By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
SOUTHGATE — The way Jerry Pesci sees it, his new position as city historian is as much about the present as it is the community’s past.
“We have a two-pronged approach,” Pesci said of the challenge faced by the Southgate Historical Foundation. “One is to collect the history of our community, but just as important is recording our present so that whoever is working on hour history 50 or 100 years from now will have these things saved.”
Earlier this month the City Council formally appointed Pesci as city historian, a post once held by the town’s first mayor, Tom Anderson. Pesci, among a small group of volunteers with an interest in the town’s past, said the position is part of a continued effort to streamline efforts to research and preserve the city’s heritage.
It was just two years ago that Mayor Joseph Kuspa and city officials formed and certified the Historical Foundation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group. The panel was appointed in 2012 and drawn from previous efforts that operated as the volunteer Historical Society and city-appointed Historical Commission.
Under either name, the groups collected documents, old newspapers, yearbooks and other memorabilia, much of which has been on display at the Southgate Historical Museum at 14120 Dix-Toledo, the former Grahl house that had been purchased by the city in the early 1970s.
Pesci said recent efforts to present the local heritage had been to assemble the pieces of the past under one roof — along with rotating displays at the Southgate Veterans Memorial Library — and that more attempts have and will be made to reach out to residents.
“In the past we centered around the museum itself,” Pesci said. “If people aren’t coming to us, we need to go to them. We now have display cabinets in city hall, the library and the senior center.”
The position of city historian was approved Sept. 3 as a non-compensated appointment for a term to expire in December 2016. The historian is authorized by the city to conduct research and speak before resident or school groups on the town’s heritage while the foundation works to preserve what has been collected over the years.
Pesci said his first priority will be to address the security of the current collection and building.
“Our museum has fallen into disrepair,” Pesci said. “We’re in the process of getting a new roof and repairing many of the windows.
“That’s the biggest project at present: As with any old house there are always things that need to be done.”
Given the relatively recent formation of Southgate as a city, Pesci said the foundation can dedicate energies to chronicling the history as it happens.
“One of the advantages we have is that many of our founders are still around,” Pesci said. “We are able to research a lot of things that people still remember. It’s easier to collect it when it’s new.”
For information on the foundation, contact the museum at 734-775-0425.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].)