The Adirondack History Center Museum will host two events in July that look at the landscape and built environment in Essex County. A reception, slide show and gallery tour by photographer Betsy Tisdale featuring the exhibition, In and Around Essex will be held on July 8th, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. The slide show highlights photographs not included in the exhibition and focuses on changes that have taken place in Essex, NY over the last 30 years. Light refreshments will be served including an array of pies contributed by Essex community members for a taste of hometown Essex. Donations accepted. Please call for reservations.
Celebrating a Landscape of Culture and Ideas: 1609-2009, is the focus of this season at the History Center which is offering its next event on Sunday, July 12 at 4:00pm. A lecture by Ellen Ryan, Community Outreach Director at Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH), features “What can we learn about people and their environment by looking at architecture?” The presentation corresponds with the exhibition currently on display at the museum: Race, Gender, and Class: Architecture and Society in Essex County. Please call for reservations. $10/non-members, $5/members, $2/students.
The museum is located at 7590 Court Street, Elizabethtown (corner of Hand Avenue and Court Street). For more information please contact the museum at 873-6466 or echs@adkhistorycenter.org.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
In and Around Essex, Architecture Focus at History Center
By Editorial Staff
Monday, June 29, 2009
Adirondack Iron Ore Program in Wilmington
By Editorial Staff
The Wilmington Historical Society will sponsor the program "Adirondack-Champlain Iron: Creator of Boom Towns & Ghost Towns, 1750s-1970s" with guest speaker John Moravek, Associate Professor of Geography, SUNY Plattsburgh. The program will be held at the Wilmington Community Center on Springfield Road in Wilmington, Essex County, NY on Friday, July 17, at 7 pm. The public is encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be served. For further information, contact Karen Peters at 946-7586 or Merri Peck at 946- 7627.
About the speaker: John Moravek has been on the faculty at SUNY Plattsburgh since arriving in fall semester of 1969. Now an Associate Professor of Geography, he teaches a variety of courses, including Physical Geography, Historical and Cultural Geography of the United States; as well as the History and Cultural Geography of Russia. He has also offered a popular and intensive two-week workshop (a 3-credit course) on the Historical Geography of the Adirondack Region every July for the past 26 years consecutively which he considers a genuine labor of love as an incorrigible "Adirondackophile". John is also an official Forty-Sixer, having climbed the first 45 mountains solo. His doctoral dissertation, completed in 1976, investigated a number of facets of the history and geography of the Adirondack-Champlain Iron Industry. He has also presented several papers on the topic at professional meetings, with aspirations of writing a book on the topic at some future date. Currently, his publications include a number of Review Essays/Book Critiques on various topics, primarily related to the Adirondack Region.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
- Wheels Blog: Andrew Carnegie’s Electric Cars
- Tenured Radical: Universities, Awake! The Crisis of Higher Ed
- Tenement Museum Blog: Neighborhood Tea Houses & Cafes
- Lost City: Lost City's Guide to Gramercy
- The Bowery Boys: Greenwich Village, When it Was A Village
- Bovina History: Bovina Weather History During the Great War
- History Confidential: The Origin of Wall Street
- Coney Island Blog: The March Of The Mermaids
- The Bowery Boys: Underground: Pre-Stonewall New York
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- A New Web Site For NY Public Library
- A Manuscript, A Confrontation, A Shooting
- Manhattan's Oldet House Through Pictures
- From Parade to Pasture to Auction Block
- Gay Marriage Gets a Dutch Boost
- Dutch Will Join The Celebration
- Champlain Bridge Project Begins
- Kodak Retires Kodachrome After 74-Yrs
- Volunteers Work to Re-Raise The Grange
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Henry Hudson, New Netherland, and Atlantic History
By Editorial Staff
Dr. L.H. Roper, Professor of History at SUNY New Paltz and a scholar of international reputation in the field of Atlantic History has announced a symposium, 'Henry Hudson, New Netherland, and Atlantic History', at SUNY New Paltz the weekend of 25-26 September, 2009. This host two-day international symposium on “The Worlds of Henry Hudson” is expected to be the premier intellectual event held in conjunction with the celebration of the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s exploration of the Hudson River. Leading historians from the Netherlands, France, and Germany, as well as the United States will present papers on a series of topics related to Hudson and his times.
The program will include panel discussions, teaching workshops, and two luncheon addresses over two days to be held on the campus of SUNY New Paltz., as set forth below. At each session, two-to-three presenters will give talks on topics closely related to the character of the European exploration and colonization of the Hudson Valley, which arose from Hudson’s voyage, and the historical significance of the issues generated by these phenomena.
The emergence of the transatlantic perspective during the last two decades is a major development in the study of the history of Europe, Africa and the Americas during the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The scholars invited to this conference are among the major figures in advancing this perspective. The conference program is designed to provide an opportunity for the further integration of their work, and its advancement through publication of the papers it generates and by providing a means for secondary and elementary school teachers to incorporate this scholarship into their own classrooms.
A second goal, equally important, is to further the integration of the African, American Indian, and European contexts (“the transatlantic perspective” or “Atlantic history”) into teaching and learning about exploration and “colonial America” in our schools. The conference structure provides for interaction in each session among leading scholars of early modern Africa and Europe and of American Indian societies and current and future elementary and secondary school teachers.
