I wanted to start a blog for the Historical Society even before I was hired. I could see from the website that there was not enough local color and no reason for people to come back to website week after week. Once I started here nine and half years ago (!), I knew I had to share all the cool stuff I was finding –amazing photos, interesting lives of Montgomery County people, wonderful original documents. I wanted everyone else to know about the fascinating collection that I got to work with every day.

I often joke that our blog has few readers, but really, we have some wonderful readers who comment and share our posts. I get lots of emails from people who have discovered something new about their county or who have more information about the topic to share with me.

I’ve only sporadically kept track of what I’ve covered on the blog. Usually, I race just to get it done by 5 every Thursday. If I had to guess, I’d say that I’ve written over 300 articles. My all-time favorite being the one on Mary Knowles and the Plymouth Meeting Controversy because it shows how the sort of national level politics you learn about in history class have an impact on the local level.  I've also really loved working with our rare books.

If you come to our library to do research, you might remember in the early years, that I often couldn’t locate items. Now, nearly everything has been cataloged, and that doesn’t happen too much anymore. With the help of a lot of amazing volunteers, we’ve managed to bring the collection under control. I wanted to acknowledge all their work, so thank you Anne, Kristy, Kristina, Rae, Dick, Rita, George, Nan, and Janice. And I’d like to remember Carl and Ed who gave so much of their time to our society.

Today is my last day at HSMC. I’ve really enjoyed my time here, and I’ve learned a lot about not just the history of Montgomery County but also its people and its spirit. There are many more stories to share about our county, so I hope you’ll keep reading.