There are now 53,671 more pages of New York National Guard records available online on the New York State Military Museum website. Printed out, that much information would take be 18 feet high if the pages were stacked up, or reach more than 9.7 miles laid end to end.
The digital files include 197 issues of the New York National Guardsman Magazine (shown at left) published between 1924 and 1940, and National Guard annual reports from 1858 to 1955. It's a treasure trove of information available to genealogists, historians, and military buffs with the click of a computer mouse.
"I can search across 150 different Adjutant General reports in ten seconds and to do this by hand would take me all day," said Jim Gandy, the assistant librarian and archivist at the museum.
"Our collection is a tremendous resource and this is an opportunity to broadcast this tremendous resource to the widest possible audience," said Museum Director Michael Aikey.
"We get 15,000 people through the museum each year, but the website is getting several million hits," Aikey added. "I come from the public library world and the goal is to get as much information easily available, readily available to the public."
The searchable pdf-format files can be opened online and are also downloadable. The cost of the scanning project was $12,000. Biele's Information Technology Systems in West Seneca did the scanning work in 2005. However, the museum's website couldn't accommodate posting the documents until upgrades were made this year, Gandy said.
The Adjutant General's Annual reports contain data on the number of Soldiers and Airmen in National Guard units, training exercises, officers' names and units, and expenses.
The National Guardsman Magazine includes professional articles, reports on unit athletic events and social activities, and period advertising. Publication of the National Guardsman was suspended in the fall of 1940 when the entire National Guard was mobilized in response to the successful German invasion of most of western Europe in the spring of that year.
While the new online documents provide a window to the state's military past that's fascinating to any military history buff, some of the biggest users of the state's records have always been amateur genealogy researches, Gandy said.
Both the National Guardsman Magazine and the Adjutant General's reports are full of names and dates. This kind of information is valuable to people trying to flesh out their family histories and find out exactly what rank Uncle Bill held, Gandy explained.
The demand from amateur genealogists for information is so great that the museum is working on a deal with Ancestry.com, a popular genealogy resource, to make online documents available there, Aikey said.
Putting the documents on line makes them accessible to people around the country, and also allows researchers to look through them without damaging the originals, Gandy added. Too many fingers opening and closing old books and magazines, even when done carefully, eventually wears those documents out.
The collections of the New York State Military Museum date back to 1863 when an officer in the Adjutant General's office was assigned to collect press clippings and other memorabilia about New York regiments serving in the Civil War. Today New York has one of the outstanding state archives of Civil War material, much of it available on line, as well as the largest collection of unit battle flags in the nation.
The Unit History Project section of the Military Museum website includes extensive on-line historical information on all New York Civil War military units, as well as in other conflicts.
To view copies of the New York National Guardsman and the Adjutant Generals Reports on line click on "research" on the New York State Military Museum homepage on the left hand side of the screen. Links to the magazines and reports are below on the Research page.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Historic New York National Guard Records Online
NYS Library Offers Civil War Noontime Programs
The NYS Library will offer two noontime programs in January. On Thursday, January 14th, Christopher Morton will present "A Banner Decade: Ten Years of the New York State Battle Flag Preservation Project." Morton, who is the Flag Project curator, will discuss the history of the Battle Flag Collection and highlight the Flag Project's accomplishments to date while showcasing a number of interesting and historic flags from the collection. And on Friday, January 22nd, historian Michael Russert will present "The Edward McPherson Farm and the Battle of Gettysburg." Russert will discuss how the battle, fought on the McPherson farm and on surrounding land on July 1st, 1863, had a life-changing effect not just on the family that lived on that farm, but on rural Adams County of Pennsylvania and its inhabitants. The programs will be held in the Librarians Room, 7th floor, Cultural Education Center, Madison Avenue, Albany. Those interested in participating can register online here.
A Banner Decade: Ten Years of the New York State Battle Flag Preservation Project
In 2000, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) initiated a preservation campaign and developed plans for archival long-term housing of the New York State Battle Flag Collection administered by the Division of Military & Naval Affairs (DMNA). This inter-agency partnership, known as the New York State Battle Flag Preservation Project, is responsible for the flag collection’s conservation, storage, research, and interpretation. The year 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of the Flag Project. Over the last decade, OPRHP textile conservators from the Peebles Island Resource Center, with assistance from the Flag Project curator, have preserved and placed into temporary storage over 500 flags from the collection and have provided educational and interpretive services for the interested public. Christopher Morton, the Flag Project curator, will discuss the history of the Battle Flag Collection and highlight the Flag Project’s accomplishments to date while showcasing a number of interesting and historic flags from the collection.
The Edward McPherson Farm and the Battle of Gettysburg
War often has a profound effect on the civilian population in its path. This talk will examine how the battle fought on the land of the Edward McPherson farm and on surrounding land on July 1st, 1863 had a life changing effect on the family that lived on that farm. The talk will make use of primary documents such as census records, personal remembrances, and military accounts to personalize how families in the path of warfare are altered. The focus will be on the antebellum history of the property and how the Battle of Gettysburg changed the rural Adams County of Pennsylvania and its inhabitants. Historian Michael Russert will give this presentation.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
North Creek: Songs and Stories of Loggers, Miners
Begin the New Year with an afternoon of engaging tunes and tales. Join the staff of the Adirondack Museum for "Working for the Man: Songs and Stories of Adirondack Lumberjacks and Miners." The special program will be held at the Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek, New York on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 3:30 p.m. There will be no charge for museum members and children of elementary school age or younger. The fee for non-members is $5.00.
The historic work of loggers and miners was framed by dangerous conditions, back breaking work, long hours, and low pay. Although daily life was hard and often heartbreaking, it was also filled with music, laughter, stories, and strong community ties.
"Working for the Man" will feature musician Lee Knight singing traditional ballads of logging, mining, and rural life. Museum Educator Christine Campeau will join Knight to share historic photographs, artifacts from museum collections, and stories of work, family, and life in Adirondack logging and mining communities.
Born in the Adirondacks, Lee Knight now lives in Cashiers, North Carolina. He is a singer, storyteller, song collector, and teacher of folklore, folk life, and folk music. He performs regularly at concerts, folk festivals, and summer camps, where he tells stories, sings ballads, and calls dances. He has appeared with Pete Seeger, Jean Ritchie, Bill Monroe, Alan Lomax, and many others. He will play traditional hand-made instruments.
Following the program, Lee Knight will perform at the Copperfield Inn from 4:30 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.
Photo: Ruby Mountain Mine, North River Garnet Company. Collection of the Adirondack Museum.
The Most Influential People in Adirondack History?
Over at my other web project Adirondack Almanack we're putting together an interesting list of the most influential people in Adirondack history. The list is somewhat of an exercise in 'big man history' but it grew from discussions at the Almanack over the two great traditions of modern Adirondack thought: those who support the forest preserve, the park, and the Adirondack Park Agency, and those who generally oppose those institutions.