The cost of registering for this conference will be $20/day and $15 per luncheon session. Teachers who wish to attend, with the exception of those in Ulster, Dutchess, and Orange Counties, should register through the Center for Regional Research, Education, and Outreach at SUNY New Paltz. The costs for attending the symposium will be payable directly to CRREO.
Teachers in Ulster, Dutchess, and Orange Counties who wish to attend one or both days should register via MyLearningPlan. Teachers in other counties should register through the Center for Regional Research, Education, and Outreach at SUNY New Paltz. Professional development hours are available for approval. The first fifty teachers who sign up and who have been participants in the Ulster BOCES Teaching American History Summer Institute for at least one week will have their registration fee paid by the TAH grant. Ulster BOCES will notify those registrants that their fee has been paid.
For further information, please contact Lou Roper of the Department of History at roperl@newpaltz.edu.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
French and Indian War Reenactment at Old Fort Niagara
By Editorial Staff
On July 3-5, more than 2,300 historic reenactors will bring the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War to life at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY. Hosts of authentically-costumed 18th century British and French soldiers and American Indian warriors will recreate historic encampments and the “Siege of Fort Niagara” of July 1759. The activities include land battles and drills, ships, historically authentic games for the children, and an artillery bombardment with fireworks.
The collection of Old Fort Niagara’s military architecture includes the oldest building in the Great Lakes region - the “French Castle.” The fort is a New York State and National Historic Landmark site that overlooks Lake Ontario, which played a strategic role in the French and Indian War and the War of 1812.
The best way to reach the big event that is the 2009 “Signature Event” of the New York State 250th French and Indian War Anniversary Commemoration Commission is to follow one of America’s Byways, the 518-mile Great Lakes Seaway Trail that parallels New York and Pennsylvania’s freshwater shorelines.
The swift waterways and footpaths of power along the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania helped decide the outcome of the French & Indian War. A journey along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail offers an authentic American experience of the landscapes of history, well-kept military architecture, battlefields and waterfront staging areas. This byway is also home to two Indian Nations that maintain their distinct cultural traditions.
Battle reenactments, military and suttler encampments, and special events take place year-round at Great Lakes Seaway Trail historic destinations including Old Fort Niagara; Fort Ontario (Oswego, NY); the Sackets Harbor Battlefield; and the site of Fort LaPresentation (Ogdensburg, NY). Library and museum archives help visitors trace their genealogical roots grounded in the byway’s historic landscape. Military and maritime history and architecture (the byway also includes a cluster of Frank Lloyd Wright designed properties) are popular travel themes for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway. Learn more about the byway at www.seawaytrail.com or call 315-646-1000.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Jay Heritage Center's 400th Yachting & Sailing Exhibit
By Editorial Staff
The Jay Heritage Center (JHC) in the lower Hudson valley in Rye, New York was chartered in 1993 to oversee restoration of John Jay’s boyhood property in Rye, including the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House. The site has been closed for a time due to extensive restoration but has recently re-opened. The JHC was recently named to the Hudson River Valley Heritage Area. The grounds and pastoral landscape of the 23 acre scenic 1745 Jay Property are a must see for visitors interested in American History, Social Justice, Landscape Preservation and Environmental Stewardship as well as lively place for concerts, interactive theatre and art shows. The site also has a a great Quadricentennial Exhibit. “A Legacy of Sailing-Residents of the Jay Estate and Yachting New York 1843-1966.”
Owners of the historic Jay Estate in Rye and their families shared a passion for the water and were influential members of the New York sailing community: John Clarkson Jay was one of the founders of the historic New York Yacht Club, owner of the yacht, "La Coquille" and a consultant to Commodore Matthew Perry following his 1852 -54 Expedition to Japan; the Van Norden patriarch, a member of the Holland Society, was one of the original organizers of the 1909 Henry Hudson Tercentenary that celebrated New York's most vital waterway while applauding the contributions of European culture to this state's development and commerce; Edgar Palmer, famed Princeton philanthropist, owned several famous yachts including two schooners named "Guinevere" that were legendary for their state of the art technology—both vessels were commissioned to the US Navy in World War I and World War II for special escort patrol.
The exhibit explores the rich history of yachting in New York and features the same pristine view of Long Island Sound from the 1838 Jay mansion that inspired these sailing families when they lived in Rye. Among the unique items are extensive collections of 1909 Hudson Fulton Tercentenary memorabilia including post cards, banners, silver and bronze medals for the 1909 Commission; original engraved invitations, programs and silverware from Tiffany’s; vintage photographs of the 1909 naval parade; 100 year old ship plans of the replica Half Moon and Clermont; maritime photographs from Mystic Seaport’s unparalleled Rosenfeld Collection; an original 1916 scrapbook documenting the very first of the NY 40 design regattas from Long Island Sound all the way to Marblehead and more.
The exhibit is just one reason to visit the site. According to the JHC website:
The Jay Property in Rye is the boyhood home of New York State’s only native Founding Father, John Jay (1745-1829). Located next to a marshlands preserve with public trails, this sylvan and historic 23 acre park is all that remains of the original 400 acre Jay family estate where America’s first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and author of The Jay Treaty grew up. Located just 35 minutes from Manhattan, the Property has an 8000 year old scenic vista of Long Island Sound over a meadow bordered by sunken stone ha-ha walls, a European garden design feature added by Jay’s eldest son circa 1822. It is also located on the historic Boston Post Road where mile marker “24” out of 230, designated in 1763 by Jay’s colleague, Benjamin Franklin, is set into the perimeter wall.
