Make plans now for the King’s Garden Harvest Market and Autumn Plant Sale at Fort Ticonderoga on Saturday, October 2 from 10:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. Heidi Karkoski, Fort Ticonderoga’s Curator of Landscape, said “The Harvest Market and Autumn Plant Sale provides a wonderful opportunity for visitors to enjoy the rich bounty of the King’s Garden.” Freshly dug perennials such as Heuchera ‘Melting Fire’, Yarrow ‘Red Beauty’, and Day Lilies will be available for purchase. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own plastic bags or boxes for their purchases.
The Harvest Market will feature colorful vegetables and fruits including pumpkins, melons, and leafy greens. King’s Garden garlic and seasonal herbs will offer visitors an added autumn zest to family dinners. Beautiful cut flower bouquets featuring Zinnias, Salvia and many other favorite seasonal flowers will highlight the market experience. A Favorite Place of Resort for Strangers, the highly acclaimed book on the King’s Garden history, will also be available at a special Harvest Market price. Harvest Market and Autumn Plant Sale proceeds support educational and programming opportunities at the King’s Garden,
As part of the Harvest Market, visitors can relax within the King’s Garden walls and enjoy a picnic lunch or purchase a take-out lunch from Fort Ticonderoga’s Log House Restaurant. Additional activities scheduled throughout the day include Weekend Watercolors, a self-guided program where visitors are encouraged to use the colors of autumn for inspiration, and garden tours. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn more about becoming part of the volunteer family at the King’s Garden and Fort Ticonderoga.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Fort Ticonderoga’s Harvest Market, Plant Sale
By Editorial Staff
African American Culture and History Fest Saturday
By Editorial Staff
A stellar lineup of musical and poetic talent comes to Senate House State Historic Site for its second annual African American History and Culture Festival, from 10 am to 7 pm on Saturday, October 2. Visitors will experience Master Drummer Maxwell Kofi Donkor and Sankofa, Kim and Reggie Harris, Kansas City Sound and jazz luminary Hugh Brodie, Michael Monasterial, Percussion Orchestra of Kingston (POOK), and Readnex Poetry Squad for a full day of first-class entertainment. This free event offers fun for all ages, and occurs rain or shine. For more information, call (845) 338-2786.
The festival begins with a free drum workshop at 10:00 am by master drummer Maxwell Kofi Donkor. Some drums will be supplied, or bring your own. Young people are especially welcome, and no experience is necessary. Also at 10 am, Professor A.J. Williams-Myers speaks on the influence of Africans on the Hudson Valley tradition of Pinkster, originally a European celebration marking Pentecost and the arrival of spring.
A hands-on activity for kids, delicious food for sale, and free tours and admission to the Senate House and the site’s museum are all part of this terrific event, which is presented by the Friends of Senate House.
Senate House State Historic Site is located at 296 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401, and is part of a system of parks, recreation areas and historic sites operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the site is one of 28 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey. For further information about this and other upcoming events call the site at (845) 338-2786 or visit the State Parks website at www.nysparks.com.
Adirondack Museum Hosts Harvest Fest
By Editorial Staff
The annual Harvest Festival will be held at the Adirondack Museum, in Blue Mountain Lake, on Saturday, October 2 and Sunday, October 3. Both days will feature activities for the entire family from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The Adirondack Museum offers free admission to year-round residents of the Adirondack Park in the month of October - making Harvest Festival an affordable and enjoyable fall getaway for every Adirondacker.
Circle B Ranch of Chestertown, N.Y. will provide leisurely rides through the museum's beautiful grounds in a rustic wagon filled with hay bales. Youngsters can enjoy pony rides as well.
On Saturday, October 2nd only, Chef Tom Morris of the Mirror Lake Inn will offer a demonstration entitled "Extending the Season" at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Chef Morris will discuss techniques for canning, jarring, pickling, and other methods of food preservation.
On Sunday, October 3rd only, Sally Longo of Aunt Sally's Adirondack Catering will offer harvest related food demonstrations at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Visitors can relax in an Adirondack chair and enjoy guitar and banjo tunes played by musician Bill Hall. Hall's love of music and the Adirondacks has inspired his original compositions about early Adirondack logging, mining, and railroading.
