- Drinks Blog: Cocktail History Happened in Upstate NY
- 1800blogger: Stamps Open Pages of History For NY Man
- City Room: Piecing Together a Revolver’s Fuzzy History
- The Coney Island Blog: Coney Island's Future...Prognosis Negative
- Tenement Museum Blog: A Hydrant in the Rear Yard
- Upstate Earth: Basketmakers of The Taghkanic Hills
- Brooklynology: Serendipity in the Eagle Morgue
- The Bowery Boys: 1969-Astronauts Land in New York!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- SUNY Plattsburgh Breaks Ground
- Saratoga to Commemorate Historic Battles
- Zebulon Pike Remains Won't Be Dug Up
- Regents Name New Ed. Commissioner
- NY Librarian Chosen US Archivist
- Location Of Historic Battle Still A Mystery
- Commission Will Plan War of 1812 Events
- Artifacts Pose Pre-Iroquoian Puzzle
- Fort Ti Observes 100th Anniversary
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Governor Signs Rehabilitation Tax Credit Enhancements
By Editorial Staff
Joined by state, municipal and local advocates for community revitalization and historic preservation, Governor David Paterson signed legislation that greatly improves the New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credit program. The measure (A.9023-Hoyt/S.6056-Valesky) provides incentives and program features for developers and municipalities seeking to rehabilitate historic buildings, and is hoped to advance redevelopment and economic stimulus goals throughout New York State.
“We have every reason to believe that the New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credit will prove one of the most effective economic and community development programs in the state,” said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of New York State, the not-for-profit organization that led the charge for enhanced tax credits.
Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen of the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal said, “The Rehabilitation Tax Credits will foster new private and federal investment where it is most needed: our economically distressed downtowns and commercial districts, main streets, and older residential neighborhoods. Further, these incentives will encourage the use or reuse of existing affordable housing resources. I’m delighted that we now have a more powerful tool for revitalizing communities across New York State. “
New York’s first-ever rehabilitation tax credit was adopted as Chapter 547 of the Laws of 2006, but limitations of both the commercial and residential programs failed to provide sufficient incentives to deliver economic and community revitalization to municipalities in need. An economic impact study recently conducted by HR&A Advisors of New York, an industry leader in economic development, real estate and public policy consulting, predicts that the enhanced rehabilitation tax credit will spur over $500 million dollars of economic activity in New York State and create some 2,000 jobs over its initial five-year lifespan.
The act will take effect on January 1, 2010. For more information on New York’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit Programs, call the New York State Historic Preservation Office at (518) 237-8643 or visit http://nysparks.state.ny.us/shpo/investment/index.htm .
CFP: 2010 Agricultural History Conference
By Editorial Staff
While I normally stick to New York history exclusively here, sometimes a national (or even international) conference comes up that promises to inspire New York historians toward greater understanding of the state's history. The 2010 Agricultural History Conference - Local Stories, Global Connections: The Context of Agriculture and Rural Life - at the University of Central Florida and Rollins College on June 10-12, 2010 is one of those events thanks to New York's important role in national and international agricultural history.
Here is the announcement:
Agriculture and rural life are tied to specific places, but those places are in turn bound to larger communities, often with global connections. The Agricultural History Society (AHS) invites proposals for papers that address the particular ways in which
people and places have shaped agriculture and rural living in their local communities as well as how rural ecosystems, production, processing, and consumption tie farmers and rural people to distant people, places, and institutions. Topics from any location or time period will be welcome. In the interest of promoting understanding of
the context of agriculture and rural life, the program committee wishes to encourage submissions of interdisciplinary and cross- national panels. We encourage proposals of all types and formats, including traditional papers/commentary sessions, thematic panel discussions, roundtables on recent books, and poster presentations, and we extend a special welcome to graduate students. We are able to provide up to $250
in travel reimbursement to each graduate student whose paper is accepted for the conference. We will consider submissions of full panels and individual papers, as well as paired or individual posters.
Submission Procedures
Complete session proposals should include a chair, participants, and, if applicable, a commentator. Please include the following information: An abstract of no more than 200 words for the session as a whole; a prospectus of no more than 250 words for each presentation; a mailing address, email, phone number, and affiliation for each participant; and a CV of no more than a page for each participant.
Individual submissions should include all the above except a session abstract.
Please send submissions, in Microsoft Word or RTF format, to Melissa.walker@converse.edu.
Alternatively, applicants may mail five hard copies of their proposals
to:
Melissa Walker, Chair
Converse College
580 East Main St.
Spartanburg, SC 29302
Please direct questions regarding the program to any member of the program committee:
Melissa Walker, Chair, Converse College, Melissa.walker@converse.edu
Joe Anderson, Mount Royal College, jlanderson@mtroyal.ca
Sterling Evans, University of Oklahoma, evans@ou.edu
Angie Gumm, Iowa State University, asgumm@iastate.edu
Cecilia Tsu, University of California at Davis, cmtsu@ucdavis.edu
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
New York State Archives Launches RSS Feed
By Editorial Staff
The New York State Archives has launched a news feed using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology. Subscribers will be among the first to find out about Archives events, new records brought into the Archives, press releases, resources for state agencies and local governments, and any major changes to the website - such as new guides to records, new educational sites for teachers and students, and award and grant opportunities.
RSS technology enables users to view updates from organizations through an RSS Reader such as an Internet Browser, e-mail, or a third-party reader. RSS Readers provide a brief summary of news updates from an organization and then link to the full article on the organization’s website. Users will be able to stay up-to-date with news from the State Archives once they have subscribed to the RSS feed. To sign up for the
RSS feed, go to http://www.archives.nysed.gov/rss/news.xml.
The New York State Archives, a part of the State Education Department, preserves and makes accessible the essential recorded evidence - past and present - of New York’s governments, organizations, peoples, and events. At its Albany facility, the State Archives cares for more than 200 million archival records of New York State government dating from the 1630s to the present. The State Archives also offers technical assistance, financial support, and other services to local governments and community organizations in every region of the state.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Saratoga County Celebrates Historical Week
By Editorial Staff
The Town of Saratoga and Villages of Schuylerville and Victory are planning an exciting “historical week” celebration starting August 1 and ending August 9 as part of the "Explore! Saratoga County" efforts. Historical Week is an over 100-year tradition which commemorates the rich history of the villages of Schuylerville, Victory and the Town of Saratoga.
"We plan a whole week of events to commemorate America's Most Historic Village," Schuylerville Village Historian Kristina Saddlemire said, "We have a great partnership made up of the various levels of government including the Town of Saratoga, Villages of Schuylerville and Victory, Saratoga County, Hudson River Valley Greenway, Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission, Saratoga National Historical Park and non-governmental partners including the Turning Point Parade, Old Saratoga Historical Association, Hudson Crossing Park, Schuylerville Area Chamber of Commerce, Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club, and the Schuylerville Public Library."
