- NYPL: History of the Name Spuyten Duyvil
- City Room: Turn-of-the-Century Twain Twitter Posts
- Virtual Dime Museum: The Brooklyn Jail Gazette
- Kinetic Carnival: Coney Island Preservation Threats Immediate
- NCPR: Adirondack Regional History on Radio
- Farmers' Museum: 15 Minutes of Fame For Cardiff Giant
- Bowery Boys: Coney's Elephant Hotel
- American Folk Art: Asa Ames Woodcarvings
- Bowery Boys: On Mark Twain
- Brooklynology: Six Special Canines
Friday, April 30, 2010
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
By Editorial Staff
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- Malcolm X Assassin Paroled
- Cornell Archaeologist: Noah's Ark Find 'A Crock'
- 300 Million Names Added to LDS Database
- NYC Rooftop Farming Boom
- Handwritten Lennon Lyrics to Auction
- Adirondacks Are Most Seismically Active
- New Doc on Lake George Shipwrecks
- Museum Plans Remington Library
- Historic Figures Called Livingston Farm Home
- Inez Milholland Portrait Restoration Planned
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Exhibit: John Lindsay, The Reinvention New York
By Editorial Staff
America's Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention New York, an exhibition on view at the Museum of the City of New York from May 5 through October 3, 2010, will examine the controversial career and dramatic times of New York's 103rd mayor. The exhibition presents John V. Lindsay's efforts to govern a city that was undergoing dramatic changes and that was at the center of the upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s; it will highlight Mayor Lindsay’s ambitious initiatives to redefine New York's government, economy, culture, and public life. Through his outspoken championship of urban values, commitment to civil rights, and opposition to the Vietnam war, Lindsay emerged as a national figure in a troubled and exhilarating era; yet the costs of his approach included the alienation of many members of the white working class and an increasingly out-of-control city budget.
America’s Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York will be launched with a symposium moderated by Sam Roberts on May 4, 2010 at 5:30 pm. to be followed by an opening reception. A companion publication of the same title accompanies the exhibition; it is co-published by the Museum and the Columbia University Press and is edited by Sam Roberts.
Exhibition Overview: “City in Crisis”
The exhibition will open with a sketch of the problems facing the city in 1965, the year that Lindsay first ran for mayor, in which a New York Herald Tribune series declared New York to be a “city in crisis.” Problems included poverty, racial tensions, a failing education system, crumbling infrastructure, and questionable accounting practices. Television commercials created by David Garth for the Lindsay campaign will be on view at the beginning of the exhibition; these highlighted his youth and charismatic good looks. He campaigned as a fresh alternative to the Democratic establishment and backroom politics, and as a candidate ready to take on the problems of the city, to embrace minority communities, and to use government to change New York for the better. Lindsay’s bold campaign will be documented through posters, fliers, bumper stickers, buttons, cartoons, and documents including a handwritten schedule showing his speaking schedule in New York's ethnic neighborhoods.
The exhibition will go on to show that Lindsay’s inauguration as mayor threw him directly into a cauldron of race, class, and political tensions. This section of America’s Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York will open with his first day in office, when the first transit strike against the New York City Transit Authority paralyzed buses and subways for 12 days. The dramatic confrontation between Lindsay and Michael J. Quill of the Transit Workers Union highlighted the risks of Lindsay’s new labor strategy, and ultimately, despite Mayor Lindsay’s tough talk, the settlement led to a victory for the TWU that paved the way for expensive contracts with other municipal workers during both of Lindsay’s two terms.
“Two Cities, Separate and Unequal”
In the years that followed, Lindsay engaged other volatile issues of a city transformed by increasing unrest. A major focus of the exhibition will be his bold initiatives with the black community; through photographs, video, and original documents, the exhibition will show Lindsay’s commitment to reaching out to minority neighborhoods and to addressing the problems of what he called “two cities, separate and unequal.” A particularly dramatic part of this section of the exhibition will be a rare photograph of Lindsay visiting the streets of Harlem on the night of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and video of his press conference the next day. Lindsay’s relations with black New Yorkers are credited with helping to prevent wide scale riots like those that devastated other American cities.
On the other hand, as the exhibition shows, Lindsay’s efforts to aid the black community and to enhance community control led to racially charged controversies such as the fight over civilian review of the police, the Ocean Hill-Brownville school crisis, and white middle-class anger over failure to plow the snow from the streets in the outer boroughs that almost cost him reelection in 1969. Yet at the same time, in the atmosphere of the growing militancy of the late 1960s, as expressed in the movements for women’s rights, gay rights, Latino rights, and against the Vietnam war, Lindsay emerged as a hero to many because of his support of the antiwar movement, his defense of free speech, and his championship of justice for the disempowered. The exhibition showcases pro- and anti-Lindsay picket signs, fliers, buttons, and photographs of demonstrations on a variety of causes.
Another section of the exhibition will explore Lindsay’s ambitious efforts to remake city government for the people and by the people. His approach included expanding the role of government in public welfare, including: increased services, ranging from open enrollment in the city universities to air-conditioning subway cars; ambitious public health initiatives, such as anti-lead poisoning campaigns and drug addiction clinics; pioneering regulatory agencies to protect the public good, such as the nation’s first Environmental Protection agency and the nation’s first Consumer Affairs agency; and groundbreaking focus on urban design in planning, creating special zoning districts and using such tools as incentive zoning and banking air rights to leverage private development dollars to achieve public ends. This section of the exhibition will show striking renderings of built and proposed initiatives such as the proposed Madison Avenue pedestrian mall, Manhattan landing, and the South Street Special District. It will also highlight Lindsay’s emphasis on community participation and decentralization, through tools such as “Little City Halls” in the neighborhoods and community planning boards.
These new and expanded programs were expensive, however, and the exhibition will explore the spiraling costs of welfare, education, generous labor contracts, and other municipal services, along with the diminution of resources to pay for them, as the national economy entered recession and the support of the federal and state government was scaled back. The exhibition will present the debate over the management of the budget by Lindsay and the city comptroller, Abraham Beame, who would go on to be the 104th mayor of the city and in whose term the financial chicanery involving the city’s budget brought New York to the brink of bankruptcy. The exhibition will conclude with an examination of the evaluation of Lindsay’s effect on the city.
A number of other major initiatives will be taking place in conjunction with the exhibition; these include a PBS documentary, The Lindsay Years, which is scheduled to air on WNET/Channel 13 on May 6th. In addition to public programs organized by the Museum of the City of New York throughout the run of the exhibition, a series of special programs are being organized by the Museum in conjunction with other New York institutions. With John Jay College of Criminal Justice (www.jjay.cuny.edu), the topic of criminal justice and law enforcement will be discussed; with the Paley Center for Media (www.paleycenter.org) Mayor Lindsay’s relationship with the press will be explored and with the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College (the Mayor’s urban management innovations will be reassessed). For information and reservations, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu, www.paleycenter.org, and/or www.zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu.
Photo: John Lindsay. Courtesy Wikipedia.
Jamesport State Park Draft Master Plan Released
By Editorial Staff
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has completed a Draft Master Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Jamesport State Park in Suffolk County. A public hearing on the plan will be held Tuesday, May 18th at 6:30pm at the Naugles Barn located at the Hallockville Museum Farm, 6038 Sound Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901.
The master plan outlines OPRHP's vision for potential capital improvements, operational enhancements and natural and cultural resource stewardship within Jamesport State Park for the next ten to fifteen years. Availability of funding, the need to invest in rehabilitation of existing park infrastructure, and other pressing needs in the entire state parks system will influence the timing and implementation of the improvements.
Copies of the Draft Plan/DEIS are available for review at the Wildwood State Park office, the offices of the agency contacts listed below and at the Riverhead Public Library, 330 Court Street, Riverhead, NY 11901. An online version is available at: http://www.nysparks.com/news/publicdocuments/.
