New York History: November 2009

Showing newest 30 of 42 posts from November 2009. Show older posts

Showing newest 30 of 42 posts from November 2009. Show older posts

Monday, November 30, 2009

World War II in New York City Materials Wanted

The New-York Historical Society is soliciting donations of materials relating to the impact of World War II on New York City. They are interested in snapshots of armed forces personnel (particularly leaving and returning to the city), photographs of victory gardens, women in the work force, minority communities, and locations in the city that relate in some way to the war effort. They would also like to receive soldier’s diaries that include descriptive passages about the city or the war experience, vivid and distinctive letters to or from New Yorkers and ephemeral material such as posters, broadsides, propaganda pamphlets, menus, programs, etc. All items should be identified clearly with names, dates, and locations, when known.

Please DO NOT send materials directly to them. They can only handle a limited number of items and cannot return unwanted material to donors. Instead, submit descriptions of what might be of interest with scans or photographs, if possible to wwii@nyhistory.org.

The New-York Historical Society will not be able to accept magazines, newspapers, newspaper clippings or material that is in poor condition (i.e., dirty, moldy, unreadable) or outside the scope of our collection. Materials selected by the staff may be used in the Society’s upcoming (2012) exhibition on World War II in New York; some may be added to our permanent collections; some may appear on web presentations.

For more information contact: wwii@nyhistory.org

Photo: A crowd watching the news line on the Times building at Times Square, NYC, on D-day, June 6, 1944. Large-format nitrate negative by Howard Hollem or Edward Meyer, Office of War Information.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Adirondack Museum Announces Winter Programs

The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake has announced its 2010 Cabin Fever Sunday schedule. Complete information about all of the Cabin Fever Sunday programs can be found on the Adirondack Museum's web site at www.adirondackmuseum.org.

In addition to the cabin fever programs, the museum will introduce a program in North Creek, on January 10th, entitled "North Creek Songs and Stories - Working for the Man." The special presentation will feature folktales and music from the region's mining and logging industries with Lee Knight and Christine Campeau.

Here's what's on the Cabin Fever Sunday schedule:

Jan. 17, "19th Century Magic and Beyond," a magic show featuring Tom Verner

Feb. 14, "Passion in the Park," Valentine's Day presentation with Curator Hallie Bond

Feb. 28, "Rosin & Rhyme" with Bill Smith and Don Woodcock, at Saranac Village at Will Rogers

Mar. 14, "Epic Stories of the Iroquois," by Darren Bonaparte

Mar. 28, "Moose on the Loose in the Adirondacks," with Ed Reed

Apr. 11, "An Armchair Paddlers' Guide to the Schroon River" by Mike Prescott

Photo: A vintage valentine from the collection of the Adirondack Museum.

Friday, November 27, 2009

This Week's New York History Web Highlights

Each Friday New York History compiles for our readers the week's best stories and links from the web about the history of New York. You can find all our weekly web highlights here.

This Week's Top New York History News

Thursday, November 26, 2009

NYS Museum Chocolate Expo, Holiday Gift Market

Shoppers can sample chocolate treats, listen to holiday carolers and purchase hand-crafted gifts from more than 40 vendors at the New York State Museum’s fourth annual Chocolate Expo & Holiday Gift Market on Sunday, December 6.

The Expo, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will offer samples and sales of chocolates, desserts, wines and specialty foods. Vendors from New York State and New England will also sell a variety of hand-crafted jewelry, glassware, ornaments, handmade bath and skincare products, clothing and accessories.

There also will be two chocolate fountains stations, free to all visitors, compliments of Price Chopper, presenting sponsor, and We Do Fondue. From 1:15 until 2:30 p.m., Vocal Point, South Glens Falls High School's premier choral ensemble, will perform a wide variety of holiday music, representing various traditions, beliefs and cultures from around the world. The school's flute choir will also perform from 2:30-3 p.m.

As a special promotion, visitors who purchase a State Museum membership will be eligible to win a gift basket full of products from Expo vendors. Many products offered at the Chocolate Expo are made using fresh, locally produced ingredients. Products will include organic and hand-dipped chocolates, chocolate fudge, candy, and several varieties of truffles, including vegan. Specialty foods and beverages will include homemade gourmet sauces, pesto, and wines “with an attitude.”

Other gift items will include chemical-free soaps, hand creams and bath products; handmade jewelry and Italian glass beads; hand-swirled glassware; hand-painted Christmas ornaments and children’s clothing; hand-knit sweaters and accessories, including scarves, hats and mittens made from hand-spun llama yarn.

150th Commemoration of John Brown Events Planned

Margaret Gibbs, Director of the Essex County Historical Society / Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown has sent along the following notice of the 150th Commemoration of John Brown scheduled for December 6th. Regular readers of my other online project Adirondack Almanack know that I have been writing a series of posts on John Brown, his anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry Virginia, subsequent capture, trial, and execution. You can read the entire series here.

Here is the press release outlining the commemoration events:

On Sunday, December 6, 2009 the Adirondack History Center Museum is commemorating John Brown on the 150th anniversary of his death and the return of his body to Essex County. Events are scheduled in Westport and Elizabethtown in recognition of the role Essex County citizens played at the time of the return of John Brown’s body to his final resting place in North Elba. In the cause of abolition, John Brown raided the U. S. arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia on the night of October 16, 1859. The raid resulted in the capture of John Brown and the deaths of his sons Oliver & Watson and his sons-in-law William and Dauphin Watson. John Brown was tried in Charles Town, Virginia on charges of treason and inciting slaves to rebellion and murder. He was found guilty and hanged on December 2, 1859.

John Brown’s body was transported from Harper’s Ferry to Vergennes, VT, accompanied by his widow, Mary Brown. From Vermont the body was taken across Lake Champlain by sail ferry to Barber’s Point in Westport, and the journey continued through the Town of Westport and on to Elizabethtown. The funeral cortege arrived in Elizabethtown at 6 o’clock on the evening of December 6th 1859. The body of John Brown was taken to the Essex County Court House and “watched” through the night by four local young men. Mary Brown and her companions spent the night across the street at the Mansion House, now known as the Deer’s Head Inn. On the morning of December 7th the party continued on to North Elba. The burial of John Brown was on December 8th attended by many residents of Essex County.

The commemorative program on December 6th begins at 1:00 pm at the Westport Heritage House with award-winning author Russell Banks reading from his national bestselling novel, Cloudsplitter, about John Brown, his character and his part in the abolitionist movement. The program continues with a lecture by Don Papson, John Brown and the Underground Railroad, on whether or not Brown sheltered runaway slaves at his North Elba farm. Don Papson is the founding President of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association. The program continues in Elizabethtown at 3:30 pm at the United Church of Christ with The Language that Shaped the World, a tapestry of sounds, stories and characters portraying the human spirit and the fight for freedom. At 4:30 pm a procession follows John Brown’s coffin from the United Church of Christ to the Old Essex County Courthouse. At 5:00 pm the public may pay their respects at the Old Essex County Courthouse with the coffin lying in state. The program concludes at 5:30 PM with a reception held at the Deer’s Head Inn.

The cost for all events of the day including the Deer’s Head Inn reception is $40 ticket, or a $15 donation covers the programs at the Westport Heritage House and The Language that Shaped the World only. Reservations are requested. The procession and Courthouse are free and open to the public. The Westport Heritage House is located at 6459 Main Street, Westport, NY. The United Church of Christ, is located beside the museum on Court Street, Elizabethtown, NY. For more information, please contact the museum at 518-873-6466 or email echs@adkhistorycenter.org.

The December 6th program is part of a series of events from December 4-8, 2009 presented for the John Brown Coming Home Commemoration through the Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau. For a complete schedule of events go to www.johnbrowncominghome.com.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Vermont Downtown Projects Honored at State Conference

Vermont’s downtowns and village centers have been in the spotlight recently for efforts to make them more vibrant and prosperous. The Green Mountain Awards were part of the Vermont Downtown Program’s annual Downtown Conference in Middlebury last week, which celebrated 11 years of revitalizing Vermont.

“These awards recognize the hard work and dedication to community revitalization that goes on in so many Vermont towns,” said Joss Besse, Director of the Division of Community Planning and Revitalization. “Our downtowns and village centers are so critical to our way of life, and much of the effort that sustains them is volunteer.”

One of the award winners was the venue that hosted the awards – Middlebury’s Town Hall Theatre, which had fallen into serious disrepair after it was abandoned as the municipal offices years ago, won the Best Building Renovation award.