The schedule includes:
Quadricentennial Bike Tour of the Hudson
Saturday, August 1, (10 am)
As part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s sail, join us for a casually-paced 30-mile tour of the historic roads from the Village of Victory to Stillwater and back, with occasional stops at points of historical significance. There will be lots of fine views of the river. The terrain is mostly rolling with two steep hills (one up, one down). Park along Cemetery Avenue just south of the Saratoga Monument, near the intersection of Burgoyne Road. Bike Helmets Are Required! For information, contact 587-7801 or kathy@jjctech.com. Gather along Cemetery Avenue just south of the Saratoga Monument, near the intersection of Burgoyne Road, Victory Mills
TURNING POINT PARADE FESTIVAL – “Echoes on the Hudson”
Saturday, August 1, (Noon)
Kid's rides, food, bonfire, and block dance on Saturday. Fort Hardy Park.
TURNING POINT PARADE – “Echoes on the Hudson”
Sunday, August 2 (1 – 2:30 pm)
Over 100 separate units including marching bands/musical units, fire and rescue, law enforcement, re-enactors and military units past and present. It is a parade with a "small town flavor". Broad Street.
TURNING POINT PARADE FESTIVAL – “Echoes on the Hudson”
Sunday, August 2, (3 pm)
Kid's rides, food, music including the Open Bar Band and fireworks (9:30pm) on Sunday. Fort Hardy Park. For more information http://www.turningpointparade.com/
For more information on Turning Point events see http://www.turningpointparade.com/
GREAT CHAMPLAIN-HUDSON SOJOURN
Monday, August 3 (4pm – 8pm)
The Great Champlain-Hudson Sojourn will be stopping at Fort Hardy Park as part of twenty-six day, 325 mile kayaking and camping trip from the Canadian border to Manhattan along beautiful Lakes Champlain and George, the Champlain Canal and the Hudson River. A group of Thru-Paddlers will be camping out at Fort Hardy and visiting heritage and cultural sites in the community. Please join us at 10am to welcome this group of paddlers to Fort Hardy Park. There will be a local kayaking outfitter providing free kayaking lessons, exhibitors, and plenty of activities for the kids! A community dinner, sponsored by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors will held at Fort Hardy at 6pm.
RESEARCHING YOUR SCHUYLERVILLE AREA ANCESTORS
Tuesday, August 4 (10 am)
Get help with research strategy for finding Schuylerville ancestors from Deputy Town Historian and Genealogist Patricia Peck. Schuylerville Public Library.
MAKING A CARDBOARD BOAT
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 (7 pm)
This is an opportunity to make a boat to compete in the Hudson Crossing cardboard boat race on Saturday, August 8. Bring cardboard and enjoy the creative process. Schuylerville Public Library, Ferry Street, Schuylerville
WALKING TOUR of VICTORY
Wednesday, August 5 (7 pm)
Join Sean Kelleher, Village of Victory Historian, for a walking tour of Victory. Meet at the Village Hall/Community Center
STORY HOUR - 400th anniversary themed
Thursday, August 6 (10 am)
Pre-school age children are welcome (with an adult) to attend the Schuylerville Public Library’s Story Hour for a story and activity with Town Historian, Sean Kelleher. Schuylerville Public Library. 23 Pine Street, Victory Mills
VILLAGE OF SCHUYLERVILLE WALKING TOUR
Friday, August 7 (7 pm)
Join Village of Schuylerville Historian, Kristina Saddlemire, for a walking tour of the North Broad Street Cemetery. Learn about former Schuylerville residents. Meet on Broad Street in front of the cemetery.
HUDSON CROSSING CARDBOARD BOAT RACE
Saturday, August 8 (starts at 8 am races at 1 pm)
Construct a "human-powered" boat made of corrugated cardboard (or 100% recyclable materials) or watch the races and enjoy the day on the Hudson River in Schuylerville. Registration and boat construction begin at the gazebo at 8:00 am. Racing begins at 1:00 pm. For more information contact (518) 859-1462 or www.hudsoncrossingpark.org Fort Hardy Park Beach.
SPIN TIL YOU DYE
Saturday, August 8 (11 am - 3 pm)
Rock Day Spinners demonstrate fiber spinning and natural dyeing over an open fire. Schuyler House, Route 4, Schuylerville.
18th CENTURY DAY
Sunday, August 9 (12 – 5 pm)
Step back in time at the historic Schuyler House! The grounds abound with 18th century activities, including puppet shows, music, oxen cart rides, basket weaving, chair caning, tinsmithing, and more. Schuyler House, Route 4, Schuylerville. For more information, call (518) 664-9821 ext. 224 or www.nps.gov/sara.
Historical Week is sponsored by the Town of Saratoga, Village of Schuylerville, Village of Victory, Schuylerville Public Library, Turning Point Parade Committee, Schuylerville Visitors Center, Schuylerville Area Chamber of Commerce, Old Saratoga Historical Association, Hudson Crossing - A Bi-County Educational Park, Hudson River Valley Greenway, Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission, Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club, Saratoga County, and the Saratoga National Historical Park. The purpose of Historical Week is to commemorate the important role that the Town of Saratoga and Villages of Schuylerville and Victory played in regional, national and international history. For more information call 695-4159 or visit http://www.villageofschuylerville.org/
Photo: The Saratoga Monument in Victory, NY.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
North Creek Depot Museum Lectures, Events
By Editorial Staff
One of the great gems of the Adirondack region is the North Creek Railroad Station at North Creek in the Town of Johnsburg, Warren County. Listed on the State and National Historic Registers the railroad line hugs the western shore of the Hudson River and includes the restored station, freight, and engine houses currently occupied by the Upper Hudson River Railroad, a sand tower, and a ninety foot turntable.
Throughout the summer they offer an unique series of lectures called "Platform Talks" about the history of the area and its relationship to the railroad. There are an number of other events as well:
July 30 Platform Talk, “The Adirondack Peddler.” Milda Burns and Ray Flanigan amuse with tales of the Adirondack peddler.
August 13 Platform Talk “Getting Started in Model Railroading.” Bill Bibby educates us on scenery, scale, and material sources for building your own model train.
August 14 The Depot Museum Hoe Down! Fun-raiser event of dinner and square dancing. Ticket information to be announced.
August 15 10-12pm Spring Chidlren's Workshop - Allie Rose leads a hands-on demonstration about wind energy and participants will build a wind turbine model. This workshop is free and open to children age 7 and older. Adults are encouraged to attend with their children.
August 20 Platform Talk, “Stories from the field.” Steve Engelhart of Adirondack Architectural Heritage offers his expertise on the architecture of the area.
The North Creek Depot Museum is open Wednesday 1-3pm Thursday & Friday 12-5pm Saturday & Sunday 12-4pm. Call for information about private tours at (518) 251-5842 www.northcreekdepotmuseum.com.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
- The Coney Island Blog: Last Chance To Save Coney Or Allow It To Be Killed
- The Huletts Current: Military Road Marker
- New Maker: Zoo York. History of A City Menagerie
- Jewish Art & Monuments: Tupper's Synagogue and Jewish Peddler Life
- Peeling Back the Bark: July 20, 1822: “Father of American Forestry” Born
- Old Salt Blog: From Sailor’s Rest to Trendy Hotel
- The Virtual Dime Museum: The Boxing Gordon Sisters
- The Uncataloged Museum: Are We Worrying About the Wrong Things?