People unable to attend the meeting may submit written comments by Friday, June 11 to one of the following:
Jamesport.Plan@oprhp.state.ny.us
Ronald Foley, Regional Director
NYS OPRHP Long Island Region Regional Headquarters
625 Belmont Ave
Babylon NY 11704
Thomas B. Lyons, Director
Resource Management
NYS OPRHP
Empire State Plaza
Agency Building 1
Albany, NY 12238
(518) 474-0409
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Adirondack History Center Annouces 2010 Schedule
By Editorial Staff
The Adirondack History Center Museum, located in the old school building at the corner of Route 9N and Hand Avenue in Elizabethtown, Essex County, has announced it's 2010 Season of events and exhibits.
In addition to the season's events, the museum displays artifacts from over two centuries of life in Essex County and the central Adirondacks. The diverse collection includes 18th century artifacts, an 1887 Concord stagecoach, an iron bobsled from the 1932 Olympic Games, a 58 foot Fire Observation Tower to climb, a colonial garden patterned after the gardens of Hampton Court, England and Colonial Williamsburg, and more.
The Museum is open 10am - 5pm, 7 days a week from late May through mid-October. The Brewster Library is open all year by appointment only. Admission: Adults $5, Seniors $4, Students $2. Ages 6 and under are free.
The 2010 Schedule includes:
Exhibits
A Sign of the Times May 29- October 31
Curators have mined the museum’s collection, scoured the region, and called upon the citizens of Essex County to gather SIGNS! The exhibit focuses on SIGNS - all things that convey ideas, information, commands, designations or directions. Displayed wall to wall and ceiling to floor this exhibit prompts the viewer to discuss and ponder facts, purposes, qualities, and gestures conveyed by signs.
Swan Furniture June 19 – October 31
This exhibit highlights the Swans and their craftsmanship as important symbols of Westport and Wadhams cultural heritage. The furniture places the Swans into historical context as representatives of our human landscape. A unique blend of pieces provides visitors an opportunity to reflect on the furniture as art objects and artifacts in a museum setting.
ACNA Cover Art Show Sept. 20 – October 31
The 23rd year of the Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks (ACNA) Cover Art Show featuring local artists. Thirty donated artworks for a Silent Auction are included in the exhibition. The winning Cover Art show piece is to be raffled at "Field, Forest and Stream Day" on September 25th, 2010.
Events
Can History be Reconciled? A Conversation on Compassion & Courage
July 9, 4pm
Whether we’re reading the esoteric histories of others or dealing with our own, some issues are difficult to grasp and process. Don Papson, President of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association, will engage the audience in a discussion on compassion and courage in light of oppression, slavery and liberation.
Lecture: Captain Brown’s Birthday Party by Amy Godine
July 11, 4 pm
From 1922 into the 1960s, black pilgrims from northern cities joined ranks with white Adirondackers to honor the May 9 birthday of the militant abolitionist John Brown with speeches, concerts, sermons and prayers, earning Lake Placid a reputation as an oasis of interracial tranquility in the age of Jim Crow. How was each group able to find common cause in John Brown? How did each group use the other to promote its own agenda? And whose version of John Brown prevails at his home and gravesite in North Elba, a state-managed historic site since 1897? Join us to hear Historian Amy Godine answer these questions and examine the struggle it both enabled and concealed over John Brown's public image and the meaning of freedom itself.
Fundraiser: Elizabethtown Historic Slide Show for the Town Hall Stained Glass Window Project
July 18, 4 pm
Back with added photographs and materials, local historian, Margaret Bartley, is offering the Elizabethtown Historic Slide Show for a second year as part of the Elizabethtown Day celebration. Proceeds from this event benefit the restoration of the Elizabethtown Town Hall stained glass windows, a project of Historic Pleasant Valley and the Essex County Historical Society. Any and all donations are welcome.
Museum Benefit: Come as you ART
July 24, 8pm
An evening of dance, delicacies, and expressive dress. Design and create your own clothing. Let your artistic side or a work of art inspire your attire. Music provided by the Chrome Cowboys.
Performance: Bits & Pieces
About a Bridge
Fridays: July 30, Aug 6 & 13, 11am / Sunday August 1, 4pm
This theatrical elegy weaves together voices from the life of the Champlain Bridge.
Lecture: Asanath Nicholson: Adirondack Teacher and World Humanitarian by Maureen Murphy
August 8, 4 pm
Maureen Murphy, Professor of Curriculum and Teaching in the School of Education in Health and Human Services at Hofstra University conveys the history of Asenath Hatch Nicholson, an early 19th century woman, schoolteacher, health reformer, traveler, writer, evangelist, social worker and peace activist. Asenath Hatch Nicholson (1792-1855), born in Chelsea, Vermont, made her way across Lake Champlain to Elizabethtown, New York. At age 21, she started a boarding school on Water Street for students from the town and neighboring farms. While in Elizabethtown, she met her husband Norman Nicholson, a local widower with a young family. The couple moved to New York City where Nicholson became a disciple of the health reformer Sylvester Graham. Nicholson opened a Grahamite boarding house and worked among the poor. After she was widowed, she set out from New York on a fifteen-month visit to Ireland to “investigate the condition of the Irish poor,” reading the Bible to country people, and sharing their hospitality, leaving us with a glimpse of Ireland on the eve of the Great Irish Famine in her book Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger (1847).
Festival: Field, Forest & Stream Sept 25, 10-3:30
A harvest festival sponsored by the Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks and the Elizabethtown-Lewis Chamber of Commerce featuring demonstrations and exhibits by regional craftspeople, antique dealers, storytellers and musical performances.
New Netherland Event:
From Vrienden to Wilden (Friends to Savages)
By Editorial Staff
When the Dutch settlers came to New Netherland in the 1600s, the Native Americans they met were their "vrienden." After a while, the Indians were called "wilden." How did the friends turn from friends to savages?
Stephen T. Staggs, a doctoral candidate in history at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mich., has been studying just that question. He will talk about "From Vrienden to Wilden (Friends to Savages)" at the 23rd Annual Meeting of the New Netherland Institute (NNI) Saturday, May 15, at 12 noon at the University Club, 141 Washington Ave., Albany.
Registration for the meeting is open to the public. The cost of the lunch is $22, payable by mail or at the NNI website at nnp.org. Details of the meeting are available at http://www.nnp.org or by calling the NNI office in the Cultural Education Center, .
Staggs has studied the effect of the Dutch Calvinist concepts on relations between the Dutch settlers and the Indians, analyzing the terminology the provincial secretaries and directors of the colony chose to describe their Indian neighbors.
His studies at the New York State Archives were supported by the Doris Quinn-Archives Research Grant, awarded by the NNI and the archives to facilitate research on New Netherland and the Dutch Colonial Atlantic World. He was recently awarded the New York 400 Fulbright Grant for the 2010-2011 academic year to complete the research phase of his project.
Membership in the NNI does not require Dutch ancestry. It is open to anyone with an interest in the history of New Netherland, a 17th-century territory bordered on the north by Fort Orange, now Albany. Included within its boundaries was much of the present states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and western Connecticut.
The NNI was formed as the support organization of the New Netherland Project (NNP), located at the New York State Library in Albany. The mission of the NNP is to transcribe, translate and publish some 12,000 pages of correspondence, court cases, legal contracts and reports from the period 1636 to 1674.
Now the NNP is to be the heart of the New Netherland Research Center (NNRC), a part of the New York State Library. The center has been initiated with a grant of €200,000 brought to Albany by Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima in September. The NNI has the responsibility of administering the grant and raising matching funds.
At the meeting, Charles T. Gehring, director of the new research center and the translation project, will give a report describing his vision for the NNRC as well as the progress of work on the Dutch colonial documents.
