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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Town of Montgomery historian
Continued from page 1
local municipality must appoint a historian, and could be subject to monthly fines
if they fail to do so.
“It’s in a holding pattern right now,”
said Town Supervisor Mike Hayes, admitting the process was shifted to the back
burner for a while as pressing matters
cropped up.
Hayes said he decided not to reappoint
Isaksen because he felt it was time for
someone new to take over, but he is holding off in appointing a new historian until
he has a chance to look into the qualifications and responsibilities of the position
according to the state (Arts and Cultural
Affairs Law Article 57).
As to qualifications, the law appears
quiet.
Further upstate in Montgomery
County, the village of Fultonville appointed a 15-year-old in 2008, making Ryan
Weitz the youngest historian in the state,
and seeming to indicate that the qualifications to serve as historian may boil down
to something of an “it factor:” Namely,
a passion for history and willingness to
research answers for the public. Weitz
was working to restore and preserve the
village cemetery before he took on the
position, and still serves as village historian today.
According to the New York State
Museum, local historians conduct
research, write articles, teach and hold
public presentations, and are advocates
for historic preservation and heritage
tourism, as well as organizers of commemoration events for historical anniversaries.
Where the emphasis is placed in each
municipality is a matter of “personal
interest and inclination” on the part of
the historian, as well as the “priorities
and interests” of the town.
In other words, local historians perform
a variety of tasks, and on any given day
could be compiling a list of buildings useful to film location scouts, teaching courses in local history, identifying historic
structures and districts, writing grants,
assisting schoolteachers in local history
curriculum, participating in radio talk
shows, preparing nominations to the State
and National Register of Historic Places,
and generally promoting heritage tourism by bringi