- Ephemeral New York: Where was Nathan Hale really hanged?
- Brooklynology: Beauty and the Beer
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Welcome Our New Sponsor, The Jay Heritage Center
By Editorial Staff
Please join me in welcoming The Jay Heritage Center (JHC) as our new sponsor for New York History. Support from advertisers like JHC helps make this site possible. If you are interested in supporting us and extending your brand through advertising targeting those interested in New York history, let us know.
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.”
Begun in the spring of 2008, New York History has already grown to be the state’s most popular online journal about New York State history. The site has become a go-to state news resource for those interested in New York history from the academic to the lay traveler and resident and for those outside the state who want to stay current on history news happening in the state, the latest books, and events and exhibits.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Mad Ones: Media Darling Crazy Joe Gallo
By Editorial Staff
Tom Folsom’s new book, The Mad Ones: Crazy Joe Gallo and the Revolution at the Edge of the Underworld, takes readers back to a time when Red Hook, Brooklyn called to mind a bloody guerrilla war with the mafia, and not a new IKEA store. Because he writes about the history and cultural fabric of the city in a fresh and inventive way Folsom recently appeared on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. You can also find a YouTube video of Folsom discussing what the neighborhood at the junction of Columbia and Union Streets in Red Hook was like before waterfront crime and the construction of the BQE and Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.
Joe Gallo's short life as gangster, gunman, and racketeer of the Profaci crime family (later known as the Colombo crime family) drew much media attention. Joey and his two brothers initiated one of the bloodiest mob conflicts since the Castellammarese War of 1931. He was an inspiration for Jimmy Breslin and Mario Puzo, considered a threat by both Jimmy Hoffa and Bobby Kennedy, and was teh subject of spreads in Life magazine and Women's Wear Daily. His gangster chic was the popularized by Harvey Keitel in Reservoir Dogs. His death would be the subject of Bob Dylan's 1976 song "Joey".
The Mad Ones tells the story of the Gallo brothers, a trio of reckless young gangsters from Red Hook who staged a coup against the Mafia. In the book, author Tom Folsom recreates the New York City Joey Gallo and the Gallo brothers inhabited. To do this, Folsom—who went inside the FBI Witness Protection Program to research the critically acclaimed 
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Enhanced Preservation Tax Credits Approved by Legislature
By Editorial Staff
New Yorkers could find it more affordable to make repairs on older homes after the New York State Senate unanimously approved a bill that would improve the existing but underutilized New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credit programs. The same bill passed the Assembly in June, and now awaits the signature of Governor David Patterson.
An economic impact study recently conducted by HR&A Advisors of New York projects that the rehabilitation tax credit will spur over $500 million dollars of economic activity in New York State and create some 2,000 jobs over its five-year lifespan. The measure (S.6056-Valesky/A.9023-Hoyt) provides incentives and program features for developers and municipalities seeking to rehabilitate historic buildings, and is hoped to serve as a 'Smart Growth' initiative.
"We feel this program will prove one of the most effective economic and community development programs in the state, directing significant private investment to the State's economically distressed municipalities and neighborhoods" said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of New York State. Similar programs in other states have served to provide critical gap financing for rehabilitation projects.
The Preservation League has been leading a partnership of developers, architects, economic development officials, tax credit professionals, preservationists and others to renew the push for stronger state-level rehabilitation tax credits. Last year, both houses of the legislature passed enhanced preservation tax credits, but the measure was vetoed by Governor David Paterson, citing the state budget crisis. In 2009, bill sponsors Assemblymember Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo, Grand Island) and Senator David Valesky (D-Oneida) revised the legislation to address these concerns.
New York's first-ever rehabilitation tax credit was adopted as Chapter 547 of the Laws of 2006, but limitations of both the commercial and residential programs failed to provide sufficient incentives to deliver economic and community revitalization to municipalities in need.
"An expanded rehabilitation stimulus program is needed to encourage re-use of existing infrastructure, address affordable housing needs, and stimulate new private investment in the redevelopment of urban cores," said DiLorenzo. "Because this bill is fiscally sound while promoting economic stimulus, we urge Governor Paterson to sign this revised legislation and to deliver a program that can fuel the revitalization of New York's downtowns and neighborhoods."
Monday, July 20, 2009
Greater Hudson Heritage Network Award Nominations
By Editorial Staff
The Greater Hudson Heritage Network’s Awards Towards Excellence program seeks to recognize and commend exceptional efforts among GHHN members. Awards are made to projects that exemplify creativity and professional vision resulting in a contribution to the preservation and interpretation of the historic scene, material culture and diversity of the region. Awards will be presented at Greater Hudson’s Annual Meeting, October 2, 2009. Nominations must be made by July 28, 2009.
Any GHHN member organization or individual can be nominated for projects completed by September 30th of the current year. Projects not yet completed must have reached a point sufficient to permit judgment of merit. Self-nominations are encourged.
Awards may be made to organizations or individuals in any or all of the following areas of achievement:
* public programs (including education, exhibition, interpretation),
* publications
* historic preservation
* community documentation and collaboration
* new technology (e.g. website development, blogs, audio tours)
* Board Vision
* advancement of regional history
Nominations reflecting work in 20th century documentation, or re-interpretation of collections are strongly encouraged; nominations of collaborative or regionally-focused projects are especially welcome.
Nominations will be judged on the evidence of quality, creative use of resources, and long-term significance, by a peer jury of professionals, representing the history, museum, archives and/or academic fields.
Late entries will not be eligible for consideration. Details can be found at www.greaterhudson.org/awards. Contact 914.592-6726 or e-mail either director@greaterhudson.org or info@greaterhudson.org with questions.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Get New York History By Subscription
By Editorial Staff
Nearly 200 people get the New York History blog each day via RSS and e-mail subscription services. It's a convenient way to get the latest about New York History news, information, and events.
There are a number of ways you can subscribe:
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Friday, July 17, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
- Strange Maps: Cracked and Gone - The World’s Largest Map
- The Sexist: The 1865 New York Times Loves A Cat Fight
- City Blog: A Speakeasy That’s Not So Secret
- City Room: At the Museum, Bring Your Pajamas
- Great Lives In History: Clement Moore’s “Trifle” That Became A Masterpiece
- Patell and Waterman's: The Adams Family in New York
- Inside the Apple: Civil War Draft Riots [A Series]
- Ephemeral New York: Seedy Hotels That Keep Hanging On
- Brooklynology: Some Brooklyn Hats
- Great Lives In History: Jack "Legs" Diamond
- Adirondack Almanack: Baseball and Botany in Saranac Lake
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- Author Frank McCourt Near Death
- Rodin Work Returns to Crown Point
- Historic 1777 Blade To Go On Display
- Schenectady Diner Restoration Stalls
- Library of Congress Now On iTunes
- Slavery Historian Kenneth M. Stampp Dies
- County Considers Uses For Old Canton Jail
- New Books Explore Hudson's Legacy
- Locals Clear Portion of Historic Fort Izard
- After 5 Yrs, Warrensburg Museum Reopens
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Barrels, Buckets, and Casks: Coopering at Adk Museum
By Editorial Staff
Coopering is the ancient art of making casks, barrels, vats, buckets, and other circular or elliptical wooden vessels bound together by hoops. Historically, wooden barrels were used for the storage and transportation of all sorts of goods. Coopering was a valuable skill. David Salvetti will demonstrate the art of coopering at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake on July 18, 19 and 20, 2009. The demonstration will be held in the Mark W. Potter Education Center from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and is included in the price of general admission.
