Faces of City Hall: Wayne Wright – Glens Falls City Historian

Wayne Wright is somewhat of a fixture at City Hall… He has been the historian for the City of Glens Falls since November of 1999, and has worked for the city since 1980. As the City Historian for the last 24 years, Wayne has been responsible for receiving and maintaining archival records relating to the city’s history, answering historical and genealogical requests, and other research. He prepares and maintains historical displays relating to the city, and he is also a member of the Glens Falls Cemetery Commission and works on improving all documentation needed to maintain burial records and the history of the cemetery. 

Wayne is originally from Hudson Falls, but when he came to work for the city in 1980, Glens Falls became his home… He started out working for the city doing maintenance work, taking care of Glens Falls City parks and the city properties downtown. From 1980 to 1988, he would pack boxes for different departments for the city… During this time, it became apparent that Wayne had an interest in keeping and maintaining records, so Wayne stepped away from working at City Hall in 1988 to pursue his education – he took classes at Adirondack Community College (now SUNY Adirondack), where he earned an Associate’s Degree in Tourism and History, and in 1991, Glens Falls received a State Archives grant: “I was hired back to work through that grant. I was working under the grant and writing the grants. The money from the grants would be given out once a year to the agencies that apply for the funds,” Wayne said. He did this for several years and found the work to be fulfilling: “It was a lot of fun, to read the grants and see where the money was going… About half of the grants that are applied for would get funding,”  he said.

Wayne has an indelible love for the history of Glens Falls, and he has spent his career making the most of every opportunity that was given to him: “I started out taking care of city parks and city property downtown… I did maintenance work year round. I pushed snow around. In 1995, the woman that worked as a clerk retired… At that time, it was getting harder and harder to fill salaries, so they made me a full time clerk and I worked in the City Clerk’s Office, everything I picked up along the way I kept.” he said, demonstrating a characteristic of a true historian. 

Wayne enjoys his work as the City Historian, and believes that his love of history comes from his parents: “I grew up in a household where we all had an interest in history… My parents were interested in history, so this has always fit,” he said.

Wayne sees the importance of filling out the history of Glens Falls; he creates files where there have been none, and sorts through all of the items that people donate. “People donate pictures and items and I take care of those items. I have created displays for the second floor, and helped with family trees,  I help people with their genealogy… And I answer local questions about peoples’ houses. People move here and they want to feel like they are a part of the city. They want to know who owned the house before them and when it was built… If I can find that information for them, they are very appreciative,” Wayne said.

Wayne would love to have more information about the houses in Glens Falls and the families that have lived in them: “The houses in the city, no matter what street they are on, as they are bought and sold, the new people want to know about the history of the houses… And the history of the families that have lived there. If anyone has that information, I would love to make a copy of that,” he said. 

Wayne finds that technology has helped to make his job a lot easier, although he appreciates how much information was cataloged and maintained prior to use of computers and the internet: “You can get so much information from the old newspapers. The pictures and the articles bring the stories alive… I believe in images. Images expand the whole experience for people who are researching their family and family history,” Wayne said.  

With the evolution of technology and his limited time in the office, Wayne mostly receives requests via email, and suggests that people use community resources that are in Glens Falls: “Now, since I work two days a week, people email me their requests… There are great resources in the community. The Folklore Center in Crandall Library has so much information, and they are very friendly and helpful. The Chapman Museum can be a great resource for people looking for more information about the area, as is the cemetery – there are more that 15,000 graves in the Glens Falls Cemetery on Bay Street, and it’s still an active cemetery. There are 70 to 80 burials a year,” Wayne said.

In his free time, Wayne surrounds himself with his extensive family of kids and grandkids, and spends time with his wife of 33 years, and he is also a published author, having written the book “Listening In: Memories of Glens Falls 1755-1931”. A grant was used to pay for the publishing of this book, so all the money that is made from the book is spent on history projects.

If anyone would like to donate memorabilia or historical items to the city, or would like a copy of Wayne’s book, please contact Wayne Wright at historian@cityofglensfalls.com, or call (518) 761-3871.