Head over there - I've included a brainstormed list of people from the environmental, cultural, and political history of the park, but I'd like to hear your opinions and suggestions.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Ships, Explorers, And The World Trade Center
In 1916 the burnt timbers of what some believe is a 17th-century ship's keel (the remains of Adriaen Block's Tiger, forerunner of the Onrust) were discovered at the site of the future World Trade Center. You can read about that at one of my favorite blogs, The Old Salt Blog. Later, an ancient anchor and a Dutch cannon were recovered there in 1967. These maritime relics will be exhibited together in February 2-28, 2010, along with a model of a new ship that commemorates the World Trade Center and honors America's maritime heritage.
The exhibit will be kicked off with an Exhibition Preview, Luncheon and Fundraiser on February 3, 2010. The preview event will feature preservationists Peter Stanford and Kent Barwick, an exhibition preview, the dedication of World Trade Center Steel, cocktails and a luncheon, followed by a guided tour of the exhibition.
Highlights of the exhibition include:
* the charred remains of a ship's bow excavated in 1916, long thought to be the ship's keel of Dutch explorer Adrian Block's Ship TIJGER, which burned off Manhattan in 1613, and a bronze cannon marked "VOC," property of the Dutch East India Company (Courtesy Museum of the City of New York);
* an ancient, 11-foot iron anchor hoisted from the construction site of the World Trade Center in 1967, where it had been buried for more than 300 years (Courtesy National Maritime Historical Society);
* a model and film of the USS NEW YORK, the Navy's newly commissioned (7 November 2009) Landing Platform, Dock Warship, made with 7.5 tons of World Trade Center Steel forged into its bow (Courtesy USS NEW YORK Commissioning Committee);
* documentary film footage from 1916 of the discovery of the Ship TIJGER Keel and a section of Manhattan Company Water Pipe (1804) found during excavation for the IRT subway tunnel at the future World Trade Center site (Courtesy Brooklyn College Archives); and
* at the entrance to The India House: a steel artifact recovered from the World Trade Center. This will be a permanent reminder of the World Trade Center, the innocent victims, and the bravery of those who responded on September 11, 2001.
The exhibit, curated by Margaret Stocker, is being hosted by India House (One Hanover Square, NYC) and is being presented by the India House Foundation.
Exhibit Hours: Weekdays 11 - 3:30 and group tours by appointment
Suggested Donation: $10
For Group tours contact info@indiahousefoundation.org or telephone Maria Dering at 212-873-6715
Exhibition Preview, Luncheon and Fundraiser February 3, 2010
To Reserve Tickets: info@indiahousefoundation.org
Skippers: $250 Explorers: $350 Masters of the Universe: $500
or email stockermargaret@mac.com
Call For Papers: Warring for America, 1803-1818
A Multidisciplinary Conference on the era of the War of 1812, co-sponsored by The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, The Huntington Library, the New York University Department of History, and The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress will be held March 31 - April 1, 2011, at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The War of 1812, the first declared war in the history of the United States, erupted in the midst of countervailing forces shaping America in the first decades of the nineteenth century. From the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 to the Seminole War of 1818; from the close of the Atlantic slave trade in 1807 to the founding of the American Colonization Society in 1817; from the resumption of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803 to the second Barbary War in 1815; from New Jerseys revocation of female suffrage in 1807 to Frances Wright's arrival in America in 1818; from the publication of Tabitha Gilman Tenneys parodic sentimental novel Female Quixotism (1801) to Washington Irving's Sketch-Book (1819); from Charles Willson Peales The Exhumation of the Mastodon (1806) to Charles Bird Kings portrait of Secretary of War John C. Calhoun (1818), this understudied era was crowded with events destined to unsettle the so-called revolutionary settlement.
At once postcolonial and neoimperial, the America of 1812 was still in need of definition. The decision to go to war catalyzed a critical era, one too often dismissed as an insignificant interregnum between the world of Jefferson and the world of Jackson. In contrast to the progressive experimentation of the 1780s and 1790s, the years surrounding the War of 1812 can be characterized as a period of narrowing possibilities and sharpening distinctions. Yet, the volatile elements that converged in the war and that emerged, transformed, point to the generative instabilities of the early Republic. This pivotal period merits further scholarly consideration.
The conferences title, Warring for America, 1803-1818, seeks to uncouple the War of 1812 from its stale fixture as the finale of the revolutionary era. Henry Adams contended that many nations have gone to war in pure gayety of heart; but perhaps the United States were first to force themselves into a war they dreaded, in the hope that the war itself might create the spirit they lacked. Historians have largely followed Adamss lead, interpreting the War of 1812 as a second War for Independence, a crisis meant to create the spirit of American nationalism. This conference, conversely, will consider the war as a volitional conflict that resulted from a confluence of many social, cultural, and geopolitical pressures and that had divergent consequences for the future of the extended republic.
Scholars are invited from a wide spectrum of disciplines from history and literature to art history and material culture to consider from new perspectives the struggles among Indians, Britons, Canadians, Euro-Americans, and African Americans throughout the North American continent, the Caribbean, and across the Atlantic Ocean. At issue were conflicting visions for control over territory, meanings of liberty, and distributions of power that came into focus through the upheaval of war. Proposals should address the connections between the new republics underlying tensions and the promulgation, execution, and explanations of the war itself. The organizers encourage submission of proposals for new, original work that is not committed for publication elsewhere, as a volume of essays resulting from the conference is anticipated.
Possible paper or panel topics include:
--Origins of war and consequences of peace
--Citizenship: gender, race, and sovereignty
--Transformations in artistic and literary genres and representations of America
--Postcolonialism, nationalism, imperialism, expansionism, regionalism
--Continental and hemispheric events and repercussions: Shawnee, Creek, and Seminole Wars, Haitian Revolution, Napoleonic Wars and Louisiana, Latin American wars for independence, slave trade, contest for Canada and Mexico
--Fronts of conflict, including the household, frontier, plantation, sea
--Washington, D.C.: from new capital to pillaged city
--Reconfigurations: revitalization to removal, abolition to colonization, Jeffersonianism to American system, First Bank of the U.S. to Second Bank of the U.S., printing to publishing, America as an object of natural history to the U.S. as a subject of history
--Narratives and memories of the war
--The Era of Good Feelings?: political factionalism, sectionalism, racism
Submit a one- to two-page synopsis of your paper proposal and a short-form c.v. no later than January 15, 2010. Submissions must be done electronically, either online at the conference Web site, http://oieahc.wm.edu/conferences/1812/cfp/index.cfm, or by email to the Omohundro Institutes webmaster, Kim Foley, at kawahl@wm.edu. Include on the c.v. complete contact information (mail, email, and telephone). All submissions will be acknowledged by email. If you do not receive an acknowledgment, please resubmit or contact Kim Foley.
Program Committee: Fredrika J. Teute, Omohundro Institute; Nicole Eustace, New York University; Rob Parkinson, Shepherd University; Carolyn Brown, Library of Congress.
Photo: Battle of Plattsburgh
Monday, December 28, 2009
2010 Excellence in Historic Preservation Awards
The Preservation League of New York State is seeking nominations for its 2010 Excellence in Historic Preservation Awards, which recognize significant achievements in historic preservation throughout New York State. The postmark deadline for nominations is February 11, 2010. The awards will be presented during the Preservation League's Annual Meeting on May 12, 2010 in New York City at the historic New York Yacht Club.
"Too many historic buildings throughout New York State are currently vacant, underutilized, and deteriorating," said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League. "Our annual Awards program allows us to share preservation success stories that may one day serve as inspiration to others. By highlighting meaningful contributions in the field of historic preservation, we encourage high standards for other projects, foster revitalization of our historic neighborhoods and downtowns, and celebrate New York's incomparable architectural legacy."
Nomination forms will be mailed by January 1, and are available for download as a PDF. For additional information on the awards please contact the Preservation League office at 518-462-5658 x17; or by email at awards@preservenys.org.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Terror in the Adirondacks: Serial Killer Robert Garrow
Lawrence P. Gooley has published another outstanding chronicle of Adirondack history, Terror in the Adirondacks: The True Story of Serial Killer Robert F. Garrow. The book chronicles the story of Garrow, an abused Dannemora child, turned thief, serial rapist and killer who admitted to seven rapes and four murders, although police believed there were many more. Among his victims were campers near Speculator in Hamilton County where Garrow escaped a police dragnet and traveled up Route 30 through Indian Lake and Long Lake and eventually made his way to Witherbee where he was tracked down and shot in the foot.
Claiming he was partially paralyzed, Garrow sued the State of New York for $10 million for negligence in his medical care. In exchange for dropping the suit, Garrow was moved to a medium security prison. He was shot and killed during a prison escape in September 1978 - he had faked his paralysis.
Gooley, who lived the story in the 1970s, says the book tells "a remarkable story, with repercussions locally, statewide, and nationwide." "For climbers like me, it was a terrible time in the mountains," he said. "Seeing the evidence of what he did to some of his victims confirmed for me that we were right to be wary three decades ago."
"I researched his entire life story from birth to grave, and it really is an amazing story, Gooley told the Almanack, "there has been much misinformation on parts of his story, and it has been repeated on many websites and in newspaper stories over the years." Gooley says he used multiple sources in order to "get the story right," including about 2,000 pages of official court transcripts. "That gave me proof that even Garrow's attorney changed the story," the author said, "telling tales 35 years later that directly contradict the official court record. He may not like certain parts of my commentary, but he'll know I'm right."
Two years ago, Gooley won the Adirondack center For Writing's Award for Nonfiction for Oliver's War: An Adirondack Rebel Battles the Rockefeller Fortune
The book was published by Gooley's own Bloated Toe Enterprises and can be purchased online and at smaller stores in the Clinton-Essex-Franklin county area.
Friday, December 25, 2009
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
- Old Salt Blog: Raising a Glass to Poseidon
- Preservation Nation: Fans Save 'Born to Run' Home
- The Zen Birdfeeder: Christmas Tree Facts in Figures
- John Brown the Abolitionist: John Brown Year
- National Geographic: Winter Solstice Facts
- Redtree Times: Things Change [Forestport, NY]
- Lost City: 2009's Lost New York Landmarks
- Cabinet Card Gallery: Old Man With Pipe in Ballston Spa
This Week's Top New York History News
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
New Website for New York City Landmarks
There is a new website for New York City landmarks that is worth a look. The site, created by Jeff Heur, provides the Landmark Preservation Commission's information on thousands of landmark buildings and districts across the five boroughs. The site features a large database of historic photos, official landmark designation reports by city historians, and can show nearby landmarks from your iphone or other location-enabled browser. You can check it out at http://www.nyclandmarks.org.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
First Edition Washington Irving Classic at NYSHA Library
In observance of the 200th anniversary of the classic work of literature, A History of New York by Washington Irving, the New York State Historical Association’s Research Library will have its copy of the first edition on display from December 2009 through February 2010. Commonly known as Knickerbocker’s History of New York, the book was published in December 1809 and was an immediate success.
Irving, in his satirical history, poked fun at the early Dutch governors of the colony of New Netherlands and their “reigns.” He drummed up interest in the book before its publication by having an announcement published in a New York City newspaper asking for anyone with information regarding the disappearance of an old man named Diedrich Knickerbocker to contact the Columbian Hotel – stating that he had left without paying his bill. Subsequent notices said that if Mr. Knickerbocker was not found, a manuscript that he left behind would have to be published as a book and copies of the book sold to pay off his debt. Finally, a notice appeared advertising the book, A History of New York, by Diedrich Knickerbocker.
New Yorkers, who had become interested in the disappearance of the old man, bought up the book. Most realized the story of Knickerbocker’s disappearance was a hoax since there was no Columbian Hotel in New York, but they went along with the fun, purchased the book, and found it to be highly humorous. Irving’s history became a classic. The book is still in print and the humor within is still appealing today.
The NYSHA Research Library is located next to the Fenimore Art Museum on Route 80 in Cooperstown, N.Y. and is open from 10 – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. There is no charge to see the display featuring Knickerbocker’s 1st edition and subsequent editions. Also on display is the exhibit Doubleday and the WPA, which details the creation of Cooperstown’s Doubleday Field as a WPA project in the 1930s. The library will be closed for the Christmas holidays from December 23 to January 10. For more information, please call 607-547-1470 or visit www.NYSHA.org.
NY State Archives' Student Research Awards Program
The New York State Archives has announced its twentieth annual Student Research Awards program to promote and recognize excellence in student research. The main purpose of the awards program is to encourage students to explore the wealth of historical records in New York State. A secondary purpose is to increase cooperation between schools and organizations that administer historical records useful for education. The New York State Archives encourages the participation of school library media specialists in this project.
The Student Research Awards program is a statewide competition open to all New York State students in grades 4–12. A total of three awards will be given, one each for students in grades 4–5, grades 6–8, and grades 9–12.
Each award consists of a certificate and a cash prize. Certificates of Merit will also be awarded to entries other than the winners that show a heavy reliance on historical records to support research.
Timetable - Entries must be postmarked no later than July 1, 2010.
Recipients will be selected by September 15, and winners will be announced during Archives Month in October, 2010. Entries submitted for competition must be researched and developed during the July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010 school year.
More information on the Student Research Awards can be found here.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Conference on NYS History Proposals Due Dec. 31
Proposals are due December 31, 2009 for the Conference on New York State History in Ithaca June 3—5, 2010. The conference is an annual meeting of academic and public historians, librarians and archivists, educators, publishers, and other interested individuals who come together to discuss topics and issues related to the people of New York State in historical perspective and to share information and ideas regarding historical research, programming, and the networking of resources and services. Ten to fifteen presentation sessions, workshops, and a keynote address mean more than fifty individuals take part in the program. The conference is self-sustaining and is organized by a committee of historians from a variety of institutions across the state.
Individual paper abstracts, panel proposals, workshop plans, and other program suggestions are invited. Presentations may consider any aspect of the history of New York State over the past 400 years. Diverse theoretical perspectives and innovative methodological approaches are welcomed.
Special consideration is accorded first-time presenters, graduate students, and local government historians. Interested parties are encouraged to discuss proposals and any conference-related ideas with Field Horne, conference chair (e-mail preferred). The Program Committee will meet to consider proposals in mid-January. Applicants will be notified immediately thereafter.
If at all possible, proposals should be submitted as an MS Word document by e-mail to conferencechair@nysha.org. A proposal should be a one-page description of each presentation—not the full manuscript—and must include the following information at the top of the page: paper and/or session titles, names, postal addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all participants, and all equipment needs and scheduling requests. It should also briefly discuss sources, methodology, and argument. All program participants are required to register for the conference.
Send proposals to:
Field Horne
Conference on NYS History Chair
Box 215, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866¬0215
(518) 587-4962
conferencechair@nysha.org
Qualified commentators for sessions are needed. Please indicate your willingness, with your areas of expertise, in an e-mail to the conference chair.
The conference is sponsored by New York State Historical Association in collaboration with New York State Archives Partnership Trust and cosponsored by
New York Council for the Humanities.
Photo: Simeon De Witt, A Map of the State of New York. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
Documentary Heritage Program Grants Announcement
The New York State Department of Education has announced the Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) funding for 2010-2011. DHP is a statewide program established in 1988 and administered by the New York State Archives to ensure the identification, sound administration and accessibility of New York's historical records.
One the most important components of the DHP is the grants program. DHP Grants are designed to encourage more comprehensive documentation of New York State*s history and culture by supporting projects that identify, survey, collect, and make available important records relating to groups and topics traditionally under-represented in the historical record. DHP is administered by the New York State Archives.
Eligible applicants include not-for-profit community organizations, archives, libraries, historical societies, and similar institutions within New York State and consortia or partnerships of such agencies. Also eligible are service providers such as historical service agencies, colleges and universities, professional associations, or other not-for-profit institutions or systems that provide services to historical records programs.
A total of $92,000 is expected to be available for grants projects. Grants will be available in amounts up to $25,000. Applicants may seek support for personnel; purchased services, including qualified consultants; supplies; materials and equipment costing less than $5,000; and travel as required to directly support project activities and outcomes.
Grants in this cycle are for up to 12-month projects, from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011. Applications must be postmarked by Monday, February 1, 2010. Tentative date for the announcement of grant awards is June 30, 2010.
Grant Project Types
Documentation - The purpose of a documentation project is to identify and ensure the systematic preservation of papers and records not currently in historical records repositories that provide information on the people, groups, events or changing political, economic or social conditions of New York State. A documentation project typically consists of three phases - planning, surveying, and collecting - and usually takes at least two years to complete. Cost sharing of at least 20% is required for Documentation projects.
Arrangement & Description - Arrangement and description are the processes used to obtain physical and intellectual control over materials held in historic records repositories. Arrangement is the process of organizing materials with respect to their provenance and original order, to protect their context and to achieve physical and/or
intellectual control over the materials. Description is the creation of an accurate representation of a unit of archival material by the process of capturing, collating, analyzing, and organizing information that serves to identify archival material and explain the context and records system(s) that produced it. The objective of archival description is the creation of access tools that assist users in discovering desired
records. Cost sharing of at least 50% is required for Arrangement & Description
projects.
Archival Needs Assessment - Historical records repositories undertake needs assessments to evaluate and plan for archival program development. As a result, a comprehensive needs assessment, carried out by an experienced archivist with the requisite expertise, will pinpoint problems, recommend solutions, set priorities, and guide the development
of archival activity. Cost sharing of at least 50% is required for Archival Needs Assessment projects.
Ineligible Projects
Several types of historical records projects are not eligible for funding under the DHP. These include:
* Projects that do not have primary focus on New York State
* Digitization (projects to create digital records)
* Item-level description and/or indexing
* Oral history and/or video taping
* Newspapers (these are not considered to be historical records under the DHP law)
* Preservation (i.e., the physical work to conserve, restore, or repair records, or reproduction for preservation purposes such as microfilming)
In order to insure that the DHP addresses the New York State Historical Records Advisory Board*s mandate to identify, survey, collect, and make available historical records that relate to under-documented groups or subjects, the State Archives has identified and given priority to specific topical areas for DHP funding. These topics are listed in Priority Levels One and Two below. Although applications for projects
that focus on any under-documented group or subject are eligible for funding, they will receive fewer points during grants review than those in Levels One and Two.
Priority Level One
* Population groups in the 20th and 21st centuries
* Economic change in the 20th and 21st centuries
* World Trade Center disaster, September 11, 2001
* Education policy
Priority Level Two
* Environmental affairs
* Mental health
Priority Level Three
* Other under-documented topics in New York State history
Application Process
Grant application forms and guidelines will be available in October 2009. They may be obtained by emailing the State Archives at dhs@nysed.gov or by visiting the State Archives Web site at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/grants/grants_dhp.shtml.
For further information, contact:
Pamela Cooley/Documentary Heritage Program
New York State Archives
Room 9C71 Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
Telephone: 518-474-6926
Email: dhs@mail.nysed.gov
Saturday, December 19, 2009
American Antiquarian Society Visiting Fellowships
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) invites applications for its 2010-11 visiting academic fellowships. At least three AAS-National Endowment for the Humanities ellowships 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, please consult our website
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, we have extensive holdings related to Canada and the British West Indies. As such, our collections offer ideal resources for research in the history of the Atlantic World.
For detailed descriptions of the collections, please their guidebook, Under Its Generous Dome, available online here.
Friday, December 18, 2009
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
- Cooperstown: Grandma Moses Farmstead Preserved
- Brooklynology: Julius Wilcox (1837-1924), Photographer
- Peeling Back the Bark: Harold Bell, Creator of Woodsy Owl
- Executed Today: 10 Executions That Defined The 2000s
- Talk of New York Sports: Hoop History - Rucker Park
- City Room: Birth of NYC Art-Houses
- HHN: Who Was Lewis Henry Morgan?
- Bowery Boys: Tin Pan Alley, Birth of Modern Pop Music
- Farmers' Museum: Putting Down Winter Vegetables
- Terra Daily: New Volcano Contributed To Cold Decade
This Week's Top New York History News
- Crown Point Bridge Design Recomended
- East India Company Slave Site Uncovered
- Jewish History Scholar Yerushalmi Dies
- NJ Woman Finds Nazi Photo Trove
- Dickens Toothpick Fetches $9,000
- Farmer Hopes For Agricultural Museum
- Funding Leaves Military Museum Lacking
- Little Planned For 30th Olympic Anniversary
- A '70s Flashback at Capitol
- 200-Yr Old Egremont Inn Destroyed in Fire
- Former Met Director Thomas Hoving Dies
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Do You Recognize These Adirondack Faces?