Bill studied guitar with the legendary Chet Atkins, and is self-taught in classical style guitar and banjo. He has merged classic style with nature to create a unique finger picking method he calls "pick-a-dilly." Bill has performed in various venues throughout the region including Teddy Roosevelt celebrations in the towns of Newcomb, Minerva, and North Creek, N.Y.
Other Harvest Festival highlights include cider pressing, barn raising for young and old, as well as pumpkin painting and crafts inspired by nature. Kids can jump in a giant leaf pile on the museum's center campus.
The museum will accept donations of food and winter clothing for a full month this fall, in collaboration with Hamilton County Community Action.
From September 20 through October 18, 2010, donations of dried or canned foods, winter outerwear to include coats, hats, scarves, mittens, or boots for adults and children, as well as warm blankets, comforters, or quilts will be collected in the museum's Visitor Center.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Library of Congress Adds To Online Newspaper Site
By Editorial Staff
The Library of Congress has added more than 380,000 historic newspaper pages to the Chronicling America website, including newspapers from 3 new states - Louisiana, Montana, and South Carolina - and expanding the site's time coverage further into the Civil War era. The site now includes almost 2.7 million pages from 348 titles published between 1860 and 1922 in 22 states and the District of Columbia.
Chronicling America is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
Hyde Preps Mohawk-Hudson Region Artists Exhibit
By Editorial Staff
The Hyde Collection is currently preparing for the October 3 opening of the 2010 Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region Juried Exhibition. Founded in 1936, the exhibition is one of the longest running annual juried exhibitions in the country and highlights the finest works of contemporary artists working along the Mohawk-Hudson corridor.
This is the first year that The Hyde Collection will host the exhibition, which rotates among three venues. The other two hosts are The Albany Institute of History and Art and the University Art Museum at the University at Albany. This year’s exhibition will be on display at The Hyde from October 3 through January 2, 2011 and a full-color catalogue produced for the exhibition will be available.
An Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony for artists and Hyde members is scheduled for Saturday evening, October 2, 2010 from 6 to 8 pm. Non-members are also welcome at an admission cost of $15 per person. The exhibition opens to the public on Sunday, October 3 from noon to 5 pm with non-member admission throughout the duration of the exhibition to be by donation suggested at $5.
Juror for the 2010 Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region exhibition is Charles Desmarais, Deputy Director for Art at the Brooklyn Museum. Desmarais leads a staff of eighteen curators and manages the collection, conservation, education, exhibition, and library departments at the museum. He previously served as director of the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati and was director of the Laguna Art Museum and the California Museum of Photography at the University of California.
Approximately 340 artists who work within a 100-mile radius of Albany and Glens Falls submitted images of their pieces. After first-round judging, eighty-six artists were selected to bring their works to the Museum for final selection. Art by seventy-two regional artists will be on display as part of The Hyde show. In connection with the exhibition, Desmarais is also curating a small Annex Show for the Tom Myott Gallery in the Shirt Factory Building in Glens Falls. This Annex Exhibition will run from October 2 through October 23 and an opening reception will be held following The Hyde’s award ceremony event from 7:30 – 9 pm on October 2.
New Exhibit Focuses on Picturing Women in American Art
By Editorial Staff
The Fenimore Art Museum has opened a new exhibition titled Picturing Women: American Art from the Permanent Collections. These images of women, assembled from the Museum’s extensive collection of American art, are distinct from the mainstream European portraiture of the upper class and aristocracy that we have become accustomed to. The rise of the United States’ middle class created a demand for all manner of paintings of the people who were settling the countryside and forming the social, commercial and religious communities that are still with us to this day.
Picturing Women: American Art from the Permanent Collections offers a selection of works that illustrates not only the appearances of these women, but also symbolizes the lives and contributions of these women to American culture. The exhibition is on view through December 31.
Other exhibitions currently on view at Fenimore Art Museum include John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women (through December 31, 2010), Empire Waists, Bustles and Lace: A Century of New York Fashion (through December 31, 2010), Watermark: Michele Harvey & Glimmerglass (through December 31, 2010), Virtual Folk: A Blog Readers' Choice (through December 31, 2010). Ongoing Exhibitions include Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, The Coopers of Cooperstown, Genre Paintings from the Permanent Collection, and American Memory: Recalling the Past in Folk Art.
