State History

This article originally appeared in a Saratoga County History Center press release.

The trustees of the Saratoga County History Center are delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural annual Saratoga County Public History Award.

There are many individuals and associations in the greater Capital District who devote endless hours and dollars to the preservation or dissemination of local, regional, and national histories.  Too often, their work goes unnoticed or unrecognized by the general public.  The Saratoga County Public History Award seeks to raise awareness of their efforts and provide much-needed positive reinforcement to their selfless work.  The Herculean task of preserving the past rests on the tireless shoulders of our many history practitioners, and it is high time we celebrate their achievements.

The History Center is pleased to recognize two outstanding practitioners of public history:

James Richmond is the founder and coordinator of the Saratoga County History Roundtable, a group dedicated to investigating and discussing local history.  In 2019, he received a special award from the Association of Public Historians of New York, and has been a close associate of the History Center.  Mr. Richmond is also a published author.  In addition to contributing to several essay collections, most recently Saratoga County Stories, he is the author of War on the Middleline: The Founding of a Community in the Kayaderosseras Patent in the Midst of the American Revolution (2016) and co-author of Milton, New York: A New Town in a New Nation (2018).

Carol Godette is a former educator and freelance writer whose ground-breaking investigations into Saratoga Springs culture and history have illuminated the not-so-distant past in remarkable ways.  Her dozens of essays in Simply Saratoga Magazine have ranged in topic from architecture to fashion to popular personalities.  Her work on Saratoga’s Black community, in particular, has done much to shape public perceptions of our local history, and her series “The Original Mom & Pops,” which uncovers the stories behind bygone local businesses, has played an integral role in preserving local history.

The recipients were selected by a committee of esteemed professionals: Ronald Schorpp, social studies department chair at Saratoga Springs High School; Lisa Kissinger, social studies academic administrator for Shenendehowa CSD; Heather Mazurowski, social studies department chair at Ballston Spa High School; Heidi Hill, Historic Site Manager at the Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site; Samantha Bosshart, Executive Director of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation; and Isobel Connell, Ph.D., trustee of the Saratoga County History Center.  The committee was chaired by Michael Landis, Ph.D., trustee of the Saratoga County History Center.

An award ceremony will be held at Brookside Museum on Friday, January 21 at 7pm.  The public is welcome to participate via a live Zoom and Facebook broadcast.

Please direct any questions to Michael Landis at mlandis@brooksidemuseum.org.