All bundled up and ready for fun and perhaps just a little mischief! Saranac Lake, New York photographer William F. Kollecker snapped a shot of these adorable children in 1935. The image is now in the collection of the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y. Sadly, the names of the kids were not recorded on the photo.
The museum will use the photograph in advertising for the 2010 Cabin Fever Sunday Series. The happy little faces will smile out from posters and newspaper ads throughout the North Country. Do you know who they are?
The Adirondack Museum would like to complete the historical record connected with this photo, and learn the names of the children if possible.
If you recognize your mother, grandfather, or even yourself in the photograph, please contact Susan Dineen, Director of Marketing at (518) 352-7311, ext. 121 or email info@adkmuseum.org.
William F. Kollecker produced a rich collection of photographs of the Saranac Lake area. The photos are largely preserved in the Adirondack Collection of the Saranac Lake Free Library. He is recognized today as the most successful and prolific photographer in the village's history.
According to Historic Saranac Lake, "No other photographer captured the face and feeling of Saranac Lake or portrayed the lives and lifestyles of its citizens with greater accuracy or artistry for a comparable time period." Among the many faces he captured were those of these children.
Photo: Photograph by William F. Kollecker, ca. 1935 from the collections of the Adirondack Museum.
Low-Cost Courses on Collections Care Offered
Upstate History Alliance (UHA) is offering a low-cost series of four-week online courses in collections care and preservation which provide basic, practical training. The courses are designed for staff, volunteers, board members, or interns at small to mid-sized museums. Each can be taken at the student's own pace. The courses also offer interaction with qualified instructors and assignments are based on your own collections.
The cost to participate in one of the online courses is $45 for UHA members, $60 for non-members. The cost to participate in the complete series is $150 for UHA members, $200 for non-members. For more information or to register for this course, visit
www.upstatehistory.org.
Here are the course descriptions from UHA:
Introduction to Reformatting with Toya Dubin
February 1, 2010 - February 26, 2010
This course should help you determine the best way to approach a digitization project for varying collections and is intended to take the mystery out of digitization vocabulary, while shedding light on technical issues.
Climate Control for Small Institutions with Michele Phillips
March 1, 2010 - March 26, 2010
This course will allow participants to explore the issues that need to be considered when planning for climate controls including monitoring, testing, environmental analysis assessments, long-range planning, systems design, construction support, and operations training. Low cost-low tech solutions will be offered and discussed, providing participants with the background knowledge to assist them in making informed decisions that can be implemented at their own institutions.
Basic Preservation, Care & Handling of Paper Based Materials with Michele Phillips
April 5, 2010 - April 30, 2010
Learn the mechanics behind the degradation of paper materials and how through passive activities and techniques you can slow down the march of time and safeguard your collections.
Conservation & Preservation of Photographs and Albums with Gary Albright
May 3, 2010 - May 28, 2010
Students will learn about photographs and their many formats - black & white, color, negative, prints, and albums. We will review the major processes, how to identify and date them, how to recognize their deterioration, and what can be done to preserve them.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Vermont Already Planning Civil War Sesquicentennial
April 12, 2011 will mark the 150th Anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and the Vermont Historical Society (VHS) has already begun leading the statewide planning effort for the Vermont Civil War Sesquicentennial Commemoration. With educational institutions, state agencies and other nonprofit organizations, VHS will be developing plans for programs that will explore and celebrate the role of the Green Mountain State in this bloody conflict.
Statewide events, such as an encampment of Civil War reenactors and a major conference, as well as activities that will explore the Civil War stories in communities throughout Vermont are under consideration. The VHS are also working with the Vermont Governor's office to create a Vermont Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission that will coordinate planning and implementation throughout the multi-year commemoration.
The second article in Vermont's 1777 constitution, abolished slavery, making it the first state to do so. As a result of Vermont's abolitionists tendencies, more than 28,100 Vermonters served in Vermont volunteer units and nearly 5,000 others served in other states' units, in the United States Army or the United States Navy. A total of 166 African American Vermonters served out of a population of just 709 in the entire state.
The first military action seen by Vermonters was at the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861, where a battalion of the 1st Vermont Infantry was engaged. The 1st Vermont Cavalry regiment participated in more than 70 engagements.
Following the Confederate raid on St. Albans on October 19, 1864, Vermont fielded two companies of Frontier Cavalry, who spent six months on the Canadian border to prevent further incursions from Confederate raiders.
Sixty-four Vermonters received the Medal of Honor, including Willie Johnston, the youngest person ever to receive this award.
Farmers’ Museum Candlelight Evening December 20th
Candlelight Evening, a regular holiday tradition now in its 30th year, will be held Sunday, December 20, from 3:00 to 7:00 pm at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown. During the event the grounds of the Museum take on a magical appearance, decorated in greenery and illuminated by thousands of candles. Visitors can ride through the museum in wagons pulled by draft horses with full sets of harness bells. Complimentary wassail, warmed in kettles over open fires, is served throughout the afternoon and evening. Caroling is scheduled throughout the event. Visit with Saint Nicholas at the Filer’s Corners Schoolhouse from 4:30 to 5:00pm and again from 5:30 to 6:00 pm. Members of the Congregation of the Christ Episcopal Church will present “A Living Nativity,” with performances at 5:00, 5:20, 5:40 and 6:00 pm at the Morey Barn. (Seating is limited.)
An array of seasonal musical programs will take place at the Cornwallville Church including performances by the Catskill Chamber Singers, the Catskill Choral Society Girls’ Choir, and the Northern Comforts Men’s Quartet throughout the evening. Enjoy caroling with Ron Johnson in the More House. The Cooperstown Central School Band will perform on the porch of Bump Tavern and Leatherstocking Brass will entertain at the South End of the Main Barn.
At Filer’s Corners Schoolhouse, children will enjoy arts and crafts activities from 3:00 to 4:15 pm. The Empire State Carousel will be open for rides throughout the event. Todd’s General Store and The Farmers’ Museum Shop will be open with holiday-inspired merchandise.
Hearty, warm chili and soups, gingerbread cookies, brownies, and a variety of hot beverages will be on sale in the heated Louis C. Jones Center in the Museum’s Main Barn and also in the Williams Carriage House next to Bump Tavern.
Candlelight Evening visitors should dress warmly and wear boots. The use of the shuttle system system is encouraged, as parking is very limited on the museum grounds. There will be free shuttle service from The Otesaga Hotel on Route 80; the Elementary School parking lot; the Red Trolley Lot located off Route 28 (Glen Ave.); the Yellow Trolley Lot, on Lake Road, Route 80, above the Fenimore Art Museum; Doubleday Parking Lot, and a pick up point near the entrance to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, to The Farmers’ Museum throughout the evening.
