Alison McKay
Author, Curator and Archivist,
Bayside Historical Society
Bayside
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Sometimes, a person has the good fortune to do what they love, the opportunity to serve their community - and get paid for it. Such is the case for Alison McKay, the archivist and collection curator for the Bayside Historical Society. McKay had previously been an art dealer and appraiser of 19th Century European paintings.
PERSONAL: The daughter of an international airline pilot, McKay has roots in College Point, where her parents grew up and first met. Having lived in Germany, Florida and Connecticut, she settled in Queens after graduating from Manhattanville College. “It was very convenient” to her graduate studies at Hunter and later Queens College, she said. Married, she and husband Charles Blenzig have two children; Anton, 11 and Julia, 8. After living in Jackson Heights for 15 years, they moved to Bayside about five years ago.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “There’s so much to do here, so much to preserve and more coming all the time,” she said, before hefting a near-century-old book of northeast Queens maps - the size of a refrigerator door - onto her worktable.
PROUDEST MOMENT: Although completing her first book (a pictorial history of Bayside, just released) is a matter of some pride, it definitely was of secondary importance. “We discovered old “shellac records” (fragile 78 rpm phonograph disks) of a radio interview with (1890’s world boxing champ and Bayside resident) “Gentleman Jim” Corbett. “We had them transcribed onto CD, and I converted them to files which we can make available through the web (www.baysidehistorical.org.) Researchers have accessed them for a linguistic history of the New York accent,” she related proudly.
FAVORITE MEMORY: Not surprisingly, McKay, surrounded by thousands of historic items, had a little trouble with the question. Then her face brightened. “I remember the day I discovered an incredibly rare original pen and ink drawing by “Tad” Dorgan, who was a famous early 20th century sports cartoonist, and friend of Corbett. “It was just there - wedged between some large books - unnoticed for years. He is credited with coining or popularizing the phrases “dumb-bell” for a stupid person, “cheaters” for eyeglasses, and ‘hot dog,’” she explained.
INSPIRATION: In a way, she draws her inspiration from both ends of the community spectrum. “The thoughtful people who donate to the society - rather than casually discard the ordinary things which will one day be historically significant- inspire me, because we’re only as good as what people have donated over the years.” At the other end, she’s inspired by wonderment of children puzzling over things which were once commonplace, from a 19th century carpet beater to a phonograph record. “On our field trips, we put out objects and have kids try to guess what they are,” she said with a smile. “Sometimes they’re just amazed, like with a rotary telephone.”
- Victor G. Mimoni
