Greater Hudson Heritage Network (formerly Lower Hudson Conference of Historical Agencies & Museums) has awarded nearly $120,000 in conservation treatment grants to 27 organizations, located in 18 counties of New York, in association with the Museum Program of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). These 2009 awards bring the total granted by this statewide program to over $1 million since the Conservation Treatment Grant program began in 2000. The grant funds will provide treatment by professional conservators to aid in stabilizing, preserving, and making accessible to the public an array of unique objects in collections of New York’s museums, historical and cultural organizations of all sizes.
2009 grants will support treatment of ancient Greek kylizes and contemporary bronze sculpture, printed earthenware, silk and woven textiles, and oil paintings—such as an 18th c. Cuzco School Madonna and Child, 19th c. portraits, and 20th c. landscapes with their carved, gilt frames; a 28 ft. wall mural, an early 20th c. Grand Advertising Curtain, and Frank Stella’s Big Gur. Diverse objects such as artist Thomas Cole’s Top Hat, a Leather Fire Hose, panoramic photograph of Gloversville, The Caudebec Inn 1920’s Hotel Register, a plaster bull sculpture maquette, carriages, coaches, a newsprint sign and a Native American clam basket are among the artifacts stewarded by collecting and exhibiting institutions from Rochester to Rhinebeck receiving conservation treatment support through the 2009 grant program.
Grants are awarded for prioritized, urgently needed conservation of objects that, once treated, will impact public interpretive programs, exhibitions and education. Non-profit organizations with stewardship responsibility for cultural collections, (but without in-house conservation staff) were eligible applicants; state or federally owned collections are ineligible for support. Grant funding can treat paintings, works on paper, textiles, furniture, sculpture, ethnographic, historical and decorative objects, and may also support accompanying professional treatment of frames, supports, stands and mounts if integral to the final public presentation of the object, after conservation.
Greater Hudson Heritage Network works to provide support for conservation treatments that are executed on the highest professional level. The field of conservation is continually changing, with pioneering research and dissemination of findings on innovative materials and techniques. Although there are many paths into the field of conservation, we acknowledge practitioners who have demonstrated high levels of proficiency and advanced knowledge, adherence to the ethics and standards of the American Institute of Conservation (AIC), and are recognized for their expertise in the museum field.
An evaluation of the first five years of the Conservation Treatment Grant Program reported that these grants led to public impact outcomes beyond the actual conservation of museum objects, including heightened appreciation of the collections, and increased public awareness of the institution’s role as steward, and has proven a spark to further institutional, strategic, financial and long-range conservation planning. Beyond these outcomes, grant recipients reported that Conservation Treatment funding prompted fuller use of collections (for exhibition, web content and loan), enhanced interpretive capability, and expanded opportunities to educate the public about art, history, humanities, the science of conservation, and museum work.
41 grant applications were received at Greater Hudson from institutions in 23 counties of New York State, requesting an aggregate of nearly $192,000 in grant support. 27 awards totaling approximately $120,000 were recommended by a peer panel of conservators, curators and museum professionals. Individual 2009 Conservation Treatment Grants range from $555 to $7,500.
Of the 27 funded institutions, 63% have annual budgets under $360,000 (15% with operating budgets of less than $50,000), and 37% have budgets greater than $400,000 (15% of those have budgets of $400-$750,000; 15% are in the $1.8 million - $4.5 million range, and 7% operate at over $17 million). Organizational annual operating budgets of 2009’s grant recipients span a stunning range from $3,400 to $18.7 million.
Information on the statewide Conservation Treatment Grant Program, including grant guidelines and an archive of past grant awards, visit www.greaterhudson.org, or contact Greater Hudson Heritage Network Executive Director Tema Harnik: 914.592.6726; director@greaterhudson.org.
Congratulations to these 2009 Conservation Treatment Grant Recipients:
Albright-Knox Art Gallery/ Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo (Erie County).
$ 2775 for conservation treatment of a 1960 bronze sculpture Man Walking (Version 1,) by Alberto Giacometti, and 1957 oil painting, George Went Swimming at Barnes Hole, but It Got Too Cold, by Joan Mitrchell; work to be done by conservators Stefan Dedecek and Robert Lodge of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.
John D. Barrow Art Gallery, Skaneateles (Onondaga County).
$ 7500 for treatment of the oil painting Trees with Sunset by John D. Barrow, and its frame. treatment to be done by conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators Ltd.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site (Cedar Grove), Catskill (Greene County)
$ 2930 for conservation treatment of Thomas Cole’s Black Silk Top Hat, and its original box; work to be done by textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation LLC.
Columbia County Historical Society, Kinderhook (Columbia County).
$ 2967 for conservation of a pair of early 19th c. printed objects: an earthenware pitcher and a cotton textile featuring the Declaration of Independence; to be treated by objects conservator Monica Berry, and textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.
Depauville Free Library, Depauville (Jefferson County)
$ 7487 for treatment of an early 20th c. Grand Advertising Drape; work to be done by conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Derfner Judaica Museum at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, Riverdale (Bronx County)
$ 5035 for conservation treatment and stabilization of a 19th c. European velvet embroidered appliqué Torah ark valance; work to be done by textile conservator Judith Eisenberg.
FASNY Museum of Firefighting, Hudson (Columbia County)
$ 4764 for conservation of an early 19th c. copper riveted leather fire hose; to be treated by objects conservator Abigail Mack.
Friends of Raynham Hall, Inc., Oyster Bay (Nassau County)
$ 2800 for conservation of an oil portrait of William Fondey of Albany, by an unknown artist; work to be done by conservator paintings conservator Jonathan Sherman, Sherman Art Conservation.
Fulton County Historical Society, Gloversville (Fulton County)
$ 555 for conservation of a c. 1920 panoramic photograph of downtown Gloversville and its frame; treatment to be done by paper conservator Ellen Riggs Tillapaugh.
Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College Foundation, Flushing (Queens County)
$ 4430 for treatment of the 18th c. Peruvian Cuzco School oil on panel painted Madonna and Child, work to be done by paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc.
Greater Patchogue Historical Society, Patchogue (Suffolk County)
$ 7500 for conservation of a 28Ft painted mural, Scene Along the Patchogue River by Robert Zoeller; work to be done by paintings conservator Jonathan Sherman, Sherman Art Conservation.
Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, Goshen (Orange County)
$ 2440 for treatment of Richard McMahon’s silk Driving Jacket; work to be done by textile conservator Gwen Spicer, Spicer Art Conservation, LLC.
Historic Cherry Hill, Albany (Albany County)
$ 4856 for conservation of two winter landscape paintings by Walter Launt Palmer: Vorheesville Creek and Cedars; work to be done by paintings conservator Matthew Cushman, Willamstown Art Conservation Center.
Judd Foundation, New York (New York County)
$ 7500 for conservation of the 1967 painting Big Gur by Frank Stella; work to be done by paintings conservator Luca Bonetti, Luca Bonetti, Corp.
King Manor Association of L.I., Inc., Jamaica (Queens County)
$ 4074 for conservation treatment of the 19th c. oil portrait of Eliza Grace King Halsey, her cerise Kashmir shawl and her ribbon fragment of a sash worn by General Lafayette on his last visit to America; work to be done by paintings conservator Alexander Katlan, Alexander Katlan Conservator, Inc., and textile conservator Mary Kaldany, Textile Conservation Workshop.
Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages, Stony Brook (Suffolk County).
$ 3055 towards the structural conservation treatment of 6 carriages and coaches; work to be done by objects conservator Valerie Reich Hunt.
Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, Rochester (Monroe County)
$ 7500 for the conservation of two ancient Greek Kylixes, an African Senufo helmet mask and a Native American Puget Sound Clam Basket; treatments to be done by objects conservator Barbara Moore.
Museum of Jewish Heritage-a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York (New York County)
$ 6475 for conservation of a 1935 newprint sign “Avoid Jewish Businesses!” ; treatment to be done by paper conservator Caroline Rieger, Rieger Art Conservation..
Neversink Valley Area Museum, Cuddebackville (Orange County).
$ 2296 for conservation of the Caudebec Inn Hotel Register, 1908-1913; treatment to be done by paper conservator Michele Phillips, The Paper Lab, LLC.
New-York Historical Society, New York (New York County)
$ 6600 for conservation of the c. 1858 oil painting Morning in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Va, by William Sonntag and its original frame; treatment to be done by paintings conservator Kenneth S. Moser, and Eduardo Larrea, Larrea Studio, Inc.
Niagara County Historical Society, Lockport (Niagara County).
$ 2400 for treatment of the 1822 engraved Van Rensselaer Geological Profile Extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie, highlighting the Erie Canal; work to be done by paper conservator Tracy Dulniak, Great Lakes conservation of NY, LLC.
Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center, Syracuse (Onondaga County).
$ 3951 for conservation treatment of the original Roccoco Revival frame for the painted Portrait of Moses Dewitt Burnet (c.1841), attributed to Charles Loring Elliott; work to be done by painting and frame conservator John Sutton, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Seneca Falls Historical Society, Seneca Falls (Seneca County)
$ 4207 for conservation of the 1827 oil portrait of Wilhelmus Mynderse painted by Thomas Wentworth; treatment to be done by paintings conservator Susan Blakney, West Lake Conservators, Ltd. Frame conservation to be done by Gregory Johnson, Heirloom Picture Framing.
Smithtown Historical Society, Smithtown (Suffolk County)
$ 3537 for the conservation of the plaster maquette of the Smithtown Bull Statue of Whisper, created by sculptor Charles Carey Rumsey; treatment to be done by objects conservator I. Joseph Chiarello
Southold Historical Society, Southold (Suffolk County).
$ 3775 for conservation of two period carved frames for works by Edward Bell and Irving R. Wiles; work to be done by Rhonda Feinman, Custom Frames, Inc..
Southworth Library Association, Dryden (Tompkins County)
$ 2905 for treatment of the 1804 oil portrait of Jeremiah Dwhight by AJ Purdy, and its frame; work to be done by conservators Susan Blakney and John Sutton, West Lake Conservators, Ltd.
Wilderstein Preservation, Rhinebeck (Dutchess County).
$ 5380 for conservation of the portrait of Mrs. Robert Sands and its frame; treatment to be done by conservators Thomas Branchick and Hugh Glover of Williamstown Art Conservation Center.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Greater Hudson Heriitage Announces Conservation Grant Awards
By Editorial Staff
Friday, August 28, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
Thursday, August 27, 2009
NYS Library's September Noontime Programs
By Editorial Staff
In September, the New York State Library will offer three noontime author talks and book signings. On Wednesday, September 9th, Mark Jodoin will discuss his book "Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada
Sept. 9: Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada
In 1778, New York State patriots forced colonists loyal to the British government to flee north into what became Ontario and Quebec. Many of the defiant young British Americans soon returned south as soldiers, spies and scouts to fight for their multigenerational farms along the Mohawk River, Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley. Eventually defeated, they were banished from their ancestral homelands forever. Mark Jodoin, author of the book Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution: Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada offers an enlightened look back at ten young men and women who were forced north into what became Ontario and Quebec, sharing the struggles that these Loyalists faced during our nation’s founding.
Sept. 16: The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930
"Bridget" was the Irish immigrant servant girl who worked in American homes from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth century. She was widely known as a pop culture cliché: the young Irish girl who wreaked havoc working as a servant in middle-class American homes. Many contemporary Irish-American families can find one or more of these Irish Bridgets in their background. Come hear Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan discuss her new book, "The Irish Bridget: Irish Immigrant Women in Domestic Service in America, 1840-1930." This is the first book to be written on Irish servant girls. This program will be held in the Huxley Theater on the first floor of the Cultural Education Center.
Sept. 23: Troy’s Little Italy
Italian immigrants began arriving in Troy in large numbers in the late 1880s, escaping the abject poverty of their homeland. They settled among Irish immigrants who had arrived fifty years earlier in Troy’s first and eighth wards just south of the central business district, an area bustling with activity. The neighborhood contained blocks of two and three story brick buildings, a mix of row houses and free standing homes. Within a few years, these Italian immigrants began opening small businesses, particularly on Fourth Street, the neighborhood’s “Main Street,” and it was typical of the mixed residential and commercial communities in many American cities. Michael Esposito will discuss the neighborhood and its people from his new book “Troy’s Little Italy.”
