NY State Assembly Recognizes Local Historian for Her Work

By TERESA WINCHESTER
GILBERTSVILLE

Leigh Eckmair, long-time historian for the Town of Butternuts and the Village of Gilbertsville, as well as archivist for the Gilbertsville Free Library, received a legislative citation from the New York State Assembly on August 17. The recognition was made as a surprise to Eckmair by Assemblyman Joseph Angelino at Gilbertsville’s Centennial Park, immediately following the fire department’s sesquicentennial parade.

The citation stated that it is “a custom of this Legislative Body to take note of and publicly acknowledge individuals who have distinguished themselves through their exemplary careers, accomplishments, and purposeful lives of service to their community.”

Eckmair was specifically acknowledged for her involvement in a research project which ultimately quashed an Army Corps of Engineers plan to install a series of dams in the Butternut Valley. According to the citation, these dams would have created a 7-mile-long lake, thus “flooding the entire village and most of the Butternut Valley and over 4,000 years of Native American civilization.” Congress deauthorized the monies appropriated for the plan in 1979.

“It’s fabulous the Assembly has recognized what was done by a lot of people—people who really cared and stuck with it to get that funding deauthorized,” said Eckmair.

“I was the one who was the closest to the documents. I got certification and had my hands on materials that were needed. I signed the final document for the request to Congress to cancel appropriations,” she said.

Eckmair passed on credit for the deauthorization to the “Committee for the Historic Preservation of Gilbertsville,” some of whom did not live to learn of their success. Eckmair mentioned several names of committee members that would resonate in Gilbertsville today: Douglas McKee, Charles Brewer, Myrtie and Eric Light, and Richard Keene.

“People died one after another. Somebody had to stick with it,” she said.

The citation also recognized Eckmair for her lead role in the listing of the entire Village of Gilbertsville on the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Mayor Nate Talbot of Gilbertsville had high praise for Eckmair.

“It was an honor to see Assemblyman Angelino recognize Leigh for her service to our community, both as the long-standing historian for Gilbertsville and for her role in the effort to solidify and preserve our status as a historic and unique place,” he said.

Talbot then alluded to the importance of Eckmair’s work to future generations.

“Leigh sets an example that has, and I hope will continue to, inspire the next generation of our community to use their interests and natural talents to help others. She has shown us that an enthusiasm—in her case, for local history—a willingness to learn, and a sustained effort will add up to make a difference in the lives of generations of neighbors,” he said.

Town of Butternuts Supervisor Bruce Giuda also acknowledged Eckmair’s exceptional dedication.

“The whole town owes her a debt of gratitude for her decades of work. It will be very difficult to find someone of her caliber and with her interest, as well,” Giuda said of Eckmair, who is the only New York State-registered historian in Otsego County.

When Dr. Cindy Falk, assistant dean of graduate studies at SUNY Oneonta and professor of material culture at the university’s Cooperstown Graduate Program, led a walking tour of Gilbertsville in August of this year, she also expressed appreciation for Eckmair and her contributions.

“Leigh Eckmair is one of those historians who has done such amazing work to bring local history to the forefront. She is one of those forces every community wishes it had,” Falk said.