White Plains Historians, Archivist & Enthusiasts

White Plains (WP) Historians:

John Rösch (1854-1949), born in 1854 NYC, was historian for WP and came to White Plains (WP) in 1874, He was a photographer, artist, cartoonist, author and illustrator who had a shop on the former Railroad Ave (now Main Street). He was author of a number of books about WP.

Renoda Brown Hoffman (1909-2005) was WP historian and wrote many books about the city including the Battle of WP. A clock in her honor can be found in Tibbits Park.

Archivist:

Elaine Massena, WP Archivist Elaine Massena, is a longtime resident (over 35 yrs) active historian and also worked at Westchester County archives in Elmsford, where she was the principal archivist. Massena was recruited in 1994 by the WP City Historian Renoda Hoffman to help her organize and house her extensive collection of WP materials She recently published White Plains in the 20th Century with Ben Himelfarb (former librarian WPPL). They gathered 200 photographs largely from the collections of artist/photographer John Rosch (1854-1949).

Other WP Historians (unofficial) Come Across With My Own Research:

Erik Pleska: Writer of various books about Buckout Road in Harrison and WP. Link: Buckout Road – America’s Scariest Street Westchester County NY – hauntings & urban legends –

Ben Himelfarb (former History Librarian WPHS). See Local History under WP Public Library website for some of his work.

Clifford Blau (did a study of the names behind the streets of WP) Link: https://whiteplainslibrary.org/2016/03/street-maps-and-family-pictures/

Rev. Jeffrey A. Geary: Ordained in 1996 to serve historic Setauket Presbyterian Church (home of George Washington’s Spy Ring). Was pastor of WP Presbyterian Church for 12 yrs and is now with Cornwall Presbyterian Church. He has an interest in history and has posted things that involve WP. Link: Local Heritage | revgeary