The Saratoga County History Center Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the winners of the fifth annual Saratoga County Public History Awards. This award recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to extending knowledge and understanding of the history of Saratoga County. A celebratory event will be held at Brookside Museum on Thursday, October 8, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, including a reception on the front porch of the museum beginning at 6.
The 2026 recipients of the award are Christopher Carola, former Albany-based Associated Press reporter and current Trustee of the Friends of the New York State Military Museum, and Mary Ann Fitzgerald, retired Saratoga Springs City Historian. They were selected by a committee including previous winners Carol Godette, Jim Richmond and Russ VanDervoort, William Allerdice, President of the Board of Trustees of Saratoga County History Center, Michelle Isopo, Director of the Saratoga Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, and Dr. Anne Hollmuller, Executive Director of the Saratoga County History Center.
Christopher Carola is a Mechanicville native and former journalist who has worked to increase the visibility and recognition of our local histories throughout his career. Across three decades as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press in Albany, Carola wrote numerous stories about Saratoga and other New York history, from the origins of thoroughbred racing at Saratoga Springs to the significance of the Battles of Saratoga, shining a spotlight on local history for regional, national and international audiences via the AP’s global news network. His current focus is a fundraising campaign for the preservation of the Mechanicville District Public Library’s Charles Siciliano Sr. WWII and Korean War Veterans Photograph Collection, an ongoing effort supported by his public presentations telling the story of this unique photo archive. Carola also currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of the New York State Military Museum and is a member of the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance.
Mary Ann Fitzgerald served as Saratoga Springs City Historian for more than twenty years, until her retirement in October 2025. In 1998, she co-founded the volunteer West Side Oral Narrative Project, and she graduated from Skidmore College’s University Without Walls in 2000. From 2001 to 2003, Fitzgerald worked with the George S. Bolster Collection at the Saratoga Springs History Museum, featuring unique photographic images of the Spa City collected and preserved by the late local photographer. She served on the curatorial committee of the 2015 “Saratoga Springs in Maps” exhibition and authors the “This Week in Saratoga County History” column. Fitzgerald is regularly consulted as the city’s authority on local history, and continues to lead popular history walking tours, including the upcoming, sold-out Heart of Dublin Tour, hosted by the Saratoga County History Center.
The public is encouraged to honor this year’s honorees by joining in the celebration on October 8.