July 25, 2023
Three names were inducted into the Steuben County Hall of Fame Monday. Local NAACP President Georgia Verdier of Corning, Hammondsport historian Richard Sherer, and a photographer from over 100 years ago, Henry Marcus Benner.
Georgia Verdier, of Corning, is a noted public servant and leader in the civil rights movement. While most recently an active resource in 2020 in the county’s police reform efforts, Verdier holds masters degrees in Education/Psychology and Public Service Administration.
A retired New York State Department of Mental Health Health Care Manager, and President of the local NAACP Verdier helps lead the
association’s annual programming covering health care, criminal justice, education, civic engagement and economic development. She has served
on numerous community boards including Economic Opportunity Program Inc., the Guthrie Health Women’s Advisory Group, and the
Corning Poverty Collaborative. A worldwide advocate for human rights, Verdier also was a member of the late U.S. Rep. Amory Houghton’s
South African tour. In 2018, Verdier received the New York NAACP President’s Award, issued in recognition of her “devotion to the NAACP mission,
contribution to the NAACP goals and immutable commitment to the ideals of equality and justice.”
Richard Sherer was a dedicated preserver of Steuben County’s long history, perhaps best widely known for his work during the county’s Bicentennial in 1996. A longtime Hammondsport/Urbana Historian and Steuben’s Historian for 14 years, he was active in promoting the Ark of Steuben/Joel Pratt and navigated the ark down the Chemung and Susquehanna rivers, starting on the Conhocton River. Sherer wrote Keuka Lake and The Grape, edited and compiled Steuben County:The First 200 Years and helped in compiling the Jim Drake Stories. His efforts are considered responsible for providing a strong foundation for deepening Steuben’s understanding of its history.
Henry Marcus “Harry” Benner was a pioneer in his field of photography, becoming a semiofficial Glenn H. Curtiss photographer during Curtiss’ pre-World War I career, capturing some of the most famous images of Curtiss’ ground-breaking new aircraft and other aerial milestones, such as the flight of the White Wing in 1908.
