SHARE

Putnam County's New Historian Sarah Johnson Plans To Go Digital

PUTNAM COUNTY, N.Y. – Putnam County has introduced its new historian, Sarah Johnson. Now, she’s eager to share the county’s history from a new perspective.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

“People think history is boring because of the way it has been presented to them,” said Johnson. “That’s because of the old-school way of thinking about history. I get really frustrated with history that is focused on dead white guys and the facts that come from dusty, old documents,” said Johnson. “I think you get a much fuller picture of history if you look at the whole life cycle of objects. How it got manufactured and distributed and used and re-used and thrown away.” Johnson earned her bachelor’s degree in 1985 at the University of Northern Iowa, where she studied European history. She earned a master’s degree in costume studies at New York University before landing a job at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. She also has worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Johnson’s love for preservation, saving remnants of the past and learning their stories is what drew her to apply for the Putnam County Historian position.

“When I think of my experiences, I kind of wax poetic about the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I trained for two years,” Johnson said. “When I took my lunch break, I could go look at ancient Egypt. I had the whole world right there. It was such an amazing time. I basically had unrestricted collections access.

As Putnam’s historian, Johnson hopes to move the county’s history into the digital age. She spoke of taking digital photographs of historical markers and putting them online using GPS and Google maps so people can find them.

"There are so many new apps emerging from the digital humanities now and I’ve been chomping on the bit to get started on those kinds of projects,” Johnson said.

One project involves downloadable walking and driving tours in the near future. She also hopes to launch a program for collecting oral histories.

to follow Daily Voice Putnam and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE