County historian celebrates life’s work

Late last month, Tompkins County historian Carol Kammen was awarded the 2020 Lehman Prize for Distinguished Service in New York History, which recognized her for her career writing, promoting and contributing to community history.

According to a recent press release, “the award is given annually as a part of the New York Academy of History’s mission to promote and honor outstanding and life-long contributions to New York history and is named for former New York State Governor Herbert H. Lehman.”

The award is a celebration of nearly a lifetime of work by Kammen, as she’s been the county historian for two decades and has had a passion for history for most of her life.

“I came here in 1965 with two babies and a husband who had a job, and I had no skills, but I had majored in history. So, I looked around for what I could do,” she said. “Nobody was doing very interesting local history. … And so, I started asking questions about women, ethnicity, Blacks, the poor, the disabled because they weren’t in our history. And so, I wanted to put them back in.”

Kammen’s interest brought her to a variety of roles, from teaching a youth grant course and AP American History at Ithaca High School to teaching local history at Tompkins Cortland Community College and Cornell University, the latter of which she stayed at for over 25 years.

It wasn’t until 2000 that Kammen took her teaching experience and applied it to a different line of work. At that time, the county historian was ill, and the county administrator opened the door for someone else to take the position of historian. Kammen was one of two applicants, and she took over as county historian soon after.

As Kammen explained, the role of county historian was, and remains, a rather unknown and less talked-about position in the county, but that also means that Kammen has had considerable freedom.

“County historian had no money associated with it. It had a very low profile,” she said. “Nobody knew what it was. The county still doesn’t quite know what the county historian is. And so, they let me do anything I want. The county’s been wonderful to me.”

With no concrete job description, Kammen decided to take her own approach to the role, and she didn’t do it alone. She created the Municipal Historians of Tompkins County, a group that started meeting monthly in 2000 and continues to meet through Zoom during the pandemic. Its 18 to 25 members include all of the appointed historians in the county and others who enjoy local history.

In addition to the Municipal Historians, Kammen is also the chair of the Community Celebrations Committee of the Strategic Tourism Planning Board, a role she’s held since 2001. And more recently, the Kammen helped to create the Tompkins County Historical Commission, charged with encouraging local research and the education of residents about local history.

“What we’re doing is trying to create a sense of place for everyone here by doing good research and supporting people who are doing research and encouraging people to know about their local history, why they’re here, why they came, why people don’t stay, why a minister in 1830 said, this is the most fluctuating place he’s ever been in,” she said. “And it’s still true.”

Kammen has had a rather prolific writing career, contributing editorials for the magazine History News, the publication of the American Association for State and Local History, for about 25 years and writing many books on local history. Kammen’s books are frequently used in classrooms throughout the U.S. as a lens on studying local history.

Kammen’s day-to-day routine hasn’t changed much during the pandemic. While she is working from home instead of her office, Kammen continues to answer questions from residents and municipal historians, conduct research and write. And no matter what she’s doing in her role, Kammen said she enjoys every part of it.

“I love all of it,” she said. “I love to write. I love to research. I love talking to people about their research topics. I love meeting with municipal historians because it’s a wonderful group of people who are concerned with how local history of smaller places can be useful.”

Kammen is currently working on a book about the African American experience in Tompkins County, for which she’s already written a batch of chapters.

Through all her work, Kammen said she’s dedicated to showing people the role they play in their own history.

“My favorite part is helping other people see that they are in time and of time,” she said. “And what I mean by that is they too are actors in history. We’re all actors in history at a particular time. I’m interested in how people understand how we got to this place and what it means to be here now and where we’re going.”

The importance of Kammen’s work has been amplified by the history in the making that has been happening ever since the pandemic hit, as well as with the recent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. While Kammen said that “historians are not prophets,” her experience has shown her that this is a resilient community, particularly through this challenging time.

“Things are going to happen because of Black Lives Matter, because our democracy is challenged right now, because of the pandemic, and we don’t know what’s going to happen next,” she said. “But I truly believe that there will be good things [that] come out of this very stressful time. I think we will get through it, and I won’t like all of it, I won’t understand some of it, but I think we will be in a better place.”

For now, Kammen remains optimistic and expressed her appreciation of winning the Lehman Prize for Distinguished Service.

“I’m delighted,” she said. “It’s great fun to be recognized by people who do history for what I do. … I’m very much interested in addressing people — and the award notices that that’s what I’ve been doing — and bringing people together to talk about history and to do history. So, I’m tremendously pleased and honored.”

Kammen emphasized that she couldn’t have accomplished what she has without her friends, family and colleagues, who have helped her every step of the way. And those in her life share that appreciation for her.

In the release, Kenneth T. Jackson, president of the New York Academy of History, spoke highly of Kammen.

“For more than a generation, Carol Kammen has set the standard for local, county and state history in the United States,” he said. “She has been a strong advocate for New York state and has generously shared her enthusiasm and expertise with everyone around her. The Herbert H. Lehman Prize is testimony to her numerous accomplishments.”

Legislator Mike Lane, who co-chaired the Tompkins County Civil War Commemoration Committee with Kammen, added that she has great significance for the local community.

“In her mission of making local history relevant, she consistently elevates the conversation and has a commitment to collaboration with other local and regional historians,” he said. “Tompkins County is proud of the contributions to helping us understand and make sense of our past as we work toward a better future.”

The New York Academy of History is a not-for-profit organization consisting of people who have distinguished themselves in the practice of New York history. It aims to encourage its study, advocate for its strength and represent the interests of those who work in classrooms, archives, historical societies, libraries and other venues.

Kammen was selected for the prize by a jury of her peers and will be recognized in a rescheduled gala to be held by the Academy.