James Sefcik, associate for Development and Special Projects, will give an update on the progress of the NNRC, now in its formative stages.
Throughout the year, the NNI carries on a program of activities to enhance awareness of the Dutch history of colonial America. In addition to the annual meeting, the institute sponsors an annual New Netherland Seminar, formerly called the Rensselaerswijck Seminar. This year's seminar will be Saturday, Sept. 25.
The NNI administers a number of awards.
• The Doris Quinn-Archives Research Residency Program, of which Stephen Staggs is the 2009 recipient, grants $2,500. An equal amount is given for the Quinn-Library Research Residency.
• The Hendricks Manuscript Award of $5,000, endowed by Dr. Andrew A. Hendricks, is given for a book-length manuscript relating to the Dutch colonial experience in North America.
• The Alice P. Kenney Memorial Award is for an individual or group that has made a significant contribution to colonial Dutch studies and understanding of the Dutch colonial experience in North America.
• The Howard G. Hageman Citation honors Dr. Howard G. Hageman, a founder of the Friends of the New Netherland Project, now the New Netherland Institute, and its first president from 1986 until his death in 1992.
Details about the institute and the awards are also available at the NNI website, nnp.org.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
New York City Landmarks Law Celebrates 45 Years
By Editorial Staff
In celebration of the forty-fifth anniversary of the New York City Landmarks Law, the New York Preservation Archive Project is launching a new website, landmarks45.org, to encourage recognition of this event and chronicle the past five decades of preservation history. This project is being done in partnership with Historic Districts Council, the Neighborhood Preservation Center and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
Landmarks45.org features a group blog, a calendar of preservation-related events, a publicly editable preservation history wiki, and a dedicated space for preservationists to share their memories, photographs and documents. Users can edit the Preservation History Wiki – a growing chronology of NYC preservation history – or upload their own photographs and documents to the website via the blog comments.
Both individuals and organizations are encouraged to add their work to the record. Examples of material might include the story behind a particular landmarking campaign, notice of a group’s founding, or photographs of a forgotten protest. Contributions will both celebrate the many achievements of New York’s preservationists and help the Archive Project construct a detailed timeline of preservation history.
For further information, visit landmarks45.org or contact info@landmarks45.org.
Finger Lakes Museum Selects Keuka Lake Site
By Editorial Staff
On Thursday, the Finger Lakes Cultural & Natural History Museum Board of Trustees adopted a resolution to select Keuka Lake State Park in Yates County as the future home of the Finger Lakes Museum. The vote was unanimous with one abstention.
After nearly a year of evaluating 19 sites that were originally submitted, the Site Selection Committee, under the direction of chairman Don Naetzker, recommended two sites for the Board’s consideration: Seneca Lake State Park in and adjacent to the City of Geneva, and Keuka Lake State Park near Branchport.
The idea to create a museum to showcase the cultural heritage and ecological history of the 9,000 square-mile Finger Lakes Region was first floated in a Life in the Finger Lakes magazine article by John Adamski in March 2008.
After enlisting ConsultEcon Inc., a Bostonbased market research firm in March, it was determined that the project is viable at either site although for different reasons. Board president, John Adamski added, “While the Seneca Lake site has significant advantages like a central location, the Board determined that the Keuka Lake site more closely met the requirements that were originally established in the Strategic Plan, especially as they relate to natural history programming.”
Among the advantages that he said tipped the scales in favor of the Keuka Lake site are the following:
• There is 700 feet of intimate lakefront with a level, sandy beach.
• The natural history element of the project is predicted to draw the most visitors. The rolling, hilly terrain, ravines, brook, woods, and areas of natural succession that exist there are ideal for wildlife exhibits in natural habitats.
• Several hundred acres of land are available for wildlife habitats and interpretive use—now or in the future.
• A 350-car paved parking lot already exists.
• Keuka College has offered to add Museum Sciences to its curriculum
and become a partner in the educational aspect of the Museum.
• Yates County and Keukaarea business leaders have pledged over $2 million in start-up funding.
In addition, Adamski said, “The Branchport Elementary School, which is presently vacant, has been purchased by the Finger Lakes Visitors Association for use as the Museum’s base of operation during the project’s start-up phases. The building will provide 15,000 square feet for business offices and initial programming as well as storage for the acquisition of artifacts and collections.” Its 13-acre site provides navigable water access to Keuka Lake.
He also stated, “Finger Lakes State Parks and the Finger Lakes Museum Project will undertake a joint master plan for the entire 620acre park. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation has been very cooperative and enthused over the proposal and we look forward to working with them to bring the project to fruition.”
Although the Museum will be built on lands leased from Finger Lakes State Parks, it will remain a privately-owned and mostly privately-funded not-for-profit educational institution.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Adirondack Museum New -Social Media Event May 7th
By Editorial Staff
History related new media / social media writers and producers are invited to gather at the Adirondack Museum on Friday, May 7, 2010 from 5 until 7 pm for a networking event and backstage tour of the Adirondack Museum's exhibit "Let's Eat: Adirondack Food Traditions".
Bloggers, Twitter users, social media writers and producers and new media journalists, will be getting together in the Adirondack Museum's "Living With Wilderness Gallery" for food, drink, and networking, before taking an early behind the scenes look at the Museum's featured 2010 exhibit.
This event is sponsored by the Adirondack Pub and Brewery and the Adirondack Winery and Tasting Room (both in Lake George), the Adirondack Museum, and Adirondack Almanack.
Please RSVP by May 1st to John Warren at adkalmanack@gmail.com
Otsego County: A Historical Introduction Lecture
By Editorial Staff
F. Daniel Larkin will discuss the development of the Otsego County region from the late 18th century to the late 20th century at an evening lecture in the auditorium at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown. The event will take place tomorrow night from 6 to 8 pm; the lecture is free and open to the public.
Larkin's lecture will cover the expansion and movement of people and goods across the region as well as the rise and decline of agriculture, industrialization, and trade. Dr. Larkin is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at SUNY College at Oneonta. The lecture is co-sponsored by Hyde Hall and Hanford Mills Museum.
For more information, contact the New York State Historical Association at (607) 547-1453
Illustration: Otsego County, 1792-1793
Earth Day: A Revolution 40 Years In The Making
By Editorial Staff
On Earth Day 1970, people around the country, mostly college students, demonstrated on behalf of environmental causes. Forty years later, the environmental movement has come into the mainstream and secured state and federal agency leadership positions. More importantly, the movement has significantly improved the quality of our rivers, lakes and forests and in doing so has provided for the proliferation of local wildlife. While there are certainly challenges that remain - invasive species, inappropriate development, toxic exposures, nitrate and storm water management, climate change, the plight of amphibians, migratory birds, and bats - the environmental successes of the last 40 years should not be underestimated.
By and large, the first Earth Day was much like those that have followed: politicians, celebrities, concerts, environmental fairs, and the like. But Earth Day 1970 was a radical proposition in a time before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded, and before there were state sanctioned bodies like the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to protect the environment. At Boston's Logan Airport, where a few hundred demonstrators had gathered in what a CBS reporter called a "thoroughly peaceful and non-disruptive demonstration", police charged the crowd and arrested 13.
In the 40 years since that first Earth Day the Adirondack region has seen a revolution in the way we interact with our environment. Sure, we can point to the founding of DEC (1970), the establishment of the EPA (1971), the Clean Air Act (1970), and the Clean Water Act (1972), State Environmental Quality Review Act (1980), the Superfund Law (1980), and the Environmental Protection Fund (1993) but there has been a leadership revolution as well. Today, Pete Grannis, who was part of the first Earth Day demonstrations, is now the head of the DEC. Judith Enck, the state's leading environmental activist in the 1980s, is now the Administrator of EPA's Region 2.