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Locals Elected to Adirondack Architectural Heritage Board
By Editorial Staff
For your information comes the following press release issued by the Adirondack Architectural Heritage on the recent election of their Board of Directors:
On June 13, 2009, Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) held its annual meeting at the Boathouse Theater in Schroon Lake, during which time the following individuals were elected to serve their first three-year term on AARCH’s Board of Directors: Willem Monster (Northampton), and Albert Price (Piseco Lake); Jane Mackintosh (Queensbury), and Howard Lowe (Plattsburgh), were elected to serve their second three-year term; William Johnston (Westport), Jay Higgins (Lake Placid), and Phebe Thorne (Keene Valley), were elected to the AARCH Advisory Council. And, at the July AARCH Board meeting, Stewart de Camp (Thendara) was elected to serve on the AARCH Board for a first three-year term.
Adirondack Architectural Heritage is the private, non-profit, 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. For more information on membership and our complete program schedule contact AARCH at (518) 834-9328 or visit our website at www.aarch.org.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A New Book Highlights Brooklyn's Evergreens Cemetery
By Editorial Staff
Organized in 1849 as a non-sectarian cemetery Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn (it actually borders Brooklyn and Queens) and covers 225 acres and is the resting place of over a half million people. This remarkable cemetery of rolling hills and gently sloping meadows features several thousand trees and flowering shrubs in a park like setting and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also the subject of an outstanding new book, Green Oasis in Brooklyn: The Evergreens Cemetery 1849-2008
This oversize book filled with unique and picturesque photographs by Ken Druse, traces the history of the Evergreens Cemetery beginning with the land on which the cemetery was founded, and it's design by some of the most acclaimed architects of their time, Alexander Jackson Davis and Andrew Jackson Downing. It also shows how the forces that shaped the history of New York - population growth, immigration and growing wealth - also shaped the Evergreens. Among the monuments of fascinating characters buried there are those of Brooklyn's Eastern District Fire Department (site of a statue memorializing a fireman who died in the Brooklyn Theatre Fire of 1876), Chinese American plots, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Memorial, Stranger's mound (pauper's graves), the graves of more then 500 entertainers, the 20th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops plot, Yusef Hawkins (the 16-year-old African American youth who was shot to death in 1989 in Bensonhurst sparking racial tensions), Max Weber, Anthony Comstock, and literally thousands of other notable people.
Take a listen to NPR's recent tour of The Evergreens here.
This is the rest of the post
Monday, August 24, 2009
Replica Ship Half Moon Seeks Volunteers
By Editorial Staff
Captain W.T. "Chip" Reynolds of the replica ship Half Moon has put out a call for volunteer sailing crew, cooks, and dockside tour guides for the rest of August, September, October, and early November. The 85-foot replica of the ship Henry Hudson sailed while exploring the Hudson River in 1609 has a volunteer crew of 15 and was built in Albany, N.Y. in 1989 to commemorate the Dutch role in exploring and colonizing America. The Half Moon replica has six sails on three masts, sporting 2,757 square feet of canvas. It's equipped with six cannons and four anchors.
The original ship, called the Halve Maen, was commissioned on March 25, 1609 for the Dutch East India Company. The company hired Hudson, an Englishman, to search for a passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He thought he had found that passage when he sailed up the river that now bears his name. In making his trip up the river, Hudson claimed the area for the Dutch and opened the land for settlers who followed. His voyage came 10 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. For general information about the replica Half Moon check the 2009 Event Schedule at
www.halfmoon.mus.ny.us.
Contact Karen Preston by e-mail at pkep1483@aol.com if you are interested in volunteering with any of these activities:
August 23-27, the Half Moon will sail from Athens, NY, to Staten Island (see
item 2). A cook is needed for the voyage to Staten Island, and while
dockside in Staten Island; most sailing crew positions are filled, but one
or two slots may open.
August 27-September 1, help is needed with a variety of activities,
including set-up of ship on August 28, 30, 31 and Sept. 1; help with
managing or leading tours of the Half Moon on Saturday, August 29 and 31.
September 5-26, a cook is needed to help with the Voyage of Discovery from
New York Harbor to Albany.
September 23-28, help is needed to set up the Half Moon and prepare for the
festival on Sept. 26, and to help manage visitors and lead tours in Albany
on Sept. 26, and to help break down the ship and historical displays on
Sept. 28.
October 8-16, a cook is needed to help with the Masters Voyage of Discovery
to Yonkers, NY.
October 16-31, volunteers are needed to help set up the Half Moon for public
tours from October 16-31, and to help lead tours both weekdays and weekends
in Yonkers, NY.
November 1-10, volunteers are needed to help set up the Half Moon for public
tours on November 1, and to help lead tours daily from Monday, Nov. 2
through Sunday, Nov. 8, and to help break the ship down on November 9 and
10.
November 10, volunteer crew are needed to help move the Half Moon to winter
berthing at King Marine, Verplanck, NY.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- NY News Pioneer Don Hewitt Dies
- Cheese Factory Foundation Unearthed
- Local Produces Jim Thorpe Documentary
- Battle of Plattsburgh Commemoration Plans
- Federal Recognition for Brothertown Denied
- Two Historic Champlain Settlements Honored
- Rare Visit for NYC’s Birth Certificate
- Young Interpreters At Farmers’ Museum
- Dredgers Bring up Piece of Fort Edward
Thursday, August 20, 2009
28th Annual Iroquois Indian Festival Sept. 5-6
By Editorial Staff
The Iroquois Indian Museum of Howes Cave, New York, announces the 28th Annual Iroquois Indian Festival to be held on Labor Day weekend, Saturday, September 5 through Sunday, September 6. The two-day festival’s goal is to foster a greater appreciation and deeper understanding of Iroquois culture through presentations of Iroquois music and social dance, traditional stories, artwork, games and food. This year’s master of ceremonies will be Museum Educator, Mike Wahrare Tarbell, a member of the Turtle Clan from the Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Nation.
The annual festival centers on the celebration of Iroquois creativity and self-expression by featuring an all Iroquois Indian Art Market open to Iroquois artists by special invitation only. Both traditional and contemporary arts are showcased.