“In addition to restoring a landmark building in a prominent location, this building is providing a space for many uses that can help ensure the long term economic vitality of a historic downtown in changing times,” Besse said.

The Best Economic Restructuring Story award went to the Downtown Rutland Partnership for their “Free Rent For A Year” initiative, which provided funding for a new or relocating business in Downtown Rutland to.

“Facing an all-too-common problem for downtowns – vacant retail space – the Partnership came up with an innovative solution that brought positive statewide attention to the city and helped bring a new business downtown,” said Besse.

In addition to providing training, technical assistance, and administering grant and tax credit programs, the Downtown Program also oversees designation of downtowns and village centers.

To date, 23 downtowns and 94 village centers are designated and all older and historic buildings in these designated areas are eligible for these investment incentives.

To become a Designated Downtown, communities must have both a downtown revitalization organization and demonstrate their commitment and capacity to support such a program, as well as meet several other requirements. Village Centers go through a similar, but abbreviated process.

Designated communities become eligible to compete for funding for building rehabilitation and safety improvements, and transportation projects.

The award winners announced at the Green Mountain Awards Luncheon:

Best Building Renovation
The Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury
The restoration/renovation has restored original detail to the interior and exterior, including windows throughout the building; installing the town’s original bell in the bell tower; and installing a weather vane similar to the original.

The restoration/renovation project has allowed a state of the art performance space, art gallery, and dance studio to be created within a 19th century building. The Town Hall Theatre will play a pivotal role in bringing residents and visitors to Middlebury for many years to come.

Best Public Space Improvement
Bank Lot Park, Wilmington

Best Public space improvement is given to a community that has demonstrated a willingness to invest in public space improvements as an integral part of a community revitalization effort.

On Easter Sunday, April 7, 2007, one of Wilmington’s landmark buildings, the old bank building burned to the ground. One third of the land fell into the Deerfield River as a wooden retaining wall also burned and gave way.

After a special town meeting, a plan was developed including a special set of criteria created by The Beautification Committee with the goal of creating a “gathering place” both for community and for tourists to enjoy.

After a planning grant and approval by the citizens at town meeting, funding was secured and work began. After much hard work and volunteer hours, the Wilmington community’s Bank Lot Park was completed in May of 2009.

Best General Image Campaign
Destination Historic Poultney, Poultney

The general image award honors any campaign designed to improve the overall perception of a downtown or village center. Poultney took the position that historic preservation is integral to a vital downtown and village center. They adopted in their Economic Development Strategy opportunities that stress the area’s cultural, historical and recreational assets. Believing such, Poultney created Destination Historic Poultney – Historic Walking & Driving Tours – comprised of a website, C.D.s and brochures. The website offers the tours as streaming audio, downloadable MP3 files and a podcast with photographs accompanying the audio.

The production was a community partnership involving the Town of Poultney, The Poultney Downtown Revitalization Committee, the Poultney Historical Society and Green Mountain College. Teams of GMC students and Historical Society members collected oral histories from longtime Poultney residents. The Society advised the College’s Communications class in taping those histories as well as in collecting crucial historical data for use in writing the tours.

As a result, the community has seen increased, community enrichment and the ultimate goal to promote Poultney as a destination for historic tourism.

Best Special Event
Pocock Rocks Music Festival and Street Faire, Bristol

The Bristol Downtown Community Partnership sought to create an event that involved the broad spectrum of the community and to celebrate what makes Bristol special and its heritage.

Bristol was founded in 1762 and originally named Pocock, after a British Admiral, so the Promotions Committee picked that name for the event and the date of June 20th and began the planning.

The goals were to showcase downtown, support downtown businesses, involve diverse groups, support the arts, and celebrate the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial.

Despite the challenging economy, the promotions committee secured three major media sponsors the Addison Independent, 99.9 The Buzz, and Spin Creative which provided marketing expertise.

On the day of the event they closed off the street and filled it with local food booths, arts, crafts and businesses in celebration of the town and its history. Local bands played in the street and young and old enjoyed the sounds, shopped and ate, and Pocock Rocks has now become the annual signature event for the Bristol Downtown Community Partnership.

Organizational Excellence
RUDAT-Building a New Newport, Newport

To create a durable vision plan for Newport, the Newport City Renaissance Corporation board of directors engaged in a Regional Urban Design Assistance Team (RUDAT) visit, a 5-day resource team visit from experts with the American Institute of Architects that blend citizens concerns with national quality expertise in town planning, landscape architecture and Historic Preservation.

From November 2008 to April 2009 the NCRC board of directors and a steering committee of 25 began to plan to for the comprehensive visit. During the March 2009 RUDAT visit, nearly 30 volunteers assisted the eight member team and over 150 community members participated in three separate community forums to create the vision for a “New Newport.”

As a result of the visit and the RUDAT report, action plans have been developed with direct recommendations for the Promotions, Design and Economic Development subcommittees.

Additionally, The NCRC received over 50 letters of support for its USDA Rural Business Opportunity Grant application and the result was a grant award for $120,000 toward resource development that will assist in sustaining the organization over a two year period.

Best Economic Restructuring Story
Downtown Rutland Partnership’s Free Rent For A Year Initiative, Rutland

Converting underutilized space in the downtown into economically productive property helps boost profitability and creates economic vitality. In an effort to help build business in uncertain economic times, the Downtown Rutland Partnership launched a new initiative called Free Rent For A Year in Downtown Rutland to one new or relocating business into downtown.

The award went to a new retail business that was located in a first floor vacancy and signed a three year lease. From this new downtown business a retail incubator of artisans has been created in an attempt to fill other downtown vacancies. It has been a remarkable success and the Partnership plans on rolling out phase two of the program later this year.

Outstanding Staff Achievement
Karen Bresnahan of Downtown St. Albans, St. Albans

Karen Bresnahan of Downtown St. Albans was nominated for the award by fellow downtown director, Michael Coppinger, of the Rutland Downtown Partnership. He praised Bresnahan for her collaboration in working with other downtown directors, and for her work on St. Alban’s master plan, saying “This plan shows great vision and it will lead to the continued success and sustainability of her downtown community.” Coppinger noted Bresnahan’s direct support Rutland established a relationship with a real estate developer working in both communities.

Volunteer of the Year
Paul Trudell of the Morristown Alliance for Culture and Commerce, Morristown

This award is granted to an individual who has exhibited a commitment to the community’s business district revitalization efforts through the unselfish donation of time and talent. Paul Trudell of The Morristown Alliance for Culture and Commerce has volunteered his services to the various “downtown” efforts in Morristown even before it was a “Designated Downtown.”

Trudell has been on the MACC board since its creation and has played a vital role in almost every grant written and awarded by providing professional drawings, such as streetscape improvements and building facades. He has also worked with downtown property owners assisting them with drawings for improvements to their building facades and helping with tax credit applications. Trudell has also been on the street helping to plant trees, spread mulch and fill the 60 planters distributed around downtown.

For more information please visit: www.historicvermont.org/programs/downtown.html

Hyde Exhibition of Modern Art to Open November 28

This Saturday, November 28, The Hyde Collection will open "Divided by a common language? British and American Works from The Murray Collection." The exhibition of approximately twenty works of Modern art from the twentieth century are part of a larger collection donated to the Museum by the late Jane Murray.

Between 1991 and 1996, Murray gave nearly sixty works of Modern art to the Museum, the first significant donation of twentieth-century art received by The Hyde. An additional group of works was bequeathed by Murray upon her death earlier this year. This donation helped to form the foundation of the Museum’s Modernist holdings.

The exhibit, curated by The Hyde’s Executive Director David F. Setford, celebrates the works donated by Murray and reflects the breadth of her collection, while looking at differences and similarities between British and American Modernism. Artists represented in the exhibition include Britain’s Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, John Piper, Howard Hodgkin, and Paul Mount. American artists include Gregory Amenoff, Betty Parsons, Stuart Davis, and Ellsworth Kelly.

“This exhibition was organized as a tribute to Jane Murray’s legacy,” said Setford, “Her generosity to our Museum is only surpassed by the attention she paid in selecting works for her impressive Modern art collection.“

According to Setford, the exhibition pieces were selected to help visitors examine the similarities and differences between American and British works of the period, as both are areas of particular strength in the Murray Collection.

The exhibition in Hoopes Gallery will be open through Sunday, February 28, 2010. Admission to the Museum complex is free for members. Voluntary suggested donation for non-members is five dollars. For more information, contact The Hyde Collection at 518-792-1761 or visit www.hydecollection.org.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Role of White House Advisors Subject of FDR Exhibit

With unemployment soaring and many of the nation’s banks in uncertain straits, a newly elected President adopts the activist agenda of “wooly-headed professors” and soon is being bitterly accused of seeking dictatorial power.