Museum hours: through October 11 (10 am – 5 pm), October 12 – December 31 (10 am - 4 pm) Adult admission (13-64) is $12.00 and senior admission (65 and up) is $10.50. Children 12 and under are free as well as NYSHA members, active military, and retired career military. Visit their website for more information at www.fenimoreartmuseum.org.
Illustration: Mrs. George Hyde Clarke (Ann Low Cary, widow of Richard Fenimore Cooper), 1835, by Charles Cromwell Ingham (1796-1863). Oil on canvas.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Lyons Erie Canal Improvements Opened
By Editorial Staff
The New York State Canal Corporation and the Village of Lyons, Wayne County, have officially opened the Lyons waterfront improvements along the Erie Canal at North Side Canal Park. The opening event also welcomed the 2010 World Canals Conference International Flotilla which was en route to Rochester.
The project, partially funded through an Erie Canal Greenway Grant, provided new docks on both sides of the Erie Canal and additional improvements to the boating area and park.
The flotilla was bound for Rochester as part of the 2010 World Canals Conference September 20-24. Included in the flotilla were boats from the Canal Corporation's historic and working fleet, historic tugboats, and a variety of recreational pleasure craft. From the junction of the Erie Canal and Genesee River the fleet traveled north along the Genesee River, in a grand parade to Corn Hill Landing in Rochester.
Directions to the North Side Canal Park in Lyons: Take NYS Thruway (I-90) to Interchange 42 (Geneva, Lyons, Route 14) toward Sodus Point. Turn left to Route 14 North. Turn left onto Water Street. Municipal parking is available adjacent to the Firehouse.
Finger Lakes Museum Unveils New Logo
By Editorial Staff
Finger Lakes Museum board president John Adamski recently unveiled the logo that will symbolize the museum’s future brand and identity. In his remarks, Adamski said that the bald eagle represents the most successful wildlife restoration success story in American history and it all began in the Finger Lakes Region near Hemlock Lake in the 1970s.
He later stated, “Our plans for the museum project, which started out with a handful of supporters just two and a half years ago, are to mirror the success of the bald eagle.”
Adamski and Finger Lakes State Parks Regional Director Tim Joseph also signed a Letter of Intent to start the process that will enable the Finger Lakes Museum to build its campus in Keuka Lake State Park.
Under the Letter of Intent, the Finger Lakes Museum and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation will begin a comprehensive planning process for the Museum’s facilities at Keuka Lake State Park. The process, which will include public input opportunities and a full environmental review, will develop a detailed concept design and site building plans.
A joint Memorandum of Understanding listing the commitments of five other Keuka Lake State Park site sponsors was also signed. Those members include Yates County, the Town of Jerusalem, Finger Lakes Economic Development Center, Keuka College and the Finger Lakes Visitors Association. A separate agreement with the Yates County Chamber of Commerce will be signed at a future date.
A few weeks ago, more than 70 people from 60 architectural, engineering, and exhibit design firms from across the country met at Keuka Lake State Park to listen to Adamski and project director Don Naetzker describe the concept, mission and vision for the project. After the presentation, they took a walking tour of the park and the Branchport School campus, which is serving as the museum’s interim headquarters.
When asked what constitutes a worldclass museum, Adamski responded, "When dozens of design professionals from five countries—Canada, China, England, Germany, and the United States—express an interest in designing the project, you can't get much more worldclass than that."
The attendees were asked to submit qualifications to compete for the commission of designing the Finger Lakes Museum. The board plans to narrow the list to five firms, which will then each submit design proposals before the end of the year.
The Finger Lakes Museum is an initiative to create a worldclass educational institution to showcase the cultural heritage and ecological evolution of the 9,000 squaremile Finger Lakes Region, since the last glacial recession began over 12,000 years ago. Last April, Keuka Lake State Park was selected as the preferred location to build the project.
Second Photo: Finger Lakes Museum project director Don Naetzker, left, facilitates the signing ceremony at Keuka Lake State Park. Seated from left are museum trustee David Wegman, Regional Parks Director Tim Joseph, board president John Adamski, Jerusalem town supervisor Daryl Jones, Yates County Legislature president Taylor Fitch, Finger Lakes Economic Development Center CEO Steve Griffin, Keuka College president Dr. Joseph Burke, and Finger Lakes Visitors Association Executive Director Steve Knapp.
