The Evening Sun | Annual Chenango Public Historian’s Conference Held In Sherburne

NORWICH

—The

annual

conference

of

Chenango

County

Public

Historians

was

held

at

the

Historic

Log

Cabin

Park

in

Sherburne

on

Sunday,

May

21.

It

was

held

by

the

county

historian

to

support

the

work

of

the

town

and

village

historians

in

Chenango

County.

The

event

was

hosted

by

Kay

Baker,

the

Town

of

Sherburne

Historian,

with

assistance

from

Lee

Perrin

and

Charlotte

Sherwood

of

the

Sherburne

Historical

Society.

The

other

historians

in

attendance

were

Mike

Wade,

the

newly

appointed

Guilford

Town

Historian,

Clay

Welch,

the

Norwich

Town

Historian,

Michael

Sheridan,

the

Otselic

Town

Historian,

Vicky

House,

the

Oxford

Town

Historian,

Jerry

E.

Sayles,

the

Pharsalia

Town

Historian,

Dale

Pennington,

the

newly

appointed

Plymouth

Town

Historian,

Kurt

Riegel,

the

Acting

Coventry

Historian,

Julie

Kupris,

Historical

Research

Assistant,

Henry

J.

Drexler,

the

Chenango

County

Historian

and

his

deputy,

John

Antonowicz.

Patricia

F.

Scott,

a

registered

historian

and

one

of

last

year’s

recognized

Master

Chenango

Historians,

was

also

present.

The

Chenango

County

Historical

Society

was

represented

at

the

conference

by

its

President,

Taylor

Zieno

and

collections

manager,

Zachary

Greenfield.

There

were

also

several

friends

of

Chenango

County

history

in

the

audience,

including

Diane

Branham,

Karol

Kucinski

and

Mary

Weidman.

Matthew

Urtz,

the

Madison

County

Historian,

kicked

off

the

program,

with

a

presentation

about

engaging

the

public

with

local

history.

Kay

Baker

then

spoke

about

the

Sherburne

Historical

Society’s

recent

acquisition

of

a

collection

of

paintings

by

the

Sherburne

artist,

Henry

Plumb.

She

was

followed

by

Michael

Foor-Pessin

of

South

Otselic,

a

local

Grace

Brown

authority.

He

gave

a

presentation

about

the

tragic

life

of

Maude

Wright

who,

like

Grace

Brown,

was

a

native

of

Otselic

and

became

pregnant

out

of

wedlock.

Rejected

by

her

family,

Maude

was

temporarily

admitted

to

the

county

poorhouse

and

subsequently

institutionalized

for

the

rest

of

her

life

at

the

Newark

Custodial

Asylum

for

Feeble-Minded

Women

of

Child-Bearing

Age.

Mr.

Foor-Pessin’s

research

indicates

this

fate

was

once

apparently

common

in

New

York

State,

and

throughout

the

United

States,

for

similarly

situated

women

without

an

independent

means

of

support.

This

year

two

outstanding

women,

Sharon

M.

Donahe

and

A.

Gail

Merian

were

recognized

as

Master

Chenango

Historians

for

their

work

promoting,

preserving,

and

interpreting

the

history

of

Chenango

County.

In

addition,

Scott

Parsons,

the

long

serving

president

of

the

Guilford

Historical

Society

was

recognized

as

a

“Friend

of

Chenango

County

History”

for

his

support

of

local

history.

–

Information

from

the

Chenango

County

Historian’s

Office