This scenario, which has its uncanny echoes in today’s political scene, was played out beginning in 1932 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the circle of Columbia University scholars who became his close advisors. The story of this epoch-making alliance between the White House and academia is told in the New-York Historical Society exhibition FDR’s Brain Trust, on view now through March 1, 2010.

"No President in the past century took office in such difficult circumstances as did Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and no President moved ahead more quickly and forcefully," said Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. "This new exhibition explores how Roosevelt, while still a candidate for President, did something that was unprecedented at the time and sought counsel from academics. We see how this decision led directly to the daring innovations that became known as the New Deal, and that remain with us to this day.”

Curated by Jean W. Ashton, Executive Vice President and Director of Library division, the exhibition is designed to evoke both the desperation of the Great Depression and the hope and energy of a nation rebuilding itself. FDR’s Brain Trust presents rarely seen photographs, cartoons, documents, artifacts, and newsreels drawn from the New-York Historical Society collection and the archives of Columbia University. These materials bring to life the personalities, convictions and circumstances of FDR and the people who were at first known jokingly as his “Privy Council”—Columbia University professors Raymond Moley, Adolf Berle and Rexford G. Tugwell. Dubbed “The Brains Trust” in July 1932 by a New York Times reporter—the “s” was eventually dropped—these men were eventually joined in the new Roosevelt administration by Harry Hopkins, founder of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and Frances Perkins, who as Secretary of Labor became the first female cabinet member.

Highlights of the exhibition include:

· an etching by Martin Borne titled Hooverville on Hudson (1934), showing a camp of the unemployed and homeless that would have been visible from the Columbia University campus

· a map from the Real Estate Record and Guide (March 25, 1933) showing the spread of foreclosed properties across Manhattan

· broadsides depicting street demonstrations

· an executive order requiring that all gold be deposited in a Federal Reserve Bank

· editorial cartoons from the Chicago Tribune and Des Moines Register depicting FDR and his advisors as Soviet-style socialists

Despite the vehemence that the Brain Trust aroused, the speed and scope of the New Deal they advocated were unprecedented. Less than four months after Roosevelt took office, his administration stabilized the banks and the economy, saved homes and farms from foreclosure, and began to institute a vast range of programs (including Workmen’s Compensation, a federal minimum wage, child labor laws and Social Security) to address the dire needs of Americans.

Monday, November 23, 2009

53rd Annual Greens Show At Rensselaer County Historical

The Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) will present the 53rd Annual Greens Show this December 3rd through the 6th. This year¹s version of the longstanding tradition transforms twelve rooms of the 1827 Federal-style Hart-Cluett House into "A Christmas Celebration of the Hudson¹s Gifts." Members of the Van Rensselaer Garden Club incorporate fresh trees, greens and flowers to create beautiful history-inspired displays that are truly a feast for the senses. The 2009 Greens Show theme was inspired by this year¹s Quadricentennial celebration and features splendid arrangements that evoke Henry Hudson, the Dutch heritage of our region, and the natural beauty of the Hudson River.

The RCHS Greens Show will also offer a number of new features this year, including a special tour and lunch package, the new exhibit, "Uncle Sam: The Man in Life and Legend," and the unveiling of the commemorative Hart-Cluett House print recently commissioned by RCHS from George E. Shear of ARCHistration.

The Greens Show is open to the public from Thursday, December 3 Sunday, December 6, 2008, from Noon-5:00 pm daily. Admission to the Greens Show is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and children over five. Admission is free for children under five.

Highlights of the 53rd Annual Greens Show include:

Troy¹s Treasurers, Tour & Lunch, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons.
RCHS and Daisy Baker¹s Restaurant have partnered to offer a Greens Show tour followed by a delicious three-course luncheon for groups of 4 or more ($25/person). Call 272-7232 x17 for more information or reservations.

Holiday Arrangement Demonstration & Sale, Thursday 2-4 pm, Friday Sunday 1-4 pm.
Learn how the Van Rensselaer Garden Club members create their unique holiday arrangements.

Wreath Display and Silent Auction, 12-5 pm daily.
Visit the Carriage House to view and place bids on one of 50 wreaths decorated by Van Rensselaer Garden Club members.

Free Family Night, Thursday, 5-8 pm
Make family memories together during the Greens Show Family Night. The Show will be open until 8:00 pm and admission is free beginning at 5:00 pm. Family night activities include self-guided tours of the Hart-Cluett House, craft activities for kids, and holiday stories under the big tree in the Front Parlor. Photos with Santa will be available in the Toy Room for $10.

Candlelight House Tour, Friday 5:30-8 pm
See the Hart-Cluett House as you¹ve never seen it before! RCHS staff members will lead guided tours of the house on the evening of Friday, December 4th, from 5:30-8 pm. The admission fee for this special tour is $10.00 per person

Lecture by Michael Halloran on Saturday at 2pm entitled Thomas Cole¹s Mythical River: Hudson River School paintings viewed from the bottom of the Poestenkill Falls.

Music and Merriment during the Victorian Stroll , Sunday, 2-4 pm
On Sunday, December 6th during the Victorian Stroll, harpist Lydia Zotto will perform seasonal music in the Front Parlor from 2 to 4 pm. This is the fifth year that this talented young musician has been part of the Greens Show.

Friday, November 20, 2009

This Week's New York History Web Highlights

Each Friday New York History compiles for our readers the week's best stories and links from the web about the history of New York. You can find all our weekly web highlights here.

This Week's Top New York History News

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Research Fellowship in Museum Anthropology

The Bard Graduate Center and the American Museum of Natural History announce a Research Fellowship in Museum Anthropology. The fellowship provides support to a postdoctoral investigator to carry out a specific project over a two-year period. The program is designed to advance the training of the participant by having her/him pursue a project in association with a curator in the Division of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). The Fellow will also be expected to teach one graduate-level course per year at the Bard Graduate Center (BGC). The Fellow will thus be in joint residence at BGC and AMNH. The fellowship includes free housing.

A major purpose of the BGC-AMNH Research Fellowship in Museum Anthropology is to promote mutual scholarly interest and interaction among fellows, BGC faculty and students, and AMNH staff members. Candidates for Research Fellow are judged primarily on their research abilities and experience, and on the merits and scope of the proposed research.

Candidates with a research interest in the History of Collecting for Anthropology Museums are especially encouraged to apply for the 2010-12 fellowship. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop a research program drawing from the Asian Ethnographic Collections at the AMNH. We wish to encourage scholarly investigation of how objects move from the sacred and particular to the market, and of the collecting process and the role of collectors, whether scholars, missionaries or dealers.

Application Procedures: Interested researchers should send a statement of research accomplishments and intentions, curriculum vitae including list of publications, and three letters of recommendation to Research Fellowship Competition, Bard Graduate Center, 18 W.86th Street, New York NY 10024, USA. Research Fellowship applications must be postmarked by December 15. At this time, applications are not accepted by fax or e-mail.

Researching New York 2009: 400 Years of Exploration

The annual Researching New York Conference, entitled 400 Years of Exploration: The
Hudson - Champlain Corridor and Beyond, will take place today and tomorrow (November 19th and 20th). What follows is the conferences free and open to the public featured events, and even those who cannot attend the conference will find the Thursday evening sessions at the State Museum, as well as the Friday plenary session, interesting. Both those events are free and open to the public.

The full conference program is available in the History Department and at http://nystatehistory.org/researchny/rsny.html. Questions may be directed to resrchny@albany.edu. UAlbany student/faculty registration for the entire conference and the lunch is $20.00.

Thursday, November 19 (at the State Museum)

4:00-5:00 pm:

Library Manuscripts and Special Collections/Archives Open House, 11th Floor

The New York State Archives, www.archives.nysed.gov, and the New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections, http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssdesc.htm, share the 11th floor of the Cultural Education Center. Examples from both collections will be on
display; staff from both institutions will be available to give overviews of their collections and answer questions. Limited to 30 people, registration requested. Call (518) 408-1916 to reserve a spot. Walk-ins are welcome if space is available.

State Library Workshop, 7th Floor Computer Classroom

Library staff will demonstrate navigating the Library's website, http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/research.htm, including the services and electronic resources available to researchers. Sheldon Wein and Cara Janowsky will also demonstrate how to find and access items in the Library's digital collections. Limited to 19 people, registration requested. Call (518) 474-2274 to reserve a spot. Walk-ins are welcome if space is available.