The centerpiece of this National Historic Landmark is an 1838 Greek Revival mansion with soaring Corinthian columns built by Peter Augustus Jay atop the footprint of his father and grandfather’s original home “The Locusts” reusing original timbers and nails from the same house. Visitors can literally see the layers of history being uncovered here. The PA Jay House is being carefully restored and managed by the not-for-profit organization, the Jay Heritage Center (JHC) for use as an educational facility hosting Programs in American History, Social Justice, Landscape Conservation and Environmental Stewardship. The house is an official project of the Save America’s Treasures Program and at 170 years old, it is the oldest National Historic Landmark structure in New York State to be using an energy efficient geothermal heating and cooling system. It was recently designated as an important site in the Hudson River Valley Heritage Area list because of its architectural significance and best green management practices.
The African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County lists the Jay property as one of 13 significant sites worth visiting. John Jay is well known for advocating emancipation, serving as President of the Manumission Society and establishing the first African Free School.
Visitors to our National Historic Landmark site see and learn about:
-an 8000 year old Paleo Indian viewsshed of Long Island Sound --- arrowheads and pottery have been found by archaeologists on this site revealing a rich cultural heritage. See the oldest managed meadow on record in all of New York State, an unparalleled scenic view!
-the land where the only Founding Father native to New York grew up and is buried with his descendants; John Jay learned to ride her in Rye as a boy, developing his lifelong love of nature; the Jay Property was a refuge he returned to time and again to be with parents, his son and grandchildren. It is here that Jay's character was shaped, and led him to serve in every branch of government including first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Governor of New York.
-the landmarked Boston Post Road with its mile marker placed by Benjamin Franklin; a stretch of road distinguished by three pre- Civil War architectural gems, Whitby, Lounsberry and the 1838 Jay Mansion, all intact in their landscapes.
-a magnificent 170 year old Greek (and "green") Revival Building that is an official Save America's Treasures project and also the oldest NHL in all of New York State with a working geothermal heating and cooling pump system, and the first NHL in Westchester County to use such a sustainable system
-a site on the African American Heritage Trail that was home of one America's leading families in the fight to abolish slavery; a place where slaves worked and were emancipated; the home of Peter Augustus Jay who was an eloquent advocate for African American suffrage in New York State at the 1821 Convention
Photos: The 1838 Jay Mansion and an Aerial View of Jay Property and Neighboring Nature Sanctuary.
Monday, June 22, 2009
William F. Fox, Father of NY Forest Rangers
By Editorial Staff
Last week the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) held a ceremony to honor William F. Fox, the "father" of the state's modern-day forest rangers, on the 100th anniversary of his death. Fox was born in 1840 in Ballston Spa, Saratoga County, and graduated from Union College in Schenectady in 1860. He served in the Civil War as Captain, Major and then Lieutenant Colonel in the 107th New York Volunteers and later wrote a number of books on both the Civil War and forestry. Fox's 1902 History of the Lumber Industry in the State of New York, written under the auspicious of Gifford Pinchot, is considered the first authoritative work on the logging industry in New York.
Fox became New York's "Superintendent of Forests" in 1891. He quickly came to the conclusion that the then-current fire patrol system -- which used "fire wardens" (firefighters who only worked when there were fire emergencies) and local ad hoc firefighters -- couldn't handle the job of forest protection. He wanted a paid staff - a new "forest guard" service -- to cover the Adirondacks and Catskills.
Fox wrote a report to state leaders outlining how he'd organize the patrols: each ranger assigned to a township seven-miles square, residing in a log cabin built near the center of the township -- but in the woods, not a village. This forest guard "would keep a sharp watch on any skulker who might be a possible incendiary." In sum, Fox said he wanted to shift the emphasis from reacting after fires started to patrolling the woods before.
Despite Fox's advocacy, the state Legislature did not act immediately. Meanwhile, towns became reluctant to enlist local firefighters because of costs. Then came massive fires in 1903 (500,000 acres burned in the Adirondacks) and 1908 (605 fires over 368,000 acres across the state), finally prompting elected officials to take action. In 1909, Gov. Charles E. Hughes signed legislation that brought sweeping changes to the Forest, Fish and Game law that included the creation of a fire patrol service in Adirondacks and Catskills. Fox died shortly thereafter at age 69.
Further legislation followed, replacing the "Forest, Fish and Game Commission" with a "Conservation Commission" and creating the title "forest ranger" in 1912. Though he didn't live to see his vision fully carried out, Fox is still credited with being the father of the forest rangers. One hundred years later, the DEC, which evolved from the Conservation Commission, today employs a statewide force of 134 uniformed Forest Rangers. Their mission of protecting the state's natural resources remains consistent with Colonel Fox's vision.
The ceremony was held at Fox's graveside at the Village Cemetery in Ballston Spa, Saratoga County.
This story was cross posted at Adirondack Almanack, the leading online journal of Adirondack culture, history, politics, and the environment.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Museum Institute at Sagamore Application Available
By Editorial Staff
The 2009 Museum Institute at Sagamore, sponsored by the Upstate History Alliance, will focus on Understanding Audiences. The Institute is a reflective, intensive, four day retreat at Great Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks that gives New York State museum professionals the opportunity to learn, reflect, and work with their colleagues from across the state.
