By: Robert Remler
Carol McKenna preserves facts
She knows that unless anyone reads her work, then nothing will have been learned from the past.
Her position as village historian is viewed with so much seriousness that the State issued a five-page job description to her and more than 1,000 other local historians.
Carol McKenna has been Valley Stream's official historian since her husband's death in 1996. She was appointed to the position by Jim Darcy, now a town councilman and then Valley Stream's mayor.
She accepted the appointment to preserve her husband's legacy. John McKenna died in July 1996, fifteen months after his appointment as historian.
She understands that the "the first, and primary, responsibility of the local government historian is interpretation of the past." Guidelines stipulate that the historian is not an antiquarian. "Historians should especially eschew time-consuming activities like assembling scrapbooks of newspaper clippings." Clippings of newsprint, according to the State, will only survive for a few years.
"The community was not always a bedroom community," said McKenna. A great deal of the village's growth and transformation was tied to the ebb and flow of the aviation industry, she said.
Working in conjunction with the Valley Stream Historical Society, McKenna often conducts tours at the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration. Many of the tours are conducted for the benefit of students.
The students appreciate viewing preserved photographs of Valley Stream before Sunrise Highway and paved roads. They show interest in seeing utensils such as old-fashioned toasters once used in local homes. Often students return to the Pagan-Fletcher Restoration with their parents for weekend visits.
Demographic changes in Valley Stream press the importance of telling younger generations about local history. Local history includes a point in time when the Klu Klux Klan had a presence in the village. "People here have seen crosses burn on their lawn," she said. At that time, the actions of the Klan was aimed at Catholics and not African-Americans, she said.
She meets with other New York State historians twice a year to discuss research and preservation techniques. This year, in Rochester, they discussed how to recoup information that is preserved on cassette and reel-to-reel tape. One solution is to make multiple copies of information, she said. Previously, it was thought that
CD -Roms was the best way to preserve information. New technology will soon be available that will be even better at preserving information than a CD-Rom, she said.
Her next project is to complete work on a book that celebrates the 75th anniversary of Valley Stream. She also has plans to publish a book devoted to photographs from Valley Stream.
That book is likely to feature people who have made notable contributions to Valley Stream since its incorporation. McKenna named five who she thought have contributed to the community.
"Mable Dibble Ackerly was one," she said. Ackerly was the woman who started the Valley Stream Historical Society. She also mentioned Bert Keller, a former prominent teacher at Central High School, as a contributor to the village's history. "Because of how he focused on education."
She mentioned Joe Bergen as another resident who has had an impact on the community. "He watched the village develop," she said. "He remains very active." Pastor Robert Howard of the Grace Methodist Church was another who also made a significant historical contribution. He has worked in the community for the past 40 years, she said. "He has always been helpful."
McKenna also mentioned Ted Libath. He was born here and worked for twenty years on the restoration of Pagan-Fletcher. "It was a labor of love," she said.
Bert Keller said McKenna keeps the current records of Valley Stream proceedings. "History can view them in a very substantial way," he said.
She fits the job for two reasons, he said. "She delves into historical records and does a very good job at it." After her husband died, she took over "what he wanted to do," he said.
Hank Selah, president of the Valley Stream Historical Society said McKenna has an interest in history that exceeds just Valley Stream. "Carol has a real interest in the history of the whole area from Manhattan to Valley Stream. She has a growing handle on seeing things the way they are from the perspective of the way they have been.
Jim Darcy appointed Carol's husband to the post of historian in 1995 and noted their contributions. "Both Carol and Jay had served as unofficial historians to the village for many years." The two had taken an interest in the village politics and village affairs before their official appointments. The two were regular attendees at Board meetings, he said. "They worked pretty much as a team on the initial appointment." Darcy said that after her husband died "Carol seemed to be the logical appointment."
A reference librarian with the Office of the State Historians in Albany said a law was passed in 1983 that required town and villages to have local historians, except in those cities with over populations of one million people. "The reason for the law is so that people don't forget," she said.
