Windham has been without a town historian since Patricia “Patti” Morrow died in June, and Supervisor Tom Hoyt said filling her shoes won’t be easy.

“Patti was very unique,” Hoyt said. “I’m not going to probably find anyone right off the bat that’s as knowledgeable as Patti was.”

Windham’s search reflects a broader challenge across New York, where municipalities are struggling to replace longtime historians in positions that demand extensive work but frequently offer little or no compensation. The problem is particularly acute when a historian like Morrow dies after decades in the role, taking a vast store of institutional knowledge with them.

“The pay is never commensurate with the work that’s required,” Greene County Historian Jonathan Palmer said. “A lot of these communities can’t afford to pay what we think of as commensurate compensation for their work.”

Morrow served as Windham’s town historian for nearly four decades before her death at age 70 on June 3. A lifelong Maplecrest resident, she was appointed in March 1987 and became one of the town’s leading advocates for preserving local and family history.

She was a founding member of the Windham Historical Society and the sole owner, editor, and publisher of “Greene Genes,” a quarterly genealogical publication. Her ties to Maplecrest ran deep. Her grandfather, Valentine Morrow, was a postmaster, and the town pavilion at C.D. Lane Park is dedicated to his memory.

Under state law, town historians are appointed by town supervisors. Morrow received a small annual stipend of $3,500 for historian-related expenses.

Finding someone with Morrow’s passion for local history and depth of knowledge has been difficult, Hoyt said.

“We put feelers out to a couple people,” he said. “We had some interest, but they had other obligations. They didn’t feel they could be committed enough to do the job properly.”

The next historian would also be responsible for documenting contemporary life in Windham.

“Part of the historian job, besides knowing the history, you’re supposed to capture what’s going on now for future generations,” Hoyt said.

He said there was no timeline for filling the position.

The concept of each municipality having its own designated historian is primarily a New York tradition. The Local Government Historians Law, signed into law in April 1919 by former Gov. Al Smith, requires each town, village, and city to have its own historian. Town historians are appointed by town supervisors, and city and village historians are appointed by mayors. 

The law directs historians to collect and preserve materials related to their communities. They must also submit annual reports describing their work to the officials who appointed them and to the state historian.

The law was amended in 1933 to authorize the appointment of county historians. While it doesn’t explicitly require historians to be paid for their work, some municipalities have opted to offer small stipends or even full salaries. 

Although the mandate isn’t enforced, it remains part of state law. 

Every municipality in The Overlook’s coverage area has a designated historian except the villages of Hunter and Tannersville. Much of the historical work in these communities is instead handled by Hunter Town Historian Diann “Dede” Terns-Thorpe, who was appointed in 2012. 

“I didn’t even know that individually we had to appoint a historian,” said Tannersville Mayor Lee McGunnigle. “I’d be appointing Dede anyway right now, since she has all that knowledge.”

For now, many local history questions have found their way to Town Clerk Bonnie Poehmel’s desk. 

“People will call her, asking ‘Where was this place?’” Hoyt said. “She does her best, but she’s got 8,000 other things to do. Before, she could just say, ‘email Patti,’ and Patti would jump all over it.”

Municipalities across New York are struggling to replace longtime historians, particularly in the Catskills as the work is tedious and often doesn’t pay well, said Greene County Historian Jonathan Palmer.

“You become a town historian and all of a sudden people are dropping off random stuff on your doorstep and every time you go out to eat, people are coming over to your table to chat with you,” he said. “Sometimes you get no peace. It takes a special personality to thrive in that.”

Palmer previously served as the Athens Village Historian, where he was not paid at all. The work itself often requires a lot of time and attention, Palmer said.

Palmer encouraged other Catskills communities to look to the town of Lexington for inspiration, which has both a town historian and a deputy historian. 

“The town gives them space in the town hall and a phone number on the town exchange and they have office hours that they keep,” he said. “Every Monday, somebody’s going to be in the historian’s office to chat with you. That’s a basic form of access that just makes them some of the most readily-available municipal historians anywhere.”

“That’s because the town supports and backs them up in these other small ways that a lot of other municipalities don’t,” Palmer said.

Having a deputy historian not only spreads out the workload but allows for a smoother transition if one historian leaves office.

“If a historian passes away, that deputy is going to step into the role, and then that deputy can worry about the process of appointing,” Palmer said. “That’s kind of an elegant solution.”

Hoyt is still looking for candidates for the position. But being choosy will help Windham in the long run, said town councilperson Kurt Goettsche. 

“You need a storyteller,” he said. 

Connor Greco is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Windham, Hunter, and surrounding Greene County communities. Send correspondence to connor@theoverlooknews.com.