ELKTON, November 21. 2012 — At the 81st annual meeting of the Historical Society of Cecil County, a packed house was on hand as Cecil’s heritage keepers presented George Reynolds with the Ernest A. Howard Award. This prestigious honor is given to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the preservation of the county’s historic resources and have faced huge challenges in trying to protect the built environment, preserve folkways, or save scarce relics.
Soon after George returned home from Navy duty in the Pacific during World War II, he became interested in regional Indian culture and archeology. That curiosity soon turned into a lifetime pursuit involving 60 years of extensive fact-finding, searching for artifacts that showed how people lived in the past. In the coming decade, the young combat veteran helped organize the Archaeological Society of Maryland and start the first local chapter.
Archaeology Along I-95
When the state began discussing the construction of an expressway across northeastern Maryland in the early 1960s, the proposal alarmed George. It wasn’t that he was against moving ahead, as he has always been a forward-looking person. He worried that once construction on the massive highway got underway, the big earth-moving machines, cutting a 300-foot-wide path across Harford and Cecil counties, would destroy all evidence of prehistoric civilizations buried in the soil long before the European contact period.
So the Northeastern Chapter of the Archaeological Society of Maryland, led by George, set out to ensure the corridor was documented before progress obliterated all traces of earlier inhabitants. This involved building support with transportation planners, state officials, politicians, and residents, as well as raising money to support the project. George was successful, as he raised $500 from private sources. With the help of a matching $500 grant from the governor, the group hired a professor from Temple University to assist them in investigating the route.
This experience pointed out the need for the state to have an archaeologist. “We started a fight for a Maryland position,” George remarked. “It took two years of working with our delegates and senators, but we succeeded.” Tyler Bastain became Maryland’s first state archaeologist in 1964, as George served in leadership positions with the Archaeological Society of Maryland
There were numerous other advocacy projects as his work was just getting started. In 1976, he helped organize the Elk Creek Preservation Society and was its president for the first ten years. The preservationist was involved similarly when the Cecil Historical Trust was formed and contributed to the most recent book on county history, “The Head of the Bay.”
Wolrd War II Veteran Sent to Hiroshima
The World War II sailor remarked on his strong passion for the past. “I went into Hiroshima, where they dropped the Atomic Bomb. We were riding on a Japanese truck as the ground was too radioactive to walk on. The things I saw on that first observation round by the U.S. Navy were so unsettling. . . . I was uncertain about what the future held for the world, so I immersed myself in studying the past.”
George’s interest never diminished. Over the decades, he has been involved in all of the major digs in the county, including the one at Elk Landing, when the county detention center was being built. A Native-American burial site was discovered there. He has helped reveal much of what had been lost to centuries of time by being an advocate for archaeology and history in Cecil County. He also worked on the frontline, out there digging and studying the secrets of the soil.
RECEIVING THE ERNEST A. HOWARD AWARD
The award is named after Ernest A. Howard, who was instrumental in helping build the strong Historical Society, which now has 1,000 members and serves the county today. Born in Childs in 1885, this organization’s benefactor was deeply involved in the successful revival of the nonprofit in the 1950s. He worked tirelessly to preserve local heritage and restored several old churches and buildings. In 1955, he was a central figure in establishing a modern headquarters for the Cecil County library and donated a wing to the library to provide a home for the Historical Society. Howard passed away in 1973.
George Reynolds, the energetic 90-year-old, becomes the fourth recipient of this honor.
Mike – I would like to copy this and include it in our next ASNC newsletter; I have forwarded it ot Myron Beckenstein th eASM newsletter editor; he is the best – a former foreign desk editor of the Baltimore Sun – when it was a good newspaper. Bill
Bill please feel free to use this in your publications.
RE: Archaeologist George Reynolds Honored For Digging the Past
This gentleman is a longtime friend/past neighbor of the Cole/Nester family. It doesn’t take long to realize that he is an absolute genius, on just about any subject. This could come off as egotistical. But, you can plainly see how passionate his desire to share his projects with those who wish to learn about them. Or those who desire to get a glimpse of the different wonders that exist in this world. He lives to share his knowledge to those who seek it. This His boundless energy and enthusiasm is contagious. He took the time to take my brother, Jimmy Nester, on a few digs. It was one of the highlights of his life. We love you and your family. We have been blessed to call to call you neighbor, mentor, and friend. Janet Nester Steele
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GEORGE I KNOW YOU AND IT IS VERY INTERESTING YOU TALKED ABOUT ROCKS AND ARROWHEADS YOU SHOWED ME.
Hey George no joke ! There is something rotten in Denmark as the old saying goes , And flies in the malassis barl . George what that’s going on is like mysterious like tv shows wild wild west and UFO encounters I think you believe that something so big we are microscopic in this world George what is the outerspace really like ? U talked many times of stuff I listened a little.