Yearbook Submissions

The Dutchess County Historical Society
DCHS Yearbook Submission Guidelines (August 2026)

DCHS 2026 Yearbook Deadlines Window: September 1 to October 31
Each author should negotiate their own specific deadline within that window

Click here for printable pdf

The Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbook (ISSN 0739-8565) is unique in that no other organization in New York State has continuously published a historical journal for so long.

Since 1914, the DCHS Yearbook has served as the most respected and accessible historical journal investigating and celebrating Dutchess County’s past. While scholarly (and footnoted) it is meant to be of more general interest than a peer-reviewed academic journal.

The Dutchess County Historical Society Publications Committee actively solicits articles, essays, reports from the field, and case studies that support its mission to collect, preserve, interpret and share the history of Dutchess County as a way to inform and educate present and future generations. DCHS seeks to promote and interpret local history through the publication of original research and case studies that address personalities, places, businesses, and events in and from Dutchess County, New York, as well as the county’s relationship to national and international events.

The DCHS Yearbook, along with exhibitions, programs, and shorter articles, plays an important and foundational role in the act of sharing and public engagement.

Your work will be featured in one of three sections

Forum 2026: Dutchess County, Crossroads of the American Revolution, Part II

General History

Notes

The DCHS Yearbook features three sections: Forum: articles focused on a specific theme that is featured on the cover of the Yearbook and is often amplified through public engagement. General history: variety of general county history articles tied to Dutchess County. Notes: brief notes illuminating quick points of interest.

Article writing/authoring guidelines, 2,500-5,000 words

Full-length articles should present an original perspective on some element of Dutchess County’s past, based on original research. These articles should be between 2,500-5,000 words in length and adhere to the conventions described in Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers, 8th Edition, as well as the points of style section below.

Click here for an online guide to this citation system. We suggest that authors consult previous issues of the Yearbook, which are available online at www.dchsny.org/yearbook, to gain a sense of our tone and approach.

Email  a traditional MS word document to all or any one of the publication committee. Times New Roman 12 point is the requested font as it most closely resembles the finished, published product. Captions will be in Arial 9 pt bold.

Images must be emailed as individual jpg files

It is ok to embed images in the word document with captions to indicate where you suggest they are located, if you are inclined to do so. But images must be emailed separately as .jpg files

Minimum 300 dpi at 5? x 7?resolution. The author must secure and cite requisite permissions, and the payment of any fees associated with images for articles are all the responsibility of the author.

The Publications Committee will consider submissions of photo essays and edited transcripts of primary sources. Transcripts should replicate, as much as possible, the form of the original document and be accompanied by digital images of the original document.

Note Guidelines

In keeping with practice throughout the history field, the Publications Committee will consider brief submissions between 500-800 words for the Notes section. Submissions for this section should focus on new archival material, briefly describing the source and its potential value for researchers. Submissions that offer a response to previously published articles or notes, or which offer a research-focused announcement (such as the opening of new research facilities by local historical societies) are also welcome.

Submission process

Email the full publications committee co-chairs, although an email sent to one will be quickly shared with the others:

Melodye Moore mmoore9867@gmail.com

Will Tatum wtatum@dutchessny.gov

Bill Jeffway bill.jeffway@dchsny.org

The author’s name and address (both postal and email) should appear at the end of the document. The editorial board will process submissions as quickly as possible; three to six months should be allowed for a thorough reading. The Dutchess County Historical Society does not pay for author’s articles.

Points of Style

  1. Times New Roman Size 12 is the default font for body text. Indented block quotes should be Times New Roman Size 11. Endnotes should be Times New Roman Size 10. Arial 9 pt bold for captions.
  2. All references should be entered as endnotes rather than footnotes.
  3. The Oxford Comma should be used whenever three or more items are listed together in a sentence.
  4. “Circa” is abbreviated as ca.
  5. Quotations longer than three lines should be set off from the text as a block quote by indenting both margins.
  6. No apostrophe is used in dates such as the 1740s or the 1880s.
  7. The possessive of proper names ending in “s” requires an apostrophe and “s.” Example: Van Ness’s.
  8. If an endnote cites the same source mentioned in the previous endnote, use Ibid. If the source is the same, but the page number is different, use Ibid, [page number].
  9. If a subsequent endnote citing the same source appears after an interval of one or more endnotes citing a different source, employ the short form of [author’s last name], [brief title], and [page number]. Example: Reynolds, Dutchess Doorways, 54.
  10. Hyphens and capital letters are used sparingly. Do not capitalize terms such as supervisor or clerk unless they are used with a proper name. Example: Supervisor J. H. Ketchum. Do not capitalize town, village, or city unless referring to the government thereof. Example: The Town of Dover’s ordinance regarding stray dogs.

Sample Citations

Book (Same for Primary Sources and Secondary Sources):

 ¹Christian Wolman, The Great Railroad Revolution: The History of Trains in America

(New York: Public Affairs, 2013), 231.

 ²Henry Thoreau, Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition, ed. Jeffrey S. Cramer (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2004), 90

Scholarly Journal Article:

 ?Lou Roper, “The Ties That Bound: The Conception of Anglo-America, 1617-1667.”

Journal of Early American History 1, no. 2 (2011):142-66.

Newspaper Article:

?“Charter Granted to Vassar Temple 100 Years Ago.” Poughkeepsie Sunday New Yorker, February 29, 1948.

Blog:

?Rauner Library. (2014, November 14). Ciphering Books. Library Muse. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://sites.dartmouth.edu/library/2014/11/14/ciphering-books-2/ LINK

Manuscript Letter:

?Joshua Humphrey letter to Norfolk Naval Yard, June 22, 1795. FDRs Naval Manuscripts. Franklin D Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY.