Participant Info

First Name
Suzanne
Last Name
Clary
Country
United States
State
NY New York
Affiliation
Jay Heritage Center
Website URL
www.jayheritagecenter.org
Keywords
John Jay, Jay Family, Mary Rutherfurd Jay, Rye history, Westchester County history, Hudson Valley, New York history, African American history in Westchester, the Boston Post Road Historic District
Availability
Media Contact
Additional Contact Information
PhD
other credentials

Personal Info

Photo
About Me

Suzanne is a Yale graduate with a B.A. in Art History.   In her role as President of the Jay Heritage Center in Rye for the last decade, she has helped interpret the National Historic Landmark home of Founding Father John Jay and his descendants as well as contributing research to the narrative of enslaved and freed African American men and women who lived, worked and were buried at the site. She was a 2019 Women’s History Month honoree selected by New York State Sen. Shelley Mayer for her contributions to the community. She was also a recipient of the 2018 Sy Schulman History Award selected by the Westchester Historical Society. Both awards recognized her strong commitment to research, historic preservation, and teaching of local heritage, elevating the public’s appreciation of the history of Westchester County, New York.

For the last 6 years, she has written a regular history column for Weston Magazine Group published in New York and Connecticut – her topics range from the Revolutionary War to 19th century architecture. She has also curated several exhibits including one about one of America’s earliest landscape architects, Mary Rutherfurd Jay.

She was a recipient of the Visionary Award from the African American Men’s Association of Westchester in 2011 for her community outreach and preservation of local cultural heritage.   Additional recognition includes two Historic Preservation Awards from the Garden Club of America.

​She is a Trustee of the Preservation League of New York State, a Board Member of Preservation Action, Washington, D. C. and a member of the Steering Committee for the Friends of American Art at Yale University.  She is a lifelong resident of Westchester and lives in Rye with her husband and two children.

 

Recent Publications

A Legacy of Sailing: Owners of the Jay Estate and Yachting in New York 1843 – 1966 (Weston Magazine, November 2010)

From A Peppercorn to a Path Through History (Weston Magazine, October 2014)

From Ploughshares to Garden Shears: A Founder’s Progeny Breaks Ground for Women in Landscape Design (Weston Magazine, February 2015)

Sailing and Tennis and Golf Clubs, Oh Rye! (Weston Magazine, July 2015)

Quarried Histories (Weston Magazine, December 2015)

The Horse Show Bride and Groom (Weston Magazine, April 2016)

Jack Ide – Aviation Spy (Weston Magazine, September 2016)

Origin Stories of Our Revolutionary Rogues and Rebels (Weston Magazine, March 2017)

Truth or Consequence: History in the Digital Age (Weston Magazine, June 2017)

What Becomes a Landmark Most (Weston Magazine, November 2017)

Garden Genealogy (Weston Magazine, May 2018)

A New Republic and Education for All (Weston Magazine, October 2018)

Country Seats and Camp Retreats of 19th Century New Yorkers (Weston Magazine, June 2019)

Captives from the Charles – Westchester’s Role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade Revisited (Weston Magazine, January 2020)

What Would Edith Do? (The Rye Record, March 13, 2020)

The Hamilton Musical and History’s Unsung – The Heroism of Jack Peterson (New York Almanack, July 8, 2020)

 

Media Coverage
Country Focus
United States
Expertise by Geography
United States
Expertise by Chronology
18th century, 19th century, Early Modern
Expertise by Topic
American Founding Era, Emancipation, Local & Regional, Public History