Town of Russia Receives State Archives Award
October 28, 2001
Albany, NY -- The New York State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust have selected the Town of Russia to receive the 2011 William H. Kelly Annual Archives Award for Excellence in Local Government Archival Program Development.
The award was presented to Francis Donley, Town Supervisor; Jeanne Barley, Town Clerk; and Paula Johnson, former Town Historian, at a luncheon ceremony at the Cultural Education Center in Albany on October 25, 2011. The award is named for William H. Kelly, the former Mayor of Asharoken in Suffolk County, who has been a tireless champion for strengthening local government archival and records management programs.
This year’s award recognizes the Town of Russia’s remarkable strides in its records program, particularly in the realm of historical records. The award acknowledges the town’s successful projects to care for their historical records, including: indexing the records to make them accessible to users; developing three publications about the town’s bridges, railroads, and roads; and conducting a symposium to make people aware of the town’s archival resources.
“We are pleased to recognize the Town of Russia for their outstanding efforts to manage and ultimately preserve the records of local government,” said State Archivist Christine Ward. “This town was selected from among all local governments as having the finest program in the state in 2011. But the real winner is not this local government; rather it is the people of the State of New York. We commend all involved in this winning program and wish them continued success in the years ahead.”
Previous recipients of this annual award include Chautauqua County (2000), Oswego County (2001), Genesee County (2002), Ulster County (2003), Hudson River Park Trust (2004), Town of Victor (2005), Saratoga County (2006), Suffolk County (2007), Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (2008), Westchester County (2009) and Steuben County (2010).
The annual Archives Awards program recognizes outstanding efforts in archives and records management work in New York State by a broad range of individuals and organizations. A complete list of this year’s award recipients follows:
William Hoyt Annual Archives Award for Advocacy
William Josephson, Of Counsel at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP
Lifetime Achievement for Services in Support of New York State History and Archives
Laurence M. Hauptman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, State University of New York, New Paltz
Program Excellence in a Historical Records Repository
Local History/Genealogy Department of Archives of Central Library, Onondaga County Public Library
William H. Kelly Award for Excellence in Local Government Archival Program Development
Town of Russia
Cheryl Steinbach Award for Excellence in Local Government Records Management
Ontario County
Excellence in State Agency Records Management
Department of Taxation and Finance
Excellence in the Educational Use of Local Government Records by a Local Government
Clifton Park/Halfmoon Public Library
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records, Grades 4-5
Grant Tucker, Murray Avenue School, Mamaroneck Union Free School District,
Teacher: Pamela Tanenbaum
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records, Grades 6-8
Sarah Jones, Farnsworth Middle School, Guilderland Central School District,
Teacher: Deborah Escobar
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records, Grades 9-12
Cody Nager, North Salem High School, North Salem Central School District,
Teacher: Michael Valenti