Changes in the natural environment have been extraordinary. The Hudson River, once an open sewer where no one dared to boat, never-mind swim or fish, now bustles with recreation activities in summer. According to the DEC, the number of seriously polluted waters in the state has fallen by 85% and Sulfur Dioxide pollution is down by 90%, with a corresponding improvement in Acid Rain.
Successes we don't typically consider include the closure of outdated and poorly located landfills (more than 100 in Adirondacks alone), the elimination of the tire dumps (including more than 27 million tires statewide), the cleaning up of Superfund and brownfield sites (1,800 statewide) and the thousands of water bodies large and small around the state that have been cleaned-up in the last 40 years through waste-water management.
We may not consider those victories as much as we should, but local wildlife certainly has. In 1970 there was just one occupied Bald Eagle nest in New York State, in 2010 there are 173. Eagles and other raptors we rarely saw in the 1970s and 1980s, birds like the peregrine falcon, are now fairly frequent sights; ravens and osprey have returned to the Adirondacks. Wild turkeys have exploded from about 25,000 in 2010 to 275,000 today, and so turkey hunting has returned to the Adirondacks. Native trout have been returned to more than 50 ponds according to the DEC, and the average number of fish species has increased by a third offering increased angling opportunities. Beaver, fisher, and otter have flourished in cleaner, more diverse waters and so trapping seasons have returned for those species. In 1970 there were no Moose in the Adirondacks, today there are 400 to 500 in the region.
Clean water, clean air, and open spaces were the demands at the first Earth Day in 1970. Those demands were met by legions of combative corporations, industry alliances, business groups, chambers of commerce and their attorneys. A look at a local paper on any given day shows that those battles continue, but 40 years has shown that the environmental movement has been an enormous success. Despite the attacks and "enviro-nazi" insults, the former hippies, political greens, organization environmentalists, and wildlife conservationists who have made up the environmental movement have much to be proud of.
Illustration: Earth Day 1970 Poster
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Long Lake Antique and Classic Boat Show Slated
By Editorial Staff
Long Lake is gearing up to host its first Antique and Classic Boat Show on Saturday, July 10th, 2010 at the Long Lake Waterfront from 10am – 5pm. With so many antique and classic wooden boats hiding along the shorelines of Long Lake a group of wooden boat aficionados have decided to showcase these treasures of yesteryear.
Organizers have scoped out a diverse group of boats including: an original 1945 Garwood, having only graced the waters of Long Lake, a 1949 Chriscraft and a 1958 Speedster. These are just a sampling of the few boats slated to be on display. Other boats on the lake that will hopefully be on scene include Chris Craft’s from 1924, 1962, 1947 as well as original handcrafted guideboats.
The day’s festivities kick off at 10am and run until 5pm with a Boat Parade “at speed” leaving the town beach at 4pm. A cocktail reception and cash bar will be held at the Adirondack Hotel at 5pm and a trophy will be awarded to “Spectator’s Choice” by fans visiting and touring the boats.
Photo: The "Best Garwood" Winner at the 2007 Clayton Boat Show (Provided).
Saturday, April 24, 2010
'Hidden Room' Highlight of Underground RR Site
By Editorial Staff
Last week student volunteers from SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Potsdam took part in exploratory archaeological excavations at the former Stephen Keese Smith farm on Union Road, midway between Keeseville. The Smith farm (also known as "the old Stafford place") is a historic Underground Railroad site where refugees from slavery were hidden in the 1850s and 1860s. Although several of the buildings on the farm are believed to have housed runaway slaves, one barn in particular that includes a "hidden room" was the target of the weekend's excavations.
Archeologists and volunteers organized by the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association (NCUGRHA) worked last weekend to conduct an archeological survey in advance of restoration work on the barn. The dig was organized by Andrew Black of Black Drake Consulting and SUNY Plattsburgh, assisted by members of the NCUGRHA, and with the permission and assistance of the of the property owners, Frank and Jackie Perusse.
Stephen Keese Smith was a Quaker, who shared his story of the smuggling former slaves through Clinton County to Canada in 1887:
I first became acquainted with the “Under Ground Rail Road” twenty years or more before the [Civil] War ... Samuel Keese was the head of the [Underground RR] depot in Peru. His son, John Keese - myself, and Wendell Lansing at Keeseville [publisher of the Essex County Republican] were actors. I had large buildings and concealed the Negroes in them. I kept them, fed them, often gave them shoes and clothing. I presume I have spent a thousand dollars for them in one-way and another. There were stations at Albany, Troy, Glens Falls and then here in Peru. The Negroes would come through the woods and be nearly famished. We kept them and fed them for one or two days and then ran them along to Noadiah Moore’s in Champlain... He went with the Negroes to Canada and looked out places for them to work. 
The archeological teams excavated three places along the exterior foundation walls of the barn in search for artifacts. Aside from some scattered 20th century trash and earlier barn construction debris (nails, hardware, window glass), they found nothing of significance, meaning that some restoration work can begin without harming historically significant remains.
The stone-walled room built into the barn's lower level, believed to be one of the places Smith hid runaways, was too flooded to excavate. The team had hoped to establish the original floor level in the “hidden room” and see if there are deposits directly related to the room’s occupation by refugees. Unfortunately those investigations will have to wait until the groundwater level subsides, when archeologists will return to the barn to explore this hidden gem of North Country Underground Railroad History.
Photos: Above - Archaeologists and volunteers gather for a photo during the Smith barn excavation in Peru, Clinton County, NY (Courtesy Helen Allen Nerska). Below - The hidden room in the lower level of the Smith barn (Courtesy Don Papson).
Friday, April 23, 2010
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
By Editorial Staff
- Bowery Boys: On Mark Twain
- Brooklynology: Six Special Canines
- Upstate Earth: The Utica Insane Asylum
- Adk Almanack: Earth Day: Revolution 40 Yrs In The Making
- City Room: Airliners’ Loss Is Ocean Liners’ Gain
- Fenimore Art Museum: Abraham Lincoln's Autopsy
- Ephemeral NY: Greenwich Village's Model Prison
- Great Lives: Rufus King, First Senator From NY
- American Presidents Blog: Replacing Grant?
- AHA Today: Data On Women Historians
Huguenot Street 'Opens' with Wickets and Wine
By Editorial Staff
Starting Saturday, May 1st, the DuBois Fort Visitor Center Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz will be open six days a week from 10:30am to 5pm every day except Wednesday. Guided Tours of the iconic stone houses are offered on a walk-in basis during these hours, and the Museum Shop, gallery and exhibits are also open to the public during these hours. These hours continue through October. Weekend only hours start in November.
To mark the “opening,” Historic Huguenot Street is offering its popular Wickets and Wine event on May 1st from 4 to 6pm. With the Deyo House as a backdrop, players enjoy a relaxing game of croquet on the sweeping lawns. The setting is perfect for this Victorian favorite. Wine, homemade lemonade and light noshes round out the fun.
Players of all levels, including novices, are welcome. “One of the great things,” says Richard Heyl de Ortiz, Director of Marketing and Community Relations at Historic Huguenot Street, “is how more experienced players help out ‘newbies’ and gently teach them technique and the rules of the game.” Wickets and wine is $12 per person or $10 for Friends of Huguenot Street.
The first guided house tour of the day leaves the Fort at 11am. More information about guided tours or Wickets and Wine can be obtained by calling (845) 255-1889 or by visiting www.huguenotstreet.org.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
John James Audubon’s 225th Birthday Event
By Editorial Staff
John James Audubon’s 225th Birthday will be commemorated on Saturday, April 24th 2010 at 4PM in the Riverside Oval (156th Street at Riverside Drive, NYC), a few steps from the site of the naturalist’s final home in northern Manhattan.
In May 1842, Audubon moved his family to a fourteen-acre farm in northern Manhattan, a large triangular plot resting on present-day 155th Street, stretching from Amsterdam Avenue to the Hudson River, and including the land surrounding the Riverside Oval, the site of one of the Audubon barns. 765 Riverside Drive, adjacent to the Oval marks the site of Audubon’s house (pictured here).
