Dear CCHS Members, Friends, and Visitors,

Cortland County Historical Society will reopen under NY Forward Phase 4 Guidelines on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. While we look forward to returning to work on site, out of concern for everyone’s safety and the physical limitations of our facilities, the James Suggett House Museum and the Kellogg Memorial Research Center will remain closed to members, friends, and visitors. 

We will offer distance research (free to members) only. Our priority when we reopen is to respond to the growing backlog of research requests, in the order in which they were received.  Please email your research requests to info@cortlandhistory.org.

We are excited to announce that while the Museum remains closed, we will be installing a Children’s History Discovery Center in part of the exhibit area in the Museum. We look forward to hosting a grand opening for this interactive center when it is safe to do so. This project is funded in part by a Cortland County Bright Ideas Grant funded through the Central New York Community Foundation.

We will be installing our new and expanded Gift Shop in the Kellogg Memorial Research Center. We started this project prior to our closing and hope to have merchandise, calendars, and books available for your holiday shopping in the fall. If you are eager to purchase one of our publications, we are offering curbside pick-up on Saturdays from 1:00 – 5:00 pm, beginning on Saturday, July 11, 2020.

While we were closed, we applied for and received several grants to fund needed repairs to the Suggett House, including roof and porch repairs (new decking), gutters, and painting the research center. We hope to complete this work over the summer. We are grateful to the McDonald and Wilkins Foundations for their support of these initiatives that will help to preserve our historic home.

Our Board of Trustees and Committees will continue to meet via Zoom. Our one-year subscription to Zoom was generously donated by Trustee, Ann Homer, in memory of Alton Hall, Linda Hall Homer, and Lora Hall.  

We hope you have been enjoying our daily posts on Facebook and Instagram. We will be continuing to post updates and stories, Sunday Drive photos, What is It Wednesday artifacts, and more. In addition, we will be writing blog entries on our Website. Look for additional updates in our August Newsletter.

Finally, we welcome Sophie Clough, as our Collections and Research Assistant. Sophie is a long-time volunteer. She is pursuing an online master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Buffalo and is a great addition to our staff.

We will continue to assess and revise our Reopening Plan over the next several months. We miss you and we look forward to the day when we can welcome you in person at CCHS.

Stay well!

Tabitha

Tabitha Scoville, Director
Cortland County Historical Society
25 Homer Ave. Cortland, NY 13045
Telling Your Stories Since 1925