Admission is $11 for adults; $9.50 for seniors; and $5.00 for children ages 7-12. Members and children under 6 years of age receive free admission.
Photo: Candles by Alan Lincourt; courtesy The Farmers' Museum.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
28 Properties Recommended for Historic Register
The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended the addition of 28 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including such nationally significant sites as the National Grid Building in downtown Syracuse, the Bird Homestead in Westchester County, and a French and Indian War archaeological site in Saratoga County.
State and National Historic Register listing can assist property owners in revitalizing the structures, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits. The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archeology and culture of New York State and the nation. There are 90,000 historic buildings, structures and sites throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.
Once the recommendations are approved by the state historic preservation officer, the properties are listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed and, once approved, entered on the National Register.
STATE REVIEW BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS
Broome County
Vestal Central School, Vestal – a distinctive 1939 Art Deco school built as part of the town's centralization program to accommodate a fast-growing population and designed by one of the region's prestigious architectural firms.
Chemung County
John Brand Jr. House (Parkside Apartments), Elmira – a distinguished and largely intact example of a large-scale Queen Anne/Shingle style residence built around 1890.
William S. Gerity House, Elmira – a large-scale Queen Anne/Eastlake style residence built around 1880 that is likely the work of Thomas Gerity, William's father and a prominent contractor responsible for many of Elmira's major buildings.
Erie County
Alling & Corey Warehouse, Buffalo – the 1910 building is an excellent and early Buffalo example of the type of reinforced concrete industrial buildings that came to be known as the "Daylight Factory."
Buffalo Trunk Manufacturing Building, Buffalo -- a 1901 "slow-burn" masonry and wood factory that embodies the characteristics of a turn-of- the-twentieth-century industrial building constructed in manner to safeguard against the ravages of factory fires.
The Kamman Building, Building – the 1883 commercial building is a rare survivor of the Hydraulics/Larkin Neighborhood, one of Buffalo's earliest, distinct neighborhoods, and Buffalo's first manufacturing district, founded in the 1820s, which was an important self-contained neighborhood with a mix of industrial, commercial and residential architecture through the mid-20th century.
Essex County
Willsboro School, Willsboro – the 1927 Neoclassical style school building retains a high level of its original standardized school building design of the period.
Fulton County
Oppenheim and St. Johnsville Union Society Church, Crum Creek – a highly intact, representative example of vernacular religious architecture in rural Fulton County constructed in 1853.
Herkimer County
Overlook, Little Falls – the High Victorian house was built in 1889 for David H. Burrell, whose dairy industry inventions and innovations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries helped make Little Falls one of the most important cheese-producing centers in the United States.
Kings County
The Jewish Center of Kings Highway, Midwood – built in 1928-30, the Neo-Classical synagogue dates from a period when Brooklyn had emerged as one of the world's major Jewish population centers and combines religious facilities with classrooms, a social hall, and a gymnasium, as was characteristic of the "Jewish Center" movement.
Kingsway Jewish Center, Midwood – built in 1951, it is an example of a post-World War II modern synagogue in Brooklyn.
Young Israel of Flatbush – built in 1925-29 for an Orthodox Jewish congregation, the Moorish Revival synagogue reflects an international trend to adapt the more ‘Eastern' Moorish-style to synagogue design.
Monroe County
First Baptist Church of Mumford – a largely intact representative example of vernacular Greek Revival style church architecture built in 1852 for a rural Protestant congregation.
Teoronto Block Historic District, Rochester – the well-preserved examples of mid-19th century commercial architecture reflect the city's rapid growth as a mill center and Erie Canal boomtown.
Onondaga County
The Niagara Hudson Building (National Grid Building), Syracuse – completed in 1932, the headquarters for then the nation's largest electric utility company is an outstanding example of Art Deco architecture and a symbol of the Age of Electricity.
Onondaga Highlands-Swaneola Heights Historic District, Syracuse – a turn-of-the-twentieth-century subdivision where the rolling topography, uniform building setback, and popular residential styles form a cohesive neighborhood that retains its architectural integrity.
Orange County
Newburgh Colored Burial Ground, Newburgh – an archeological site with great potential to yield information about the city's mid-19th century African-American population.
Walsh-Havemeyer House, New Windsor – the Greek Revival influenced house was built around 1835 for a family who operated one of the region's early industries on the adjacent Quassaic Creek.
Lower Dock Hill Road Stone Arch Bridge, Cornwall-on-Hudson – an early example of 19th century stone arch bridge construction.
St. Lawrence County
First Congregational Church of Madrid – the 1890 Eastlake-style church building has been the spiritual and social center for the oldest congregational church society in St. Lawrence County.
Sunday Rock, Colton – public outcry has twice saved the 64,000 pound glacial boulder, a natural traveler's landmark for centuries, from demolition to make way for construction of State Highway 56.
Saratoga County
The Royal Blockhouse – built in 1758 in the vicinity of Fort Edward, the Royal Blockhouse was a key part of one of the largest British military complexes in North America at the beginning of the French and Indian War, and its remnants are likely to yield a wealth of archaeological information about 18th century military practices.
Schenectady County
Ronsendale Common School, Niskayuna – the rural school building, which served students from its construction in the 1850s until 1915, retains an exceptionally high degree of architectural integrity in a rural setting despite rapid commercial and residential development in the town.
Steuben County
Atlanta Presbyterian Church, Atlanta – a well-preserved example of Queen Anne-style church architecture which reflects Atlanta's late-nineteenth century prosperity as an important local transportation, food processing and commercial center.
Ulster County
Lattingtown Baptist Church, Marlborough – Constructed circa 1810, in what was the original center of activity for the town of Marlborough, the Federal period meeting house style church is closely associated with the settlement, growth and development of this riverside town.
Warren County
Methodist Episcopal Church, Stony Creek – Built in 1856-59, the building is a good example of wood frame church architecture in a small Adirondack cross-roads settlement.
Westchester County
The Bird Homestead, Rye – the 1835 Greek Revival was the home of Henry Bird and sons Roland T. Bird and Junius Bird, three prominent scientists who made discoveries of national significance in the fields of entomology, paleontology, and archeology respectively, and were leading members of the American Museum of Natural History.
Tuckahoe High School, Tuckahoe – the 1930-31 school is an outstanding example of Art Deco public architecture, reflecting the importance of education to its suburban community.
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Frederick Douglass Book Prize Submission Sought
Yale University's Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition has announced the twelfth annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize, a $25,000 award for the most outstanding nonfiction book published in English in 2009 on the subject of slavery and/or abolition and antislavery movements. Publishers and authors are invited to submit books that meet these criteria.
The center is interested in all geographical areas and time periods, however, works related to the Civil War are acceptable only if their primary focus relates to slavery or emancipation. The submission deadline is April 2, 2010.
For information on submitting books e-mail them at gilder.lehrman.center@yale.edu.
A list of past winners can be found at www.yale.edu/glc.
Photo: The Black Community at Hurricane Garden Cottage, Davis Bend, courtesy New-York Historical Society.