Audubon called his farm Minnie’s Land, but after his death, his sons and wife renamed it Audubon Park, selling large portions of their land to wealthy New Yorkers who inhabited villas under the forest trees, laying out their gardens and drives where Audubon once had enclosures for both wild and domesticated animals. Audubon Park was a name familiar to New Yorkers from the mid 1850s until about 1910 when developers, capitalizing on the newly-opened subway with a stop at 157th Street, purchased large portions of the land and erected the magnificent Beaux Arts apartment houses that exist in the area today. In 2009, Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the blocks between 156th and 158th Streets west of Broadway the Audubon Park Historic District.
The event is being sponsored by the Riverside Oval Association, a not-for-profit neighborhood organization, plants and maintains green spaces in the Audubon Park Historic District, presents musical events, and sponsors oral history evenings at neighborhood buildings. Audubon’s 225th Birthday Celebration will kick off the 2010 gardening season and give residents in the neighborhood an opportunity to meet Oval Association members and become involved in the Association’s activities.
In the event of rain, the celebration will take place in the community room at the Grinnell, 800 Riverside Drive.
County Must Clean-Up Soil Dumped at Jay Heritage Site
By Editorial Staff
The Jay Heritage Center (JHC) in Rye, N.Y., is expressing its gratitude to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for the speed with which it followed up on the problems of contaminated fill on the historically and environmentally important Jay Heritage Site property.
In January, the Westchester Parks Department added fill to the grounds of the Jay Heritage Center that contained obvious trash and debris. JHC commissioned a independent study of the soils and found that it was also contaminated with SVOCs, pesticides (like DDT and chlordane) arsenic and heavy metals such as lead and chromium. The Jay Property is the boyhood home of Founding Father John Jay who is also buried in a private cemetery at the Rye estate.
Joe Stout, Westchester County Parks and Conservation Commissioner, had declared the fill safe in an email to JHC President, Suzanne Clary and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) on January 25, 2010 which said in part "We are confident that the fill is safe."
Westchester County has now confirmed however, that it will abide by a DEC request to clean-up the site within 30 days. According to a press release issued by Jay Heritage, in talks with the County Executive's office, the County assured JHC that this clean-up will be done with full protection of archaeologically sensitive artifacts and in consultation with JHC. Archaeological review will be conducted in historic garden areas and behind an Indoor Tennis House that is thought to be the 3rd oldest in the United States.
JHC president Suzanne Clary said, "We look forward to working with the new County administration and NY State to safeguard and preserve John Jay's boyhood home in Rye with renewed dedication, and historic and archeological sensitivity."
Disclosure: Jay Heritage Center is an advertising supporter of New York History.
Photo: Visible Debris in fill at the Jay Heritage Center.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Documenting Leadership: Symposium on Public Executive Records
By Editorial Staff
The New York State Archives Partnership Trust and the Albany Law School’s Government Law Center have joined forces to sponsor a two-day event focused on the need for effective record keeping by elected government executives. Entitled Documenting Leadership: A Symposium on Public Executive Records in the 21st Century, the program is designed to explore the importance of the records generated by governors and other
high ranking elected public executives, such as presidents, attorneys general, and mayors. The symposium will be held on the Albany Law School campus, New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY on May 20-21.
Panelists for the program are coming from throughout the nation and represent government, the media, academia, and law. Among the presenters will be former U.S. Attorney General and former Governor of Pennsylvania Richard Thornburgh, nationally renowned presidential historian Richard Norton Smith, and former NYS Comptroller Ned Regan.
Sessions will include: Public Policy and the Public Interest; Transparency, Executive Records, and the Media; Executive Records: Access and Disclosure; Access in the Digital Age; and Executive Records as Legacy.
The event is free and open to the public. For information about the program and to register, go to www.albanylaw.edu/executiverecords/
Discovering NY Harbor: The Gateway to America
By Editorial Staff
Celebrating the historic and cultural significance of New York Harbor, the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy (Harbor Conservancy) and National Park Service kick-off their summer harbor tours aboard New York Waterway ferries with their Gateway to America cruise, an audio tour that is narrated by actress Kathleen Turner and brings 400 years of New York Harbor's extraordinary past to life. The boat tour runs five times daily leaving from Slip 5 at the Battery Maritime Building.
Gateway to America is in its sixth season. The boat tour experience offers visitors the opportunity to see the city from a new vantage point - from the water while learning about the role New York Harbor played and continues to play as the gateway to America for millions of people.
Gateway to America is the only official tour of the National Park Service that ties together all five interpretative themes of the national parks that ring New York Harbor- commerce, military defense, immigration, birth of the nation and harbor ecology. "The tour itinerary weaves together the rich tapestry of New York harbor's history - from its first settlement by Native Americans through the tragic events of 9/11, and it offers new insights about the unique geographical and environmental features that made the harbor our nation's most valuable commercial asset throughout four centuries," according to Harbor Conservancy President, Marie Salerno.
Produced by Antenna Audio in the style of a public radio broadcast, Gateway to America is introduced by David Rockefeller, Jr. a co-founder of the Harbor Conservancy and whose family was instrumental in preserving open space through the National Park Service. The Gateway to America tour was the first harbor boat tour to present recorded audio commentary by National Park Service Rangers. Prominent experts like Columbia University professor, historian and editor of the Encyclopedia of New York, Kenneth T. Jackson; Daniel Libeskind, who emigrated to New York from communist Poland as a teenager and became one of the world's leading architects; Pulitzer-Prize winning author David McCullough; and world-class swimmer Nancy Steadman Martin, (who battled the currents to swim the 28-mile circuit around Manhattan) also provide engaging remarks and insights.
Gateway to America tells stories of the five military forts, now historic icons that protected the city from invasion. The tour illuminates the harbor's role as the portal to the American dream for generations of immigrants - including those newcomers who are still shaping the city's future. Passengers hear sounds, special effects and original music that bring to life the drama of the thriving commercial port.
This 60-minute tour is offered daily beginning Apr. 4 - May 31 at 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm, and Jun. 1 - Sep. 30 at 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, departing from the Slip 5 in the Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan, located next to the Staten Island Ferry. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Harbor Conservancy's new ticket booth at Castle Clinton in Battery Park. Prices are: Adults: $18, Seniors (62+): $16, Children: $14, Children under 3: Free.
For more information about other affordable boat and walking tours created by the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy visit: www.nyharborparks.org.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Preserve New York Grants Deadline May 17
By Editorial Staff
Applications are now available to eligible municipalities and not-for-profit organizations to compete for funds through Preserve New York, a grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
A total of $109,149 is available for historic structure reports, historic landscape reports and cultural resource surveys. Grants are likely to range between $3,000 and $15,000 each. The application deadline is May 17, 2010.
Examples of eligible projects include: historic structure reports for public buildings or historic sites; historic landscape reports for municipal parks; and cultural resource surveys of downtowns and residential neighborhoods.
In 2010, the Preservation League especially encourages projects that advance the preservation of neighborhoods and downtowns that qualify for the NYS Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit; preserve architecture and landscapes of the recent past; and continue the use of historic public buildings.
For Preserve New York Grant Program guidelines, visit the League's website at www.preservenys.org. Prospective applicants should contact the Preservation League to discuss their projects and to request an application form.
The Preservation League of New York State is a private, not-for-profit organization that works to protect and enhance the Empire State's historic buildings, landscapes and neighborhoods. The New York State Council on the Arts is the state's arts funding agency. The Preservation League and NYSCA have collaborated on this grant program annually since 1993.
