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Oak Ridge councilors consider making longtime volunteer Ray Smith official city historian
Summary
Council members proposed replacing the "honorary" designation and formally naming Ray Smith as Oak Ridge’s city historian, recognizing his decades of community work; council discussed the city librarian's local history specialist position and the value of multiple historians.
Oak Ridge City Councilors on Monday discussed formally naming volunteer historian Ray Smith as the city’s official historian, removing the prior "honorary" label and recognizing his long record of public work documenting the community’s history.
Council Member Hensley said Smith has performed historian duties daily and deserved the formal title. "To be mentioned in the same sentence with Bill Wilcox is an honor," Smith replied; he told council he would "gladly accept" the designation but said he does the work out of affection for Oak Ridge.
Why it matters: Oak Ridge has extensive World War II‑era and Cold War industrial history; councilors said designating an official city historian recognizes public service, supports civic outreach and aligns the role with other acknowledgements such as the city’s poet laureate.
Discussion points and context: - Past practice: The council reviewed the original decision to add the word "honorary" to the city historian title after concerns decades ago about conflating an individual’s statements with official city positions. Staff said the honorary label was intended to distinguish volunteer historical commentary from official city positions. - Library staff role: City staff noted the library’s paid local history specialist (Mike Stallo) maintains the Oak Ridge Room archives and responds to research requests. Councilors discussed how an official historian and a staff historian can coexist, with multiple contributors encouraged to document the city’s many histories. - Tenure and scope: A councilor observed that poet laureate terms are time‑limited while the historian role has historically been long‑term; councilors debated whether to set a term or leave it open. One councilor suggested a "big tent" approach to encourage multiple qualified local historians rather than concentrating responsibilities on a single person.
The discussion drew broad praise for Smith’s service and for library staff. No formal vote was recorded during the meeting; councilors asked staff to prepare any needed resolution language for future consideration.
Ending: Councilors signaled support for honoring Smith’s work while asking staff to draft a resolution or policy clarifying responsibilities, term length and how a staff local history specialist and an official historian would coordinate outreach and public representation.
