New York (State). Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission

This was not a single writer in the usual sense, but an official New York State commission formed for the Lake Champlain tercentenary. Its best-known books document the 1909 commemorations and bring together historical writing, reports, illustrations, and accounts of the celebrations held on both sides of the lake.

Library and archival records for these volumes credit the commission as the corporate author, while also naming several contributors. Henry Wayland Hill is identified as secretary of the commission and as the preparer of the final report, and H. Wallace Knapp appears as chairman in catalog records. Other editions and volumes connected with the project also name figures such as John M. Clarke, Edward Mott, George H. Perkins, Frank H. Severance, Charles Alexander Nelson, and L. O. Armstrong.

Because this author entry refers to a government body rather than one person, there is no appropriate single-author portrait to use here. The commission’s work is best understood as a collaborative public history project created to preserve the memory of the Champlain anniversary and the history of the lake region.