SHARE

Meet Putnam's New Historian, Sarah A. Johnson

PUTNAM COUNTY, N.Y. -- Theresa M. Oliver, confidential secretary to theCounty Executive, welcomes historian Sarah A. Johnson. 

Sarah Johnson, Putnam County historian, left, and County Executive MaryEllen Odell.

Sarah Johnson, Putnam County historian, left, and County Executive MaryEllen Odell.

Photo Credit: Contributed

If anyone thinks history is boring, think - and look - again. Putnam County Historian Sarah A. Johnson may change your idea of the past. She sees history from a unique perspective.

“People think history is boring because of the way it has been presented to them. 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.”

While Johnson earned her bachelor's degree in 1985 at the University of Northern Iowa as a European history major, she spent college summers in Montclair, N.J., honing some of her many unusual skills. In New Jersey, it was designing clothes for theatrical productions. That led to her decision to move to New York City, the first of many places she has lived over the years.

“The nomadic professional lifestyle has been the key defining factor in my life,” she joked. “But I have been extremely lucky because I have had great opportunities to go places and do amazing things. When I think of my experiences, I kind of wax poetic about the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I trained for two years. 

"It was absolutely extraordinary to be able to look at objects up close and personal and really study them and get a sense of how to examine artifacts and to tease out interpretively what they can tell us about the people who made them and the people who used them. And I think the preservation of those things is really important. “

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.

“These kinds of jobs are so important and I’m thrilled to be acting in this capacity because of that sense of preservation,” she said.

 

to follow Daily Voice Putnam and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE