CGP Community Stories

Items

• Marilyn Bridges, November 22, 2025
  Marilyn Bridges is a nurse practitioner living in Indian Lake, New York. She was born in Buffalo, New York, to a teenage mother, and was raised during her early childhood by her grandparents on a small farm in Camden, Alabama. Bridges’ recollections of her childhood on the farm include persuading her traditional grandmother to install electricity in the house and, later, a television. At fourteen, she decided to return to Buffalo to visit her mother, stepfather, and siblings, family members she had not seen in nearly a decade, and it turned into a two-year stay. When Bridges eventually returned to Camden, her grandparents had sold their farm and moved into the township. She enrolled in a supposedly integrated public school, though white families in the area had established a private academy in response to desegregation, leaving only one white student in the local school. Bridges’ account of her youth includes stories of attending college, navigating early relationships, and ultimately moving back to New York after meeting her future husband. She later had a son, Sean, and pursued further education to become a nurse practitioner in Albany, New York. After graduating from nursing school, Bridges relocated to the Adirondacks for work, becoming one of the few Black medical professionals in the region. Bridges describes her experiences treating mostly white patients in rural Adirondack communities, noting that while many families welcomed her care, others were hesitant or openly resistant to receiving treatment from a Black nurse. Despite these challenges, she emphasizes a strong sense of professional duty, compassion, and commitment she attributes in part to her Christian faith, which she referenced repeatedly when discussing her approach to caregiving and forgiveness. I interviewed Ms. Bridges at her home in Indian Lake, New York. She is currently undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer and is staying at the Amanda House at Glens Falls Hospital during her treatment period. Because of this, she has temporarily paused her work as a nurse practitioner. Ms. Bridges speaks with a blended vernacular shaped by her Southern upbringing and her use of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). I have chosen to preserve some of these grammatical particularities and turns of phrase in the transcript to reflect the cadence and character of her speech. As with any transcription, however, it is impossible to fully capture the nuances of her dialect, and researchers are encouraged to consult the audio recordings for greater accuracy.
• David Petri, November 7, 2025
  In 1964, student folklorist Henry Glassie interviewed Jesse F. Wells and his wife, Lulu, for the Cooperstown Graduate Program. Jesse discussed his life on the farm and his role as a musician. Jesse also played some songs on his guitar, which Glassie recorded. Sixty-one years later, their grandson, David Petri, recalls his grandparents' story, reflects upon his relationship with them, and how this relationship influenced his future interests in local history, farming, collecting, and the power of artifacts to create a tangible connection between the past and the present. For clarity purposes, this interview has been edited, removing false starts, filler phrases, and conjunctions. Some exceptions have been made where those words help capture David's emotional investment towards the subject matter. David Petri is a long-time resident of Cooperstown, NY. His main interest is collecting antiques. He has amassed a collection of farm tools, smith works, woodworks, and architectural pieces. Throughout his life, David has gathered information on farm history and techniques, architectural history, and genealogy. He served on the advisory board of The Farmers' Museum. David has also engaged in preservation efforts for various historic buildings in Otsego County. David was previously interviewed in 2010 by Julie Broadbent. Although David covered similar topics as those in 2010, this time, he focused on his grandfather's role as a folk musician and his family's relationship with music. From that starting point, David spoke of the changes in the landscape throughout his family's multigenerational span. This led to David's reflection on the power of artifacts to preserve memory, personal and collective, and the role museums need to play in relation to artifacts. For this interview, David brought several objects that he used to tell his grandparents' story and to illustrate his concept of "dead" and "live" artifacts. These objects, which were properly photographed, were: Jesse and Lulu's wedding photograph, an iron peel, a piece of molding, a half-made broomstick, and an auger.
