Ted Goldsborough, a 1957 graduate of Lower Merion High School, has been named the recipient of the Robert DeSilets Award! He will receive the honor at the 2024 Historic Preservation Awards, taking place on Thursday, September 26, at the Merion Tribute House.

The Robert DeSilets Award goes to a person, organization, or group that has made an overwhelming contribution to historic preservation efforts through dedicated support and involvement.

Goldsborough’s contributions to historic preservation and to the Township in general are impossible to adequately summarize. Having grown up in Narbrook Park and graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1957, Ted served in the U.S. Air Force in active duty in Montana, Mississippi and Turkey. He returned to the area and settled in Bala Cynwyd with his wife, Susan, where he began his work to inspire countless students as a secondary school English teacher in Lower Merion School District between 1966 and 1994. During his time teaching, Ted served as president and chairman of various groups including the Lower Merion Education Association.

Starting in 1988, Ted was involved in the grassroots preservation effort Citizens to Save Ardmore Junior High School, which encouraged the preservation of that historic school building. Robert DeSilets, for whom this award is named, was also involved in this effort. Ted served as President of the Lower Merion Historical Society from 1995 to 1999 and President of the Board of Trustees of the Lower Merion Academy from 1988 to 2022. The Academy is the oldest extant educational building in the Township and is now the home of the Lower Merion Historical Society. Ted was also involved in the Lower Merion Street Sign Coalition, a group formed to preserve the Township’s distinctive and historic street signs.

From 2011 to 2016, Ted hosted “Living History,” a television program produced by LMTV featuring topics relating to local history and interviews with members of the community. These recordings are still broadcast on Lower Merion Township’s public access channel and are available to view on the internet.

Ted was named President Emeritus of the Lower Merion Historical Society by its current Board of Directors in July 2023. Still an active lecturer, he presented “The History of Public Schools in Lower Merion” for the Society earlier this year.

Please join us in congratulating Ted and thanking him for his countless contributions to Lower Merion and its history!

To watch episodes of Living History with Ted Goldsborough, click here!