The 2009 institute will take place September 22 - 25th. Acceptance to the institute is by application, the postmark deadline is July 17, 2009. To download an application, please click here. For more information on the Museum Institute at Sagamore, please visit our website www.upstatehistory.org and click on What's New.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
New Widget Spreads Word of The 400th Through New Media
By Editorial Staff
A new online effort from the Royal Netherlands Embassy (part of the 400th celebration) will help promote interesting events in New York City throughout 2009. The Embassy and their partners are celebrating 400 years of shared history between the US and the Netherlands with a new widget that keeps users updated on local events and online content and helps tell the story of our shared cultures. The widget displays a game where users can match up symbols and Dutch/English words to reveal content related to that subject. For example, the History match reveals information about the New Amsterdam walking tour of Manhattan that you can download to your mobile phone for free.
There are over 50 partners in this effort including New York City, New Netherland Project, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can check out the Royal Netherlands Embassy across social media: there is a blog with contributors ranging from Dutch artists to Muslim activist Eboo Patel (http://www.ny400.org/blog), a video gallery of performances/ interviews/events (http://www.ny400.org/video.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
- History’s Newsstand Blog: Time Lag in News Reporting, 1776
- Adirondack View: Miss Thousand Islands II
- Patell and Waterman: 17 Hours in Plattsburgh
- NY400 Blog: Go Green! The Fight for Dry Feet
- Inside the Apple: The General Slocum Disaster
- Ephemeral New York: The Mad Bomber of NYC
- Brooklynology: Build the Bridge: The Eagle Backs a Failing Venture
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Adirondack Architectural Heritage Awards Seeks Nominations
By Editorial Staff
The deadline for nominations from the general public for the 2009 Adirondack Architectural Heritage Awards program is June 30th. Adirondack Architectural Heritage seeks nominations for projects that recognize exemplary historic preservation work throughout the Adirondack Park including examples of sensitive restoration, rehabilitation, and demonstrated long-term stewardship. Past winners have included projects as diverse as a 19th Century Irishtown school restoration, stewardship of Santa's Workshop, restoration of the circa 1906 Stark Hardware Building in Saranac Lake, restoration of the Twin Pines boathouse on Loon Lake (circa early 1900s) and relighting of the Split Rock lighthouse, in Essex on Lake Champlain.
For more information about our awards program and to obtain a nomination form, contact Ellen Ryan, Community Outreach Director, Adirondack Architectural Heritage, 1790 Main Street, Suite 37, Keeseville, New York 12944, 518-834-9328 or visit their website at www.aarch.org.
Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) is the nonprofit historic preservation organization for New York State’s Adirondack Park. AARCH was formed in 1990 with a mission to promote better public understanding, appreciation and stewardship of the Adirondack's unique and diverse architectural heritage. This legacy includes not only the nationally recognized "Great Camps" and other rustic buildings but also the many other structures that embody the whole range of human experience in the region. These other structures include: a wide variety of homes and farmsteads; the churches, commercial buildings, town halls and libraries that make up most Adirondack settlements; bridges, railroad buildings, lighthouses and other transportation related structures; and industrial sites related to the region's important iron, wood, quarrying and tanning industries. AARCH website, maintains a list of endangered properties in the Adirondacks.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Jeff Siemers: New York Indian Removal History Series
By Editorial Staff
Jeff Siemers over at Algonkian Church History has finished his outstanding series of (nineteen!) posts on New York Indian Removal and written a summary post to put them all in perspective and to serve as an access to allow for reading the posts in the order they were written. Jeff is a Reference Librarian at Moraine Park Technical College (Fond du Lac Campus), he normally writes about nineteenth-century Wisconsin Native history so his series about New York is quite a treat and highly recommended reading.
Here is an excerpt from Jeff's summary describing each of the parts:
Part I: The Stockbridges Attempt a Move to Indiana. A letter from Thomas Jefferson is not honored by officials of later administrations.
Part II: Eleazar Williams. A missionary among the Oneidas (see photo above), of mixed race (part Mohawk), is hungry for power, and envisions being the leader of a grand confederacy in the west.
Part III: Why did They Leave? (The answer, of course, has a lot more to do with the intentions of white Americans than with the Indians themselves.)
Part IV: Conspiracy of Interests. A book by Professor Laurence Hauptman describes the factors that led to the removal of New York Indians - he doesn't, however, have a lot to say about the Algonkians.
Part V: Jedidiah Morse. A Congregational minster has some influence in Washington D.C.
Part VI: Negotiations and Arrivals. Good historians have gotten some of this wrong. If you need to know what-happened-when vis-a-vis the negitiations and arrivals of the New York Indians in Wisconsin, this is an important post.
Part VII: Metoxen Takes Center Stage. The New York Indians were set up against the Wisconsin Natives. This post includes a link to a remarkable speech John Metoxen made at the Council of 1830.
Part VIII: The Disaffected Party. Are the New York Indians going to be pushed further west? This question and other issues arouse tribal factionalism.
Part IX: Ellis Describes More Negotiations. If Andrew Jackson (pictured above riding a horse) wanted the Stockbridge, Munsee, and Brothertown Indians to move to some swampy land, how did they wind up on the good farmland east of Lake Winnebago?
Part X: The Need for a Constitution. Seeing how the U.S. government handles other tribes appears to have motivated John W. Quinney to write a tribal constitution for the Stockbridge Mohicans.