This year we celebrate the return of Santee Smith (Mohawk, Turtle Clan). Santee is from the Six Nations Reserve, where she has gained recognition as both a performing artist (dance) and as a visual artist (pottery). She will be presenting excerpts from her two major works, “Kaha:wi” and “A Story Before Time”. Santee will be performing with Emily Law and, for the first time, with her daughter, Semiah Smith. We are very pleased to be able to welcome Santee, Emily and Semiah to this year’s Festival.
The Sky Dancers from Six Nations Reserve in Ontario will perform traditional Iroquois social dances, and may invite the public out onto the dance floor to participate, as well. The Children’s Tent will feature arts & crafts activities including beadwork and cornhusk doll making. Local wildlife rehabilitator Kelly Martin will be available to discuss wildlife conservation in our bioregion and will present a variety of wild animals including birds of prey along with a special presentation in the Museum’s outdoor amphitheater. Pamela Brown “Wolf Teacher” returns to promote understanding and awareness of wolves and the importance of their survival with a display of educational and informational materials and fundraising items. Other special features include displays and demonstrations on genealogy, archeology, and flintknapping led by talented and knowledgeable Iroquois Museum volunteers.
Food is an important part of any culture, and a full array of Native foods will be available for purchase provided by Frank and Pam Ramsey from Onondaga. Delicious traditional entrees include buffalo burgers, Indian tacos, venison sausage, roasted corn soup and frybread.
The Festival will be held at the Iroquois Indian Museum on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM each day, rain or shine. Performances will take place in the Museum’s outdoor covered amphitheater and the artists participating in the art-market will be set up in adjacent tents.
The Iroquois Indian Museum is located just 35 miles west of Albany New York, near the intersection of highways 7 and 145. Take exit 22 from Interstate 88 and follow the signs. There is a fee for entrance to the Festival grounds. For more information call the Museum at (518) 296-8949, or go to the Museum’s website at www.iroquoismuseum.org.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Revisiting Great Literature With Penguin Classics on Air
By Editorial Staff
“Penguin Classics On Air” is an online radio series devoted to the discussion and exploration of some of Penguin Classics’ more than 1400 titles from many eras, cultures and regions of the world. The program is hosted by Penguin Classics Editorial Director Elda Rotor and features in-depth conversations on new, timely and rediscovered classics between Elda Rotor or Classics editor John Siciliano and scholars, translators, or experts of a specific Penguin Classic.
The show wraps up with Associate Publisher Stephen Morrison offering a sampling of the Classic by reading the first pages from one of the works discussed. In addition, each episode of “Penguin Classics On Air” features a review by Alan Walker, Senior Director of Academic Marketing, on one of the Classics he’s recently read, as he fulfills his mission to read one Penguin Classic by an author per letter of the alphabet from A to Z.
As a sample of the goods, take a look at The Birth of Knickerbocker: Washington Irving’s A History of New York. Elda Rotor interviews Betsy Bradley, the introducer and editor of Washington Irving’s A History of New York , Irving’s popular first book is an early nineteenth century satirical novel of colonial New Amsterdam. It follows the fictional historian Diedrich Knickerbocker as he narrates the development of New York cultural life—from the creation of the doughnut to the creation of Wall Street. Alan Walker introduces listeners to The Emigrants by Gilbert Imlay and Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Washington Irving’s beloved story “Rip Van Winkle.” in his segment, “First Pages.”
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
'The Adirondack Guide' at the Adirondack Museum
By Editorial Staff
Don Williams, storyteller, author, and retired Adirondack guide, will deliver a presentation entitled "Adirondack Guides" at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake Monday, August 24. Part of the museum's 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.
William's program will include the portrayal of a historic Adirondack farmer-lumberman-guide, Adirondack humor as found in folk tales, and the introduction of skunk oil, ginseng, and spruce gum, as well as traditional Adirondack skills and tools well known by guides. He will focus on the role played by jack-of-all trade Adirondackers in opening up and popularizing the rugged North Country with sportsmen and tourists.
Don Williams (that's him above) is known throughout New York State for his Adirondack storytelling, sharing the lives of Adirondack settlers and visitors through oral histories and humorous tales. He has been an Adirondack lecturer and storyteller at schools and organizations throughout the Northeast for more than forty years.
A retired teacher, school principal, and Adirondack guide, Williams has provided presentations about the Adirondacks at elementary and high schools, colleges, libraries, and Elderhostel programs.
Williams is the author of nine books about Adirondack and local history. He has written more than 250 articles for magazines including Adirondack Life and the Journal of Outdoor Education. He served as Adirondack regional editor for New York Sportsman for twenty years. His "Inside the Blueline" column has appeared weekly in four regional newspapers since 1989.
Williams hosted an Adirondack television show in Gloversville and Glens Falls, N.Y. for six years and appears in the PBS documentary, The Adirondacks, produced by WNED Buffalo.
Monday, August 17, 2009
A Program On America's Only World War II Refugee Camp
By Editorial Staff
Sixty-five years ago 982 people arrived at Fort Ontario in Oswego, NY. They would stay the next 18 months at the only World War II refugee camp on American soil. On August 20th at 6 pm in Sackets Harbor, Safe Haven President Elizabeth A. Kahl will share the story of those 982 “guests” of President Franklin D. Roosevelt from August 1944 to February 1946. The program is part of the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center.
Kahl, who has served on the board of the nonprofit that administers the Safe Haven Museum and Education Center in Oswego since 1999, said in a press release that “The maelstrom that was World War II had millions of fugitives fleeing for their lives in Europe. A continent away, Oswego, New York on the shores of Lake Ontario was to play a unique role in history as the small community who gave 982 people shelter and hope.”
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt is among those who visited the refugees at the fort.
The $5 admission to the August 20th program benefits the Seaway Trail Foundation and its educational programming.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
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By Editorial Staff
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Finger Lakes Museum Site Submission Process Closed
By Editorial Staff
The Board of Trustees of the Finger Lakes Cultural & Natural History Museum have officially closed the site submission process. Nineteen potential building sites were proposed by seven Finger Lakes Region counties and the City of Geneva before the deadline of July 15th.
Counties that submitted proposals include Cayuga, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, and Yates. The City of Geneva is partnering with Seneca County on a site that straddles the Ontario/Seneca county line at the north end of Seneca Lake.
