Newly appointed (volunteer) Bronx historian to continue predecessor’s legacy

Bronx history has entered its next chapter with a new borough historian.

Angel Hernandez, the president of The Huntington Free Library and Reading Room and director of government relations at the New York Botanical Garden, has taken the reins from the borough’s longtime historian Lloyd Ultan, who was appointed to the role in 1996.

“I’ve enjoyed my time as the Bronx Borough Historian,” Ultan said. “I’ve discovered through research a lot of things many people didn’t know about. With this information, I’ve published books and articles, and given lectures and tours. I’ve answered individual questions by phone, email, and on podcasts and conducted television and radio interviews, all with the hope of spreading the word on how great a place the Bronx really is.”

Hernandez, the newly appointed historian, isn’t a stranger to gathering history in the Boogie Down.

Hernandez started the Bronx Latino History Project in his former role as the director of Programs and External Relations for the Bronx County Historical Society and he helped secure almost $200,000 in capital funding from former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s office in 2016 to start a digitization project for the society. In 2018, he created BronXcursions, which offers tours of the Bronx.

“Studying our beautiful borough’s historic past and sharing it with the world not only fulfills my duty to our great society but also invokes personal pride,” Hernandez said. “I know I have big shoes to fill, yet I am confident that in this special role in today’s Bronx, I will be able to forge connections from the past and convey them as valuable lessons for the future.”

The Bronx historian is a volunteer role appointed by the Bronx borough president. The historian is responsible for collecting historical data like archives, books and artifacts, analyzing themto determine their authenticity and significance and track historical developments in the borough, according to…