JANUARY 2009 TO DECEMBER 2009
(Report is required to be filed with the State Historian and the Ontario County Historian)

THE TOWN HISTORIAN COLLECTS, PRESERVES, AND INTERPRETS VICTOR HISTORY AND RESPONDS TO REQUESTS. GENERAL CATEGORIES FOR THE HISTORIAN'S ACTIVITIES ARE PRESERVATION, ORGANIZATION, RESEARCH, AND EDUCATION.

The Town Historian is a duly appointed (by the Supervisor) position by requirement of NYS Law 57.13.

2007 was the first year that this Historian also worked as the Village Historian as well as the Town Historian.


TOWN HISTORIAN'S ACTIVITIES:

As required by law, I collected material of historical significance. The inventory of collected material is on file, and an inventory of material acquired during 2009 is attached to this report.

My goals for 2009 included:

• To continue to make the students and adults in Victor community aware of their history and the historic resources in the town through email, my website, programming, written articles;
• To continue with historic house histories for the Historic Victor Marker Program in the Village as well as the Town;
• To add more programs/presentations on the history of Victor; 
• To develop an intern and volunteer program; 
• To continue to put additions to the Archives on the database; 
• To continue scanning the Archives’ photographs; 
• To cooperate and assist other historic/service organizations in the community.

January, 2009 was the dedication of the new Town Hall. Moving, doing display cases, putting up historic art work and most importantly, gathering and putting items into the Time Capsule was a major focus.

I have responded to over 250 requests for historical information, genealogy and other historian related assistance.

I have written articles for the Town of Victor Newsletter: 

• “The Stories That Victor’s Women of the Past Tell,” “King Victor, Maggie Murphy and the Harvest,” “In 2062 What Will Victorites Think?” “Taking a Drive Through Victor’s History”; 
• The Victor Herald has requested a once a month article pertaining to life 50 and 100 years ago in Victor;

Programs presented were:

• “Stories That Victor’s Women of the Past Tell;” 
• “Your Street is Named After A Hog? Mine’s Named After a Matross!;” 
• “King Victor, Maggie Murphy and the Harvest,” 
• “Local Lore,”

Worked with students on research for projects for the New York State Archives, History Day and classroom projects on particular people at the Village Cemetery;

As part of the second Heritage Lecture series in May during Preservation Month:

• “Historic Victor Plaque Celebration,”—Along with Mayor John Holden and Supervisor Jack Marren, I presented 8 historic plaques at the third annual Village of Victor Historic Plaque ceremony and 2 plaques to Town recipients; 
• Programs presented were: “Rocks, Water, Ice: The Geologic Story of Victor,” “English Barns of Victor and Ontario County,” and “Railroad History of Victor;”

Began an oral history archive;

Was a judge for the regional competition for NYS History Day;

Worked with Town Board member, John Palomaki, and the Ontario County’s Historic Resources sub-committee;

Prepared a display for the reopening of the Gallup Building and put up historic photos in the Supervisor’s Conference Room;

I attended the following workshops and/or conferences:

• Association of Public Historian of NYS conference; 
• Preservation conference; 
• Region 11 Association of Public Historians workshops (hosting one); 
• Managing Your Historic Photographics; 
• Archives Month Conference; 
• 21st Century Archives; 
• Customer Service Training; 
• Engaging in Partnerships and Leveraging Opportunities;

Directed the 2009 Ontario County Historical Society’s Tour of Homes in Victor;

Maintained the Local Artist’s Wall in the Town Hall;

Nearing completion of a Barns survey of the Town of Victor;

Worked with the Village Cemetery Committee, Victor Genealogical Society and Victor Historical Society on programs, research and historical advice.

Worked with the American Legion to replace a veterans’ plaque at the Village Cemetery;

Worked with student volunteer Cody Paul to update a 1952 Village Map, volunteers Cynthia Schwab and Bonnie Waters on clipping, filing and research;

Gave input to the Comprehensive Plan Committee, the Planning Board on Fishers Ridge and Aldridge Acres and held a workshop with the Town, Planning, and Zoning Boards on the Historic Valentown Code;

Continued work as the Town liaison for the Strategic Plan’s Task Force #10—Community Partnerships;

Meetings that I attended were: County Historian meetings; several Town Board, Planning Board and Architectural Review Board meetings; Victor Roundtable meetings; Electronic Records Committee; Department Head meetings; Ganondagan; Victor Historical Society; the Ontario County Historical Society; Village Cemetery Preservation and Restoration Committee, Task Forces #6, and #10 (Internal Champion for #10);

I am on the Board of Directors for the Ontario County Historical Society and have been appointed the Collections Chair; Town liaison to the Victor Historical Society;

Collecting historical information was done by clipping articles and news of interest and obituaries from newspapers; putting new information into the Archives database; taking pictures and slides and indexing them in notebooks; obtaining house and barn histories and gathering genealogy information.

The average number of hours that I worked each week was 16.2.

I continue to appreciate the support of the Town to encourage history and preservation in Victor and to support its Historian who is in her 20th year serving in this capacity.
 
Respectfully submitted,

Babette M. Huber
Victor Town Historian
January, 2010