The deadline, which had been originally set for June 15th, was extended by the board for 30 days to give some counties more time to complete title searches. The sites are now being toured and evaluated by the project’s Site Selection Committee.
A question arose concerning a 20th site being added to the list when a landowner inquired about submitting a parcel in Ontario County. The board considered the inquiry but determined that the deadline should be upheld in fairness to the counties that worked hard to make submissions on time, according to a press release issued last week. The landowner is not being identified.
The search for a building site has ramped up the level of excitement for the initiative to develop a cultural and natural history museum to showcase the 9,000 square-mile Finger Lakes Region.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Thomas Cole Historic Site Gets $1 Million Bequest
By Editorial Staff
The Thomas Cole Historic Site has announced that it has received a bequest of $1,000,000 from the estate of Raymond Beecher (1917–2008), a guiding light in the preservation of the Thomas Cole Site as well as countless other historic properties in the area. The newly established Raymond and Catharine Beecher Memorial Fund will be used for the maintenance of the buildings and grounds of Cedar Grove, the 19th- century home of Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole.
The bequest is restricted to funding the maintenance of the building and grounds of the Thomas Cole Historic Site, and only a portion of the interest may be used each year so that the principal will endure. Were it not for Raymond Beecher, who passed away in October at the age of 91, there might not be a Cedar Grove today. When the property was up for sale and possibly headed for demolition, Beecher put up his own money to buy the property and begin the restoration process. According to Thomas Cole Historic Site Executive Director Elizabeth Jacks, “It might not have happened without him. He led the charge. So we are delighted that his legacy lives on in a way that helps maintain the site he loved so much.”
Raymond Beecher was a soldier, educator, historian, writer, philanthropist, and public servant. He was the Chairman of the Greene County Historical Society and the Greene County Historian for many years. He was a leader in the establishment of the Vedder Library – a collection of important pieces of Greene County history. Beecher was a World War II veteran serving in both Europe and the Pacific. He wrote several books and for many years wrote a weekly column in local newspapers. He was declared a “Greene County Treasure” by the County Legislature in 2007.
Cedar Grove is the historic name for the Thomas Cole Historic Site, a non-profit organization that preserves and interprets the site where the artist Thomas Cole lived, worked, was married, and where he died at the age of 47. Today the site consists of the Federal style brick home (c. 1815) in which Thomas Cole resided with his family, as well as the artist’s original studio building, on five landscaped acres with a magnificent view of the Catskill Mountains.
Photo: Raymond Beecher in the grounds of his beloved Cedar Grove. Photo Richard Philp.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Pieces of Fort Edward Revealed During Dredging
By Editorial Staff
A piece of historic Fort Edward, site of the Great Carrying Place portage between the Hudson River and Lake George and prominent in the history of the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, is reported to have been brought up while dredging the Hudson River for PCBs according to the Glens Falls Post Star.
"Neal Orsini said he was awakened at 4 a.m. by the noise of a clamshell dredge pulling the piece of wood, which he estimated to be about 14 feet long, from his property," the paper reported. "There was a breakdown somewhere in the system and they took a piece of old Fort Edward out of the bank they weren’t supposed to be touching," Orsini said, "It was really loud."
Orsini also told the paper that a clamshell dredge removed a section of riverbank. "It left a gaping hole in my river bank," he said. The paper is reporting that archeologists are on the scene and a "survey is being performed on the pieces taken from the area."
Fort Edward was built in 1755 on "The Great Warpath" between Albany and the head of northward navigation at Lake George. It's three components, the fort itself, a fortified encampment on Rogers Island, and a Royal blockhouse built in 1758 across the river was Britain's largest military outpost in North America during the French and Indian War housing more than 15,000 troops. An earlier stockaded area named Fort Nicholson was located there in 1709 during Queen Anne's War; it was rebuilt as Fort Lydus (primarily the trading post of John Lydus) and in 1731 was rebuilt as Fort Lyman. It was renamed For Edward by Sir William Johnson during the French and Indian War in 1755.
Although the historic site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it has been largely forgotten, after the area was heavily contaminated with PCBs, and has fallen into disuse except for the Rogers Island Visitors Center. The Associated Press reported this week that three entities are hoping to purchase parts of the site including the Archaeological Conservancy, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and archeologist David Starbuck, who has been excavating the site since at least 2001.
Rogers Island was also the base camp of Major Robert Rogers and his company of Rangers and it was there that he composed his "Ranging Rules" which form the basis of military tactics adopted by irregular fighting forces all over the world. The site is considered the birthplace of the U.S. Army Rangers. The fort fell to British forces under John Burgoyne in 1777 during the American Revolution.
The dredging project is in its fourth month of removing approximately 2.65 million cubic yards of Hudson Riverbed sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). General Electric is believed to have dischargeed more than 1 million pounds of PCBs from its plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward into the Hudson River. The company then fought a legal, political, and media battle to avoid cleanup for nearly 20 years. GE fought the Superfund law in court and conducted a media campaign to convince the public that cleaning the toxic waste from the river would stir up PCBs. This week high levels of PCBs downriver slowed the dredging. GE was ordered by the EPA to clean up a 40-mile stretch of the Hudson River it contaminated in 2002.
Photo: Fort Edward from "A Set of Plans and Forts in Americas, Reduced From Actual Surveys" [1763]
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- 150 Years of Children's Home Celebrated
- Returning Oysters to Jamaica Bay
- Flooding Damages Van Buren Site
- Fort Edward: 3 Historic Sites Being Sold
- Tupper Train Depot, Museum Opens
- North Elba: Forget the Train
- Wright Homes Focus of Landmark Debate
- Lois McClure Touring Lake Champlain
- 1892 Yacht Added to Boldt Castle
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Four New Diaries By Upstate New York Teenagers
By Editorial Staff
Four new books provide readers with first person narratives of rural Upstate New York teenage life in the 1860s through the 1890s. These accounts of young peoples’ lives on the farm, or in the home, offers a unique perspective and serves as an important primary resource in the study of American history.