• Edgar Betelu, December 3, 2025
  Edgar Betelu is the senior folklorist at New York Folklore (NYF). Originally from Argentina, Mr. Betelu moved to New York City in the 1980’s and attended CUNY, the City University of New York, earning a degree in sociology. Throughout his 30+ year career, Mr. Betelu has worked in public programming, outreach, and music production. At New York Folklore, Mr. Betelu and the team work to connect and educate the state of New York to folk art. NYF provides traditional artists and organizations with funding and networks needed to share heritage to a larger New York State audience. The work of NYF is especially important today as artists and organizations struggle with limited resources. They strengthen their community by supporting diversity and helping the public stay connected to their heritage. I interviewed Mr. Betelu at the Electric City Barn in Schenectady, New York, an art center a few minutes down the road from the NYF offices. NYF often collaborates with Electric City Barn, holding programs, workshops, and art shows for the people and artists of the Schenectady/Albany area. Through his work, Mr. Betelu has helped to document, support, and revitalize folk art in the state of New York. Due to nerves, Mr. Betelu and I often give false starts or change a thought in the middle of a sentence. I chose to remove these false starts and edit sentences to correctly display what either Mr. Betelu or I were trying to convey.
• Barbara Lindholm, November, 3, 2025
  Barbara Lindholm was born Barbara Orcutt in Utica, NY, in 1957. Lindholm grew up on her parents' dairy farm and witnessed many of the changes to the industry and her family's farm over the years. Her extended family all lives in the area, and Lindholm grew up spending time at her grandparents' and uncles' farms and having family get-togethers. Lindholm's family used to make their own Apple cider and grow much of their own food. Having lived in Otsego County most of her life, Lindholm knows the area well and intended to go into farming and agribusiness. After she was married, Lindholm worked in factories, as a school bus driver, and as a trolley driver in Cooperstown. Barbara worked in the cafeteria in the Cooperstown schools, but has now retired from that career, and continues driving the school buses. In high school, she was a part of Future Farmers of America and went to state and national competitions and conferences. Having attended high school in the 1960s, Lindholm did not consider herself to be a part of any social movements, but remembers them and their changes. Lindholm has done substantial research into her family's genealogy and her ancestors' movements across the country and has several stories from her family during the 19th century. During the creation of Western rail lines, many people from the New York region moved west. At the time of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, many people moved back to the eastern states. Lindholm's recollections range from explanations of the workings of dairy farms from the 1960s up to the present day, and the ongoings of the Future Farmers of America club, to baseball in Cooperstown. Some of the most interesting information is about the changes of the late 20th century. I interviewed Ms. Lindholm in Cooperstown, NY, after she returned home from her work as a bus driver. Ms. Lindholm speaks with a slight accent and rural dialect. I have chosen to keep some grammatical and word choices to reflect this.
• Joseph Thatcher, November 10, 2025
  Joseph Thatcher is one of the earliest graduates of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, being part of the class of 1966. Mr. Thatcher recounts his time in the program both in relation to his classmates and his experiences living in the area at this time. Recalling how he got involved in the beginnings of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, Mr. Thatcher details his journey going from University in Ohio and the United States Airforce to upstate New York. After graduating from the program, Mr. Thatcher shares his career in the museum industry, working in the Ohio museum systems and eventually making his way to the New York State Parks and Historic Sites. Detailing the changing environments in the museum world from the late 1960s to the present day, and all the problems that professionals like himself encountered.
• Kathryn Boardman, December 2, 2025
  Kathryn "Katie" Boardman is a full-time professor at the Cooperstown Graduate Program and a graduate of the CGP class of 1982. As she is retiring after the Fall 2025 semester, she recollects her experiences at the Cooperstown Graduate Program, The Farmers’ Museum (now the Fenimore Farm & Country Village), and growing up in Virginia and Delaware. She reflects on the history of accessibility at CGP and the program’s relationship with Pathfinder Village, a school and residence for people with developmental disabilities.
• Susan "Rabbit" Goody, November 12, 2025
  Interview with Rabbit Goody, owner of Thistle Hill Weavers in Cherry Valley, New York. Interview was held in the evening at the Mill on November 12, 20225.
