Gerald Smith
·4 min read
Pay attention readers, as once again I delve into that part of the Twilight Zone that I call self-promotion. In this case, shameless self-promotion.In the next few days, I will be involved in several programs in both Broome and Tioga counties for two different historical societies.
At 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 8 I will be presenting my program called "Spanning Time: Some Personal Stories Make the News" at the Tioga County Historical Society Museum at 110 Front St. in the Village of Owego.The program is free and open to the public.Since 2013, I have written nearly 550 Spanning Time columns about diverse topics of history concerning this region.
In many of those columns, some of our readers have noted that I often refer to some connection to my own life and family history. I have done so to help make the connection that many of these stories are connected to “Everyman.”
These are stories of often ordinary people who become involved in something extraordinary.Stories of people who have made a difference without the forethought to believe they would be famous or a story in the news – yet they did just that, often by a simple act.
In some of the columns, I have talked about objects.Three-dimensional things that have somehow had an impact on our history.Then, there are times when both of those types of stories intersect.
During the height of the pandemic, I was honored to present a program for the Broome County Historical Society detailing several of those stories for their monthly program via Zoom.It was the first time I had given a program over Zoom and I was not sure how well it would be received.
To make it more interesting, I selected those stories where some object had intersected with an aspect of my family history – some recent and some going back many generations. These are the personal stories that have touched a part of my existence, yet they also have impact for people just interested in history and how the march of time touches many people.
This is how something a simple as a rocker or a chest can be important to telling the stories of the people of our valley.Maybe it is just a photograph or a newspaper story that connects you to another piece of our history.These are some of the stories that will be profiled in my program on June 8.
On Wednesday, June 19, Dolores Elliott and I will be presenting a program for the Broome County Historical Society beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Otsiningo Park in the North Pavilion.Since we are at that park, we thought it would be a great idea to give a program about the history of that area.This narrow, long piece of land in the Town of Dickinson has a long and important role in the development of Broome County.
From the time of mammoths and mastodons wandering across this region to the arrival of the indigenous people settling along the rivers to hunt, fish, and live off the flora and fauna of the area, this land has been strategic.It played an important role during the American Revolution.This piece of river flat was the perfect spot for the development of Bennett Field, the area’s first airport in the early decades of the twentieth century in the days of barnstormers and Edwin A. Link, Jr.
More: Remembering the flash flood of 1960 in Broome County: Spanning Time
It was also the final resting place of hundreds from the Broome County Poor House, some buried atop the remains of some of the Native Americans who once walked this ground. With the development of Interstate 81 in the 1960s and early 1970s, this narrow ground became the most used county park – but not without a struggle to make it a reality.
On that Wednesday, June 19, Dolores Elliott and I will hopefully take those attending on a journey encompassing over a thousand years and end up in a pavilion where today thousands enjoy the beauty of this ground alongside of the Chenango River.
Two programs in June for the people of two counties for two historical societies – both dealing with our continuing histories and heritages.
Gerald Smith is executive director of the Tioga County Historical Society and a former Broome County historian. Email him athistorysmiths@stny.rr.com.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Spanning Time: Broome, Tioga history programs to attend in June