5:00-6:00 - Gallery Talks

The scholars and museum professionals who were integral in the creation of these exhibits will lead talks in the respective galleries.

"1609" - Charles Gehring, The New Netherland Project, New York State Library

"Through the Eyes of Others": African Americans & Identity in American Art - Gretchen Sullivan Sorin, Cooperstown Graduate Program

"This Great Nation Will Endure:" Photographs of the Great Depression - Herman R. Eberhardt, Supervisory Museum Curator, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

7:00 PM - LECTURE

The Future of History in the Empire State - Kenneth T. Jackson, Columbia University

Kenneth T. Jackson is one of the country's leading scholars in American history. Currently the Jacques Barzun Professor of History and the Social Sciences and Director of the Herbert Lehman Center at Columbia University, Jackson has for years championed the importance and excitement of New York State history. His influential 2006 essay "But It Was in New York: The Empire State and the Making of America" challenged historians to convince their "fellow citizens that today's America took shape in yesterday's New York." Expanding on that theme, Professor Jackson will examine subsequent events--including the Hudson-Champlain Quadricentennial, planning for the New York State Museum's proposed permanent exhibition on state history, the creation of
the New York Academy of History, new public school curricula, and more-as he challenges us to look to the future of New York's history.

The discussion will be moderated by Jeffrey Cannell, Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education, New York State Department of Education.

Friday, November 20

12:00 LUNCH/KEYNOTE, Campus Center Ballroom **

"Seeing with Explorers' Eyes and Finding the Wild in the Hudson Valley" - David Stradling, University of Cincinnati

(** NOTE: For those who would like to hear Stradling, but not registering for lunch, seating available at 12:30 PM.)

For 400 years European and American explorers - from Henry Hudson to modern urban tourists - have traveled through the Hudson Valley. Stradling examines how the perceptions of these explorers have influenced public policy, especially preservation and conservation, in an attempt to explain why this heavily populated region still appears to be so wild. His publications include Making Mountains: New York City and the Catskills and Smokestacks and Progressives: Environmentalists, Engineers, and Air Quality in America, 1881-1951.

3:30 PM CLOSING PLENARY

The Tappan Zee Bridge: Transforming Rockland County

The Tappan Zee Bridge: Transforming Rockland County chronicles the dramatic changes that the Tappan Zee Bridge brought to Rockland County, transforming a quiet, rural farming community to a sophisticated New York City suburb. It tells the story of the bridge, through rare photographs, drawings, blueprints, and oral histories from workers- those who were relocated, or otherwise affected by the construction of
the bridge and the NYS Thruway extension. Funded in part with a "Preserve America" grant from the Federal Parks Service in partnership with the County of Rockland, and Rockland County Tourism, the film is a part of the larger Tappan Zee Project of the Historical Society of Rockland County, which also includes teacher's guide, museum exhibition, and companion book.

Completed in 1955, this three-mile link between New York's Westchester and Rockland Counties was a response to the post-war housing shortage, our national love affair with the automobile, and the power of the American dream. A replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridges in the planning stage, making it imperative that we preserve the tumultuous
story of this historic bridge and how it brought both immigration and heritage tourism to Rockland County-and is part of the larger story of suburbanization in America. The Project also offers a window into the value of local historical collections, innovative public history projects, and ways to tell stories from the archives.

Annmarie Lanesey, MZA Multimedia, Troy, NY Gretchen Weerheim, The
Historical Society of Rockland County

Comment: Sheila Curran Bernard, University at Albany, SUNY

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

CFP: Farmingdale State College 'Borders' Conference

The intriguing concept of borders involves discussions of identity, nationality, ethnicity, hybridity, and community. The Liberal Arts and Sciences Department at Farmingdale State College/ SUNY announces a one-day interdisciplinary conference exploring the nature of borders on October 16, 2010 on its campus.

Organizers are especially interested in papers exploring “self” and the “other,” imagined geographic communities, the ways in which border communities police, shun, or integrate "outsider” influences, cultural creolisms, the borders between scientific facts and science fiction, the boundaries between literary fiction and memoir, the fluid political, economic, and cultural borders in the contemporary world, technology’s role in building up or tearing down borders, and in presentations which focus on the voices of those living in these liminal spaces.

They are also interested in the ongoing dissolution of institutional and structural borders in academia. The natural sciences and mathematics now merge at "fuzzy borders," while the humanities and social sciences are merging through the proliferation of interdisciplinary programs. The borders surrounding higher education itself are being impacted by the changing role of higher education in society. Who defines our borders?

These are just some of the areas that we hope the conference will address.
To participate send a 500 word abstract or proposal by May 3, 2010 to: Dr. Tony Giffone
giffonaj@farmingdale.edu

Mapping New York's Shoreline, 1609-2009

A New York Public Library exhibit will look at the history of New York City's shoreline. The exhibit, entitled Mapping New York's Shoreline, 1609-2009, will run until June 26, 2010 at the D. Samuel and Jeane H. Gottesman Exhibition Hall (First Floor) of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, 5th Avenue and 42nd Street.

September 2009 marks 400 years since Henry Hudson sailed into New York Harbor and up the Hudson River, almost to what is now Albany, performing detailed reconnaissance of the Hudson Valley region. Other explorers passed by the outwardly hidden harbor, but did not linger long enough to fully realize the commercial, nautical, strategic, or colonial value of the region.

Once the explorers returned to Europe, their strategic information was passed on to authorities. Some data was kept secret, but much was handed over to map makers, engraved on copper, printed on handmade paper, distributed to individuals and coffee-houses (the news centers of the day), and pored over by dreamers, investors, and potential settlers in the “new land.”

Mapping New York's Shoreline celebrates the Dutch accomplishments in the New York City region, especially along the waterways forming its urban watershed, from the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound to the North (or Hudson) River and the South (or Delaware) River. Inspired by The New York Public Library's collection of Dutch, English, and early American mapping of the Atlantic Coastal regions, this exhibition exemplifies the best early and growing knowledge of the unknown shores along our neighboring rivers, bays, sounds, and harbors.

From the earliest mapping reflecting Verazzano's brief visit to gloriously decorative Dutch charting of the Atlantic and New Netherland, illustrating their knowledge of the trading opportunity Hudson's exploration revealed, the antiquarian maps tell the story from a centuries-old perspective. We are brought up to date with maps and text exploring growing environmental concern for this harbor, and the river that continuously enriches it. From paper maps to vapor maps, those created with computer technology, the story of New York Harbor in its 400th year is told.

Mapping New York's Shoreline features maps, atlases, books, journals, broadsides, manuscripts, prints, and photographs, drawn primarily from the Library’s Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, augmented by items from other New York Public Library collections.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Jews In New Amsterdam Lecture November 30th

In celebration of the new exhibit on the roots of religious freedom in America, The Flushing Remonstrance: Who Shall Plead For Us?, written & curated by Susan Kathryn Hefti, the John L. Loeb, Jr. Foundation has generously sponsored a very exciting companion lecture entitled "Jews in New Amsterdam" by Dr. Gary Zola, Executive Director of the American Jewish Archives and Professor of The American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, in conjunction with the Museum of the City of New York, Monday, November 30, 2009 at 6:30pm. (1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street NYC).

Seating for the lecture is limited. So if you wish to attend Jews in New Amsterdam, please RSVP at your earliest convenience.

For a Special $6 Members Rate simply call MCNY at 917.492.3395 and mention "The Flushing Remonstrance" when making your reservation.

Photo: The Flushing Remonstrance, written in 1657, recognized as the earliest political assertion of freedom of conscience and religion in New York State.

NYS Library Awards 2009 Residencies, Invites Applications

The New York State Library has announced the recipients of the 2009 Research Residency grants for research in New York State history. In addition, researchers interested in conducting original research at the New York State Library may now apply for the 2010 program, which will include four Cunningham residencies of $1,000 and at least one Quinn fellowship of $2,500.

The New York State Library has awarded six grants for research in New York State history in 2009 through the Anna K. and Mary E. Cunningham Research Residency Program in New York State History and Culture.

Four grants were awarded through funds provided by a trust fund endowment created by a bequest from the estate of Anna K. Cunningham. The Cunningham fund was established in 1997 to benefit scholars using the unique collections of the New York State Library to study the history of New York. The funds celebrate the sisters' lifelong interest in the study of New York State history.

Anna Cunningham (1906-1996) was Supervisor of Historic Sites of New York State, as well as serving on the boards and councils of many state and national historic preservation organizations.