For more information or to make contact, see www.fingerlakesmuseum.org.
Defending Public Education Workshops, Rally
By Editorial Staff
Threats to Public Education loom on all fronts. Whether in the U.S. or abroad, in primary and secondary K-12 schooling or in institutions of higher education, we encounter once-proud state education systems crumbling under the weight of sustained budget reductions and pressures to privatize. In concert with severe financial cuts we find assaults against the principle that it is in a society’s best interest to educate its citizenry, the principle that society bears a responsibility to provide quality education to all its members, and the principle that education as a space for critical thought ought to be free from the direct profit motives of private business.
As one example, here in New York State, the Legislature slashed SUNY’s budget by over $210 million this year, meaning SUNY’s total operating budget has been reduced by 30% over the past three years. This will likely result in (another) round of tuition fee hikes, further restricting New York State’s citizens’ access to higher education and adding to the mounting debt burden of those students who can attend a State University. Cuts will result in fewer classes offered, larger class sizes, fewer faculty and staff, fewer programs and resources, and diminishing facilities. A similar story can be told about the pressures on K-12 education from budget reductions, Charter schools, threats to teachers, cuts to educational programming and the like. The current round of budget slashing would be difficult to swallow if it came as an isolated response to the severe economic recession in which we find currently ourselves. However, these cuts are only the most recent in a thirty-year assault against public education. In 1989-90, for instance, the State of New York contributed nearly 43% of SUNY’s operating budget; today the State’s contribution has dropped to nearly 15%. This withering of public support for education in New York has direct parallels at all educational levels, across the country and around the world.
As part of a National Day of Action to Defend Public Education a local coalition of faculty, student, labor and community groups, including the Albany Chapter of United University Professions, CDALF, AFL-CIO, Workers United, NYPIRG, NYSUT, and the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace as well as student and community groups will host three events— two workshops on September 29 and a rally on October 7, the National Day of Action—opposing cutbacks to public education.
September 29
5:00-6:30 p.m. UAlbany Uptown Campus, Science Library Standish Room
Schools Under Siege: The Case for Restoring Public Funding to Education. Speakers include UAlbany Prof. Fernando Leiva and Doctoral Student Jackie Hayes, both from the UAlbany Department of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies, and Cathy Corbo, President of the Albany Public School Teachers' Association (APSTA).
7:30-9:00 p.m. UAlbany Uptown Campus, Science Library Standish Room
The Costs of War and the Struggle for Public Services: Is the War Really Making Us More Secure? Speakers include Prof. Ron Friedman, Dept. of Psychology, UAlbany; Joe Lombardo, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace; John Amidon, Veterans for Peace; and, Chris Hellman, National Priorities Project.
October 7
12:00-2:00 p.m. UAlbany Podium in front of the Campus Center
Rally to Oppose Cuts to Public Education
Monday, September 27, 2010
Glens Falls Feeder Canal and Towpath Trail Improvements
By Editorial Staff
State and local officials have announced completion of connection improvements to the Glens Falls Feeder Canal and Towpath Trail, and officially opened the improved waterfront.
The "Warren County – Improving Feeder Canal Community Connections Project" has expanded community connections along the Glens Falls Feeder Canal and the Towpath Trail with $140,585 funded by the New York State Canal Corporation through the Erie Canal Greenway Grant Program.
Warren County partnered with the Canal Corporation, the City of Glens Falls, the Town of Queensbury and the Feeder Canal Alliance, a not-for-profit entity whose mission includes preserving and expanding public use of the Feeder Canal Towpath and associated structures.
Work has been completed in both the Overlook Park in the Town of Queensbury and Haviland Cove in the City of Glens Falls. Site improvements to both parks included resurfacing of the roadways, trailways and parking areas, including Haviland Cove, where school buses park. Electrical services were also installed in both parks, including the pavilion in Haviland Cove. Benches, tables, grills, and a covered pavilion were installed in Overlook Park. Additionally, 3.6 miles of towpath trail was resurfaced by county work forces with stonedust for use as a bike and pedestrian trail.
In addition, the Canal Corporation provided $9,000 to complete signage along the seven-mile Feeder Canal Trail in both Warren and Washington Counties. Weathered signs were refurbished and replaced, and obsolete signs were replaced with new interpretive signs.
