Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site honored Orange County resident Fenella Heckscher with the 2024 Martha Washington Woman of History Award, which is given annually to a woman who has contributed to the history of the Hudson Valley through education, promotion, or preservation. The honor was inspired by Martha Washington, an outstanding woman in history who resided in the house on the Newburgh waterfront with her husband General George Washington, during the last days of the Revolutionary War.
Through her volunteer work at the Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess counties, Heckscher has studied and shared the work of Jane Colden, Andrew Jackson Downing, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted. Among her long list of local ventures, she championed projects with Trailside Museums and Zoo at Bear Mountain State Park, including the creation of a wildflower garden named for Jane Colden, America’s first female botanist, and secured funding from the Garden Club of America to revitalize the plantings in Newburgh’s Downing Park.