Mary Cunningham (1917-1986), whose personal papers are among the collections of the State Library, held various executive positions in the New York State Historical Association, was a founder and the first editor of American Heritage magazine, and was a founder of the Yorkers program for teaching and involving young New Yorkers in the State’s history.

Through generous support from the Doris Quinn Foundation, the New Netherland Institute and the New York State Library made two additional special Cunningham grants of $2500 each for specialized research in Dutch-related documents and printed materials at the New York State Library.

2009 Recipients

Grant recipients in the 2009 Anna K. and Mary E. Cunningham Research Residency Program in New York State History and Culture are:

Nancy Siegel
Associate Professor of Art History
Towson University
Carlisle, PA
Project title: To elevate the mind: female instruction, women artists and the Hudson River School.

Margaret Lasch Carroll
Asst. Professor of English
Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
Project title: Influence of 19th century Bishop John McCloskey and 20th century Gov. Martin Glynn on the Irish ethnicity and Attitudes of Albany, NY.

Robert Chiles
University of Maryland
Project title: The gubernatorial administration of Alfred E. Smith and its importance to U.S. political development In the years preceding the New Deal.

Susan Ingalls Lewis
SUNY New Paltz
Project title: Research for a college text book on the history of New York State.

The 2009 Cunningham-Quinn fellows are:

Kim Todt
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14850
Project title: Transformation of the Mercantilist system from 1630 through 1790 in New Netherland and Colonial New York.

Andrea Mosterman
Boston University
Project title: Sharing Spaces in a new world environment: African-Dutch contributions to North American Culture.

Four Cunningham residencies and one Cunningham-Quinn residency are awarded annually by the New York State Library. A second Cunningham-Quinn residency was awarded for 2009 to mark the 400th anniversary of the Dutch era in American colonial history.
2010 Applications

Academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers, writers, and primary and secondary school teachers are invited to submit applications for the 2010 Cunningham and Cunningham-Quinn residencies. Applicants must conduct original research at the New York State Library.

Four Cunningham residencies of $1,000—and at least one Quinn fellowship—will be awarded in 2010. Applications must be postmarked by January 29, 2010. A panel of scholars and library staff will review proposals. The panel's decisions will be announced by April 2, 2010.

Applications and information on how to apply for the 2010 Cunningham and Cunningham-Quinn research residencies can be found here: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/library/researchres.htm

Monday, November 16, 2009

American Antiquarian Society Academic Fellowships

The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) invites applications for its 2010-11 visiting academic fellowships. At least three AAS-National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships will be awarded for periods extending from four to twelve months. Long-term fellowships are intended for scholars beyond the doctorate; senior and mid-career scholars are particularly encouraged to apply. Over thirty short-term fellowships will be awarded for one to three months. The short-term grants are available for scholars holding the Ph.D. and for doctoral candidates engaged in dissertation research, and offer a stipend of $1850/month.

Special short-term fellowships support scholars working in the history of the book in American culture, in the American eighteenth century, and in American literary studies, as well as in studies that draw upon the Society's preeminent collections of graphic arts, newspapers, and periodicals. Accommodations are available for visiting fellows in housing owned by AAS.

The deadline for applications is January 15, 2010.

For further details about the fellowships, as well as application materials, consult their website at http://www.americanantiquarian.org/fellowships.htm.

The AAS is a research library whose collections focus on American history, literature, and culture from the colonial era through 1876. The Society's collections are national in scope, and include manuscripts, printed works of all kinds, newspapers and periodicals, photographs, lithographs, broadsides, sheet music, children's literature, maps, games, and a wide range of ephemera. In addition to the United States, they have extensive holdings related to Canada and the British West Indies. As such, their collections offer ideal resources for research in the history of the Atlantic World.

For detailed descriptions of the collections, please consult our guidebook, Under Its Generous Dome, available online at http://www.americanantiquarian.org/collections.htm

Dutch Influence: Cookies, Coleslaw and Stoops

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Dutch arrival off the coast of Manhattan, the renowned linguist Nicoline van der Sijs along with Amsterdam University Press have published Cookies, Coleslaw, and Stoops: The Influence of Dutch on the North American Languages.

From Santa Claus (after the Dutch folklore saint Sinterklaas) and his sleigh (the pronunciation of the Dutch slee is almost identical) to a dumbhead talking poppycock, the contributions of the Dutch language to American English are indelibly embedded in some of our most vernacular terms and expressions. This fascinating volume charts over 250 Dutch loan words that journeyed over the Atlantic on Henry Hudson’s ship the Halve Maan and into the American territory and languages. Each entry marks the original arrival of a particular term to American English and offers information on its evolving meaning, etymology, and regional spread.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Books: Adirondack, Lumber Capital of The World

As you might expect, my desk-side book shelves are heavily burdened with Adirondack books. Guides to hiking, climbing, wildlife, forestry; books of photography, sit beside fiction and various technical reports - all here within easy reach. Most are history - general histories, political histories, environmental and cultural histories, books on logging, tanning, prohibition, Native Americans, county histories. Recently I received a tidy volume on Adirondack logging history that focuses on Warren County, Phillip J. Harris's Adirondack, Lumber Capital of the World, which seems to have drawn from them all to good effect.

Harris's book takes on, with incredible detail, the people and places that made the southeastern Adirondacks unique in the history of the American lumber industry. In 1850, New York produced more lumber - about a billion board feet a year from around a half million trees - than any other state in the nation. Southern Warren County was where much of the lumber was milled and where the Adirondack lumber barons reigned. Their names, James Morgan, William, Norman and Alison Fox, Jones Ordway, James Caldwell, John Thurman, Samuel Prime, Henry Crandall, Zenus VanDusen, Jeremiah and Daniel Finch, Augustus Sherman, George Freeman, William McEchron, are found scattered through the county's history books - until now.

Harris's book takes on the large and small, from the first pioneers and their patents, to the lumber camps, jobbers, log drives, log marks, and sawmills. The Delaware and Hudson Railroad is featured in one chapter, the Fort William Henry Hotel in another. In 1865 there were some 4,000 sawmills in New York State, one hundred years later there were fewer the 200 - today, maybe fewer then 50. One of the bigger contributions Harris makes to the history of the Adirondack lumber industry is in explaining how that came to pass.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Food Historian To Speak on Hudson Valley Traditions

As we near the end of the Quadricentennial Year, culinary historian Peter G. Rose will give be giving lectures on "Joyful Traditions: How the Dutch Brought us Santa, Presents and Treats" around the Hudson River valley in November and December. Rose was the recipient of the 2002 Alice P. Kenney Award for research and writing on the food customs and diet of the Dutch settlers in New Netherland. Her books and articles on the region's foodways are rich in agricultural, culinary and ethnic history.

November 15 at 2 o'clock at the Kiersted House for the Saugerties Historical Soc. in Saugerties, NY.

November 16 at 7:30 o'clock at the Haverstraw King's Daughters Public Library in Haverstraw, NY. In this case the topic will be "The Forgotten Holidays."

November 21 at 2 o'clock at the Schenectady Historical Soc. in Schenectady, NY

December 2 at 7:30 at the Katonah Village Library, in Katonah, NY. For reservations, call: 232 5735.

December 3 at 6:30 o'clock for the Culinary Historians of NY, at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum, 421 East 61st St, NYC, For reservations, call: 212 838 6878.

December 5 at 1 o'clock at the TenBroeck Mansion in Albany, NY.

December 13 at 4:30 at the Kinderhook Library in Kinderhook, NY.

All talks will be followed by a book signing including her latest two books: Food, Drink and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch and Summer Pleasures, Winter Pleasures: a Hudson Valley Cookbook.

Friday, November 13, 2009

This Week's New York History Web Highlights

Each Friday New York History compiles for our readers the week's best stories and links from the web about the history of New York. You can find all our weekly web highlights here.

NYS Writers Insitute 25th Anniversary Celebration

To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the New York State Writers Institute, former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin will join Institute Executive Director William Kennedy and Director Donald Faulkner on stage to reminisce about the Institute’s past, celebrate its present, and discuss its future. A short video about the Institute highlighting memorable guests and events from its 25 year history will also be screened [you can see some early video samples here]. In addition the Institute will announce the first selections in its list of “25 Uniquely New York Books,” as chosen by 25 renowned New York state writers. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. in Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., on the University at Albany’s downtown campus.

In 1984, Governor Mario Cuomo signed into law the legislation creating the Writers Institute, giving it a mandate to provide “a milieu for established and aspiring writers to work together… to increase the artistic imagination.” Since then the Institute has hosted over 1,000 visiting writer appearances, screened over 400 films, and presented dozens of writing workshops, symposia, and special events, making it one of the premier literary arts organizations in the country.