David Salvetti's love of woodworking began at age seven - with simple
projects such as birdhouses. In 2005, at the age of fourteen, woodworking became something more. The Salvetti family visited the Adirondack Museum in July of that year. The rustic furniture on exhibit fascinated David. Inspired by what he saw, Salvetti cut a sapling on the family's property and built a twig chair. Another chair
followed in 2006 - winning "Best in Show" (4-H Youth Division) at the Oswego County Fair. David entered the white birch chair in the 2007 New York State Fair, Adult Arts and Crafts competition - winning another blue ribbon. David's prize-winning rustic chair is on display at the Adirondack Museum and will become part of the permanent collection.
David Salvetti's exploration of traditional woodworking techniques has led him to build his own shed, making shingles to cover the structure by hand. He has learned to make watertight wooden buckets without nails, adhesives, or modern sealants. He demonstrates his skills at Fort Ontario State Historic Site in Oswego, N.Y.
Coopering is part of a summer-long series of craft and trade demonstrations at the Adirondack Museum. To see a complete listing, visit the museum's web site www.adirondackmuseum.org and click on "Special Events."
Photo: Wooden sap bucket, ca. 1800s. Collection of the Adirondack Museum.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Ogdensburg, Fort La Présentation's Founder’s Day Weekend
By Editorial Staff
Stepping into the past at Founder’s Day Weekend in Ogdensburg, NY July 18-19 is an opportunity for visitors to witness the crafts and trades of our ancestors beyond the activities of the French and Indian War re-enactment. To kick off the weekend, there will be a free concert of colonial music Friday evening in Library Park. Linda Russell, an 18th-century balladeer, will perform courtesy of the St. Lawrence County Arts Council. Ms. Russell will also perform Saturday and Sunday on Lighthouse Point.
After an absence of many years, lace making is returning. In the 1700s, lace was an essential fashion statement on the clothes of well-to-do men and women. Girls learned at an early age to make lace that brought extra income to a family.
New this year is a demonstration bakery. The homey smell of fresh-baked bread usually brings a flood of good memories. A unique part of New France will come to life in the scent and sight of crusty loaves and buns.
The blacksmith and tinsmith are basic to Founder’s Day Weekend. As the blacksmith describes his trade, he will no doubt be hammering, riveting or welding some traditional piece of equipment ordered by a re-enactor. The tinsmith displays lanterns, candlesticks, and tinderboxes once indispensable in a colonial household, and now found in the camps of re-enactors or the homes of collectors.
Collectors, too, may take a fancy to the pottery to be made and sold on site. Jugs, mugs, bowls and other essentials will be turned on the potter’s wheel with an eye to tradition and practicality.
Re-enactors add to their kits and replace lost items by purchasing items at Founder’s Day Weekend. They patronize the sutlers, the canvas-covered vendors that spring up at re-enactments selling just about everything a person from the 18th century or the 21st century may need or fancy.
Vital to the weekend are the re-enactors portraying the French, British and Native troops of the mid 1700s. Their uniforms, arms, camps, drills and battle tactics give substance and color to our history. Re-enactors also spend money in the community, so expect to see them in their colonial garb in the stores and restaurants of Ogdensburg.
The display of antique naval arms and equipment that debuted last year is coming back to round out the riverside aspect of Founder’s Day Weekend. Traditional boats in the navy camp are expected from Quebec, Ontario and New York. The historically accurate bateaux will race Saturday morning and engage in battles on the river Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
The armed boats are likely to join in a cannonade at 8:30 P.M. Saturday evening. The guns of Fort Wellington in Prescott, Ontario will duel with the re-enactors’ artillery on Lighthouse Point. The larger Canadian guns will fire slowly, but there will be rapid fire from the smaller guns on the point. The public will be able to watch from Riverside Park and the marina.
Following the artillery pyrotechnics, a free-admission ball featuring English country dance will be held at the Freight House Restaurant in walking distance of Lighthouse Point. “No dancing experience is required,” said the organizer George Cherepon. “Easy-going dance instructors will teach the steps before playing the music, and they then call the steps as the music plays.”
Founder’s Day Weekend is larger this year as the Fort La Présentation Association prepares to host the final New York State 250th anniversary commemoration of the end of the French and Indian War in 2010. Information about Founder’s Day Weekend can be found at www.fortlapresentation.net.
Photo: French boats armed with swivel guns drive away a British boat while skirmishing off Lighthouse Point during a battle re-enacted on the St. Lawrence River at Founder's Day Weekend in Ogdensburg.
Cobblestone Quest - Road Tours of NY's Historic Buildings
By Editorial Staff
Cobblestone Quest - Road Tours of New York's Historic Buildings is a great new resource of self-guided tours to visit and learn about cobblestone buildings that were built in Western New York State before the Civil War. Part of our pioneer history, cobblestone buildings are buildings built with stones that can be held in one hand (as opposed to pebbles, or boulders). According to the guide, which was written by Rich and Sue Freeman (Sue also runs one of favorite blogs - New York Outdoors), the word cobblestone comes from the Middle English cob meaning a rounded lump and ston, for small rock.
The Freemans have divided the cobblestone building period into three eras: The Early Period (1825-11835) which features crude irregular designs of stones of vary shapes and color. The Middle Period (1835-1845) is distinguished by the use of smaller stones set in more geometrical patterns. In the final period, designated by the Freemans as the Late Period (1845 to the Civil War), stones of uniform color and shape were used with almost machine-like precision. Although cobblestone building began on farms where the stones were plentiful after the clearing of fields, the building method did eventually move into villages in smaller numbers.
The book is filled with facts about cobblestone construction methods and the Freemans are quick to note that "cobblestone is a construction method, not an architectural style." Most of the buildings featured in the book are Greek Revival, although some are Federal, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Post Colonial and Victorian style.
Cobblestone Quest features 17 tours through western New York between Syracuse and Buffalo, plus lots of other resources, including cobblestone museums, bed & breakfasts, restaurants, antique shops and galleries, a guide for owners, an index and bibliography, and a more. It's available from Footprint Press for $19.95.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Home On The Hudson:
Women and Men Painting Landscapes 1825-1875
By Editorial Staff
Boscobel House and Gardens in Garrison, New York (www.boscobel.org) has opened a new exhibition, Home on the Hudson: Women and Men Painting Landscapes, 1825-1875. This is the second major exhibition in the new state-of-the-art exhibition gallery on the lower floor of the historic Boscobel House. The exhibit, open to all visitors to Boscobel, will be on display through September 7.
