Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi Honored

Linden Historical Society’s Historian of Year 2009 – Left – Council President Robert Bunk presents Resolution to Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi, center, holding plaque presented by Society Member Rebecca Kerins-Tattoli.

In a break with tradition, the Linden Historical Society selected its first non-resident, Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi, as Historian of the Year 2009. Ms. Rajoppi received the award at ceremonies held in the City of Linden’s Council Chambers prior to the March 17, 2009 meeting. In addition to the Society’s plaque, Ms Rajoppi received a resolution from the City of Linden presented by Council President Robert F. Bunk.

The Society cited Ms. Rajoppi’s dedication to history both in her professional and private life as the reason her selection was unanimous. Ms. Rajoppi was nominated after authoring a 2008 Union County Presidential Calendar that featured photographs of presidential visits to Eastern Aircraft Wildcat Plant in Linden. By doing this, Ms Rajoppi met the criteria for disseminating history to the public.

As County Clerk, Ms. Rajoppi is responsible for the care of property records dating back to 1857 making them available to real estate searchers, historians and individuals. To protect the records and to make them easily available to the public, Ms. Rajoppi introduced a web based program allowing people to search the records from their computers. In this case, she met the criteria of protecting History.

She served as chairwoman of the Union County Courthouse Centennial Anniversary Committee. She also is the recipient of two national awards from the National Federation of Press Women for authoring a brochure entitled “A History of the Union County Courthouse Complex” and the “2008 Union County Presidential Election Calendar.” She is a member of the Union Township Historical Society and Union County Historical Society.

“Although we are honoring Joanne Rajoppi with the Historian of the Year 2009 award, we are honored to have her as the recipient,” stated Rebecca Kerins-Tattoli, Society vice president. “In her own right, Joanne has been making history – first woman elected Mayor of Springfield, first woman chairman of Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the first woman elected County Clerk in the County’s 151 year history.”

We are now accepting applications for Historian of the year 2010. Please e-mail us at lindenhistoricalsociety@gmail.com, or send a letter to Linden Historical Society, 608 W. Elizabeth Ave, Linden, NJ 07036.

Historian of the Year 2007 holding the trophy of the original Fourth of July race

The 2007 Historian of the Year

The 2008 Historian of the Year