The video presentation will provide an overview of the history of the Institute, its founding, and growth over the past 25 years. Included will be clips of such memorable guests as Margaret Atwood, Shelby Foote, Joyce Carol Oates, David Sedaris, Hunter Thompson, and Kurt Vonnegut.

“As part of our 25th anniversary, we have invited 25 renowned New York writers to choose their favorite book about New York—state or city,” said Institute Director Donald Faulkner. “Books that focus on New York themes and landscapes have impacted readers for generations. We thought it would be appropriate to draw attention to some of these books to provide a glimpse of the enormous literary traditions that this state and its authors have to offer. This is not intended to be a ‘best of’ list, but a distinctive and slightly unconventional guide to reading more deeply into the spirit of the Empire State,” Faulkner explained. The first ten selections will be released on November 16, with the remaining 15 titles announced throughout the next several months.

Mario Cuomo, one of the great orators and intellectuals of 20th century American politics, served as the 52nd Governor of the State of New York from 1983 to 1994. He has also published several notable books, including political diaries, collections of speeches, and two books on Abraham Lincoln— most recently, “Why Lincoln Matters: Today More Than Ever” (2004). In advance praise, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. called the book, “A thoughtful and challenging meditation on what Lincoln’s wisdom tells us we Americans should be doing today and tomorrow.”

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, author of bestsellers about Lyndon Johnson, the Roosevelts, and the Kennedys. Her newest book is “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,” which, by many accounts, helped shape President Obama’s political philosophy. A former professor of government at Harvard University, and assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, Doris Kearns Goodwin appears frequently as a political commentator on network and public television. A long-time friend of the Institute, she has made three previous appearances as a Visiting Writer (in 1991, 1995 and 2005). She is currently researching her next book which is set partly in Albany— a new biography of Teddy Roosevelt.

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

This Week's Top New York History News

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Amy Godine To Speak On Adirondack Vigilantism

The Lake Placid Institute will present, "Have You Seen That Vigilante Man?”, a talk by writer and social historian Amy Godine. The presentation will take place on Sunday, November 22, at 3:00 p.m., at 511 Gallery on Main Street in Lake Placid.

Night riders, lynch mobs and vigilante justice... The darker side of American mob justice was not confined to the Deep South and the Far West. The history of the Adirondacks is ablaze with incidents of so-called "frontier justice," from mob attacks on radical Abolitionists to "townie" raids on striking immigrant laborers to anti-Catholic gatherings of the Ku Klux Klan. Amy Godine's anecdotal history of Adirondack vigilantism explores a regional legacy with deep, enduring, toxic roots.

Readers of Adirondack Life magazine are well acquainted with Amy Godine's work on social and ethnic history in the Adirondack region. Whether delving into the stories of Spanish road workers, Italian miners, black homesteaders, Jewish peddlers or Chinese immigrants, Godine celebrates the "under-stories" of so-called "non-elites," groups whose contributions to Adirondack history are conventionally ignored.

Exhibitions she has curated on vanished Adirondack ethnic enclaves have appeared at the Chapman Historical Museum, the Saratoga History Museum, the Adirondack Museum and the New York State Museum. The recently published 3rd edition of The Adirondack Reader, the anthology Rooted in Rock, and The Adirondack Book, feature her essays; with Elizabeth Folwell, she co-authored Adirondack Odysseys. A former Yaddo, MacDowell, and Hackman Research Fellow, she is also an inaugural Fellow of the New York Academy of History.

For further information, call the Lake Placid Institute at 518-523-1312, or email at info@lakeplacidinstitute.org .

Photo: A newspaper clipping from the August 24, 1923 Lake PLacid News.

NYC Landmarks Commission Rejects Half of a Building

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 6-3 on Tuesday to designate the B. F. Goodrich Company Building (1780 Broadway) as a landmark and at the same time reject the B. F. Goodrich Company Building at 225 West 57th Street. Although the buildings face adjacent streets, they are on the same lot and were both developed in 1909 by the same architect, Howard Van Doren Shaw, for the B. F. Goodrich Company. They are Shaw’s only extant buildings in New York.

The Historic Districts Council issued the following Preservation Alert after the vote:

At today’s hearing, all nine commissioners present stated their support for the designation of 1780 Broadway, mentioning its architectural design but stressing its historic connection to Automobile Row. Six commissioners stated that 225 West 57th Street was of lesser significance because it did not have Broadway frontage and was “an accessory building” to the larger Goodrich headquarters. The other three commissioners defended the significance of the building and spoke highly of its architectural merit as well as its history of automobile-related uses.

225 West 57th Street, cureently under scaffolding and construction shroudOf particular interest was LPC Chair Robert Tierney’s statement referring to the City Council’s concerns about this designation. After the public hearing on August 11th, Council Members Daniel Garodnick, Melinda Katz, Jessica Lappin and Christine Quinn sent a joint letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission opposing the designation of 225 West 57th Street based on “its drab appearance”, that “the company never occupied the building” and that “the designation of 225 West 57th Street could fatally compromise the footprint of the proposed development on this site”. This unprecedented message reframed deliberations about the significance-based worthiness of the buildings into “the argument for preservation against the economic development rationale… [of] allowing for new development on sites where buildings stand today”. Commissioner Tierney went on to state his belief that since there was a likelihood that the City Council would overturn the designation of 225 West 57th Street, the LPC should make a priority of designating 1780 Broadway which everyone agreed should be preserved.

The buildings’ preservation had been supported by HDC, other preservation groups and the local community boards on the basis of their significance to the development of New York City as the center for the nascent American automobile industry, as well as for the importance of the buildings’ architectural design. 225 West 57th Street specifically was a very early and unusual fusion of traditional and Modern design elements, using motifs and techniques from the Chicago and Viennese Secessionist Schools. These points were supported by research in the LPC’s files.

Representatives of the owner, Extell Development, as well as the American Institute of Architects/New York Chapter testified in favor of the designation of 1780 Broadway but opposed to 225 West 57th Street, stating that the buildings were only significant historically as they related to Automobile Row. Since West 57th Street was not on Automobile Row and the building was not occupied by the B. F. Goodrich Company, it was not worthy of being preserved. Additional owner’s representatives also stated that they might pursue a hardship application if 225 West 57th Street was designated (Extell is proposing to build a 60+-story building on the block including this site and has been assembling lots and air-rights to allow for this development for some time.)

In the end, it would appear that the developers won. Thanks to their lobbying efforts the City Council leadership was apparently convinced that this landmark designation was detrimental to the City. The Council’s opposition to the designation resulted in the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s rejection of the building. This is not how it should work.

HDC is exceptionally disappointed in the LPC’s yielding to political pressure. If the City Council was going to reject the designation of a worthy building, then the Council should have been put in a position of justifying that action. By ceding the designation of 225 West 25th Street, the LPC has set a terrible example for future designations.

HDC is also extraordinarily disturbed by the Council’s actions in this instance. While it is entirely appropriate for CM Daniel Garodnick to weigh in on a designation within his district, doing so before the community board has a chance to review the project is, at best, precipitous. The joint letter from the four council members, with its not-so-veiled threat, was a direct assault on the independence of the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the integrity of the Landmarks Law.

HDC has contacted these council members about our concerns over their involvement and we will be taking additional steps to make sure that the Landmarks Preservation Commission and their process remain transparent and independent. We look forward to updating you in the coming months.

Photo: 1780 Broadway, NYC

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

History Channel to Feature Saranac WWII Veteran

A History Channel documentary will feature an Adirondack veteran of World War Two: Archie Sweeney of Saranac Lake. The 10-hour series WWII in HD, which will air over over five consecutive nights from Sunday through Thursday, November 15-19 will be narrated by Gary Sinise.

Archie Sweeney was a resident of Saranac Lake Village (where one of his sisters still lives; another lives in Glens Falls), who came to the series late in production according to Larry Miller, who did research and character development for most of the men and women in the series. "I had finished preliminary work for six characters when I got a call from the producer who told me that they wanted a character who was killed early in the war, preferably in North Africa," Miller told me. "That was going to be a problem for several reasons. Men who died early in the war had very little time to write letters or diaries so there would probably be very little material to work with. There would be no oral histories recorded and obviously no book written."

What Miller hoped to find was a man who had surviving family members and who had saved information relating to his experiences. "Almost immediately, my thoughts turned to the Adirondacks," Miller says. "My chances to find surviving relatives were better if I could find someone from a small town rather than, for example, Manhattan. These families were, at the time, less mobile than those from larger cities. A side benefit would be that I could work and be in the Adirondacks simultaneously."