The first is A Darned Good Time
Second in the series is My Centennial Diary - A Year in the Life of a Country Boy
Third in the series, My Story – A Year in the Life of a Country Girl, is by 15-year old Ida Burnett of Logan, New York (in Schuyler County) in 1880. Ida churned butter, milked cows, sewed her own underwear, canned fruit, but also had time for boys and parties. She lived in the country in Upstate New York and in the whole year did not venture any farther than twenty miles from home. The book will be released soon.
The fourth (forthcoming) will be Home in the Hills by 14–year old Edna Kendall of Altay, New York (in Schuyler County) in 1891. It will be available in early 2010.
You can check out these and more publications from the New York History Review Press at http://www.newyorkhistoryreview.com.
American Mountain Men Return to the Adirondack Museum
By Editorial Staff
The grounds of the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake will become a lively 19th century tent city with an encampment of American Mountain Men interpreting the fur trade and a variety of survival skills on August 14 and 15, 2009. The group will interpret the lives and times of traditional mountain men with colorful demonstrations and displays of shooting, tomahawk and knife throwing, furs, fire starting and cooking, clothing of both eastern and western mountain styles, period firearms, and more. This year's encampment will include blacksmithing as well as a beaver skinning and fleshing demonstration.
Participants in the museum encampment are from the Brothers of the New York,
Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts segment of the national American
Mountain Men organization. The encampment is by invitation only. All of the American Mountain Men activities and demonstrations are included in the price of regular Adirondack Museum admission. There is no charge for museum members. The museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
The American Mountain Men group was founded in 1968. The association researches and studies the history, traditions, tools, and mode of living of the trappers, explorers, and traders known as the mountain men. Members continuously work for mastery of the primitive skills of both the original mountain men and Native Americans. The group prides itself on the accuracy and authenticity of its interpretation and shares the knowledge they have gained with all who are interested.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
An Architecture Kids Camp at Jay Heritage Center
By Editorial Staff
From architraves to anthemia, children age eight to eleven can immerse themselves in the world of New York State's varied architecture during an architecture camp for kids at the Jay Heritage Center all next week (Mon. August 17 to Fri., August 21, 9:30 am to 1:00 pm). The campers will discover the fundamentals of architecture by studying the Greek Revival 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House, along with the two other 19th-century mansions, which are part of the Boston Post Road Historic District. Kids can learn how Hudson Valley architects like Minard Lafever and AJ Davis championed inspirational designs that still capture our imagination.
With guidance from professionals, each camper will then design and construct their own dream house or a building essential for a city, such as a school or fire department. After learning about the basic principles of zoning, they will organize their buildings on a giant map of the Boston Post Road. Cardboard boxes and other recycled materials are used to create the colorful, bustling mini city. This year the campers will also learn about green building and how historic structures can be environmentally sustainable.
The cost is $200 per camper. The Jay Heritage Center is located at 210 Boston Post Road, Rye, NY 10580. Limited enrollment. For further information call 914-698-9275 or e-mail jayhc@earthlink.net.
Photo: The Greek Revival Architecture exhibit in the 1907 Carriage House at the Jay Heritage Center, Rye. NY.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Historic Vessels Arrive in Plattsburgh For Events
By Editorial Staff
The historic canal motorship Day Peckinpaugh arrived in Plattsburgh today as it travels the Champlain and Hudson Corridor on its 500-mile Quadricentennial Legacy Voyage. The 259-foot canal boat, built in 1921, will be joined by the replica 1862 canal schooner Lois McClure and 1901 Tug Urger at the Wilcox Dock in Plattsburgh on August 11-12 and at the Burlington waterfront on August 14-16. The public is invited to step on board free of charge (see tour schedule below for hours).
The Day Peckinpaugh was the first canal motorship ever built and is the only one that remains. Rescued from the scrap yard in 2005, it is now the largest single item in the collection of the New York State Museum. The tour marks its first voyage in its new role as a traveling museum.
Tour Schedule
Tuesday-Wednesday, August 11-12
Plattsburgh, Wilcox Dock
Free tours: 11 am - 7 pm
Experience the breadth of maritime history on display with vessels including the canal schooner Lois McClure, Tug Urger, and the Day Peckinpaugh together on the dock at Plattsburgh. Enjoy music and food on shore throughout the day.
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, August 14-16
Burlington, Perkins Pier
Free tours: Friday 4 – 7 pm; Saturday-Sunday10 am - 6 pm
Working on Water Weekend- Tour the Day Peckinpaugh, Tug Urger, replica Canal Schooner Lois McClure, and Tug 8th Sea on Vermont’s own “great lake.” Also visit the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum to learn about the history of Lake Champlain boating from the 1600s to the present.
Wednesday, August 19
Crown Point, Crown Point Pier
Free tours: 11 am - 7 pm
Join the festivities as the Day Peckinpaugh is welcomed to the newly refurbished Crown Point Pier at the DEC campground in Crown Point. The Champlain Memorial Lighthouse also invites visitors to examine and explore its recently renewed sculpture and structure. A climb to the top offers breathtaking scenic vistas.
For more information and schedule of events at fourteen ports of call, visit: www.eriecanalway.org.
Photo: The Day Peckinpaugh docked at Albany's Corning Preserve on it's maiden voyage in 1921. The D&H Building can be seen in the background.
Uncovering The Roots of NYC's Preservation Movement
By Editorial Staff
The controversial demolition of Pennsylvania Station in 1963 is often said to have given birth to New York City’s historic preservation movement. As Randall Mason reveals in his new book The Once and Future New York: Historic Preservation and the Modern City
Rich with archival research, The Once and Future New York documents the emergence of historic preservation in New York at the turn of the twentieth century. The book counters the charge that preservationists were antiquarians concerned only with significant buildings. Primarily using three significant projects - City Hall Park restoration, the failed attempt to save St. John’s Chapel, and the building of the Bronx River Parkway - Mason argues that historic preservation in this period, rather than being fundamentally opposed to growth, was integral to modern urban development.
For more information, including the table of contents, visit the book's webpage:
http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/M/mason_once.html
Monday, August 10, 2009
Research Grants Available at the NYS Archives
By Editorial Staff
The Larry J. Hackman Research Residency Program supports applicants from a variety of backgrounds with awards for advanced research in New York State history, government, or public policy. Previous residents have included academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers and writers, and primary and secondary school teachers. The project must draw on the holdings of the New York State Archives. Projects may involve alternative uses of the Archives, such as research for multimedia projects, exhibits, documentary films, and historical novels.