Court of Appeals Hosts 'The Hudson: Yesterday and Today'
By Editorial Staff
The New York Court of Appeals has announced "The Hudson: Yesterday and Today" featuring Frances F. Dunwell, Hudson River Estuary Coordinator at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and William T. (Chip) Reynolds, Captain, Replica Ship Half Moon, along with an exhibit of Hudson River photographs by the Half Moon crew on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. A reception sponsored by The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York will follow.
"The Hudson: Yesterday and Today" will take place at Court of Appeals Hall, 20 Eagle Street, in Albany. Court of Appeals Hall is the former State Hall, completed in 1842. It was renamed Court of Appeals Hall on January 14, 1917. The lecture will be held in the courtroom designed by H.H. Richardson and originally built as part of the Capitol. In 1916, the courtroom was moved, piece by piece, to a specially designed extension to State Hall. The entire building was beautifully restored in 2004.
This event is open to the public and is free of charge. As space is limited, RSVP is requested by Monday, May 3 at events@courts.state.ny.us or 518-455-7817.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Chemung County Celebrates Mark Twain in 2010
By Editorial Staff
The year 2010 will mark the 175th anniversary of the birth of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), the Centennial of his death, and the 125th anniversary of the release of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Elmira, New York, also known as Mark Twain Country, will be celebrating his life with a year of Twain themed events and special promotions. During this celebration year of Twain, one thousand copies of Twain's iconic American novel will be distributed, courtesy of the Community Foundation.
The following events will take place from April 21, the death date, through April 24, the day he was laid to rest at Elmira’s Woodlawn Cemetery:
* Wednesday, April 21, (Death Centennial) Hal Holbrook to perform his Emmy & Tony award-winning performance of Mark Twain Tonight at Clemens Center for the Performing Arts.
* Saturday, April 24, Re-enactment of Twain's gravesite service and burial at Woodlawn Cemetery. The event will use details provided by articles from the New York Post and New York Times along with other historical sources, and will include a horse drawn carriage transporting the casket.
* Wednesday, April 21 – Saturday, April 24, Trolley into Twain Country Tours Centennial Excursions, One hour guided tours that will include a stop to go inside the Mark Twain Study (where Twain penned such classics as Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn while summering in Elmira with his in-laws for 22 years) and the Clemens family burial site at Woodlawn Cemetery.
* Wednesday, April 21 – Friday, April 23, Dine like Twain dinners to be offered at Hill Top Restaurant. Feast on Twain’s favorite foods while overlooking the exact same view of the Chemung River Valley that inspired him while writing his classics.
* April 22 & 24, Twain Notes, A theatrical reading of the personal correspondence of Samuel Clemens and those closest to him. Held at The Park Church, of which Twain was a member.
* Saturday April 24, Tom Sawyer & Becky Thatcher Day at Harris Hill, Harris Hill, the Soaring Capital of America, welcomes Twain enthusiasts to take a glider ride over Mark Twain Country and view the Twain Exhibit at the National Soaring Museum, or join in a Tom Sawyer & Becky Thatcher in a game of putt-putt at Harris Hill Amusement Park.
Other events during in Mark Twain Country during 2010 include scenic glider, vintage plane and helicopter rides over the spectacular views that inspired the author; the dedication of a Twain hiking trail overlooking the Chemung River and complete with Twain quotes; Trolley into Twain Country Tours throughout July and August, the release of a commemorative Twain-labeled Riesling from award-winning Glenora Wine Cellars, and more. Visitors are also encouraged to pay their respects to this American Classic at Woodlawn Cemetery, enjoy a tour of the Mark Twain Study, or visit the permanent display a the Chemung Valley History Museum. A complete calendar of events can be found at www.MarkTwainCountry.com//Twain2010.asp.
For more details on this event or Twain-themed events throughout the year, visit www.MarkTwainCountry.com or contact Cynthia Raj at the Chemung County Chamber of Commerce at cynthia@chemungchamber.org or 800.627.5892.
Illustration: Commemorative Mark Twain poster designed by Finger Lakes artist Brandi Smith.
Arguing For A More Coordinated NY History Community
By Editorial Staff
Even in these tough economic times it seems unthinkable that New York State would simply abandon its duty to educate it's citizens, engage them in historical experience, and protect New York's heritage, but it appears that is what many in state government are prepared to do. In hard times like these, some long-time public historians in the state are asking hard questions about our duty to New York's state and local history, and suggesting we should be doing more.
"Basically, I am trying to be an advocate for NY state and local history these days," says veteran historian, Bruce W. Dearstyne. "My contention [is] that we in the state and local history community have a lot to be proud of, many model programs, outstanding strengths, but that too much of our work is uncoordinated, we lack anything approaching a statewide vision or set of goals, we’re missing out on the potential of information technology, the recession is hurting our programs, and that, overall, we could and should be doing better."
Dearstyne, who lives in Guilderland, Albany County, should know a little something about New York state and local history. Today he teaches courses on the web for University of Maryland College of Information Studies, where he was a professor for eight years. His career has included a stint on the history faculty at SUNY Potsdam, time in the Office of State History, and almost 25 years as program director at the NYS Archives.
In 2009 he proposed a paper for that year's Conference on New York State History on the topic of “Do We Need a Vision for New York State’s History?” The conference organizers made it into the plenary session, with three other speakers, that generated a lot of discussion.
Since then, Dearstyne has been advocating for a meeting or at least an online forum to discuss the future of New York's state and local history. "I’ve found a lot of interest, but so far no one willing to take the lead. One of the strongest advocates for an initiative along these lines is Carol Kammen, Tompkins County Historian and an expert on local history."
In August of last year Deartsyne and Kammen created a tentative list of topics that might be discussed. Topics include the strengths, weaknesses, and needs in New York’s historical community, creating a greater sense of community, leadership, and coordination, identifying models or exemplary programs, and important state and local historical themes.
Dearstyne and Kammen are also interested in the potentials of new technologies including "broader and more imaginative use of collaborative information technologies to draw the historical community together, support collaboration, and make historical sources and history more accessible,"
For Dearstyne an open discussion among New York's historical community is just one approach. He's also editing a special section of the journal Public Historian entitled "A Vision for State History: Issues, Perspectives and Insights from New York," due out later this year. He's also been writing a series of guest opinion pieces (1, 2) for the Albany Times Union on the value of New York history, how we can learn from it, and why supporting it makes good sense.
"One of the themes I’m trying to stress is that, while we need more resources, we also need to make more effective use of existing resources," Dearstyne says "and make the 'business case' for state and local history."
Those interested in providing a more solid footing for New York's historical community can comment. Additionally, the 2010 Conference on New York State History has at least two sessions addressing the topic: a forum on “Doing Local History” on Friday and the Wendell Tripp lecture on Friday evening on “How Historical Enterprise in New York State Became Fractured (and Sometimes Dysfunctional) in the Twentieth Century.”
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Andy Warhol Piñata, High Style at Brooklyn Ball Gala
By Editorial Staff
The Brooklyn Museum will celebrate the major exhibition American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection and the landmark collection-sharing partnership between Brooklyn and the Metropolitan Museum of Art at its annual gala, the Brooklyn Ball, on Thursday evening, April 22, 2010.
This year's Brooklyn Ball will feature a giant twenty-foot-tall piñata in the shape of Andy Warhol's head, which is part an interactive dining experience designed by Jennifer Rubell titled "Icons." The piñata is currently on view in the Museum's Rubin Pavilion.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres in the Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing on the fifth floor and an exclusive opportunity to preview American High Style. Featuring some eighty-five masterworks from the newly established Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibition traces the evolution of fashion in America from its nineteenth-century European beginnings through the twentieth century. It marks the first time in more than two decades that a large-scale survey drawn from this preeminent collection will be on public view.
