Dr. Douglas H. Shepard, Ph.D. (1927-2021) Recipient of the first Elial T. Foote Award, established during the County's 2011 bicentennial to recognize outstanding contributions in research, preservation and dissemination of Chautauqua County's history. Elial T. Foote was one of the county's first historians, and it is because of him that we know so much about the first decades of the county's settlement and development. It is because of Doug Shepard's passion for local history that we know about the history of the Fredonia Academy and its evolution into the Normal School, the expansion and development of Fredonia's cemeteries, locations of the many corner stores in Dunkirk, and so much more. He has written scores of articles for the Fredonia Preservation Society, the Barker Library and Museum, Chautauqua County Genealogical Society, and more recently for the county-wide Historic Structures Database project, which developed from his interest in Fredonia's historic homes. His many contributions have been gathered here.
