Western New York Historian Project

About the Project

What is the Western New York Historian Project?

In the summer of 2020, we reached out to the village, town, city, and county historians of the eight counties of WNY and asked them to participate in the society's Western New York Historian Project. We did this by emailing or mailing a questionnaire to each of the historians for whom we had an email or address listed. We hoped they would share with us their response to our questions.

What is the purpose of this Project?

We wanted to learn from the historians, in their own words, about

their job and role as the guardians of their municipality's history
the historic records and collections within their village, town, city or county
the means they use to provide this information to the community at large
their goals, as historian, for the next four years, and
how, and in what ways, WNYGS could help them in achieving these goals.

image of Genesee County History Department's Research Library in Batavia New York

Image: Genesee County History Department Research Library (Batavia, NY)

WNY Historian Project Chair:

Marie-Cecile Tidwell, PhD

historianproject@wnygs.org

What have we learned so far?

The WNY historians are very dedicated and loyal keepers of history. Some are new to the task, while others have been in their role for as many as 45 years. They often fulfill their duties with little or no pay; even office and storage space can be limited, if any. Some historians work in conjunction with the county and town historical museums and societies, as well as with local government officials. Municipality websites may have sections devoted to local history and often include material presented by their local historians.

What is our goal as a result of the Historian Project?

Our goal is to share with our membership what we have learned through this project in order to help them with their family research of their WNY ancestors. It is our hope that in addition to learning more about the history of the eight counties of WNY, our membership, as well as others in the community, will volunteer with these local historians and societies in the preservation of these important and often irreplaceable pieces of family and local history.

The mission of the Western New York Genealogical Society is to preserve public and historical records, and to encourage interest, knowledge, and research in the WNY region's rich genealogical heritage. This is a mission we share with all local historians across WNY.