Included in the exhibition will be creations by such legendary American designers as Charles James, Norman Norell, and Gilbert Adrian; works by influential French designers including Charles Frederick Worth, Elsa Schiaparelli, Jeanne Lanvin, Givenchy, and Christian Dior; and works by such first-generation American women designers as Bonnie Cashin, Elizabeth Hawes, and Claire McCardell. Among the objects presented will be Schiaparelli’s Surrealist Insect Necklace, considered by experts to be one of the most important works in the collection; elaborate ball gowns and day wear by Charles James; evening ensembles by Yves Saint Laurent, Halston, Scaasi, and Mainbocher; street wear by mid-twentieth-century designers Vera Maxwell, Claire McCardell, and Elizabeth Hawes; a group of hats by celebrated milliner Sally Victor; and dazzling evening wear by Norman Norell.
The Brooklyn Museum’s groundbreaking collection-sharing partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art went in to effect in January 2009. At that time Brooklyn’s renowned costume collection of 23,500 objects, acquired over the course of a century, was transferred to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, where it is fully integrated into the Institute’s program of exhibitions, publications, and education initiatives and remains available for exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.
Co-chairs for this year’s Ball celebrating American High Style include chef and restaurateur Mario Batali and his wife Susan Cahn, European Editor-at-Large for Vogue Hamish Bowles, New York Times Style Editor Stefano Tonchi, Museum Trustee Stephanie Ingrassia, decorative arts specialist and educator Susan Weber, photographer Annie Leibovitz, fashion designer Zac Posen, and collector Carla Shen.
An interactive dining experience, designed by Jennifer Rubell, whom New York Times senior critic Roberta Smith credits with “laying waste to the prolonged ordeal that is the benefit dining experience,” will begin at 8 p.m. in the magnificent Beaux-Arts Court on the third floor. The interactive food journey through the Museum is titled Icons and includes drinking paintings, suspended melting cheese heads, and a larger-
than-life dessert surprise. A hybrid of performance and installation art, Rubell’s food projects deconstruct the ritual of the meal and are often of monumental scale.
During the evening, the Brooklyn Museum will honor the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and former Mellon Program Officer Angelica Rudenstine. Donald Randel, Mellon Foundation president, will accept the Museum’s highest honor, the Augustus Graham Medal, on their behalf.
Immediately following the Ball, the Museum will host High Style: The After Party in the Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion. The festivities will feature artists’ fashions and dancing to live music. Tickets to the Ball range from $500 to $1,500, and tables are available from $5,000 to $50,000. All tickets to the Ball include admission to High Style: The After Party. Tickets to the after party start at $75. Further information about ticket options and table purchases is available by e-mailing special.events@brooklynmuseum.org or by phoning (718) 501-6423. Proceeds from the event will support the Museum’s public and education programs.
The Augustus Graham Medal is being presented to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in recognition of its outstanding support of the Brooklyn Museum, including funding for the survey of the costume collection and the endowment of curatorial positions at the Museum. Through the foundation’s generosity, the first complete inventory, collection review, digital photography, and cataloguing of the Museum’s holdings of approximately 23,500 American and European costumes and accessories has been completed.
More than 5,800 of the most important works are now available to scholars, students, and the public through ARTstor, an innovative online initiative of the Mellon Foundation that provides access to curated collections of art images and associated data for noncommercial, scholarly, and not-for-profit educational use.
The Augustus Graham Medal is named after one of the founders of the Brooklyn Apprentices Library in 1823. That institution, which Graham nurtured and expanded, grew into the Brooklyn Institute and later became the Brooklyn Museum.
Friday, April 16, 2010
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
By Editorial Staff
- Great Lives: Rufus King, First Senator From NY
- American Presidents Blog: Replacing Grant?
- AHA Today: Data On Women Historians
- Cranky Professor: Watch Sales Fall, Faculty Salaries Stall
- Bowery Boys: The Bronx Zoo, NYC's Biggest Animal House
- Farmers' Museum: A Rare 1750s Dutch Plow
- Kingston Lounge: Hotel Columbia, Sharon Springs
- NYPL: Trailblazing Immigrant Services
- Adirondack Almanack: Rockwell Kent's Asgaard Dairy
- Upstate Earth: The Toxic Legacy of General Electric
The Art of History High School Art Competition
By Editorial Staff
The public is invited to the opening of the 2010 “Art of History” exhibition and competition awards ceremony at the Rensselaer County Historical Society on Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 3-5pm. Light refreshments will be served.
For the “Art of History” competition, students from Rensselaer County high schools were invited to create original artwork inspired by documents from the Rensselaer County Historical Society collection. The documents focused on early African-American history in Rensselaer County and included an 1824 estate inventory listing enslaved persons as property, a newspaper account of the rescue of fugitive slave Charles Nalle in 1860, and a powerful letter from an African-American man threatened in Troy's 1863 draft riots.
The exhibition of student work will be on display through June 19, 2010.
The Art of History competition is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and generous support from Alane and Paul Hohenberg and the United Group.
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- 1917 Curtiss Flying Boat to Auction
- 1963 Office Tower Named Landmark
- After 36 Yrs, Roosevelt Island Memorial
- NH: Rare Early Film About Lincoln Discovered
- Civil Rights Leader Benjamin Hooks Dies
- On The Trail of Uncle Sam
- Museum Opens 2010 Olympics Exhibit
- Feds: Parks Threaten Other Funding
- Gov Support Preservation Tax Credit
Thursday, April 15, 2010
New-York Historical Society Celebrates Immigrant Heritage
By Editorial Staff
On Tuesday, April 20 from 4:30-6:30 pm, the New-York Historical Society will participate in the citywide Immigrant Heritage Week observance with a panel discussion about the upcoming exhibition, Nueva York. During the first half of the program, curators will discuss highlights of the exhibition, which explores how Spanish-speaking people have affected virtually every aspect of the City’s development from commerce, manufacturing and transportation to communications, entertainment and the arts from as early as the 17th century through today.
The second half (45 minutes) of the program will be a workshop for teachers and others interested in exploring how this dynamic history can be brought to life for learners of all ages through a rich collection of documents, manuscripts, photographs, and multimedia resources, including film and music.
All attendees must enter the New-York Historical Society through the loading dock at 5 W 76th Street. RSVPs are welcome to schoolprograms@nyhistory.org. Admission is free.
This event will serve as a preview to Nueva York, an exhibition exploring New York's long connection with Spain and Latin America. Organized by the New-York Historical Society and El Museo del Barrio, Nueva York will be on view from September 17, 2010, through January 9, 2011.
This year, Immigrant Heritage Week is celebrated from April 15 to April 21. Throughout the week, a collection of family friendly events, film screenings, art exhibits and walking tours will promote and reflect the diversity of the immigrant communities in our City.
Photo: Ellis Island Immigrants by National Photo Co., ca. 1909-1932. Library of Congress Photo.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Prominent Abenaki Opposes VT Tribe Recognitions
By Editorial Staff
Denise Watso, a descendant of the legendary Abenaki Chief Louis Watso who lived in Lake George Village for a time and figures prominently in Native American life there in the 19th century, has come out in opposition to Vermont state recognition several Abenaki bands and tribes. In March a recognition bill [pdf] made it out of the Vermont Senate's Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs.
At least fifteen other American states have recognized resident native people as American Indian Tribes, without federal recognition. In 2006, a similar effort by the Vermont General Assembly fell short. Charles Delaney-Megeso, chair of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs (VCNAA) supports the bill. The text of the bill describing it's intent and Watso's letter in opposition are below; Delaney-Megso's letter of support can be found here.