The term “Hudson River School” is in wide circulation. It references a group of landscape artists who painted the scenery in and around the Hudson Valley in the years from about the 1825 through 1875, and established themselves as America’s first native school of art. Their artistic careers correspond to an historic moment when New York City was emerging as the economic capital of the country and its center for the arts. Although there have been many books and exhibitions about the Hudson River School, this focused exhibition and its accompanying publication promises a fresh perspective integrating the fine and popular arts of the time.
The curator has taken a two-pronged strategy to the exhibit. First, the focus is shifted away from New York City to the homes of the artists and their patrons up the river; maps their country residences, and links them with their local scenery. Second, Home on the Hudson: Women and Men Painting Landscapes, 1825-1875, expands the canon to include women such as Eliza Pratt Greatorex, Julie Hart Beers, and Julia McEntee Dillon, who are generally excluded from consideration.
The objects and materials featured in the exhibition are specimens of work these artists did in the vicinity of their residences. Included are watercolors, prints, and photographs to complement the spectacular and in some cases little seen oil paintings. Hanging side by side, they demonstrate the kinship that existed among the artists. Even when they shared a subject, however, we discover that the pictures have different looks, as each artist gave their own individual stamp of style and approach.
Home on the Hudson includes a map of the river that pinpoints where the artists lived and the motifs they painted from New York City to Albany. A display case and a website offer a look at illustrated guide books that instructed painters in the importance of particular sites, along with 19th century ferry and train schedules. Prints add another important dimension to the exhibit. They were less expensive and therefore more commonly owned by 19th century Americans: art for the middle class. Selections are included from The Hudson River Portfolio which consists of twenty hand-colored aquatints. Such portfolios established the canon of places that the painters followed in their work. The exhibit also features Fanny Palmer, the woman who made more prints for Currier & Ives than any other artist in the firm.
“Home on the Hudson” refers not only to the dwellings of the artists but also to the domestic settings where these landscapes hung and how the paintings functioned within interior spaces. A folding screen is decorated with a view of the river at Albany, a variation on the theme of landscape pictures as decorative objects. Painted china and a range of domestic objects that carried Hudson River imagery from fine arts into the domestic arts are also showcased.
Most exhibitions of Hudson River art are held far from the landscape that gave rise to it, and therefore lack specificity of place. Situated directly on the river just opposite West Point, a frequently painted view, Boscobel gives visitors the opportunity to move from the natural belvedere on the grounds into the galleries to see the scenery portrayed. This is an important opportunity for viewers to compare and contrast physical motif with paintings and prints inspired by the landscape.
The run of Home on the Hudson is perfectly timed to coincide with the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery - while sailing in his ship the Half Moon - of the river that bears his name. Some of the material in the exhibition will manifest this historical event.
The Exhibition Gallery at Boscobel, over 1200 square feet in size, will be open during regular Boscobel hours, Wednesday – Monday, 9:30am-5pm. Admission for House tour, Grounds and the Exhibition Gallery is $16 for adults; $12 for seniors; and $7 for children. Admission for the Grounds and the Exhibition Gallery only is $12, children (6-14) $5. From June 16-September 6 the Exhibition Gallery will remain open until a half hour before curtain time to accommodate attendees at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival performances, at a special fee of $5.
Home On The Hudson: Women and Men Painting Landscapes 1825-1875 runs from June 6 through Sept. 7, 2009 at Boscobel House & Gardens, 1601 Route 9D, Garrison, NY. For more information please call 845-265-3638 or visit www.boscobel.org.
Home on the Hudson: Women and Men Painting Landscapes, 1825-1875 has been organized by guest curator Katherine Manthorne, Prof. of Art History, Graduate Center, City University of New York, and students from her Art History Seminar.
Photo: Julie Hart Beers, Hudson River at Croton Point, 1869; Oil on canvas;
Courtesy Hawthorne Fine Art, Collection of Nick Bulzacchelli
Monday, July 13, 2009
Experience War of 1812 Sinking of Hamilton & Scourge
By Editorial Staff
Thursday, July 16, 2009, at 6 pm, War of 1812 sailor Ned Myers will be telling his lively tale of the sinking of the Hamilton & the Scourge at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, N.Y. To be completely accurate, an authentically costumed James H. Fischer will relate the story of the famous shipwrecks’ survivor in this presentation for the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series. Fischer’s presentation will also include a series of Jacques Cousteau slides of lake bottom vessels.
Seaman Myers lived to tell his story to noted American author James Fenimore Cooper. Fischer, a marine consultant who has studied the underwater history of Lake Ontario for 22 years, draws on Myers’ narrative as told to Cooper for A Life Before the Mast. Fischer shares fascinating details of the moments before a squall surprised captain and crew.
The wrecks of the two merchant ships - Hamilton, built as Diana in Oswego, NY, and the Scourge, originally Lord Nelson, were discovered in 1973 and are considered to have national historic significance to both the U.S. and Canada.
The $5 program fee benefits educational programming at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center, Ray and West Main Streets, Sackets Harbor, NY. For more information, visit www.seawaytrail.com or call 315-646-1000.
Photo: James H. Fischer in 19th century sailor’s dress is seen below the bust of U.S. merchant ship Diana purchased in Oswego and converted in Sacketts Harbour in 1812 as the US naval warship Hamilton.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Crown Point Pier and Champlain Lighthouse Reopened
By Editorial Staff
Restoration work on the Crown Point Pier and Champlain Memorial Lighthouse has been completed and both facilities are once again open to the public. Restoration work on the pier included reenforcement of the bulkhead and piers, removal of zebra mussels, refurbishing of the metal trusses and decking, repair of the roof -- including replacement of broken slate shingles, thorough cleaning of exterior and interior surfaces and placement of new signs.
Work on the lighthouse included restoration of the Rodin sculpture, thorough cleaning and repair of outer stonework and thorough cleaning, resealing and painting of the interior. The Rodin sculpture has not been placed back on the lighthouse, but will be prior to the Quadricentennial Celebration in September.
The facilities are located on the shore of Lake Champlain in Essex County on the grounds of DEC Crown Point Public Campground. Other nearby by historic features are the Crown Point Reservation, which includes Fort Crown Point and Fort St. Frederic, the Crown Point Bridge and the Toll Keeper's House.
The Lake Champlain Quadricentennial celebrates the 400th anniversary of the French explorer Samuel de Champlain's 1609 sighting of the lake that now bears his name. Champlain is noted as the first European to have recorded his exploration of the lake and the surrounding region.
While celebrations and events will occur throughout the summer, New York's premier Quadricentennial Celebration will be hosted at the DEC Crown Point Campground and the OPHRP Crown Point Reservation on September 18-20. New York will celebrate the role that Lake Champlain and the Champlain Valley played in the history of our country and the state, and the natural wonders and recreational opportunities of the lake.
The Crown Point steamboat pier was constructed in 1929, serving as a point of embarkation and disembarkation passengers accessing Crown Point from one of the many large steamboats that plied up and down Lake Champlain during that era.
The Champlain Memorial Lighthouse was originally constructed in 1858 and the surrounding land was acquired in 1910 by the New York State Conservation Department - predecessor to the DEC. In 1912, the States of New York and Vermont and the Province of Quebec worked together to reconstruct the lighthouse as a monument to Samuel de Champlain, in recognition of the 300th anniversary of his explorations.