• Dr. Ellen McHale, November 24, 2025
  Dr. Ellen McHale lives in Charleston, New York and is the current Executive Director of the New York Folklore Society (NYF) on Jay Street in Schenectady, New York. She has a bachelor’s degree in music and American Studies from Wesleyan University, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. Ellen’s relationship with NYF began when she participated in its annual conferences and meetings. She was later invited to be the membership coordinator for the organization, until she became the board president from 1990 to 1994. After briefly stepping away, Ellen returned and became the executive director of NYF in 1999, after the first director, John Suter, departed from the organization. In this role, Ellen is a spokesperson, overseeing an expansive, statewide network of folk artists and folk cultural specialists. She is an editor of a scholarly journal for the organization, “Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore.” She also conducts numerous projects for the organization, including a partnership with Local Learning, a national organization that teaches folk artists through educational programming. As of February 2025, Ellen has been a part of NYF for 26 years. In the interview, Ellen discusses a wide range of topics from the history of NYF, the evolution of folklore studies, community partnerships, and educational initiatives. She also shares her career journey and recent work at NYF, discussing a range of cultural and educational programs. She details her research and achievements, including receiving the Archie Green Fellowship from the Library of Congress in 2012, conducting fieldwork with Saratoga racetrack workers, and her interest in environmental research. The interview highlights Ellen’s experience as executive director and her efforts to support the maintenance and cultivation of New York State’s diverse folklore traditions.
• James Burton III, November 17, 2025
  James Burton III is a Job Coach for Citizen Advocates in the town of Saranac Lake. James was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1958. After graduating from Millersville State University and a stint in the Navy, he visited a cousin in the Adirondacks in 1996 and fell in love with it. He worked several jobs over the years while facing discrimination from law enforcement and some residents. Eventually he found a job at Citizen Advocates where he gives back to his community by helping people with intellectual disabilities find jobs. The Adirondacks have historically been predominantly White and conservative, meaning that many communities there are resistant to change and see what they believe to be outsiders as a threat. James also moved there on the tail end of the Crack Epidemic, which was when crack cocaine usage was destroying Black and other minority communities in inner cities. This led to the negative stereotype of Black people being violent criminals and drug addicts being widespread. James and many other African Americans experienced discrimination based on these false assumptions. This interview was conducted at James’ home in Saranac Lake. The interview was done for an upcoming exhibit at the Adirondack Experience so much of the conversation tended to focus on his life in the Adirondacks. He discusses many of the outdoor activities that he likes to do as well as how the community has changed over time. This conversation was edited very lightly, with false starts, run-on sentences, and filler words being edited out. There are also a few occasions on which the interviewee’s phone rings which are denoted in the text for clarity. The goal was to make the transcription as close to the tone of the actual interview as possible.
• Barbara Pope, November 6, 2025
  Barbara McEwan Pope is a long-term resident of Cooperstown, New York, with family roots in the village stretching back several generations. Pope was born in Sandy Spring, Maryland, in 1942. Although she spent her childhood primarily in Washington, D.C., she spent her summers in Cooperstown visiting her grandparents, forming an enduring attachment to the community. After spending much of her adult life relocating frequently as part of her first husband’s military career, she settled permanently in Cooperstown more than thirty years ago. Her memories connect mid-20th-century village life, square dances, fireman’s carnivals, and small family-owned shops to the present-day realities of tourism, development pressures, and environmental change. The interview provides a broad view of social and cultural life in Cooperstown from the 1940s through the early 21st century. Historically, this period includes the post-war transformation of rural communities, the rise of heritage tourism around the National Baseball Hall of Fame, changes in local institutions such as Bassett hospital, and the increasing economic challenges facing Otsego County. The narrator also discusses more recent issues, including the effects of climate change on Otsego Lake, the growing need for affordable housing, and the local experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. I conducted the interview at Mrs. Pope’s home in Cooperstown on November 6, 2025, as part of the Cooperstown Graduate Program’s Research and Fieldwork course. The setting was informal and conversational, and the interview followed the format of the program’s oral history project. In preparing the transcript, I also followed the program’s oral history transcription procedure. Speakers are identified by initials, and time markers indicate the progression of the conversation. Nonverbal actions, such as laughter or gestures, are recorded in brackets. Brief clarifications have been added in brackets when needed for clarity, such as providing exact dates when the narrator used approximate ones. I did not significantly alter the narrator’s wording, but like most oral history transcripts, it is not a verbatim reproduction of every pause, filler word, or inflection. Researchers interested in nuances of tone or delivery should consult the audio recording.
