HISTORY ENTHUSIAST

Colleen Coulthart sworn in as city historian

ONEIDA, N.Y. » New City Historian Colleen Coulthart was sworn in at this month’s Common Council meeting on Tuesday.

It’s been a long time since the

City Historian position has been filled in Oneida, becoming vacant in 2014 when previous City Historian David Alvord passed away.

Now over five years later, the title is being given to a local history enthusiast who’s both qualified and excited to fill the position’s shoes.

Coulthart brought her own Bible to be sworn in with and wanted to share its special meaning with the audience.

“This Bible belonged to my husband’s family, [to] his grandmother who was born on the Erie Canal. Since we are so much a part of the Eerie Canal and [Oneida’s] history, I thought it would be a really nice thing to

“This Bible belonged to my husband’s family, [to] his grandmother whowas born on the Erie Canal.”

— City Historian Colleen

Coulthart

use this.”

As Coulthart was hugged and congratulated by the mayor and peers, Ward 3 Councilor and husband, James Coulthart, exclaimed “Wait a minute!” to step down from his seat in the chambers and give his wife a congratulatory embrace.

“I always wanted to be a history teacher,” said Colleen Coulthart. “I graduated from Oswego State with a degree in History and Social Science, but at the time there were a lot of teachers,” explaining her difficulty finding a teaching job being part of the baby boomer genera

tion.

Instead of teaching, she got married, raised a family, and found other pursuits, but always practiced history through hobbies and reading

Colleen Coulthart shared her feelings when she was first asked to become the City Historian.

“I said, ‘ Yeah, that’s great!,’ I’m free, and it’s something I always had an interest in.”

“It’s since been a building process,” Colleen Coulthart added. “I’ve met a couple of times with the mayor to discuss how to bring this position back to life.”

When asked “What does a Historian do?” Colleen Coulthart expressed her personal vision.

“A public Historian is a person who I think tries to encourage interest in historic things, gets involved with education, gets in touch with students and the public in general, and tries to support anything that advances the history of the place that they live and to help preserve it for the future.”

Now, after finally being able to hold a public role in history like she had always wanted, Colleen Coulthart couldn’t have been more thrilled for that role to also be right in Oneida.

“This is a pretty cool town that has a pretty cool history,” she said.

To contact the City Historian, email Colleen Coulthart at ccoulthart@oneidacity.com.

CARLY STONE - MEDIANEWS GROUP City of Oneida Mayor Helen Acker gets ready to swear in new City Historian Colleen Coulthart.

CARLY STONE - MEDIANEWS GROUP Newly sworn in City Historian Colleen Coulthart (left) poses for a picture with husband and Ward 3Councilor, James Coulthart (middle), and Mayor Helen Acker (right).