Monday, December 14, 2009
NYS 2009 Historic Preservation Awards Announced
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has announced the recipients of the 2009 New York State Historic Preservation Awards. Established in 1980 to honor excellence in the protection and rejuvenation of New York's historic and cultural resources, this year's winning projects included several buildings adapted or rehabilitated for affordable housing and one that created affordable work spaces for small manufacturers.
Not-For-Profit Achievement:
The Public Policy Program, Preservation League of New York State for outstanding leadership and commitment to the development and enactment of the New York State Historic Preservation Tax Credit legislation. A multi-year effort came to fruition when legislation expanding the New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credits was approved and signed into law in July, 2009. The new law offers financial assistance to homeowners and commercial developers.
The League used one of the first applications of GIS mapping to demonstrate the potential impact of legislation during an advocacy process. Mapping and analysis demonstrated the degree to which residents and building owners would benefit from the legislation.
Individual Achievement:
The late Raymond V. Beecher. When the Thomas Cole house in Catskill was placed on the market in 1979, Mr. Beecher, of Coxsackie, saw past the immediate obstacles to restoring the house and property. He envisioned the site as a viable historic resource and led the Greene County Historical Society's purchase and restoration of the property. The site was designated a National Historic Site in 1999 and opened to the public in 2001.
Mr. Beecher held a number of positions in the community including Greene County Historian, Town of Coxsackie Historian, leadership roles in the Greene County Historical Society for over 50 years and librarian at the Vedder Research Library. A prolific researcher and author, Mr. Beecher understood the importance of documenting the full record of Greene County's built heritage. In order to raise awareness and encourage the preservation of this heritage, he initiated the establishment of the Historical Society's Greene County Historical Register in 1990. The organization has just published the first volume of listed properties. Mr. Beecher died in October, 2008.
Project Achievement:
Knox Street Apartments, Albany for an outstanding rehabilitation project and commitment to community revitalization. WINNDevelopment Company of Rochester, NY and Boston worked in partnership with the City of Albany and the Capital City Housing Development Fund Corporation on an Urban Renewal Plan for Park South Neighborhood. The first implementation phase of the project was the rehabilitation of 18 rowhouses on Knox Street. Project consultants included The Architectural Team, Keith Construction, and Landmark Consulting.
Financing for the affordable housing project included Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits and low income housing tax credits. The rehabilitation has proven to be a catalyst for other neighborhood projects. These included the rehabilitation of one rowhouse whose owner qualified for the first use of the New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credits for homeowners.
221 McKibben Street, Brooklyn, for an outstanding rehabilitation project and commitment to community revitalization. Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) rehabilitated the building for affordable work spaces for small manufacturing firms. Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits and New Market Tax credits were two key financing tools. Project partners included New York City-based preservation consultants Higgins and Quasebarth, OCV Architects, Westerman Construction and PCF State Restoration.
Residential development pressures have forced many Brooklyn businesses and small manufacturing firms to close or move. By preserving an industrial site for continued use, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center is preserving the industrial heritage of Brooklyn.
Park Lane Apartments at Sea View, Former Nurses' Residence of Sea View Hospital, Staten Island, for an outstanding adaptive use project and commitment to community revitalization. The Arker Companies and The Domain Companies developed the former dormitory into affordable senior housing units with the help of Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits. Other project partners were Building Conservation Associates and Hugo S. Subotovsky, Architects, LLC. The Sea View hospital campus was constructed from 1913 to 1938 for the treatment of tuberculosis, and it was the site of clinical trials that led to the cure for the disease.
The project was the first historic structure to be funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's affordable green design initiative program.
Packard Building, Buffalo, for an outstanding adaptive use project and commitment to community revitalization. Regan Development adapted the 1926 Packard Automobile Showroom and storage facility into affordable housing units and commercial space. Hamilton Houston, Lownie, Architects and Resetarits Construction were the consultants. The work was funded in part by Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits and affordable housing tax credits.
The partners took extra efforts to preserve the building's distinct character. The architects searched nationwide for a firm to custom design replacement windows. In addition, the developers chose to retain and stabilize the building's water tower, recognizing it as one of the landmark structure's distinguishing features.
Public Sector Achievement:
The Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council and the Western Erie Canal Alliance for commitment to the field of historic preservation as a tool for community revitalization. The partnership of the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council and the Western Erie Canal Alliance is a model for a comprehensive, regional approach to economic development programs and historic preservation programs.
The Council and the Alliance focus many of their programs on smaller communities where municipal staff may not have the benefit of historic preservation training. Their regional approach is particularly appropriate for encouraging municipalities to collaborate on the community preservation and development programs instead of trying to address economic challenges in a vacuum.
The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), which is part of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, helps communities identify, recognize, and preserve their historic resources, and incorporate them into local improvement and economic development activities. The SHPO administers several programs including the state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credit program, state historic preservation grants, the Certified Local Government program, and the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places, which are the official lists of properties significant in the history, architecture, and archeology of the state and nation.
Correction History Society: NYS's Last Hanging Exhibit
At the Raymond Street Jail in the City of Brooklyn, New York State's last execution by hanging took place 120 years ago last week. German immigrant John Greenwall, a tailor by trade and a thief by rap sheet and reputation, was hanged for the murder of Manhattan hat firm senior staffer Lyman Smith Weeks during a burglary of the victim's DeKalb Avenue home on March 15, 1887. After Greenwall's hanging Dec. 6, 1889, all capital sentences in the state were carried out by electrocution.
To note that date marking the transition from "the noose" to "the chair" in capital punishment history, the New York Correction History Society (NYCHS) has unveiled a two-part online presentation entitled "Brooklyn Jail Scene of NYS' Last Hanging Execution 120 Years Ago Dec. 6th" that examines the case in detail. The study raises questions about the prosecutorial conduct and judicial rulings that resulted, after two trials, in the condemned man's state-implemented death.
The presentation also relates how Greenwall's jail staff friend, an African-American porter, attempted to prove the convict innocent in a most bizarre way. Also, how the jail's Catholic chaplain purchased a burial plot for Greenwall in East Flatbush's Holy Cross Cemetery where 27 years later the priest himself was buried, having died a few days after being victimized by a anarchist's attempt to poison hundreds at a Chicago dinner to honor a newly-named archbishop.
Photo: The Raymond Street Jail which closed July 20, 1963. Photo from Page 36 of NYC Dept. of Correction 1956 annual report, courtesy New York Correction History Society.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Theodore Roosevelt: The Wilderness Warrior
A new book on Teddy Roosevelt by New York Times bestselling historian Douglas Brinkley is described by the publisher as "a sweeping historical narrative and eye-opening look at the pioneering environmental policies of President Theodore Roosevelt, avid bird-watcher, naturalist, and the founding father of America’s conservation movement." For those interested in the Adirondack region, this new biography
Brinkley draws on never-before-published materials for his look at the life of what he calls our "naturalist president." Launching from conservation work as New York State Governor, TR set aside more than 230 million acres of American wild lands between 1901 and 1909, and helped popularize the conservation of wild places.