Text of the bill that describes it's intent:
This bill proposes to recognize the following tribes as the original Western Abenaki Indian tribes residing in Vermont: the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi St. Francis Sokoki Band, composed of the Missisquoi, St. Francis, and Sokoki Bands; the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation; the Nulhegan Band of the Abenaki Nation, also known as the Northern Coosuk/Old Philip’s Band; and the ELNU Abenaki Tribe of the Koasek. The bill also proposes to amend the composition of the Vermont commission on Native American affairs, and to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Letter from Denise Watso:
I humbly request that members of the state legislatures of Vermont oppose S.222, a bill designed to confer state recognition upon groups who claim the rights, lands, and ancestors of Abenaki people without offering any proof to support these claims. I further request that the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs allow testimony from historically-known Abenaki people regardless of whether their primary residence is in Vermont, New York, Canada or elsewhere. We are the "Original Vermonters."
As a historically-known Abenaki person with documented evidence in the records of Vermont, (in the mid 1800s, John Watso, my grandfather's grandfather, shared many Champlain Valley place-names in the Abenaki language with Rowland Robinson), part of our Abenaki original territories, I would like to voice my grave concerns with this bill and the impacts it will have on Abenaki people. How can the Vermont legislature pass such a genocidal law, removing my people from the history books and denying us our rights? How can they accept the word of people who refuse to provide evidence of how they are connected to historically-known Abenaki families? How can this be anything but an abandonment of their responsibilities to the Abenaki people and to all Vermonters, Indian and non-Indian?
Indian law is not the jurisdiction of state government, and our territories extend beyond the boundaries of states and countries. However state recognition and standing committees can accomplish much good for us all. All historically-known Abenaki people should be recognized by Vermont's government as part of a sovereign nation, and as partners moving into the future.
These new groups such as the "Elnu", the "Koasek", the "St. Francis-Sokoki", and others should be asked to provide their evidence rather than have their claims accepted without question. Just a few years ago, Vermont's Attorney General and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs found no evidence that this last group, the "St. Francis-Sokoki", were anything more than a social group. The first group, the "Elnu", are well-known reenactors. Some Indians are reenactors, but being a reenactor does not make you Indian and therefore elgible for the possiblity of Federal Recognition.
The burden of proof must be on these new claimants to our Abenaki heritage, and Vermont's political officials should not allow such a great travesty to pass with the stroke of a pen. These groups are allowed to be make claims based on family assumptions and declarations of Indian heritage, this is nothing more than self-identification to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, the entity that determines and denied the "St.Francis group". The Bill to be decided by the Vermont government is not equipped to make such determinations, possibly perpetrating violence against the original Abenaki of Vermont.
We are a historically documented people. We were never in hiding as the storyline has been woven to support the baseless claims of self-identified "Abenaki". We have suffered the loss of our lands, the denial of our indigenous rights, the creation of an international border, warfare, poverty, oppressive governments, residential schools, racism and so much more. And now outsiders dictate our history to us and demand to be recognized at our expense. Why? So THEY can sell baskets and traditional arts which WE have long produced so that we might survive generation after generation. So THEY can access Federal funds to teach their children about OUR ancestors? So THEY can learn to speak OUR first language? So THEY can continue to claim the bones of OUR ancestors?
This is contrary to the spirit of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples endorsed by S.222. It is not too late, however, to address the injustices faced by generations of my people. Now is the time for Vermont's elected leaders to work with historically-known Abenaki people to establish new relationships that respect our indigenous rights and our human dignity, and that strive to secure a better future for all the residents of our ancient homeland.
Our ancestor’s voices will be heard as we continue to speak and keep our names in honor of them. Abenaki names are still alive and spoken, it is not a hidden secret as these self identified claim. The legislators of Vermont must allow us to voice our grave concerns. This Bill will have the biggest impact and detriment on our Abenaki community, children’s future and ancestor’s legacy.
We will proudly share our Abenaki history and historically known names with the Vermont State legislators.
Sincerely,
Denise L. Watso (wajo)
Local Radio Rewarded For Polish Legacy Piece
By Editorial Staff
Buffalo radio station WBFO (88.7) has received a regional Edward R. Murrow Award by the Radio-Television News Directors Association for a story about the Polish Legacy Project (PLP), a group of people whose aim is to capture the stories of Polish survivors of World War Two while they are still alive. The piece aired last year just before the PLP's Untold Stories Conference.
The story was produced by Joyce Kryszak. You can listen to the story and hear clips of interviews with Polish WWII survivors here.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Brooklyn Museum Offers Adult Programs
By Editorial Staff
During May and June the Brooklyn Museum will present a variety of public programs for adults including a panel discussion about pioneering female classical musicians, a fashion showcase featuring Brooklyn designers, a performance by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and a symposium about the historic collaboration that has resulted in the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
PERFORMING ARTS
Music Off The Walls: The Brooklyn Philharmonic
Sunday, May 16, 1-4 p.m.
Members of the Brooklyn Philharmonic perform compositions highlighting the long-term installation Extended Family: Contemporary Connections. A related gallery talk precedes the program at 1 p.m. Tickets are $15; $10 for Members, students, and seniors. To purchase tickets, visit www.brooklynphilharmonic.org or call .
Fashion Showcase: Brooklyn Designers
Saturday, June 12, 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Brooklyn designers present fashions inspired by the special exhibition American High Style. A panel discussion and gallery talk precede the show.
Music: Jazz
Sunday, June 27, 3-5 p.m.
Heart of Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Museum present a jazz showcase in the Museum's Sculpture Garden. A gallery talk on art and jazz precedes the performance.
TALKS & TOURS
Symposium: "Costume Collections: A Collaborative Model for Museums"
Friday, May 21, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Brooklyn Museum; Saturday, May 22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A two-day examination of the historic collaboration that has resulted in the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Co-hosted by the Brooklyn Museum and the Met's Costume Institute.
Forum: "Making Ourselves Visible"
Saturday, May 22, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
This interactive program, organized by artist Liz Linden and writer Jen Kennedy, explores the question "What does feminism look like today?" and encourages visitors to take part in a variety of ways, from posting their own feminist works on a public billboard to participating in teach-ins on subjects such as "Feminist Utopias" and "Feminist Pedagogy."
Panel Discussion: "Groundbreakers and Music Makers: The First Generation of Orchestral Women"
Sunday, June 13, 2-4 p.m.
Three pioneering female classical musicians--Jacqui Danilow, Metropolitan Opera bassist since 1980; Laura Flax, New York City Opera principal clarinetist since 1984; and Orin O'Brien, New York Philharmonic member since 1966--tell their story. Moderated by Deborah Siegel, author of Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild.
Gallery Tours
Gallery tours with a volunteer Museum Guide or Student Guide occur Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 1:30 p.m. and weekends at 1, 2, and 3 p.m. Check www.brooklynmuseum.org or the What's Happening This Week guide at the Visitor Center for current topics.
Guided Tours for Groups
Guided tours of the Museum's permanent collection and special exhibitions are available for adult groups. For information, e-mail grouptours@brooklynmuseum.org or call (718) 501-6234.
Tours for College Students
The Museum offers student groups guided tours of the permanent collection and special exhibitions designed to complement their curriculum. For information, e-mail academic.programs@brooklynmuseum.org or call (718) 501-6214.
Tours for Persons Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
Special touch tours can be arranged by calling (718) 501-6229 or e-mailing access@brooklynmuseum.org. Tours are limited to groups of six and are available on Tuesdays between 1 and 3 p.m.
Tours for Persons Who Are Deaf or Hearing Impaired
Sign Language-interpreted gallery tours are offered every Target First Saturday and on the second Saturday of each month at 3 p.m. See the What's Happening This Week guide at the Visitor Center for current topics.
CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
Creative Art Making: Brooklyn Chic Men's and Women's Accessories
Saturday, May 15, 2-4 p.m.
Kae Burke of Make Fun Studio leads this workshop in how to design and create your own Brooklyn chic accessories, including vintage-inspired cocktail hats and ties. There is a $15 materials fee, and registration is required. Register in person at the Museum's Visitor Center. A limited number of free tickets are reserved for Museum Members on a first-come, first-served basis. Members should call (718) 501-6326 for tickets.
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