Part XI: Munsee Removal and the Quinney's Perspective. The arrival of roughly 200 Munsees prompt John W. and Austin E. Quinney to write a letter to the U.S. Secretary of War.
Part XII: The First Permanent Split in the Stockbridge Tribal Church. The Disaffected Party beaks away from Calvinist missionary Cutting Marsh's church. They hold their own Baptist services.
Part XIII: More About the Munsees. The "partnership" between the Stockbridges and the Munsees is an on-again-off-again kind of thing.
Part XIV: The Treaty of 1839. Half the Stockbridge reservation in Calumet County is sold to the federal government. Members of the Disaffected party and the Munsees head to what is now Kansas.
Part XV: They Left on the Sabbath. Puritan author Electa Jones describes the emmigration to Kansas.
Part XVI: On to Minnesota? The treaty of 1848 was supposed to provide a new reservation to a faction of the Stockbridge Indians - but details were never agreed upon.
Part XVII: Jotham Meeker and the Two Minute Books. We find members of the Disaffected Party and Munsees continuing on in the Baptist faith west of the Missouri River.
Part XVIII: Establishment of the Shawano County Reservation. The treaty of 1856 established a new reservation - but the land is not good for farming.
Part XIX: The Munseees: According to an Indian Party Brief. Munsee Indians came and went. How many Munsees were with the Stockbridge Indians in the late 1800's? (hint: count them on your fingers).
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Vermont Historical Society Seeks Your Input
By Editorial Staff
The Vermont Historical Society is asking for participation in a survey to help them determine which aspects of the organization are most important. The survey allows plenty of opportunity to comment and they would appreciate hearing from you folks interested in Vermont history by June 23rd if possible. You can find the survey here.
Monday, June 15, 2009
CFP: Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850
By Editorial Staff
The Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850 (CRE) is a venue for the presentation of original reserach on not only the revolutionary history of Europe, but also the Atlantic World and beyond. We welcome proposals from allied disciplines and comparative studies; in short, the conference offers a platform for research into the revolutionary era broadly defined.
The 2010 conference will be held February 25-27 at the College of Charleston and the Francis Marion Hotel, located in the center of Charleston's historic district. The conference venues are within easy walking distance of Charleston's eighteenth- and nineteenth-century urban core, its museums, waterfront, and many exceptional restaurants.
The program committee prefers proposals for complete sessions (three papers, plus a chair and a commentator). However, we will accept proposals for incomplete sessions and individual paper proposals. Session proposals should include name of presenter, title of paper, and brief abstract (no more than one page) for each paper; and brief CVs (no more than 2 pages) for each participant. The deadline for proposals is October 15, 2009. We welcome traditional presentations of new research as well as roundtable discussions and pedagogical panels. Proposals from doctoral students are welcome. Electronic submissions should be sent in Word format.
Send proposals to:
Professor Carol Harrison
Department of History
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
ceharris@mailbox.sc.edu
Travel and accommodations:
Reservations should be made at the Francis Marion Hotel, located at 387 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403, which will serve as the conference hotel. To make your reservation and to obtain the group rate discount, call either 843-722-0600 or 1-877-756-2121 and state that you are attending the annual meeting of the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era. The deadline for reserving a room is January 26, 2010. The room rate for CRE participants is $169.00 per night, plus tax.
Charleston International Airport is served by AirTran, American Eagle, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United Express, and US Airways.
For more information about visiting Charleston, please see the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (www.charlestoncvb.com).
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The New Amsterdam Trail, Free Downloadable Audio Tour
By Editorial Staff
The Dutch and the indelible role they played in the formation of the ideas and ideals that shaped New York City and America is being celebrated by National Parks Service, the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy, and the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation with The New Amsterdam Trail. This free downloadable audio walking tour is the first of three in a series featuring the iconic National Park Service Rangers and an expert cast of historians, scientists, and other great storytellers.
Using a backdrop of period music and special sound effects, the audio with map can be downloaded from the Harbor Conservancy's website or on the Henry Hudson 400 website. Visitors travel through the streets of downtown Manhattan to 10 historically significant locations, cueing commentary from their mobile phone, mp3 player or ipod. As they stand at the tip of the Battery, they can visualize Manhattan in the hours before Henry Hudson arrived and when he first navigated our waters and then listen to the stories of the life and times of New Amsterdam's most famous and infamous settlers.
The New Amsterdam Trail features Steve Laise, Chief of Cultural Resources for Manhattan's National Parks; Eric Sanderson, author of Mannahatta, Natural History of New York City; Andrew Smith, editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, and Russell Shorto, author of Island at the Center of the World.
The family-friendly walking tour takes about 90-minutes-- however, you can walk the trail at your own pace during lunchtime and pause the recorded commentary at any point. For more details and to download the free tour, visit www.nyharborparks.org or www.henryhudson400.com.
The Harbor Conservancy is the official partner of the National Parks of New York Harbor and together they champion the 22 National Park sites that call New York Harbor home by helping to preserve the environment, promote economic development and create the finest urban waterfront recreation and educational park system in the world.
