Historic markers honor Dr. Goldring, explain Punkintown
— Photo from the New York State Museum
Dr. Winifred Goldring, pictured in 1932, was the first female state paleontologist in the nation. She was valedictorian of Albany’s Milne School in 1905 and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1909 from Wellesley College where she taught geology.
To the Editor:
The New Scotland Historical Association is dedicating two new historic markers just 24 hours apart. The marker we will dedicate on June 13 is to honor Dr. Winifred Goldring, first woman state paleontologist, and the other, on June 14, is to recognize New Salem’s nickname and the reason for it.
At 11 a.m. on June 13, a historical marker honoring Dr. Winifred Goldring will be unveiled at Thacher Park’s Visitor Center at 830 Thacher Park Road. Dr. Goldring rose through the ranks of the New York State Museum’s male-dominated bureaucracy to become the first woman appointed a State Paleontologist, in 1939, and the first to serve as president of the Paleontological Society, in 1949.
Her life in science was truly remarkable, starting and ending in the Town of New Scotland. She lived most of her life in New Scotland. Hikes and picnics in the Helderbergs sparked her interest in science. She is buried in the New Scotland Presbyterian Church Cemetery. It is therefore fitting that the New Scotland Historical Association honor her with a historic marker erected in John Boyd Thacher Park.
The New Scotland Historical Association is grateful to the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, who financed this marker, for its commitment to the preservation of community history through awarding grants for historical markers and plaques, and to Chris Albright, Historic Sites Chair, who wrote and submitted the grant to the Foundation.
How did the hamlet we know as New Salem get the historical nickname “Punkintown?”
Come and find out. All will be revealed on Saturday, June 14, at 11 a.m. when a historical marker recognizing the legendary name will be dedicated.
This is the second recent marker that the New Scotland Historical Association has placed in New Salem as part of its goal to increase the public’s appreciation of New Salem’s early history and its importance to the history of the town of New Scotland.
It is also the first marker in the town that has been funded by the Pomeroy Foundation’s Legend & Lore marker program.
The marker and the dedication ceremony will be located on the grounds of the New Salem Volunteer Fire Company at 694 New Salem Road.
The public is enthusiastically invited to attend these dedications.
Alan Kowlowitz
President
Judy Kimes
Publicist
New Scotland
Historical Association