The Quinn-Archives Research Residency provides financial support for an individual to spend up to a year in Albany, New York, working in the rich collections of the New Netherland Institute and the New York State Archives. The program is offered because of the generous support of the Doris Quinn Foundation, the New Netherland Institute at the New York State Library and the New York State Archives.
Endowment earnings and private contributions to the Archives Partnership Trust provide the financial basis for the Hackman Research Program. Contributors have included The Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, Inc., Henry Luce Foundation, Inc., The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and The Lucius N. Littaur Foundation. Contributions and endowment earnings enable the Trust to maintain prior years' award levels, as well as to continue with invitational fellowships to complete priority projects.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
'Mapping the Adirondacks' at The Adirondack Museum
By Editorial Staff
Adirondack Museum Librarian Jerry Pepper will present an illustrated presentation entitled "When Men and Mountain Meet: Mapping the Adirondacks" at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake on Monday, August 10, 2009. Part of the museum's 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.
A contested terrain amid warring nations, a frontier rich in timber and minerals, a recreational and artistic paradise and a pioneering wilderness preserve, the Adirondack Mountains are an intensively mapped region. Using rare and rarely seen maps, drawn from the over 1400 historical maps and atlases in the Adirondack Museum's collection, "When Men and Mountains Meet: Mapping the Adirondacks" will chart the currents of Adirondack history, as reflected through the region's maps.
The Adirondack Museum introduced a new exhibit in 2009, "A 'Wild, Unsettled Country': Early Reflections of the Adirondacks," that showcases paintings, maps, prints, and photographs illustrating the untamed Adirondack wilderness discovered by early cartographers, artists, and photographers. The exhibition will be on display through mid-October, 2010.
Jerry Pepper has been Director of the Library at the Adirondack Museum since 1982, he holds Master degrees in both American History and Library Science.
Photo: "A New and Accurate Map of the Present War in North America," Universal Magazine, 1757. Collection of the Adirondack Museum.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
By Editorial Staff
- Ephemera: Rare Bookseller Talks Forgotten Bookmarks
- Syracuse B-4: August 2, 1956
- Lake Placid Skater: Demolition Day
- Past in the Present: The Economic Cost of Non-Preservation
- Tenement Museum Blog: History of Homelessness
- Governors Island Blog: Jewel of the New York Harbor
- Dumpdiggers: Manhattan Well Diggers Excavate Old America
- Peeling Back the Bark: The Fall of Timber Sports?
- Great Lives In History: Alexander Jackson Davis, The Artist Architect
- American Presidents Blog: Theodore Roosevelt on Film
- Ephemeral New York: A Legendary Dancer in Five Points
- Madison County Courier: Archaeologist's View of Gerrit Smith's Estate
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Upcoming Events For New Adirondack Book
By Editorial Staff
There are several book signings and other events for the new book Historic Tales from the Adirondack Almanack
August 8: An informal talk about Adirondack blogging, trends in local media history, the new book, and their connection to Hulett's Landing at 7:30 pm, this Saturday, August 8th, at the Hulett's Landing Casino.
August 9: Book signing at The Adirondack Reader in Inlet, NY on Sunday, August 9th from 1-3pm
September 12: Book signing at The Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady on Saturday, September 12th from 1-2:30pm.
September 19: Book signing at Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid on Saturday, September 19th at 2:00pm.
New York Heritage Adds 16 More Collections
By Editorial Staff
A variety of materials can be found among the New York Heritage Digital Collections, including photographs, postcards, correspondence, manuscripts, oral histories, yearbooks and newspapers. Many kinds of institutions from New York State have partnered to make this project possible, including public, academic and school libraries, museums, archives and historical societies. The power of collaboration is what makes this new service possible. Participants to New York Heritage Digital Collections are committed to enhancing the site by adding both content and contributing institutions on a regular basis. The goal of the project is to eventually connect one thousand collections and one million items from throughout New York State. All institutions interested in participating in the project are encouraged to contact the 3Rs organization that serves their region. 
The New York 3Rs Association has added sixteen more online collections to its collective digital heritage web site, www.NewYorkHeritage.org. The site now connects more than 200 digital collections from around the state, contributed by libraries, archives, museums and other cultural institutions, and builds on existing digital repository services administered by each of the nine reference and research library resources councils.
New materials include the Historical Portraits Collection from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Elmira College's Mark Twain Archive, the New York Historical Association's Murder Pamphlet Collection Exhibit , early Robert Montgomery materials housed at the Trinity-Pawling School Collection, Alfred University's Image Archives, Rochester Medical Museum and Archives, NYU's Abraham Lincoln Brigade Collection, images from the Onondaga Nation at the Liverpool Public Library, folk art collections at the Crandall Public Library Folklife Center, the Steinmetz Collection of Schenectady, the Almquist Green Lakes Collection housed at the Fayetteville Public Library, and many others from around the state. For an up-to-date list of collections and contributors visit www.NewYorkHeritage.org
Additionally, The Tools of History regional digitization site, created by the South Central Regional Library Council, has been added, as have been the Rochester Regional Library Council's Finger Lakes-Genesee Valley Heritage and the Capital District Library Council Digital Collections regional sites.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Civil War Encampment at Kingston Senate House Site
By Editorial Staff
On Saturday, August 8, from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm the Senate House State Historic Site in Kingston will hold a free encampment and activities event. Soldiers of the 150th New York State Volunteer Infantry Regiment will be encamped, performing drills and musket demonstrations, and ready to speak to visitors about camp life and battle. Performances of period music, and the opportunity to learn and participate in period dances, accompanied by live music, will be offered by the 77th Regimental Balladeers and dance instructor Eric Hollman. Quilter Dolly Wodin will demonstrate quilt designs from the period for visitors to make, and kids can enjoy a hands-on, historic craft activity and the chance to engage in wooden musket drills with the soldiers of the 150th. Senate House State Historic Site is located at 296 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401.
Senate House State Historic Site is open through October 31, 2009, Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and Sundays 1:00 to 5pm. Senate House State Historic Site is part of a system of parks, recreation areas and historic sites operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the site is one of 25 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey. For further information about this and other upcoming events please call the site at (845) 338-2786 or visit the State Parks website at www.nysparks.com.
