Ridgefield Residents Honored with NYS Historic Preservation Award

Ridgefield Residents Meghan Hyatt and Alexandra Oskam Honored with NYS Historic Preservation Award

St. Lawrence University students from Ridgefield and recent graduates have been honored with the New York State Historic Preservation Award for Excellence in Archaeological Stewardship for helping to preserve the history of a village in Northern New York.

Congratulations to Meghan Hyatt and Alexandra Oskam!

Meghan Hyatt is a member of the Class of 2020 and majored in psychology. Hyatt attended Ridgefield High School.

Alexandra Oskam is a member of the Class of 2020 and majored in English and African studies-anthropology. Oskam attended Immaculate High School.

These students, along with their classmates and professors, received the award for their professionalism and expertise in helping excavate and analyze skeletal remains recovered at a construction site in Heuvelton, New York. The site had once been the village's first cemetery but was thought to have been emptied and its burials moved to nearby Hillcrest Cemetery in the late 1800s.

Mindy Pitre, associate professor of anthropology and J. Ansil Ramsay Professor of Public Health at St. Lawrence, chose to involve these students in the historic experience because they all had a background in human osteology thanks to the courses Pitre regularly offers.

Created in 1980, the State Historic Preservation Awards are awarded by New York State's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation each year to honor excellence in the protection and revitalization of historic and cultural resources.