c new entries were added to the inventory indexed newspapers d. Indexing of the NYS 1915 (begun in 2007) has been completed for towns Avon Mt. Morris. e. More than 6000 names from the County Poor House records have been indexed covering a time period from approximately f. 400 names of Vietnam veterans have been added to the veteran s database. g. Significant donations Vietnam ear Operation Morale collection (see narrative above); Dansville area 19 th and 20 th century diaries Hartman and Shull families donated by Jane Schryver. 2. Publications: 1. Compiling of information and editing of The History of Murray Hill to be published in The transcription of the Moses Long Diaries (500 pages) was completed by clerk Sally Schmoldt with a name and subject index of 3500 entries. Publication of the completed work is planned in A spring and fall edition of Out of the Archives newsletter was published and distributed to all county departments, supervisors and town historians. All past issues are now available online at the Historian s web site. 4. Contributed information and photographs to numerous publications pertaining to local history including: Images of America Letchworth State Park; SUNY Geneseo: From NormalSchool to Public Ivy, ; and the updated edition of Historic Geneseo.

5 . :F $ 1 II. Community Outreach and Advocacy Coordinated Town Historian s Quarterly Luncheon Meetings April 16 th American Legion Post, Springwater; June 26th Ossian Town Hall; September 23 rd County Historian s Office; December 11 th Livinston Co. Chamber of Commerce, Geneseo. All meeting were well attended, averaging people per meeting between Town Historians, volunteers and guests. Promotion of Historic Preservation: a. State and National Register Listings: I wrote the nomination for the Sweet Briar and Fallbrook properties on Rt. 63 in Geneseo that is scheduled to be reviewed by the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (SHPO) panel in March Throughout 2008 I met and communicated frequently with Robert Englert, Program Analyst (SHPO) and Cynthia Howk of the Landmark Society of Western New York. Together we toured sites in Dansville and Geneseo for consideration on the State and National Register of Historic Places. b. Promoted the listing of the Ambuscade and Boyd and Parker Parks for inclusion on the NYS Heritage Revolutionary War Trail (see narrative above.) c. Worked collaboratively with the Mt. Morris Town Historian to have a memorial bench placed on the Murray Hill Campus located on the grounds of Building 2. John Long of Geneva who was a former patient at the former TB Hospital donated the bench. A boulder donated by the Town honoring the service of the doctors, nurses and staff of the TB hospital. A dedication was held in July. d. Met in Met in Buffalo in September with the New York State Historian, Robert Weible and other regional representatives to discuss the new expansion of the NYS Museum and new exhibits that will include the history and people of Western New York. e. Historical Society programs: Attended several programs and events sponsored by various historical societies including: Dansville Historical Society, Livingston County Historical Society, Nunda Historical Society, West Sparta Historical Society and the York Historical Society. 3. Displays and exhibits a. Exhibit case at Government Center Throughout the year items related to Livingston County history were displayed. Several town historians, historical societies and organizations participated. 4. Programs, Public Speaking, Other a. Radio interview at WYSL in January on upcoming projects. Jan. 10 th b. Attended presentation of the General Wadsworth Statue. Jan. 15th c. Interview with WHAM Channel 13 on New Deal Gallery. Feb. 7 th d. Attended press conference by Senator Volker at Geneseo Airport. Feb.14th e. Attended Dansville Main St. business owners luncheon. Feb. 21 st f. Panel speaker at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conf. at Chautauqua Institute. May 2 nd g. Presented Wyoming Co. Historian, Doris Bannister, the Region 12 Julia Reinstein award before the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors meeting in Warsaw. May 13 th h. Attended the 75 th anniversary of the Dansville Post Office. July 8 th i. Attended a press conference by Senator Volker for the Opera Block in Avon. July 15 th j. Attended a press conference by Senator Cathy Young at the Livingston County Historical Society. k. Coordinated the Vietnam Lecture program held at the Emergency Management Center at Hampton s Corners (see narrative above) featuring as speaker best-selling author, John Ketwig, formerly of Avon. July 25 l. Coordinated a book-signing event for author John Ketwig at Tom Wahl s restaurant. July 26 th m. Spoke on Vietnam project at the VFW annual picnic at Geneseo Airport. August 2 nd. n. Presented an overview of the Impact of the Vietnam War of Livingston County project at the county department head meeting. August 7 th o. Attended dedication ceremony of the Walter Kingston museum at Long Point Park (also contributed articles and photographs for display). August 9 th p. Attended a brick dedication at the Mt. Morris Veteran s Park. Sept. 13 th q. Attended the Little Beard Club encampment at Boyd and Parker Memorial Park. Sept. 13 th r. Presented the Vietnam project to the Perry Rotary. Oct. 23 rd. s. Attended several events hosted by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts and the Livingston County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Office. t. Newspaper interviews Throughout 2008 I provided reporters from the local papers with press releases on upcoming projects and gave several interviews to the Livingston County News and the Genesee Country Express. Topics for articles included: The condition of the last Shaker House at Sonyea; the Vietnam project; and the Boyd and Parker Park Heritage NY designation. Continued next page

