Historical society honors retiring Barbara Bell

    SCHUYLER COUNTY—The Schuyler County Historical Society held its annual open house at the Brick Tavern Museum and held a farewell reception for retiring historian Barbara Bell, Sunday, Dec. 11.
    Bell has served as the Reading town historian since 1954 and the county historian since 1980.  At the end of the month, though, she will no longer hold those titles.  Marion Boyce, town of Dix historian, will take over for the county.
    Bell was born in Cortland, N.Y.  She started her foray into history during the centennial celebration for Schuyler County.  She said in 1952 she offered to write about the county’s history for the local newspapers.
    “By the time I had enough for an article, I was hooked,” she said.
    She was a founding member of the Schuyler County Historical Society. Bell’s career has since included writing five books on area history and columns for The REVIEW&EXPRESS, The Observer, Ithaca Journal, and the Star-Gazette newspapers.
    She was named “Outstanding Historian of New York State for 1995” by the Association of Municipal Historians, elected to the Schuyler County Hall of Fame in 1997, and named Woman of the Year by the Watkins Glen Business and Professional Women in 2002.
    Even though Bell is retiring as the county historian, she will continue writing two columns per month for The REVIEW&EXPRESS newspaper.