• Tom Montan, November 13, 2024
• Kathy Shimberg, November 13, 2024 (video)
• Virginia Scheer, November 21, 2024 (video)
• Ladan Nikravan, November 4, 2024 (video)
• Rosette Schureman, November 16, 2024
  Rosette Schureman is an artist currently living in central New York State. She grew up in New Jersey and New York and received her art degree from Utica College (Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute). She was one of the first office workers for Sculpture Space in the 1970s. She worked there for 18 months during that time. Afterwards, she started a family and developed her art before returning to work there in the year 2000. She is an artist who incorporates our natural world through collages, printmaking, and photography.
• George Ward, November 18th, 2024 (Video)
  Interview of George Ward by Justin Maroney [0:00] Q: George, you tell us you're still playing some gigs today? Ward proceeds to explain that he is, despite some restrictions due to age. [0:22] Q: Would you mind playing a song for us? Ward plays an Erie Canal folk song. [1:41] Ward explains the origins of the song from a primary source in Philadelphia. He explains that the song connects to a piece of canal folklore concerning a giant who worked on the canal and played a massive Irish penny whistle. The camera is panned to view a model of the instrument while George explains how it was made.
• Virginia Scheer, November 21, 2024
  Virginia Scheer is a folklorist with a long history of service to her community through her work as the Director of Manhattan Country School Farm and co-founding the folklife center, Catskills Folk Connections (CFC) in 2007. Virginia, most commonly referred to as Ginny, has spent much of her life working as a folklorist and earned a master’s degree at Western Kentucky University on the subject later in life. Ginny has also been an active participant of the Folk Arts Roundtable with the New York Folklore Society (NYFS). Located in southeastern New York State, the Catskills is a region rich in history and culture with a wide variety of folk arts, spanning from dances and music to stonework, woodwork, fiber work, and more. The Catskills has nurtured the development of artists, musicians, and writers for generations, especially during its golden era in the 19th century when many were drawn to the Catskills’ lush and wild natural beauty. As it were, Ginny and Karyl Eaglefeathers, at the behest of Robert Baron, were inspired to start the Catskills Folk Music Project in 2007 to celebrate the Catskills' traditional folk arts, and this would eventually become the CFC. Since then, Ginny has helped to bring greater attention to the Catskills' unique folk-art traditions and culture through exhibits CFC puts on every two years. This year’s exhibit was “Folk Art in Fiber,” featuring a variety of skilled quilters from the Catskills area with the exhibit just finishing its run in November. Ginny starts off by describing her beginnings as a folklorist and then speaks at length about the different exhibits CFC has put on over the years and provides many detailed anecdotes about different Catskills folk artists and their work. She also gives insightful commentary on the nature of folklore as a discipline in relation to history and discusses the difficulties and value of Cultural Journalism through how it preserves folk life traditions and popular memory. Ginny speaks about NYFS’s support for CFC as well, with specific focus on her participation in the Folk Arts Roundtable and how that has helped her work and to grow as a folklorist. I interviewed Ginny at the Catskills Center for Conservation and Development in Arkville, New York. Ginny quotes several speakers when telling stories in the interview, so dialogue quotes have been marked with quotation marks for readability. Ginny also had a program folder on hand for “Folk Art in Fiber,” which provided information on each of the artists featured in the exhibit. She refers to this folder a few times during the interview. Lastly, because the center is located on a busy country highway, cars and trucks can be heard occasionally in the background throughout the interview.