Brinkley's new book singles out the influential contributions of James Audubon, Charles Darwin, and John Muir in shaping Roosevelt's view of the natural world. Some of the most interesting parts of the book relate to TR's relationship with Dr. C. Hart Merriam, who reviewed the future president's The Summer Birds of the Adirondacks in 1877; Merriam's own The Mammals of the Adirondacks Region of Northeastern New York, published in 1884, was duly praised by TR.
Merriam and Roosevelt later worked successfully to reverse the declining Adirondack deer population (they brought whitetail from Maine), and to outlaw jack-lighting and hunting deer with dogs and so helped establish the principles of wildlife management by New York State.
During his political stepping-stone term as 33rd Governor of New York (1899-1900) TR made the forests of the state a focus of his policies. He pushed against "the depredations of man," the recurrent forest fires, and worked to strengthen fish and game laws. Roosevelt provided stewardship of the state's forests and the Adirondack Park in particular, that led to the most progressive conservation and wilderness protection laws in the country.
TR also worked to replace political hacks on the New York Fisheries, Game, and Forest Commission (forerunner of the DEC), according to Brinkley, and replaced them with highly trained "independent-minded biologists, zoologists, entomologists, foresters, sportsman hunters, algae specialists, trail guides, botanists, and activists for clean rivers." To help pay the bill he pushed for higher taxes on corporations while also pursuing a progressive politics - what Brinkley calls "an activist reformist agenda."
The book ranges with Roosevelt to Yellowstone, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Dakota Territory, and the Big Horn Mountains. It does capture Roosevelt's time in the Adirondacks, but its' strength is in putting that time into the larger context of Roosevelt's life as a wilderness conservationist. For example, TR's opposition to the Utica Electric Light Company's Adirondack incursions is only mentioned in passing, though Brinkley's treatment of the relationship between Gifford Pinchot and TR is more developed. An index entry - "Adirondack National Park" - is lightly misused bringing into concern how much Brinkley really appreciates the impact of Roosevelt's Adirondack experiences (both in-country and in Albany) on his wilderness ethic.
All in all, however, Wilderness Warrior is a well written collection of the strands of Roosevelt's conservationist ideas, woven into a readable narrative. Considering TR's role in so many disciplines related to our forests, that's no mean feat.
Friday, December 11, 2009
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
- Farmers' Museum: Putting Down Winter Vegetables
- Terra Daily: New Volcano Contributed To Cold Decade
- National Geographic: Top 10 Archaeology Finds
- Mindful Walker: World's Fair Terrazzo Map: En Route To Recovery?
- Tenement Museum Blog: Privy Shed is Here
- Preservation Nation: Arson Destroys 1796 Vt General Store
- Old Salt Blog: Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
- History News Network: TR's Secret Deal with Japan
- Ephemeral NY: When 'Little Egypt' Scandalized NYC
- Historiann: 20th Anniversary of Montreal Massacre
- Great Lives In History: Lillian Russell
- Sans Everything: From Irish Simian to Homer Simpson
- Inside the Apple: Boss Tweed Escapes!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Call for Papers: New Jersey Forum
The New Jersey Historical Commission, the NJ State Archives, and the NJ State Museum invite proposals for research papers to be delivered at the New Jersey Forum, to be held on Saturday, November 20, 2010. Held every other year, the New Jersey Forum provides an opportunity for college and university faculty, teachers, graduate students, independent scholars, museum professionals, historical society members, and all others with an interest in New Jersey studies to present new research to their peers.
This interdisciplinary conference defines New Jersey studies broadly, covering not only traditional state history, but also archaeology, geography, fine and decorative arts, material culture, the humanities, literature, ethnic studies, the history of science and technology, labor and industry, public policy, religious history, and popular culture—all with special emphasis on new scholars and scholarship.
If you would like to present a research paper at the Forum, email a proposal to the following address: peter.mickulas@sos.state.nj.us
This proposal must include:
1) the title of the paper
2) contact information (address, telephone, e-mail)
3) a one-paragraph bio
4) an abstract of no more than 500 words
5) any audio-visual requirements for presenting your paper
You can also suggest a panel with two papers. Please include the information requested above for each proposed panelist. All information must be provided by e-mail. The deadline for receipt of proposals is December 15, 2009. All proposals will be referred to an advisory committee, which will select the papers to be presented at the Forum. Notifications of acceptance will be sent in February 2010.
Accepted papers may be considered for publication in the Commission-sponsored journal, New Jersey History.
The New Jersey Forum is sponsored by the three history-related agencies of the New Jersey Department of State: the Historical Commission, the State Archives, and the State Museum.
For more information contact Peter Mickulas at the above email address.
Exhibit Celebrates Vermont Jewish Women
An exhibit made celebrating Vermont Jewish Women will be on display at the Vermont's History Museum in Montpelier January 14 - March 31. Eighteen large panels depicting the life stories of 20 Jewish women from all walks of life, ages 12 to 101, who live and work in communities from Brattleboro to St. Johnsbury, Burlington to Andover, and Rutland to Woodstock will be on display. Each woman's story is illustrated with a large photographic portrait, archival photos, an essay, and selected quotes and anecdotes in the women's own words.
There will be an opening reception on Thursday, January 14th from 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm with the exhibit creators -- Ann Buffum and Sandra Gartner -- as well as some of their subjects. The reception will also celebrate the Vermont Women's History Project as it passes from the Vermont's Commission on Women to its new home at the Vermont Historical Society. For more information, contact Tess Taylor at 802-479-8505.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
National Archives Launches New Online Print Shop
The National Archives has announced that it is partnering with Pictopia in a new online Print Shop. Prints of more than 1,200 historical and contemporary photographs, World War I and II posters, drawings and sketches, maps, and ship plans are now available for purchase online. The images are reproduced on archival paper from digital files housed at the National Archives.
Customers can order a print, custom framed or unframed, in a variety of sizes, as well as gift items such as mugs, ornaments, and puzzles that feature the image of their choice. New images will continue to be added to the collection regularly.
Highlights of the introductory collection include:
* Portfolios of some of the nation’s finest photographers, including Ansel Adams, Mathew Brady, Lewis Hine, and Dorothea Lange
* Photographs of the American City—its development and its people and their way of life from the early 19th century to recent times
* Drawings of early sailing ships from the Charles Ware collection
* Architectural drawings of Cape Hatteras, Cape Canaveral, and Execution Rocks lighthouses among others
* Patent drawings for household products, design trademarks, and curious inventions
* Photographs and watercolor sketches of famous American monuments, including the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Statue of Liberty
* Watercolor illustrations of 19th-century landscapes of the American West
* World War I and II posters from the records of the U.S. Food Administration and the Office of Government Reports
Photo: A U.S. Coast Guard drawing of the lighthouse on Montauk Point, Long Island.
