Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins and Legislator Erika Pierce presenting Sy Shulman Award
Westchester County Historical Society’s Annual Meeting Marks 150th Anniversary
Celebrating its 150th Anniversary, the Westchester County Historical Society’s 2024 Annual Meeting was held on Saturday, June 8, 2024 at the White Plains Presbyterian Church, located at 39 North Broadway in White Plains. This is the same location as the society’s first annual meeting, in 1874. The program included a brief business meeting with the election of new trustees Douglas Emilio of Hastings-on-Hudson, Robert Hoch of White Plains, Francisco Miranda of Buchanan, and James Maxwell of Mount Pleasant. It continued with presentations of the Sy Shulman Awards and an illustrated talk on the unique history of the Westchester County Historical Society.
The 11th Annual Sy Shulman Award was presented to two honorees, John Stockbridge and to the Bronx River Parkway Reservation Conservancy. The award is given to individuals or organizations that have demonstrated a strong commitment to historical research, historic preservation, or the teaching of local history, and has elevated the public’s appreciation of the history of Westchester County. The award is named for former WCHS trustee Sy Schulman, who was the county’s chief planner and planning commissioner during the 1960s. Throughout his life in Westchester, he championed the cause of preserving and promoting the history of the county.
John Stockbridge has been the Town of Bedford Historian since 2001. He is the Chairman of the Bedford Historic Buildings Preservation Commission and serves on the boards of Westmoreland and Marsh Sanctuaries and the newly formed Merestead Conservancy. John is also Vice President of the Friends of the Bedford Burying Grounds ad is an ex-officio member of numerous other organizations.
The Bronx River Parkway Reservation Conservancy (BRPRC) was founded in 1997 as a member-based non-profit organization for the support and enhancement of the Bronx River Parkway Reservation. It continues its mission to serve as an advocate for the protection and preservation of this multi-faceted park completed in 1925 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Established in 1874, the Westchester County Historical Society is the eleventh oldest county historical society in America and the only organization that collects and promotes the countywide history of Westchester. The Society’s comprehensive and accessible collection of books, pamphlets, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, maps and atlases, and images pertaining to the history and genealogy of Westchester County is housed in the state-of-the art temperature- and humidity-controlled environment of the Westchester County Records Center located at 2199 Saw Mill River Road, Elmsford, NY, 10523.