By Cindy Goldstein -
At the April 8th Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting we met Peter Fellows, President of the Mamaroneck Historical Society (the “Society”). Fellows described the Society as a “shadowbox” for the community where recognition of our past serves the path of our future. He also discussed the artist Norman Rockwell who, as a boy, witnessed a “body snatching” at the Delancey burial ground.
The Society’s website is rich with history of the Village woven together with current projects. The active group of volunteers take on wide-ranging projects including cemetery restoration/ clean-up, oral histories, landmarks, and the preservation of some of the 1941 murals at Mamaroneck High School scheduled for removal.
Fellows described how each project is weighed for value and impact and sometimes includes a joint venture with other municipalities. He warned against complacency that the Society will always be here with the cautionary tale of the Larchmont Historical Society which is now defunct.
Describing the relevance of the Society, Fellows stated it’s a place where long-time members of the community can remember, and new community members can learn of our rich history.
The Society's mission is "to preserve local historical landmarks and public records; to encourage the study of local history and stimulate historical scholarship; to assemble genealogies of old families; to collect, assemble and provide for the display of historical objects and data and to inculcate reverence and respect for contributions of the past to the present."
They seem to be doing just that. Check out their website (See HERE) where you are invited to join the volunteers to contribute money and/or your time. The Society is appreciative of any support to help their mission to remember who we are and where we come from.