Henry Hudson 400 New York is a foundation created to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's legendary voyage for the Dutch to the Hudson River and New York. The unique character of New York City, originally New Amsterdam, has been shaped by the legacy of the multiethnic and tolerant culture of 17th century Amsterdam. Henry Hudson 400 is producing a series of special events in 2009 to celebrate the spirit of freedom, enterprise, and diversity shared by Amsterdam and New York.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
CFP: 1763 and All That, The Decade After The Seven Years' War
By Editorial Staff
1763 and All That: Temptations of Empire in the British World During the Decade After the Seven Years' War - a call for papers for a conference to be held on February 25th and 26th, 2010, at the University of Texas at Austin, sponsored by the Department of History's Institute for Historical Studies.
The focus of the conference is the British Empire during its "decade of crisis" between the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763 and the passage of the Tea Act ten years later. Over the course of this decade, Britons drastically transformed the way they viewed themselves and their empire. For the first time, British imperial policy extended to the governance of the French Catholic inhabitants of Canada, the Native people of the trans-Appalachian interior of North America, Africans in the new colony of Senegambia, and the twenty million inhabitants of Bengal subject to the authority of the East India Company.
In Britain itself, the governance of this vastly extended empire engendered an enormous amount of bitter debate and anxious discussion in the halls of power as well as in the popular press. Among historians of each of the different parts of the British World, this decade has long been seen as one of crucial importance.
However, while invaluable work has been done to examine British and indigenous relations and exchanges in specific colonial contexts, as well to examine connections between the metropolis and specific colonial regions, there has been as yet few attempts to interrogate the links across and between the colonial regions and to set developments in particular regions into the context of the transformation of the British Empire as a whole. The organizers aim to address this need by bringing scholars working on various aspects of the British World into dialogue and debate over the causes and character of the imperial transformation of the 1760s and early 1770s.
Submissions are invited for individual papers on these themes. Note that the conference will be organized around the discussion of pre-circulated papers. Accepted papers must be submitted for circulation to participants no later than February 1, 2010. Each proposal should include a brief précis of the paper topic and a clear indication of how the paper will undertake to connect the specific research subject to larger events and processes taking place across the British Empire. The deadline for receiving proposals is September 1, 2009.
Paper proposals (as well a brief C.V.) should be submitted via e-mail to the conference organizers, Robert Olwell and James Vaughn, at: historyinstitute@austin.utexas.edu. Send all queries to the same address.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Exhibit Offers Rare Look at WWII Relief Quilts
By Editorial Staff
The faded color and worn edges of this “Bow Ties” quilt bespeak the toll of the long days of World War II in the Netherlands. There is still time to see this and other authentic WWII relief quilts in an interpretive exhibit at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY. The exhibit includes a DVD with An Keuning-Tichelaar telling how she received and distributed the quilts to refugees in war-torn Netherlands.
“Passing on the Comfort: World War II, Quilts & The Women Who Made a Difference” offers a rare look into world history, heartbreak and humanity Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm. The New York Council for the Humanities; the Mennonite Heritage Association, Croghan, NY; the Town of Hounsfield, National Grid, Key Bank Foundation; and the Seaway Trail Foundation, and volunteer docents are making this exhibit possible for the first time in New York state. More info: 315-646-1000, www.seawaytrail.com.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Newspaper Vital Records Index Reaches 50,000 Entries
By Editorial Staff
Bob Sullivan of the Schenectady Digital History Archive at the Schenectady County Public Library has announced that the organization's obituary index has passed the 50,000-citation mark. The index includes scattered records from Schenectady newspapers before 1822, more complete coverage from 1822 to 1858, some later 1800s, 1902, 1993 to mid-1995, and Dec. 2005 to date. Some other papers from neighboring areas are also included from 2005 to date including regional papers such as the Saratogian, the Gloversville Leader-Herald and the Glens Falls Post-Star. Also available are some years of the Hamilton County News, the Business Review, the Jewish World and the Evangelist.
Most of the newspapers are available in the collections of the Schenectady County Public Library or the Schenectady County Historical Society. See "What Newspapers Are Included?" and "How May I Obtain Copies?" at the top of each obituary page for more information about specific dates and holding libraries.
The index can be accessed here http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/vitalrecords/
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
New Netherland Project Featured in New Documentary
By Editorial Staff
The New York State Library’s New Netherland Project is featured in the documentary “Uncovering America’s Forgotten Colony: The New Netherland Project.” The documentary focuses on the work of Dr. Charles Gehring and his colleagues and highlights more than 30 years of uncovering America’s forgotten Dutch colonial history through the transcription and translation of the official archives of New Netherland. The documentary “Uncovering America’s Forgotten Colony: The New Netherland Project” was produced by Mogul One Productions in partnership with the New Netherland Institute. DVDs are available for $19.95, at http://ForPeopleWhoThink.com. Fifty percent of the proceeds will go to support future work of the New Netherland Project.
One of the most unique history projects in America, the New Netherland Project provided the documentation and inspiration for Russell Shorto’s recent best seller, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America
A program of the New York State Library, the New Netherland Project has been working since 1974 to translate and publish the official 17th-century Dutch colonial documents of one of America’s earliest settled regions. Originally created under the sponsorship of the New York State Library and the Holland Society of New York, the New Netherland Project has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the New York State Office of Cultural Education. Translated documents and other work by the New Netherland Project can be accessed at www.nnp.org.
