History teacher moves her classroom to city streets

City historian Julie Madlin might have retired from teaching in June, but you’ll still find her in her classroom — the streets of Ogdensburg.

    Perhaps on a weekday afternoon, she’ll be leading a walking tour among the historic homes on Washington Street where some of the city’s leading citizens have lived and worked. Or she has planted herself in her city hall office, digging through city directories to research names and residences. Or you can catch her at the library, combing through historic online newspaper files.

   School’s out for summer — for Madlin it’s out forever — but the learning  continues.

   “This is my passion; I just love doing this,’’ Madlin said after shepherding a dozen people down Washington Street.

   Her tour begins on the steps of the Ogdensburg Public Library where she explains the architecture of the Greek Revival structure, its past ownership and its transition from homestead to library.

   Her followers learn how it once held the Frederic Remington collection before it was moved across the street to the former David Parish home. That estate went through a series of modifications, was joined with the Dillingham house in the 1990s and emerged as the current Frederic Remington Art Museum.

    Her role as historian resembles any teacher’s job. That means she works well beyond the hours listed on her paycheck.

   “I like learning new things and meeting new people. I really love to research and share what I learn.’’

   With an undergraduate history degree from Syracuse and a master’s degree in education from SUNY Potsdam, Madlin spent 31 years teaching junior high Social Studies at Heuvelton Central School. She accepted a retirement incentive in June to focus on city historian and spend more time with the Ogdensburg History Museum.

  She’ll miss working with students and watching them get excited about new learning, but she won’t miss the paperwork and administrative duties. She left with a lot of endearing memories, but couldn’t pick just one favorite. It was too difficult.

   “I think all the sweet notes and homemade cards were always a treat or when kids would tell me how much they loved my class.’’

  The 1985 OFA graduate recalled how she got the historian’s job.

    “I was one of the organizers of Living History Day and Martha Valley asked me why I wasn’t city historian,’’ she said. “I responded that I applied once and was turned down. The next thing I knew, John Pinkerton, who was city manager, called me, and Bill Nelson, who was mayor, met with me and I was appointed.’’

   Her script for the tour down Washington Street wasn’t written overnight. It was rooted in hours of research from city directories, Census data and newspaper clippings. She has conducted similar tours such as the State Street excursion.

     “I drive to the street I want to research and walk around. It’s amazing what you notice when you get out of the car. Ogdensburg has a lot of great architecture that people don’t notice. When I see an interesting house, I take a picture and then I research it.’’

   With her facts assembled, she meets her history buffs, straps on her headset and amplifier, and shares her insights into the people and times. On this day, the skies darken and spit rain on Madlin’s tour. You’d never know it up from her upbeat demeanor.

   As she continues down Washington Street, she points out several homes with distinctive mansard roofs. Her research is evident. She relays an anecdote on Dolly Howard Proctor forming a temperance union, the Howard Cold Water Brigade. She leads us past the home of Charles Cantwell, for 19 years the managing editor of the Ogdensburg Journal. He won acclaim for his reporting on an escaped German prisoner, Baron Von Werra, who crossed the river and ended up in Ogdensburg in 1941.

   The most notable mansard roof looms above the home of Lucia Spratt. She willed it to the Diocese of Ogdensburg as a seminary but it now operates as a diocesan office.

   When the raindrops intensified into a shower, she led us to the “Bishops’ porch. Nobody will mind.’’ At least that’s the way I interpreted it.

   She wasn’t talking about a family. Turns out it was the porch of Most Rev. Terry LaValley, bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg. While chancellor Jim Crowley greeted the tour and was explaining the history of the residence, LaValley tiptoed out from the front door and graciously welcomed each guest, then invited the group for a house tour.

   The bishop showed us his office, kitchen, chapel and living room adorned with portraits of past bishops such as Wadhams, Brzana, Lovato and Cunningham. He shared cookies and lemonade in the dining room. But he was at his best, charming, friendly self in the foyer where he pointed at portraits of himself and Pope Francis.

   “As you can see,’’ he said with laughing eyes, “his portrait hangs a little higher than mine, but I’m working on that.’’

     Morristown native Jim Holleran is a retired teacher and sports editor from Rochester. Reach him at jimholleran29@gmail.com or view past columns under “Reflections of River Rat’’ at https://hollerangetsitwrite.com/blog/