Miller began his search by reading the casualty lists published in the New York Times where he found three men from the Adirondack region who had been killed in action in North Africa. A search of their obituaries told Miller that two of the men were survived by only their parents - the third was Archie Sweeney, whose several siblings survived the war. "After several months of researching newspapers, public records, service records and interviewing his surviving relatives, I had gathered enough information about the young man to write a narrative of his short life and brave death," Miller said.

Larry Miller sent the short biography he wrote about Archie Sweeney to the Almanack. Here it is in its entirety:

Corporal Archie Sweeney was twenty one years old when he graduated from Saranac Lake High School in Saranac Lake, New York. He was not their best student. Once he teasingly told his two little sisters that when you did well in high school they used the word “flunked”, so when he came home one day and told his mother that he had flunked math, the girls greeted him with hugs and congratulated him.

“Polite” was the term most often attached to his name. It helps to be polite when you share your living space with eight brothers and sisters. And it becomes a survival skill when you are separated from your family, Archie to one relative and his two younger sisters to another, because your mother has died and your father is too ill to care for you. (His mother died from cancer and his father has a broken neck that he sustained while digging trenches along the roadside. After his accident, he spent many months in a body case.)

At the time of her death, Archie was working two jobs and attending high school. He loved his days spent on his father’s farm in Lawrenceville, a tiny village in upstate New York almost as much as the times he and his brothers spent at their dad’s hunting camp Floodwood, a speck on the map located in the Adirondack Mountains, where they hunted and fished during the fall and winter when the farming was idle. It was during those frigid winters that his sisters remember Archie bundling them up, seating them in a sleigh, hitching the horse up and driving them to church.

When the war broke out, Archie was the first young man whose number was called in the draft lottery held in nearby Lake Placid. But Archie has enlisted the previous day. On New Years Day, 1941, he told his older brother that this was a good way to start the year. It was time to move on; to see what life had in store for him. Two days later he walked to Lake Placid a few miles away, to report for his physical.

He took a train, the first time he had ever been on one, to Fort Bragg, N.C. where his politeness was put to the test training with the 39th Infantry, 9th Division.

By the middle of March, he had been assigned to Company H and proudly sent his company photograph home. There he stood, right next to the company flag, all 5’ 11”, 145 pounds of him, standing ram-rod straight and looking quite serious.

Early that summer, Archie returned home and stayed at the farm. One of his sisters took a snapshot of him standing proudly in front of their barn. That evening, as she was preparing for bed, she saw Archie, standing as comfortably as if he had been sitting, watching as the sun set. “What are you looking at?” she asked. “I’m just looking. I don’t know if I’ll ever see this again.”

On 25 September 1942 the 39th, the Fighting Falcons, boarded 5 ships and sailed out of New York harbor. On the 6th of October 1942 and about 4,000 miles later, the convoy dropped anchor in Belfast Harbor. The 39th moved to Scotland and awaited the departure of the 47th and 60th Infantry Regiments from the US and their first D-Day.

The 9th Infantry Division saw its first combat in the North African invasion when its elements landed at Algeria in Ain-Taya 15 miles east of the city of Algeria on November 8, 1942. Moving swiftly the 39th defeated the Vichy-French troops and had the city surrounded.

The next three months were spent guarding communications lines along their front.

Company B picked up a new rifle platoon leader during this period, Lieutenant Charles Scheffel.

The war was not going well. The Germans were retreating but we couldn’t face Rommel’s tanks with our big guns. The units that tried that at Kasserine Pass suffered a devastating defeat.

The U.S. plan involved the U.S. 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions, to occupy the hills on opposite sides of the El Guettar Pass which would enable the armored troops to pass through the valley without being fired on from its flanks. This force attacked Hill 369 on the afternoon of 30 March but ran into mines and anti-tank fire, losing 5 tanks. The tanks were removed, and the 1st and 9th attacked again the next day at 06:00, moving up and taking several hundred prisoners. However an Italian counterattack drove them back from their newly gained positions, and by 12:45 they were back where they started with the loss of 9 tanks and 2 tank destroyers. A further attempt the next day on 1 April also failed, after barely getting started.

Captain Scheffel recalled that, “On March 27, 1943, my first wedding anniversary, I took out Ruth’s picture and wished I was back in Enid. I kept thinking what a shitty place to spend an anniversary. At least we weren’t fired on during the first night, and for that, I was grateful.”

On April 1, Archie was writing a letter home. “It’s very quite here this evening. I think the war may be coming to an end.” [see p 7 of my notes-when the skirmish occurred a few days later.]

His older brother, Harold, received a telegram on May 8th, 1943 informing him that Archie was “Missing in Action”. Two days later an Army chaplain arrived at his door to tell them that Archie had been killed the same evening he wrote his letter.

He was twenty five years old; the first Saranac Lake Village soldier to die in action.

Photo: Saranac Lake's Archie Sweeney during World War Two. Photo provided.

Sex and the City: The Early Years

On Wednesday, November 18th, Bill Greer, the author of The Mevrouw Who Saved Manhattan, is giving a talk at the Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, at 7 p.m. The lecture, entitled "Sex and the City: The Early Years," looks at the bawdy world of Dutch New York from 1624 to 1664. Through anecdotes of real people and events, the talk examines the libertine culture Europeans brought to the Hudson Valley and how this culture engendered an independent streak that fueled a rebellion of the common people against their rulers. This conflict, many historians argue, laid the foundation for the pluralistic, freedom-loving society that America became.

Greer is also a Trustee and Treasurer of the New Netherland Institute based in Albany.

Date: November 18, 2009
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch, Grand Army Plaza, in the Brooklyn Collection Reserve Room

Monday, November 9, 2009

John Brown Symposium, Reenactment, Memorial

A tremendous slate of events has been planned for the Lake Placid-North Eba area to commemorate the life and death of abolitionist John Brown. Dubbed the "John Brown Coming Home Commemoration," held from November 4th to December 8th, 2009, the series of events will examine John Brown's impact on the country leading up to the civil war, the use of violence, and on the ongoing efforts to end slavery and human rights abuses in this country and worldwide; and reenactments of his cortege home, body lying in state at the Essex County Courthouse, burial at his farm, and the memorial service.

Among those taking part in the events will be Kevin Bales, president of Free the Slaves, local author Russell Banks, activist and co-founder of the Weather Underground Bernardine Dohrn, executive director of CORE George Holmes, John Brown descendant Alice Keesey Mecoy, Maria Suarez, who was sold into slavery at the age of 16, Margaret Washington, Sojourner Truth's America and Louis DeCaro, Jr., author of John Brown: The Cost of Freedom. A full list of events follows.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17

Actor actor Fred Morsell will launch the John Brown Coming Home’s Artist Residencies-in-Schools program with a dramatic portrayal of Frederick Douglass in one-man performance based on Douglass’ writings. Called “Frederick Douglass: A Soul’s Evolution,” the piece will include excerpts from Douglass’ homage to John Brown that Douglass delivered in Harpers Ferry in 1881 in which Douglass declared that Brown “began the war that ended American slavery, and made this a free Republic.” This event is limited to the participating schools, currently Crown Point, Keene, Keesville, Lake Placid Central, Moriah, Newcomb and Westport.

Students, representing age groups and disciplines, working with professional artists representing different mediums—poetry, dance, songwriting, drama and drumming--will create personal works in response to their examination of the life, the times and the legacy of abolitionist John Brown at a culminating event at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on December 4, and at their respective schools thereafter.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20

7:30 PM, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Algonquin Drive, Lake Placid, NY
Film: John Brown’s Holy War

Produced for PBS’s American Experience, drawing upon interviews with historians and writers, including novelist Russell Banks, and stunning reenactments, Robert Kenner’s film traces Brown’s obsessive battle against human bondage that in the end sparked the Civil War. A post screening discussion will be held. This event is presented by the Lake Placid Center for the Arts.

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 22
3:00 PM, 511 Gallery, 2461 Main Street, Lake Placid

Have You Seen that Vigilante Man?, a lecture by Amy Godine and presented by the Lake Placid Institute for the Arts & Humanities

Night Riders, lynch mobs and vigilante justice… The darkest side of American mob justice was not confined to the Deep South and the Far West. The history of the Adirondacks is ablaze with incidents of so-called “frontier justice,” from mob attacks on radical abolitionists to “townie” raids on striking immigrant labors to anti-Catholic gatherings of the Klu Klux Klan. Amy Godine's anecdotal history of Adirondack vigilantism explores a regional legacy with deep, enduring, toxic roots.