Also based on the work of the New Netherland Project, the exhibit Light on New Netherland is the first to introduce adults and children to the scope of the 17th century colony of New Netherland. Previously on view at the State Museum in Albany, the exhibit will tour the regions once encompassed by New Netherland, appearing at venues to include the GaGa Arts Center in West Haverstraw, New York; the Museum of Connecticut History at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford; the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities in Cold Spring Harbor, New York; Federal Hall in Manhattan; and the FDR Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York.
The book Explorers, Fortunes and Love Letters (Mount Ida Press)
Monday, June 8, 2009
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By Editorial Staff
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Saturday, June 6, 2009
Underwater Explorer Presents Lake Ontario Shipwrecks
By Editorial Staff
Noted shipwreck explorer Jim Kennard will present an all-day program on the “Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario” on Saturday, June 13 as part of the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series. Kennard’s discoveries have received worldwide attention and have been featured in National Geographic Magazine. The program at the “Red Barn” at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site on Hill Street in Sackets Harbor benefits the nonprofit Great Lakes Seaway Trail Foundation that promotes tourism-based learning experiences along the 518-mile-long freshwater shoreline of New York and Pennsylvania. The program fee for the day-long shipwrecks program on June 13th is $15 or $5/program payable at the door.
The waters of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail hold many of the more than 200 wrecks Kennard has discovered in more than 35 years of diving. Each of his four presentations on May 21st will focus on a different wreck that Kennard and exploration partner Dan Scoville have discovered over the past six years in Lake Ontario. The program begins at 10 am and will include presentations on:
“Discovery of the Steamer Homer Warren,”
“The Last Voyage of the Schooner Etta Belle,”
“Discovery of an Early 19th Century Lake Ontario Schooner,” and
“The Deep Water Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario.”
During each program Kennard will present a brief update & short video on HMS Ontario, a British sloop-of-war that sank in Lake Ontario on October 31, 1780, during the Revolutionary War. Kennard also be signing copies of the recently-published book “Legend of the Lake,” the story of the HMS Ontario.
Since 1970, Kennard has discovered shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, NY Finger Lakes, and Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Using his background as an electrical engineer, Kennard built the side scan sonar system that located the shipwrecks.
For more information on the Great Lake Seaway Trail and the Dive the Seaway Trail Project, visit www.seawaytrail.com or call 315-646-1000.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
- Tenement Museum Blog: A Tale of Two Garment Districts
- Upstate Earth: Historic Hudson Red Light District
- Warwick, NY Local History: New Milford Fire of 1900
- The Kingston Lounge: Fort Totten Army Hospital
- Ephemeral New York: The Marx Brothers’ Yorkville Tenement
- Brooklynology: Library Budget Cuts - A Recurring Theme
- The Bowery Boys: Prospect Park, Olmsted and Vaux
- Adirondack Almanack: Canadian Guns on Mohawk Land, 400 Years Later
- Champlain’s Journal: Preparing For Exploration
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- Preview of Vintage Aircraft Show
- Schenectady Co. History & Heritage Day
- Dutch Help Fund Hudson Celebration
- Tinsmith: 18th Century Comes to Life
- River Towns Gear up For Flotilla
- Expose: Parks Commissioner’s Mansion
- Riding History Aboard The Half Moon
- Ontario Border Guards Flee Mohawks
- Historic Diner Moves Local Museum
- UVM Adjuncts Contract Impasse
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Online: La Escuela Electrónica/The Electronic Schoolhouse
By Editorial Staff
The New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust have announced La Escuela Electrónica/The Electronic Schoolhouse, a bilingual website for teachers focusing on the Latino experience in New York. Using historical records such as photographs, letters, flyers, broadsides and more dating from 1861 to the present, the website combines historical records and technology to promote the development of critical thinking skills, reading and writing skills, understanding historical content and context.
La Escuela Electrónica includes two introductory videos, in Spanish and English, explaining how teachers can use primary resources in their classrooms and the type of institutions that care for these one-of-a-kind materials. The records on the site are from nine organizations in the state: the Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, the New York City Department of Records and Information Services, Cornell University, Hofstra University, Hostos Community College, the Dominican Studies Institute at City College (CUNY), the Onondaga Historical Association, the Rochester Museum and Science Center – Latino Alliance Partnership, and the New York State Archives.
The web site is organized by topics such as immigration, civil rights, women, and education that connect to the New York State Education Department’s core curriculum and the learning standards and assessments for elementary, middle, and secondary education. Lessons researched and developed by New York State teachers accompany most documents. “Build Your Own Worksheet” is a unique feature of the site that allows teachers to customize the lessons to meet the needs of their classroom.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Adirondack Museum Offers More Quilt Exhibits
By Editorial Staff
The Adirondack Museum has launched a new online exhibit, "Common Threads: 150 Year of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters" that will share quilts and Adirondack quilting history. The online exhibit includes quilts, text, and historic photographs and is a companion piece to a special exhibition, also named "Common Threads" that will open to the public at the Blue Mountain Lake museum on May 22, 2009.
The exhibit will include more than forty quilts: historic pieces from the Adirondack Museum's textile collection, as well as contemporary quilts, comforters, and pieced wall hangings on loan from quilters in communities throughout the region. Demonstrations of handwork will accompany the exhibit throughout the summer. According to an Adirondack Museum announcement:
The Adirondack region has supported an active pieced-textile tradition for over a century and a half. From bedcovers, plain or fancy, meant to keep families warm through long Adirondack winters, to stunning art quilts of the twenty-first century, the quilts and comforters of the North Country mirror national trends and also tell a unique story of life in the mountains. "Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters" explores the themes of women's work, domestic life, social networks in a rural area, generational continuity among women, and women's artistic response to life in the Adirondacks.