The Champlain Memorial Lighthouse, the Crown Point Pier and the Toll Keepers House are eligible for listing in the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The entire Crown Point Reservation is also a National Historic Landmark.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Another Setback for Rensselaer Co. Historical Society
By Editorial Staff
The Albany Times Union is reporting today that the beleaguered Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) is losing the interim executive director, Rachel Tooker, less then six months after she took the post. Members of the organization, including Renssealer County Historian Kathy Sheehan, (who also serves as the society's Registrar) touted her as the leadership necessary to steer the non-profit back to solvency. She will be moving to California where her partner has taken a museum job.
In March, RCHS sent an e-mail warning of dire consequences for the society: "What may have seemed - even ten years ago - a reasonable endowment with sustainable cash reserves has now dwindled to the point where we are no longer able to pay our bills. Without an immediate and substantial infusion of funds (upwards of $150,000), it appears that we will be required to close our doors while we work to implement a prudent fiscal strategy." No communication with members, supporters, or the press suggested Tooker would be leaving before the Times Union's report today.
According to the Times Union, "Tooker said the historical society has charted a new course that will help it correct its financial difficulties. The New York Council of Nonprofits will provide managerial leadership for the historical society."
This is the rest of the post
Explorers, Fortunes and Love Letters: A Window on New Netherland
By Editorial Staff
In 1609 the sailors aboard Henry Hudson’s ship the Half Moon laid their eyes upon the entrance to what would come to be known as the Hudson River, and within 15 years the Dutch began to settle the newly discovered land, creating the colony of Explorers, Fortunes and Love Letters: A Window on New Netherland
Join contributors to the book at the Museum of the City of New York on Tuesday, July 14, at 6:30 PM for a discussion moderated by Charles Th. Gehring, Ph.D., Director of the New Netherland Project and the translator of the 17th-century Dutch documents that have opened the world of New Netherland to the 21st century. Participants will include Noah L. Gelfand, Peter G. Rose, and David Voorhees, Managing Editor of de Halve Maen and Director of the Papers of Jacob Leisler Project at NYU
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: $12 Non-Members, $8 Seniors and Students, $6 Museum Members (including NNI members). A two dollar surcharge applies for unreserved, walk-in participants. For reservations and information please call 212.534.1672, ext. 3395.
This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson (through September 27). To mark the anniversary of Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage to the area now called New York , Amsterdam/New Amsterdam investigates the epic journey and the transatlantic links it set in motion. The exhibition explores the colony of New Amsterdam as it evolved under the wing of the dynamic city of Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. It reveals the character of the young settlement’s economy, culture, politics, and built environment through rare 17th-century paintings, maps, navigational instruments, documents, Native American artifacts, household objects,and archaeological remnants of daily life in New Amsterdam .
Presented in partnership with the Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum Amsterdam and the New Netherland Project.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-up
By Editorial Staff
- Inside the Apple: The Downfall of William "Boss" Tweed
- Ephemeral New York: North Brother Island’s Tragic Past
- Brooklynology: Sham Warfare in Prospect Park
- Progressive Historians: Unemployed Councils and Eviction Riots
- Small Pines: I’ll Fix Your Wagon
- Great Lives In History: Media Maven Dorothy Mae Kilgallen
- Tenement Museum Blog: Walt Whitman Archive
- Ephemeral New York: A War of 1812 Fort in Central Park
- Planet Albany: We Don't Need No Education
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- Hudson River Dinner Cruise with Len Tantillo
- Adk Nautical Icon Destroyed, Dumped
- Time Capsule To Honor Lake Champlain
- SUNY Cuts Despite Cash Hoard
- Exhumation of 1812 Hero Stirs Controversy
- Development Besieges Revolutionary Graves
- Early Baseball Letters Stolen From NYPL?
- Historic Schenectady Fire Station To Be Razed
- Crown on Statue of Liberty Reopens
- In Search of 400-Year-Old Grave
- Future of Historic Resort in Doubt
- Archives' Treasures Turn Up Lost
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Adk Museum Presents 'The Adirondack Mining Village'
By Editorial Staff
Mining was once a major industry in northern New York State. Small iron mines and forges appeared along Lake Champlain in the late 1700s. In the 1820s, the industry began to grow rapidly, reaching its peak in the mid-to-late 1800s. The story of mining is much more than minerals found and ores extracted. This Monday, July 13, 2009 Dr. Carol Burke will explore human aspects of Adirondack mining in an illustrated program entitled "The Adirondack Mining Village" at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York.
Part of the museum's popular Monday Evening Lecture series, the presentation will be held in the Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge for museum members. Admission is $5.00 for non-members.
Burke's presentation reflects an ongoing project that documents accounts of the daily lives or ordinary people who lived and worked in the now abandoned mining villages of Tahawus and nearby Adirondac (known in the 1950s as "The Upper Works"). Dr. Burke will share photographs and recollections of everyday life in these former company towns.
Carol Burke, a Professor at the University of California at Irvine, is a folklorist and journalist whose ethnographic work has produced books that document the lives of Midwestern farm families, female inmates in our nation's prisons, and most recently, members of the armed services. Six months ago she was embedded with an army unit in northern Iraq.
Dr. Burke spends her summers in the Adirondacks and is currently documenting the everyday life of the once-flourishing mining village of Tahawus. Before joining the faculty at the University of California at Irvine, Professor Burke taught at Vanderbilt University, Johns Hopkins University, and the United States Naval Academy.
The broad story of mining in the Adirondacks is one of fortunes made and lost, of suicide, madness, and ambition, and the opening of one of America's last frontiers. Mining shaped the physical and cultural landscape of the Adirondack Park for generations. The Adirondack Museum plans to open the completely revitalized exhibit "Mining in the Adirondacks" in 2012 to share this incredible history.
Photo: Adirondack Village, Near the Upper Works. From Benson J. Lossing's The Hudson, from the Wilderness to the Sea, 1859.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
International Dance Preformances and Workshops
By Editorial Staff
The Iroquois Indian Museum is proud to present a weekend Dance Festival on July 11 and 12, 2009. This two-day event will feature international dancers as well as Iroquois Social Dance performers. On Saturday, July 11th the dance groups will include St.Adalbert’s Polish Dancers, St. Sophia’s Greek Dancers and the Irish dancers Iona Troupe. Each group will perform for approximately 45 minutes beginning at noon. The Iroquois Dancers, Alan Brant and Family, Mohawk from Tyendinaga, will also perform. The Brant Family are returning again by request and, as is the tradition, they will be teaching Iroquois Social Dance to all who wish to participate.
On Sunday the Iroquois Indian Museum will feature two award winning DVD’s: Maria Tallchief at 1:00pm and Jock Soto at 3:00. Both DVD’s compliment the Museum’s current exhibit “Native Americans in the Performing Arts: From Ballet to Rock & Roll. The Mohawk Dancers will perform throughout the day on Sunday as well.
Photo: Alan Brant, leader of the Mohawk Dancers from Tyendinaga.
Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Grants
By Editorial Staff
The purpose of the Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural (URR) Program is to help preserve the Underground Railroad's legacy and to help demonstrate how the Underground Railroad's widespread operations network transformed our Nation. In addition, the URR also promotes the formation of public- private partnerships to help disseminate information regarding the Underground Railroad throughout the United States, including lessons to be drawn from the history of the Underground Railroad. Applications are due by July 30, 2009.
Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit educational organizations that are established to research, display, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the history of the Underground Railroad. Other: Each nonprofit educational organization awarded a grant under this competition must create an endowment to fund any and all shortfalls in the costs of the on-going operations of the facility.
Grantees must establish a network of satellite centers throughout the United States to help disseminate information regarding the Underground Railroad. These satellite centers must raise 80 percent of the funds required to establish the satellite centers from non-Federal public and private sources. In addition, grantees must establish the capability to electronically link the facility with other local and regional facilities that have collections and programs that interpret the history of the Underground Railroad.
Applications for grants under the Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program--CFDA number 84.345A--must be submitted electronically using e-Application, accessible through the Department's e-Grants Web site at: http://e-grants.ed.gov/. While completing your electronic application, you will be entering data online that will be saved into a database. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
As part of the application process, applicants will be required to document their ability to create an endowment, establish satellite centers, and establish the electronic capability described above. For specific requirements on reporting, please go to Reporting Forms
Document Type: Grants Notice
Funding Opportunity Number: ED-GRANTS-061509-001
Opportunity Category: Discretionary
Posted Date: Jun 15, 2009
Creation Date: Jun 15, 2009
Original Closing Date for Applications: Jul 30, 2009
Current Closing Date for Applications: Jul 30, 2009 Applications Available: June 15, 2009. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 30, 2009.
Archive Date: Aug 29, 2009
Funding Instrument Type: Grant
Category of Funding Activity: Education
Category Explanation:
Expected Number of Awards: 2
Estimated Total Program Funding: $1,945,000
Award Ceiling:
Award Floor:
CFDA Number(s): 84.345 -- Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes
Full Announcement [pdf]
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
History and Culture: Background For Abenaki Day
By Editorial Staff
As part of the lead-up to Abenaki Day at the Adirondack Museum, Christopher Roy (a cultural anthropologist engaged in research related to historically known Abenaki people) penned a few short articles with Abenaki family historian David Benedict may be if interest to New York History readers.
Roy is a 1995 graduate of the University of Vermont. He is completing a PhD program in the Department of Anthropology at Princeton University. Of particular interest to his research are the histories of residence off reserve, questions of law and belonging, as well as the work of family historians in understanding Abenaki pasts, presents, and futures.
The first one, focusing on Dan Emmett and a canoe he built which is in the collections of the museum, has been posted by the Adirondack Museum http://www.adkmuseum.org/about_us/adirondack_journal/?id=156. Another of these short articles was published in the News Enterprise of North Creek [link]. This one focused on John Mitchell, an Abenaki man who lived most of his life at Indian Lake.
The Adirondack Museum has posted a few of them on their Adirondack Journal:
Mitchell Sabattis, Abenaki Farmer, 1855
Maude (Benedict) Nagazoa, Proud Adirondack Abenaki
On Monday, July 20, 2009 Roy will discuss aspects of his research in a program entitled "Searching for Sabattis, and Other Tales of Adirondack Abenaki Adventure " at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York. Part of the museum's popular Monday Evening Lecture series, the presentation will be held in the Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge for museum members. Admission is $5.00 for non-members.
Photo: Mitchell Sabattis (1823 - 1906). Collection of the Adirondack Museum.
Abenaki Day at The Adirondack Museum
By Editorial Staff
Abenaki is a generic term for the Native American Indian peoples of northern New England, southeastern Canada, and the Maritimes. Members of the Abenaki Watso family will share the traditions, culture, and heritage of their ancestors at an upcoming event at the Adirondack Museum this Saturday, July 11, 2009. These Native Peoples are also known as Wabanaki (Eastern Abenaki - Maine and the Canadian Maritimes) or Wôbanakiak (Western Abenaki - New Hampshire, Vermont, and southeastern Canada). In the Native language Wôbanakiak translates roughly to mean "People of the Dawn."
A majority of the Watso family who will demonstrate or present at the Adirondack Museum are from the Odanak reserve in the province of Quebec. The Abenaki Nation at Odanak, historically called the St. Francis, is now called the Odanak Band by the Canadian government.
"Abenaki Day" will feature demonstrations of traditional skills from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The demonstrations will include: sweet grass and black ash basket making by Barbara Ann Watso; bead work with Priscilla Watso; pounded black ash splint making with John Watso and Martin Gill; and traditional wood carving by Denise Watso.
Rejean Obomsawin will share traditional Abenaki legends that have been passed down by the elders at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Rejean is a singer, drummer, and guide at the Musee des Abenaki at Odanak.
Jacques T. Watso will offer traditional Abenaki singing and drumming at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Cultural anthropologist Christopher Roy will present a program entitled "Abenaki History in the Adirondacks and in the Adirondack Museum" at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Drawing on the museum's Abenaki collections, Roy will share the findings of his research on the history and contemporary lives of Abenaki people in the Adirondacks and throughout the Northeast.
Christopher Roy is completing a PhD program at Princeton. Of particular interest to his research are the histories of residence off-reserve, questions of law and belonging, as well as the work of family historians in understanding Abenaki pasts, presents, and futures.
The Watso family has strong ties to the Adirondack region. Their ancestors include Sabael Benedict and his son Elijah, Abenaki men familiar to early settlers and explorers of the region, and Louis Watso an Abenaki man well known in the southern Adirondacks in the latter half of the 19th century.
Descendants Sabael Benedict and Louis Watso lived throughout the region, some as full-time residents and others moving back and forth between villages like Lake George and Saratoga Springs and Odanak, an Abenaki village on the lower St. Francis River in Quebec.
This branch of the Watso family also descends from John and Mary Ann Tahamont, basket makers who spent many summers at Saranac Lake around the turn of the last century.
Photo: Chief Richard O’Bomsawin and Councillor Jacques Watso
Monday, July 6, 2009
Researching NY Conference Deadline Extended
By Editorial Staff
The deadline for submitting proposals for the Researching New York Conference has been extended to July 10th.
DEADLINE EXTENDED
Researching New York 2009
November 19 & 20, 2009
University at Albany, SUNY
The organizers of the annual Researching New York Conference invite proposals for panels, papers, workshops, roundtables, exhibits, documentary, and media or multimedia presentations on any facet of New York State history -in any time period and from any perspective. The conference will be held at the University at Albany, Albany, New York, on November 19th and 20th, 2009.
We especially invite proposals that explore and interpret not only the exploits of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain, but the many kinds of exploration that have taken place in the ensuing 400 years of New York State's rich and diverse history-including consideration of how we remember, celebrate, interpret, and commemorate historical events.
We are also soliciting commentators for panels. If you would like to participate as a commentator, please send a note to resrchny@albany.edu indicating your area of expertise, along with a one-page vita.
Researching New York brings together historians, researchers, archivists, museum curators, librarians, graduate students, teachers, Web and multimedia producers, and documentarians to share their work on New York State history.