Curator of the traveling exhibition, "Dreaming of Timbuctoo," independent scholar Amy Godine is a contributor to the regional anthologies, The Second Adirondack Reader and Rooted in Rock, and a regular writer on ethnic history for Adirondack Life.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 4
5:00 p.m., Lake Placid Center for the Arts, 17 Algonquin Drive, Lake Placid

Culminating event of the John Brown Coming Homes Artist Residencies-in-Schools program (see November 17)

7:30 PM (reception to follow)

Slavery: An exploration through contemporary film, lead by JW Wiley, Director of the Center for Diversity, Pluralism, and Inclusion for State University of New York-Plattsburgh. Narrative and documentary filmmakers have captured contemporary situations that are equal too the personal experiences that motivated John Brown. This presentation will use film clips from their work to explore the broad context of racism in the era of Brown. Wiley writes, “situating the reality of his life in the midst of the racist times he lived will provide opportunities for us to speculate and examine some of his potential motivations for the monumentally historic actions he took.” This event is presented by the Adirondack Film Society

SATURDAY DECEMBER 5
High Peaks Resort, 2384 Saranac Avenue, Lake Placid, NY

Symposium on the Life and Legacy of John Brown

The purpose of the symposium is to investigate the whole person, John Brown, including the experiences and faith that shaped him; the pre Civil War reality for African-Americans, both in slavery and seeking to end slavery; the post Civil War era for African-Americans; Brown’s ongoing influence on those who have tried to foster social change; and to examine and understand slavery today and create discussion around the question, Is violence ever justified?

Morning

9:00 AM Opening Keynote: Margaret Washington: The African American Experience. Professor Margaret Washington, Cornell authority on the black experience. Recent work: Sojourner Truth's America. Articles include, From Motives of Delicacy: Sexuality and Morality in the Narratives of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Jacobs, Journal of African American History, and Rachel Weeping for Her Children.

10:00 AM Presentation: Rev, Dr. Louis DeCaro, Jr.: John Brown, A Man of His Times, Assistant Professor of History at Theology at Alliance Theological Seminary, works include the collection of essays John Brown Remembered, and books John Brown--the Cost of Freedom, and Fire from the Midst of You: A Religious Life of John Brown.

Break

11:15 AM

Presentation: Slavery in our Time

Kevin Bales. Author: Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy (nominated for Pulitzer), Understanding Global Slavery and Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves. Expert on modern slavery, president of Free the Slaves, Board of Directors of the International Cocoa Initiative.

Maria Suarez, a social worker and advocate to end human trafficking, who was sold into and lived in slavery in the United States for 5 years beginning when she was sixteen years old and freed only when a neighbor killed her captor, but then wrongly imprisoned for that death and eventually pardoned.

Lunch on own

Afternoon

1:30 PM Panel: John Brown’s Legacy

Moderator: Russell Banks; Novels include: Affliction, The Sweet Hereafter, both also critically-acclaimed movies; The Book of Jamaica Continental Drift, Rule of the Bone, a historical novel about abolitionist John Brown, Cloudsplitter, and The Darling. President of Cities of Refuge North America and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Bank has taught at many colleges and universities including Princeton.

Panelists:

Kevin Bales. Author: Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy (nominated for Pulitzer), Understanding Global Slavery and Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves. Expert on modern slavery, president of Free the Slaves, Board of Directors of the International Cocoa Initiative.

Bernardine Dohrn, activist, academic and child advocate, is Director of the Children and Family Justice Center and Clinical Associate Professor of the Northwestern University School Law, Bluhm Legal Clinic. Dohrn was a national leader of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and the Weather Underground, and was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List for over a decade.

George Holmes, executive director, chief operating officer, Congress of Racial Equality, Coordinated American delegation dispatched to observe and monitor free elections in Nigeria in 1996-97. Organized emergency response team to assist in the World Trade Center collapse.

Alice Keesey Mecoy. Great-great-great granddaughter of abolitionist John Brown has researched her family history for 30 years, especially the women in John Brown's life, dedicated to war against slavery. Presented her findings to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Saratoga Historical Museum.

Margaret Washington. Cornell professor Margaret Washington is an authority on the black experience. Recent work: Sojourner Truth's America. Articles include, From Motives of Delicacy: Sexuality and Morality in the Narratives of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Jacobs, Journal of African American History, and Rachel Weeping for Her Children

J.W. Wiley, Director for the Center for Diversity, Pluralism, and Inclusion at State University of New York - Plattsburgh and a lecturer in philosophy and minority studies. Works to implement strategies and policies for inclusion and diversity.

4:00 PM

His Spirit Lives On

John Brown’s Farm State Historic Site

Walk to the John Brown’s Grave along Old John Brown Road

Laying of Wreath at John Brown’s Grave

lead by Roy Innis, National President of C.O.R.E.

7:30 PM

Site: Adirondack Community Church

Tribute to Russell Banks

Presentation of the first Adirondack Arts and Humanities Award to author Russell Banks; author William Kennedy master of ceremonies followed by a gospel concert

SUNDAY DECEMBER 6

10 AM

Re-enactment of the bringing of John Brown’s Cortege across Lake Champlain from Button Bay Park, VT to Westport, NY by the Weatherwax, a replica of a 19th century sail ferry similar to the one used to bring Mary Brown, leading abolitionists and the body of her husband.

12:00 Noon

Westport Heritage Center, Westport, NY

JOHN BROWN AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
Lecture by Don Papson

John Brown sacrificed his life at Harper's Ferry, Virginia in 1859 attempting to establish an Underground Railroad Passageway through the Appalachian Mountains. For 150 years historians have wondered whether or not Brown sheltered runaway slaves at his North Elba farm in New York's Adirondack Mountains. Some local 20th century historians concluded that there was no Underground Railroad activity at North Elba and that all of Brown's black neighbors were “ordinary” “free” “New Yorkers.” Social historian Don Papson has discovered documents suggesting that the truth may have been an entirely different story.

Don Papson is the founding President of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association and Curator for the North Star Underground Railroad Museum, which will open at Ausable Chasm in 2010.

Lecture followed by a 19th century luncheon. John Brown’s casket will have been brought up to the church prior to the presentation.

Event presented by the Adirondack History Center Museum (tickets required)

2:00 PM

John Brown’s casket brought to Old Stone Church in Elizabethtown

3:00 PM

Old Stone Church, Elizabethtown

Dramatic readings from Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks; poetry readings; musical presentations

Adirondack History Center Museum Open, appropriate exhibits on display

4:30 PM

Procession of John Brown’s coffin from Old Stone Church to Essex County Courthouse. Event presented by the Adirondack History Center Museum

5:00 PM

Essex County Courthouse

Coffin laid in state, honor guard, candles, public may bear witness through the evening

5:30 PM

Deer’s Head Inn

Reception presented by the Adirondack History Center Museum (tickets required)

MONDAY DECEMBER 7

3:00 PM

John Brown Farm State Historic Site, Lake Placid, NY

Returning Home

John Brown’s coffin is brought to the Farm. The procession will begin on Rte 73, continue up Old Military Road and along John Brown Road and end at the Farm with the placement of the coffin the in Farmhouse for the evening.

4:00 PM

Coffin arrives at Farm

6:00 PM

John Brown Farm State Historic Site

The Sword of the Spirit, by Magpie

Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, better known as Magpie, one of the premier folk music duos in America today, will present their stirring collection of songs that reflect on the life, death and turbulent times of abolitionist John Brown, his family and followers. Sword of the Spirit, traces the story of one of the most controversial figures in our nation’s history whose rage against slavery led him to his daring and violent raid on the US Army Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry in 1859 that became one of the sparks that helped ignite the war between the states. Making history come alive is one thing. To do it through words and music takes a special talent. Magpie handles the task beautifully with upbeat themes, delightful harmonies and thrilling anthems. Here is music with depth, relevance and topnotch songwriting.

TUESDAY DECEMBER 8

11:00 AM

Memorial Service begins at John Brown’s Farm

Re-enactors for: Wendell Phillips, co-leader on American Anti-Slavery Society

Reverend Joshua Young, L Bigelow, Mary Brown

11:45 PM

Service ends with ringing of the bells in churches throughout the region.

Post event reception at Uihlein Farm (invitation required)

RESERVATIONS FOR SYMPOSIUM AND TRIBUTE
Kristin Strack
Reservations Manager
518-523-2445 ext109
Email: kristin@lakeplacid.com JOHN BROWN 150th COMMEMORATION

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