"Common Threads" will include a family-friendly discovery area where kids can explore pattern and design, try simple stitching on child-sized quilt frames, or enjoy illustrated quilt-themed children's books. The Adirondack Museum has also developed a special "Toddler Tour" of the quilt exhibit "that will lead the smallest visitors on a fun (and fast) search for color, shapes, and animals among the quilts on display."
Museum Curator Hallie Bond will offer an illustrated Monday Evening Lecture on July, 27, 2009 entitled "Common Threads - Adirondack Quilts Tell Their Stories." The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the Auditorium.
The Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival will be held on September 12, 2009. A celebration of traditional and contemporary fiber arts, the Festival will include demonstrations, a juried artisan's market, and hands-on activities. In addition, folksinger, song writer Peggy Lynn will offer a special musical presentation, "A Stitch in Time: Songs Celebrating the Art and Heritage of Quilting."
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Ulster County Dutch Records Database To Go Online
By Editorial Staff
Ulster County Clerk and Quadricentennial Committee Co-Chair, Nina Postupack has announced that a new database “The English Translations of the Dutch Colonial Records” will go online June 12th. The new database features keyword searches of the Dingman Versteeg
In 1895, Kingston Judge Alphonso T. Clearwater had the early Dutch records of his city examined by Dingman Versteeg, the official translator of the Holland Society. Judge Clearwater then pushed to have the records translated at the expense of Ulster County. The translations were indexed shortly after their completion and are the source of the online database "Ulster County Archive's Deed Book 1,2 & 3 Index." The new database will be an expanded version that also includes the Dutch Court and Secretary’s Papers volume 1, 2 and 3. These records are the earliest court and land records of Ulster County.
They will be available on line at www.co.ulster.ny.us/archives/database.html
Monday, June 1, 2009
Dutch Concerts to Benefit Crailo Historic Site
By Editorial Staff
On Sunday June 7 and Sunday June 14, specially researched and custom designed Dutch concerts will be performed by two different musicians groups at the First Presbyterian Church at 38 Broadway in the city of Rensselaer at 3pm. The public is invited to take part and enjoy one very high style concert and, in contrast, one concert for the common folk. The concerts will benefit the Crailo Historic Site.
The first on Sunday June 7 features classical Dutch music of the Golden Age. Musicians of Ma’alwyck perform this Dutch repertoire on clavichord, traverso flute, cello, and violin-instruments popular in the first half of the seventeenth century. Director of Musicians of Ma’alwyck, music historian and virtuoso, Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz has researched and arranged a program fit for the Dutch wealthy middle
and upper classes of the first half of the seventeenth century. The popular regional musical group researched documents at Yale and in the Netherlands in order to present this concert.
The Bells and Motley Consort of Olden Music presents the second concert steeped in seventeenth folk tradition from the Netherlands and Flanders which will be held on Sunday June 14. John and Sondra Bromka, the musical couple that make up this distinctive group, have lived in the Dutch and Belgian countryside studying and teaching music of an earlier time. The instruments used in all of Bells and Motley’s performances are antique or created as authentic reproductions of early musical instruments. John has made many of the instruments himself and audience
members will be introduced to a different look and sound of music--a look and sound enjoyed by the common person of Holland and Flanders in the 1600s.
Gauging from the multitude of paintings depicting Netherlandish culture, music and dance was an important part of life in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from rollicking village peasants on upwards. In truth, no part of Europe offers better documentation of the arts of musical pastime than the Netherlands during these years, thanks to the skilled and ambitious painters, musical publishers, and composers of this region. Artists’ images leave such a rich legacy of vivid musical scenes that we can almost hear the paintings come to life, be it a village celebration with festive bagpipes, or an intimate indoor scene including the gentle lute.
Crailo State Historic Site will add ambiance to the musical events by offering images of select Dutch paintings and staff members in historic costume.
These concerts are offered as a historic musical experience and to help ring in the Quadricentennial Commemoration and the upcoming permanent exhibit debut of A Sweet and Alien Land: Colony of the Dutch in the Hudson River Valley at Crailo State Historic Site on July 4 and 5 from 11am to 5pm.
Both concerts will be held at 3pm at the First Presbyterian Church at 38 Broadway just a block north of Crailo. Concert goers are invited to the lawns at Crailo following the concert for a reception of Dutch and Flemish cheeses, mustards and pretzels. Drinks will also be served. We plan to offer a sneak preview of Crailo’s very special Marketplace Museum Shop during the receptions.
Tickets are $22.50 per person per concert or just $17.50 per person per concert if purchasing the series. Child tickets are $12.00 each. Checks may be made out to Friends of Fort Crailo and receipt of your check secures your place at the concert or concerts. Checks may be mailed to Friends of Fort Crailo, 9 ½ Riverside Avenue, Rensselaer, NY 12144. For more information please contact Crailo at 518-463-8738.
Friends of Fort Crailo is a not-for-profit educational organization that supports the research and interpretive projects at Crailo State Historic Site. Crailo State Historic Site is one of 35 state historic sites and 176 state parks administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. For further information about New York State Parks and Historic Sites, go to www.nysparks.com.