Presentations that highlight the vast resources available to researchers of New York State history, as well as scholarship drawn from those resources, are encouraged.
Proposals are due by July 10, 2009. Full panel proposals, workshops, roundtables, exhibits, film screenings and media presentations are welcome. Partial panels and individual submissions will be considered. For panels and full proposals, please submit a one-page abstract of the complete session, a one page abstract for each paper or presentation, and a one-page curriculum vita for each participant. Individual submissions should include a one-page abstract and one-page curriculum vita.
Submissions must include name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. Please submit your proposal electronically to resrchny@albany.edu. All proposals must note any anticipated technology or audio visual needs.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at resrchny@albany.edu. Further details and program updates will be available at http://nystatehistory.org/researchny.
Researching New York is sponsored by the Department of History and the History Graduate Student Organization, University at Albany, SUNY and the New York State Archives Partnership Trust with support from the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives, University at Albany Libraries.
Hudson River Dinner Cruise with Len Tantillo
By Editorial Staff
The Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) will host the Times Union's 2009 Best Local Artist and Historian Len Tantillo for a dinner cruise on board the Captain JP II, leaving from Troy and sailing south to the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse. The event will take place on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 from 3 to 9PM; the cost is $85.00 per person for RCHS Members, $95.00 per person for non-menbers.
Tantillo, a noted Hudson River artist and historian, will narrate the often complex relationship that Henry Hudson had with his crew and the various Indian tribes that they encountered on their trips ashore. Scenic highlights and historic landmarks will be pointed out on the west and east side of the river including Papskanee Island in the Town of Schodack, the reputed place that Hudson dropped anchor and traded with the Mahican Indians. Guests will also be treated to a dinner buffet of salmon, roast turkey and prime rib along with a array of vegetables and desserts.
Guests will board at 3PM at the foot of State Street in Troy. Free parking is available dockside. The boat will leave promptly at 3:30 and return to the Troy dock at approximately 9PM.
To purchase tickets for the trip, please visit www.rchsonline.org/tickets.htmlor call (518) 272-7232, extension 12.
Photo: "A View of Troy, New York, 1847" by Len Tantillo - "This painting of Troy, New York, depicts the Hudson River city as it might have appeared in the mid 19th century. The image was based on a number of period drawings, photographs and maps from the collection of the Rensselaer County Historical Society"
Saturday, July 4, 2009
NYS Museum Opens '1609' Exhibit
By Editorial Staff
As part of the celebration of the 2009 Hudson-Champlain Quadricentennial celebration, the New York State Office of Cultural Education (OCE) will present at the New York State Museum the exhibition “1609,” which will re-examine Henry Hudson’s voyage, the myths that surround it, and explore the legacies of Hudson’s unexpected discovery. The State Museum, State Archives, State Library and State Office of Educational Broadcasting, which make up OCE, are collaborating on the “1609” exhibition. It opened yesterday, July 3, 2009, and will run until March 7, 2010 in the Museum’s Exhibition Hall.
The “1609” exhibition is presented in four parts. The first section focuses on what life was like for both the Dutch and Native Peoples of New York before 1609 and the events of that year. The visitor will then look at the myths that Hudson planned to come here, and that Native Americans greeted him and his crew with joy and awe. The exhibition will attempt to dispel those myths and explore with the visitor what is known about Hudson and the 1609 voyage and the Native American response. The third section confronts the myths relating to the short-term impact of the voyage – the consequences for the Dutch and the Native Americans. Finally, the visitor will be able to examine the long-term legacy of the Native Americans and Dutch, and how they affected subsequent historical events and American culture today.
Highlighting the important role that the Hudson River played in Hudson’s discovery and in the everyday lives of the Native Americans he encountered, visitors entering the gallery will see the illusion of running water. An outline of the Halve Maen (Half Moon) that carried Hudson to the new world, and fast facts about the ship, will be stenciled onto the gallery floor. The exhibition will also feature many historic drawings, maps and paintings, including some by Capital District expert historical artist L.F. Tantillo.
There will be many touchable objects and a reading area to engage the youngest visitors. Artifacts on display will include an elaborately decorated c. 1700 “Armada Chest” or strongbox, a classic type of chest or portable safe similar to what Henry Hudson most likely had in his quarters on the Half Moon; a dugout canoe recovered from Glass Lake in Rensselaer County similar to those used by Native Americans in the 17th century; a bronze cannon cast for the Dutch West India Company (1604-1661) used at or near Fort Orange and a stained glass window bearing the Coat of Arms of “Jan Baptist van Renssilaer,” patron of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck in the 1650s. A large 1611 etching of the Port of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, courtesy of the Amsterdam Municipal Archives, also will hang in the gallery.
Many of the maps and other 17th-century Dutch colonial documents in the exhibition are from the collections of the New York State Library and the State Archives and will be located in a separate room where lighting is carefully controlled. The New Netherland Project, a program of the State Library, has been working since 1974 to translate and publish these archival records.
Archaeologist James Bradley, an expert on Native Americans, and Russell Shorto, an authority on colonial Dutch history, have written text for the exhibition. Bradley is the author of “Before Albany: An Archaeology of Native-Dutch Relations in the Capital Region 1600-1664,” and a guest curator for portions of the exhibition. Shorto, who resides in the Netherlands, authored “The Island at the Center of
the World,” the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America. Steven Comer, a Mohican Native American living within the original territory of the Mohican people, has provided cultural information and consulting for the project.
The Museum also is celebrating the Dutch influence on Albany and New York State with a trip to Holland and Belgium. This adventure will allow participants to experience these countries and appreciate their effect on Albany’s heritage and architecture. The trip is September 24 through October 1, 2009 and priced at $2,127 per person, double occupancy. Museum members receive a discount of $50. This trip includes a week-long stay in a four-star hotel located in the Hague, Holland’s government capitol. The price includes airfare, transfers, six nights accommodation, breakfast everyday except arrival, three dinners, private luxury coach, and local guides in Amsterdam, Bruges, and Delft. Also included are the entrance fees for windmills, a Delftware factory, New Church Delft, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, canal boat rides, and Aalsmeer Flower Auction. There is one free day with an optional trip to Paris, France. For more information or to register call Susan at (518) 862-1810 Monday through Friday.
The New York State Museum is a cultural program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Founded in 1836, the museum has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the U.S. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open daily from 9:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Further information can be obtained visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
- City Room Blog: Jackson Tribute at the Apollo
- Historiann: “What about Women in Early American History?
- Great Lives In History: William Almon Wheeler, 19th Vice President
- Historic Districts Council Newsstand: Help Save Coney Island
- Smithsonian Channel: America’s First Color Film Retires After 74 years
- PhDinHistory: History Books and Novels Since 1945
- Upstate Earth: Along Stockport Creek
- Tenement Museum Blog: Summertime in Coney Island
- Lost City: An Approved Coney Island Plan Nobody Likes
- Ephemeral New York: The Brutal Murder Of A Chinatown Wife
- The Bowery Boys: Sip-In: Before Stonewall, There Was Julius
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