"I've loved history since I was a kid," Gerry said. "Falling into local history was just natural."

   Gerry is well -known in Broome County for his many areas of expertise. In 1988, Gerry published the Valley of Opportunity, a pictorial history of the Greater Binghamton area, and he has written over 200 columns and articles about local history for area newspapers. He speaks to civic groups, senior citizens and school groups about pieces of Broome County history: Endicott Johnson and IBM, the six carousels, the Chenango Canal, local cemeteries, the cigar making industry, Broome's famous horse Exterminator, the Link legacy, and Kilmer's Swamproot. His most recent presentations have been the Underground Railroad in Broome County and one titled, "On the Seamy Side of the Street: Murderers, Embezzlers and Other Shady Characters from Broome County's Past." Both the Binghamton and Endicott visitor's centers were completed with his help researching and writing the exhibit text and choosing the pictures.

    Gerry is also well entrenched in the spacious Local History and Genealogy Center which takes up the second floor of the new Broome County library on Court Street. The Center was a dream of Gerry's and his predecessor, County Historian Larry Bothwell, from a conversation they had in the mid-1980s.

    "We discussed that if the new library ever became reality, it would be great to pool all of the county historical resources under one roof," Gerry said.

   Gerry's city and county historian office had been a mere closet before the move to the new library facility; the local history materials were crammed into the old library; the county historical society was hidden in the library of the Roberson Mansion. These sites hosted just about 1,000 users a year. In the new local history facility, last year there were 24,000 users.

    In his position at the library, he works with many different types of researchers, from Cornell students to residents looking for genealogy information. He also develops local history exhibits for the library on local history. Right now he is working on "The Southern Tier & Space," an exhibit that will demonstrate the various area companies that have been involved in the space program. It includes pieces of Mercury capsules, the space shuttle, telescopes and rockets coming from Corning, BAE, Link and IBM. There will also be a working 1/4 size Link simulator.

    "The crude work I did in my BCC art classes have really helped me here," Gerry said, commenting on his new responsibilities in exhibit preparation.

    Gerry's BCC experience provided him the broad background, reasonably priced, that he needed to go on for a B.A. in history from Binghamton University in 1977, then a M.A. in history from BU in 1981. While earning his Masters Degree, he toyed for a while with teaching as a career, but instead began what he thought would be a short-term job at the Broome County library as a clerk. He finished 20 years there, most of them on the reference desk, before he moved to his new position at the local history center three years ago. He became City Historian in 1984 when the current one resigned and County Historian in 1988 when that one resigned. He is also on the board of the Broome County Historical Society.

    Gerry is working vehemently on more projects to bring Broome County history to light. The last 50 years of industry in the Binghamton area is the topic for his next book titled, From Smokestack to High Tech. And he has already started reminding Broome County leaders that the county's bicentennial is coming in 2006 and it's time to start planning for it. He will undoubtedly lead the charge for that celebration

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