6 : 2008Annual Report County Historian's Office (continued) III. Professional and Educational Development 1. Association of Public Historians of New York State: (APHNYS); Appointed Regional Coordinator of WNY Region 12 (includes nine WNY counties). April 2007 September a. Coordinated Region 12 Spring Meeting held in East Aurora. April 26 th b. Coordinated Region 12 Fall Meeting held in Medina. September 27 th 2. Attended Conference on New York State History, Saratoga. June 4-7 th 3. Attended meeting of Western New York County Historians Association, East Aurora. June. 17 th 4. Conducted research at NYS Archives and NYS Library for Murray Hill History. Oct 3 rd. 5. Regional Advisory committee member of Rochester Regional Library Council, Documentary Heritage Program. Assisted with planning of regional NYS Archives month event Celebrations held at the Strong Museum in Rochester. Oct 21 st. 6. Government Appointed Historians of Western New York (GAHWNY); Founding member of new organization - appointed Treasurer. Oct 14 th. 7. Empire State College, Historical Studies degree program - completed 12 credit hours. Studies included: Religious Thought in World Perspective; American Literature and Ecology, Adaptation and Sustainable Development. IV. Summary of Projects for Continued promotion of the cultural heritage of the Livingston County by working in conjunction with the county departments, community organizations and schools. 2. Livingston County will host GAHWNY Fall meeting. 3. Continuation of the Vietnam project. 4. Update the written office procedures, collections guide and inventory. 5. To expand the Historian s web page to include more resources. Submitted by Amie Alden Livingston County Historian March 8, 2009 ********************************************************************************************************** 123'4356&,2,23' !"#" /46,/42 % #! 9 $:" %* ; #! $ % %# ) $! < -' &$"##! # =%# $ $#! $#% #%%$ % %% # $ #$ % # /$! <! #! $%>/ #! 8??!1315>2=- #5.*@*

7 . :F $ / $"%!"#" From the Janesville, Wisconsin Daily Gazette, August 2, 1919 issue: "#$%%&'(& )*+,*(,&%!%!-'!,*.&/,! '!,.0'!'!,!!!,*('!*%!'&(!%,!(,!(&(1! %'!".&/*01 &2* *3448&7(07!,!( 0!*349:!!'! Below Right: Sheet music cover with original score and lyrics by Yankee Robinson. Entitled: An original comic Yankee Song Written and Sung thousands of times by the Great Yankee. The inscription reads: To my sisters May and Fannie, old Homestead Richmond, Ontario Co. N. Y. Below: Image of Yankee s bandwagon taken in Kansas; A circus pass ticket. Double Show meant that there was a circus and a theater under one tent. Sources for above info and cover image from Yankee Robinson,

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