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Small Watercraft Fest
By Editorial Staff
"Messing About in Boats" the annual Small Watercraft Festival at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, August 8-9 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The festival is a celebration of clean, green, sustainable boating.
On Saturday morning at 11 a.m., explorers Samuel de Champlain and Henry Hudson will meet for the first time at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum - 400 years after their first exploration of the region! The life-sized puppet of Hudson is traveling from Albany, NY in the company of Carol Margolis of the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center (www.albany1609.com), while Champlain will arrive in the company of Rebecca Goldberg of Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library. The great explorers will greet the public and are happy to share stories of their historic travels and recent adventures. Young visitors will also enjoy hands-on activities with smaller puppets of Henry Hudson and friends.
The festival has also been chosen by Black Dome Press as the official gala launch for the new book, "A Kayaker's Guide to Lake Champlain." Authors Cathy Frank and Margy Holden will be at the museum at noon on Saturday, August 8, to describe their adventures paddling the entire perimeter of Lake Champlain. This journey of many summers has been transformed into a book filled with illustrations of "fifty different watery paths of adventure." Cathy and Margy will share photographs and memories of some of the best kayaking spots and unique water’s-edge views that the lake has to offer.
Throughout the weekend, the historic 1901 tugboat Urger, the flagship of the New York State Barge Canal fleet, will be in port at the Basin Harbor Club, next door to the Museum and a dozen boat makers will exhibit both classic and innovative small watercraft on the Museum grounds and offer try-outs at the museum’s waterfront. Middle Path Boats of Edinburg, PA, will bring for display and trial a 16’ fiberglass Skua rowing cruiser, which has the distinction of being the first sub-100 lbs., fixed-seat boat to win a major open-water rowing race in modern times. Edey and Duff of Mattapoisett, MA will privied an 11’ catboat for tryouts. The Little Boat Shop from Lincolnville Center, Maine, will be introducing an unique little electric boat and boat building program; Tim McShane of Vermont Electric Boat Works, Allburgh VT, is also bringing an electric boat for demonstrations. Concept II, Inc, will bring a four-person sectional, rowing tour boat. Little Creek Strip Canoes and Kayaks from Greensboro Bend, VT builders of canoes, kayaks, and wooden boats, and Skywoods Canoe, Scott Barkdoll of Shoreham, VT builders of wood and canvas canoes will also be exhibiting. Al Stiles will exhibit an ultralight canoe; and Classic Boatworks of Lake Placid will exhibit Adirondack Guideboats. Hillary Russell and his wife Jenny, of the Berkshire Boat Building School, will be putting together a skin-on-frame, double paddle canoe. Bob Dollar will demonstrate rope work.
Umiak/Canoe Imports will offer on-water demonstrations, and on Saturday they offer classes in elementary and intermediate kayaking skills. You can learn to make a paddle or a set of oars in the great workshops taking place throughout the weekend. A workshop in forging sculpture with Lynn Newcomb is offered in the Blacksmithing Arts Center. Sign up early to reserve your spot. Stop by to watch participants in the Family Boatbuilding Workshop craft a Bevan’s Skiff in three days – completed boats will be launched on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, kids and their families can design, build and launch a cardboard boat big enough to ride in, during the popular annual "Duct Tape Regatta." Start construction at 1:00 and be ready to launch at 3.
See a shipwreck without getting wet – archaeologists on board the tour boat Escape will take you to a shipwreck site and “dive” with a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) on Saturday at 1:00. Tour costs $22 for adults and $18 for children; seating is limited so advance registration is recommended. Call 802 475-2022 for information and to reserve your place.
Also on Saturday, a water taxi making morning and afternoon runs will link LCMM with the Westport Heritage Festival in New York.
Sunday includes the Lake Champlain Challenge Race - participants bring their own non-motorized boat, kayak, or canoe to compete in this three-mile race from the museum's North Harbor. Registration begins at 10, the race begins at 11, and awards ceremony is held in mid-afternoon.
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, located on the shore of Lake Champlain seven miles west of Vergennes, VT, is open daily from 10-5 through October 18, 2009. For more information, log on to www.lcmm.org or call (802) 475-2022.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
VPR Looks At Historic Lake Champlain Sinkings
By Editorial Staff
All last week Vermont Public Radio (VPR) has been running a series of reported entitled "History Under the Waves" looking at five historic wrecks that lie at the bottom of Lake Champlain. Over 300 shipwrecks lie at the bottom of Champlain, and VPR looked at what sent five of them to their fates, including a Revolutionary War gunboat, a lake schooner, two steamboats, and a sailing canal boat. The reports also feature a photo gallery.
Much of what is known about the extend of underwater remains of Champlain shipwrecks comes from surveys conducted by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM). The LCMM has been instrumental in conducting archeological surveys and persuading New York and Vermont to establish the Lake Champlain Historic Preserve System in order to provide access for divers to some of the Lake's historic shipwrecks. You can find a list of manning of the Champlain Shipwrecks at the LCMM Shipwrecks site.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Support The New York History Site, Buy A Book
By Editorial Staff
In addition to our regular sponsor, there are now two new ways to support what you read here at New York History. Two new books, written by John Warren (that's me!) have been published by The History Press. Historic Tales from the Adirondack Almanack
The second book is the first detailed history of the Poesten Kill which flows from the Petersburg Mountains in Eastern Rensselaer County to the Hudson River at Troy. It is now available at Amazon.,com
Upcoming Book Events
August 8, Hulett's Landing, NY: An informal talk about Adirondack blogging, trends in local media history, the new book (Historic Tales from the Adirondack Almanack), and their connection to Hulett's Landing at 7:30 pm, this Saturday, August 8th, at the Hulett's Landing Casino.
August 9, Inlet, NY: Book signing (Historic Tales) at The Adirondack Reader in Inlet, NY on Sunday, August 9th from 1-3pm
September 12, Schenectady, NY: Book signing (Historic Tales) at The Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady on Saturday, September 12th from 1-2:30pm.
September 19, Lake Placid, NY: Book signing (Historic Tales) at Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid on Saturday, September 19th at 2:00pm.