• George Ward, November 18th, 2024
  George Ward is an accomplished folklorist and musician with an extensive repertoire of Erie Canal folk songs. Mr. Ward was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1938, but was raised largely on Long Island. While at Union College in the early 1960s, George met Lawrence Older and developed a deep interest in folk music. Mr. Ward and his wife, Vaughn, further developed their shared passion for folklore at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. A member of the 1969 class, Mr. Ward worked with a variety of tradition bearers, especially in folk music and agrarian practices. After graduation, Mr. Ward was an educator and performer of these traditions, and he is still actively giving musical performances today. I interviewed Mr. Ward at his home in Rexford, New York. He had just recently performed a set of Erie Canal songs at a local museum. As such, his recent gig and future performances became a topic. Mr. Ward kindly performed a song at the end of the recording, the musical aspects of which are impossible to fully convey in this format. Researchers are encouraged to consult the audio for further listening.
• Rainer Wehner, November 14, 2024 (Video)
  Rainer Wehner recounts his experience when he first came to Sculpture Space and how it shaped his view on making art.
• Janis Benincasa, November 27, 2024
  Janis Benincasa is an eminent folklorist, specializing in art and environment within the Catskills, as defined by the people rather than New York State. Born to first-generation immigrants in 1956 in Patchogue, Long Island, she got a West Coast education at the University of California, Los Angeles, and entered the realm of folklore through her cultural anthropology degree. She recounts her career from beginning to end, tracing the lines of the myriad cultural organizations she has worked for. She discusses her time with the Erpf Catskill Cultural Center and the Staten Island Council on the Arts as well as SUNY New Paltz’s language program, museum, and think tank. Her discussion of these positions is intertwined with her experiences with New York Folklore. I interviewed Janis over Zoom. She was at her home in Arkville. Now fully retired, she covers personal experiences, shares anecdotes, and reflects on her career. She offers insights into the realm of folklore while discussing the field’s lack of financial stability. I have edited the interview for clarity, creating sentence breaks and adding missing words if necessary. The final minute of the interview is not transcribed. After having thanked Janis for the interview, I did not stop the recording and only realized after the fact that a minute had passed. The information removed has minimal relevance to the content of the interview and is essentially a discussion between us.
• Pamela Cooley, November 20, 2024 (Video)
  [00:17] Q: Pamela, can you tell me when and where you were born? Cooley proceeds to say she was born July 30, 1945, in Sidney, New York. [00:28] Q: Can you tell me about how you first got involved with the New York Folklore Society? Through NYSCA [New York State Council of the Arts] and their folklore programs, Pamela attended various roundtable events. She then learned about the New York State Folklore Society and was eventually asked to be a board member. [1:43] Q: Can you describe to me a little bit about your board responsibilities and being a board member of New York Folklore Society? Pamela was a member for 6 years (2000-2006) and helped at some of New York Folklore Society’s annual conferences. [2:35] Q: Can you describe for me what got you interested in the topic of folklore? Has been interested in folklore for her whole life through experiences and learning moments in her life. Once she was involved with NYSCA, folk art programs, and New York Folklore Society was when she felt really involved with folklore. [3:27] Q: How has being a part of New York Folklore Society impacted your life? New York Folklore Society has provided relationships and advanced knowledge of folklore itself. While providing a rich understanding and experience with folklore in New York State. [4:16] Q: How has working with New York Folklore Society allowed you to acquire diverse perspectives of folklore within different communities? Pamela feels she has gained this experience through their programming and their desire to have diversity within the foundations of their society.
• Kathy Shimberg, November 13, 2024
  Kathy Shimberg was born in 1937 in Washington D.C. Kathy’s life has been strongly influenced by her love of music, which led her into the study of folklife and folk music. Kathy is an accomplished musician on multiple instruments, including the piano, fiddle, banjo, and guitar. Kathy talks about how her childhood influenced her as she learned music from some well-known musicians in the folk music community, but also how her experiences influenced her views on folk music. I interviewed Kathy in my home in Cooperstown, New York. I have chosen to edit Kathy's speech slightly for the sake of easier reading. I have omitted a few words and added a few for clarity, but I have not changed the feel or the meaning of her words. As it is impossible to reproduce the subtleties of speech in writing, I encourage researchers to consult the audio recording.
