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CHS grad makes history

By Jim Planck

POUGHKEEPSIE — History is well-known to be of importance in both Greene and Columbia Counties.

It is strongly represented by facilities like the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, the Martin Van Buren National Historic site, Frederic Church’s Olana, the Bronck Museum, the Columbia County Museum, the Zadock Pratt Museum, and the Luykas Van Alen House, as well as both the Greene County Historical Society and the Columbia County Historical Society and similar smaller organizations.

It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that a person growing up in such surroundings was elected president of the Dutchess County Historical Society at its annual meeting in April.

Steven A. A. Mann, of Rhinebeck, formerly of Jefferson Heights and a 1986 graduate of Catskill High School, was elected to his second term as a Trustee on the DCHS Board of Directors, and in addition was elected to the office of President of the society.

Mann is the grandson of the late Alvin “Abe” Sherman, vice-president of Sherman’s Produce in Catskill, and his widow, the former Erma M. Cooke.

He is also the grand-nephew of the late Alvin “Al” and Jane “Jennie” (Cooke) Applebaum, former owners of the Bottle Shop, in Catskill, as well as grand-nephew of the late Michael and Fanieta (Ostrander) Cooke, of Catskill, from C & P Motors.

In recognition of his native area, Mann is a donor and supporter of the Greene County Historical Society, and gave his family photograph collection to the society.

He is a former trustee of the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and a past secretary, past president, exhibit chair, newsletter editor, and current trustee of the Museum of Rhinebeck History, in Rhinebeck.

At the DCHS, Mann has served as co-chair of the steering committee, chair of the membership committee, and the annual appeal, and has been active in both the collections and exhibitions committee and the events committee.

As president, he will be chief spokesman for the society, and will also continue to serve as its grant writer, curator, and operations manager.

Mann is a 1988 graduate of Albany Business College, and has been a Rhinebeck resident since 2000.

He is involved in numerous preservation causes, as well as being a member of more than several historical organizations, including the Ulster County Historical Society and the Hyde Park Historical Society, and is secretary of the Consortium of Rhinebeck History.

In addition, Mann has been working to form the Friends of the Historic Rhinebeck Cemetery, which includes a slave cemetery among its historic and cultural aspects.

In his initial President’s Message in the Society’s newsletter for Spring 2008, Mann stressed the role of the society as caretaker for the county’s history, and noted its greatest asset is its volunteers.

The society owns and operates the Clinton House, its headquarters at 549 Main St., in Poughkeepsie, as well as the Glebe House, also in Poughkeepsie.

The first, a New York State Historic Site, is a circa 1765 stone house named for New York’s first Governor and the nation’s fourth vice-president, George Clinton, who was once believed to have lived there during the Revolution.

The second is a 1767 Georgian red brick structure built to be a residence for a local reverend serving two churches, one in Poughkeepsie and one in Fishkill, during the Revolution, who subsequently had to flee with his family because he was a Loyalist.

For more information on the Dutchess County Historical Society, visit or call (845) 471-1630.

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