John Conway has probably done more than any single living person to keep Sullivan County history alive AND to push it forward into the public conversation.

Here are the major ways he has contributed:

1) He has been the official Sullivan County Historian since 1993. That alone means 30-plus years of continuity, scholarship and institutional memory.

He is the point person reporters, museums, libraries, researchers and documentary producers call.

2) His weekly “Retrospect” newspaper column has been running since 1987.

Thirty-plus years’ worth of short essays, bringing back forgotten people, hotels, farms, railroads, artists, union fights, gangsters, and the Borscht Belt in readable stories.

A huge number of local residents say that the column is how they learned their own history.

3) Books, lectures and talks: He has written books, forewords, and essays that have helped define the field.

He lectures constantly—at libraries, historical societies, and events—translating archives into narrative.

He’s a “bridge” figure: He makes academic history accessible to normal people.

4) He has helped raise the level of Borscht Belt history. Conway was writing about the Borscht Belt before it became trendy again.

He documented entertainer stories; he saved names and anecdotes from the 1930s–1970s hotel era; and he defended that history when it was still considered “just old hotels, not serious history.”

Much of the renewed interest today (podcasts, exhibits, the Ellenville Center for Discovery project, etc.) stands partly on his groundwork.

5) He’s a founding member of The Delaware Company. The nonprofit is now responsible for Fort Delaware Museum programming, heritage tourism events and Revolutionary-era interpretation in this region.

This is extremely important—he has helped move history out of the archive and into the public square.

6) He has trained the next wave. Conway is a mentor-type figure. A whole generation of younger local historians, tour guides, museum people, journalism students and writers have learned from him. 

He is the “institutional memory” for Sullivan County.

In short, John Conway has turned local history into a living culture in Sullivan County.

It’s not just facts in a book—it is stories, identity and pride.

For many people, when you say “Sullivan County history,” the first name they think of is John Conway.

Alan Barrish
Kiamesha Lake, NY