• Rainer Wehner, November 14, 2024
  Rainer Maria Wehner is a German American artist who was born in Munich, West Germany in 1948. Trained as an artist in Germany, he participated in an artist residency at Sculpture Space in Utica, New York where he now lives. Being part of the art world in both Europe and the United States for decades, Mr. Wehner runs a gallery called Other Space in Utica which showcases local art from artists from Sculpture Space and the wider Utica community. Through our conversation, we discussed the differences between culture in Germany and the United States as well as the changes in the art world he has witnessed over his lifetime. The main topic of our conversation was Mr. Wehner's experiences with Sculpture Space, a residency program for sculpture artists. I interviewed Mr. Wehner at his home in Utica, New York. Prior to starting the interview, we discussed what the interview would look like and how it would be focused on his involvement with Sculpture Space. Since German is Mr. Wehner's first language, I attempted to preserve his phrasing and expressions in the transcript.
• Kevin Michael Grady, November 15, 2024
  Kevin Michael Grady was born in 1951 in Cooperstown, New York. As a fourth- generation Cooperstown native, Mr. Grady’s involvement and contributions to the Village community have been substantial. He grew up working in a number of his father’s local Village businesses which fostered his interest in business. Starting in 1980, Mr. Grady opened two restaurants in Cooperstown, first the Pepper Mill and years later Doubleday Café. For many years, Mr. Grady has also volunteered with local organizations, including the Cooperstown Volunteer Fire Department and Little League, and on local government boards. As he recounts his experiences in Cooperstown, Mr. Grady details the ways Cooperstown has transformed from his childhood to the present; he notably discusses how the advent of baseball tourism affected local businesses, including his own, and he describes some of the challenges he faced from the Village, locals, and others while working in local government on different projects. Mr. Grady also provides insight into local environmental issues that have affected his community over the years, including watershed management and invasive species. Some of the most interesting material in the interview concern Mr. Grady’s experiences in running local businesses and his remarks about Cooperstown and the environment. I interviewed Mr. Grady in his home in Cooperstown. The location was quiet; however, there are three instances during the interview in which loud noises and an interjection disrupt the interview. Although now retired, Mr. Grady still supports Village activities while enjoying the company of his family, including that of his sons and grandchildren who also live in Cooperstown. Mr. Grady’s dialogue is usually very direct and clear; I have edited this transcript mostly to remove false starts, repetition, and filler words like “and,” “so,” and “you know” to improve readability. I have also edited long phrases into shorter sentences to improve the text’s flow. Because of the liberties taken when editing, researchers are encouraged to consult the audio recordings.
• Tom Montan, November 13, 2024
  Tom Montan is the current CEO of Sculpture Space in Utica, New York. Originally from California, Mr. Montan moved across the country eight years ago to pursue his love for art through his role at Sculpture Space. Prior to Sculpure Space, Mr. Montan worked for a large-scale bookstore operation in California for over 20 years, where he worked as their marketing director before becoming the chief executive officer. Mr. Montan is also an artist; his work is mostly figurative portraiture paintings, but he has also experimented with sculptural casting and other mediums. Tom is a passionate advocate for artists, serving on many art boards and councils, and is also a landlord in the Oneonta, New York region. Hosting up to 20 artists every year, Sculpture Space is an artist residency program located in Utica, New York. Sculpture Space was founded almost 50 years ago in an old boilermaker plant by Charlie Fisher and John von Bergen where the mission, as described by Mr. Montan, is to support artists. Artists from all over the world come to Sculpture Space for two months to create and experiment with their artistic processes. Mr. Montan’s managerial and creative experiences paired with his deep love for the arts are evident in the interview. Much of the interview focuses on Mr. Montan’s vision for Sculpture Space, potential future endeavors in the form of programs, fundraising activities, as well as bettering the residency experience. In discussing Mr. Montan’s role at Sculpture Space, conversations surrounding the rapid changes in art arose, particularly about sculptural mediums and process evolving. I interviewed Mr. Montan at the Sculpture Space studio. Prior to the interview, Mr. Montan gave me a tour of the space, including the outdoor sculpture gardens. He makes mention of some of these prior conversations during the course of the interview.