Costello to Receive Martha Washington Award

NEWBURGH – In honor of Women’s History Month, Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site will hold its annual program, The General’s Lady, on Sunday, March 22nd at 2:00 PM. Inspired by Martha Washington, this event pays tribute to both the impact of noteworthy historical women and to contemporary women making a difference in the field of history and preservation in the Hudson Valley.

Catherine Costello will be awarded the 2026 Martha Washington Woman of History Award, which recognizes her outstanding contribution to Hudson Valley history. Catherine has volunteered for decades preserving the historic St. George’s Cemetery in Newburgh and sharing its history—and the stories of those buried there—with the community. She has guided people researching their family trees and painstakingly added cemetery information to genealogical websites like billiongraves.com. She has led youth history programs and collaborated with veterans’ organizations and the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands.

At the program, Washington’s Headquarters staff historian Matthew Weigman will give a talk on Martha Washington with a focus on her time alongside her husband at his Newburgh headquarters between 1782-1783. After the American victory at Yorktown, Martha was reunited with George for an entire year in Newburgh at the Hasbrouck House.

The prior years of the war she only got to see him for short periods while Washington led the Continental Army. In Newburgh she kept busy assisting with correspondence, medical aid and preparing for their life after the war at home at Mt. Vernon.

The public are invited to this free event held in Washington’s Headquarters museum building, located at 84 Liberty St., in Newburgh. For more information visit parks.ny.gov.