The Erie Canal Greenway Grant Program, administered by the Canal Corporation, was created to help spur community revitalization along the 524-mile Canal System. Fifty-four Greenway grants were awarded on a competitive basis to communities and non-profit organizations for capital projects that enhance and promote tourism, recreation, historic interpretation, and community revitalization in 19 counties along the New York State Canal System. All grants require a 50-percent match in local funds or in-kind services.
The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways, the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles across New York State, the waterway links the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Niagara River with communities rich in history and culture.
The New York State Canal Corporation is a subsidiary of the New York State Thruway Authority. In 1992 State legislation transferred the Canal System from the New York State Department of Transportation to the Thruway Authority. Canal operating and maintenance activities are supported by Thruway toll revenues.
Photo: Glens Falls Feeder Canal Lock 1. Photo Courtesy of Tug44.org.
Whither Wall Street: Architecture of Wall Street Event
By Editorial Staff
Organized by The Skyscraper Museum in partnership with the Museum of American Finance, “Whither Wall Street” will address the changing fortunes of Wall Street –– not the forecast of financial markets, but the architectural assets and liabilities of the physical place. The panel discussion, part of the American Museum of Finance's 2010 Henry Kaufman Lecture/Symposia Series, will take place Wednesday, October 13, 2010 from 6 to 7:30 PM.
A diverse panel of experts will discuss the recent history and possible futures of one of America’s most famous streets. Key topics include the widespread conversion of office buildings to residential, hotel and retail uses and the new demands on the design of the public realm that need to serve the conflicting needs of both access and security of a post-9/11 world.
Panelists will include:
Carol Willis, Director, The Skyscraper Museum (Introduction and moderator)
Elizabeth H. Berger, President, Downtown Alliance
Rob Rogers, Principal, Rogers Marvel Architects; streetscape designers of Wall Street for the NYC Department of City Planning
Kent Swig, President of Swig Equities, LLC; owner of a portfolio of properties on Wall Street and in the financial district
Alexandros Washburn, Chief Urban Designer, NYC Department of City Planning
The panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session and reception. Reservations required. Admission is free for students and members of the Museum of American Finance and the Skyscraper Museum, or $15 for non-members. For additional information, contact Lindsay Seeger at 212-908-4110 or lseeger@moaf.org.
The Masculinity of Antebellum Landscape Painters
By Editorial Staff
As one who hobnobbed in elite cultural circles but also worked with his hands and roughed it in the woods and mountains, was the antebellum American landscape painter to be a gentleman or an undomesticated wild man, a James Fenimore Cooper or a Davy Crockett? Join Dr. Sarah Burns, Ruth N. Halls Professor of Fine Arts at Indiana University, as she examines the ways in which Hudson River School painters attempted to reckon with the problematic aura of femininity that clung to the image of the artist at that time. The lecture, "Outdoor Men: Manliness, Masculinity, and the Antebellum Landscape Painter," will be held on Sunday October 10 is at 2pm at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill. Admission is $7 per person, or $5 for members, and is first-come-first-served.
Illustration: Asher Durand, Kindred Spirits (detail), 1849. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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By Editorial Staff
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Richard Dreyfuss to Receive State Archives Award
By Editorial Staff
Richard Dreyfuss, Academy Award-winning actor and passionate advocate for teaching American history in primary and secondary schools, will be given the 2010 Empire State Archives and History Award on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in The Egg, Empire State Plaza, downtown Albany. As part of the program, Dreyfuss will be interviewed by noted Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer about his life, work and passion for history. Tickets are $10 and may be obtained from The Egg Box Office at (518) 473-1845 or online at www.theegg.org. The event is sponsored by the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, Greenberg Traurig, the Times Union, the History channel, and the New York State Writers Institute.
Dreyfuss is a leading advocate for the teaching of history in America's primary and secondary schools. Recently, the Brooklyn-born actor founded a nonprofit organization, The Dreyfuss Initiative, whose mission is to promote Constitutional literacy, historical appreciation and open political dialogue among young people. Regarding the group's mission, Dreyfuss states, "We are a nation bound by ideas only. We have no common ancestry, no common religion, no common military victory or defeat, no common crime that binds us. If you don't teach those ideas to every new generation of Americans with wit and rigor, we are not bound."
A member of the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Dreyfuss served as Senior Associate Member of St. Antony's College, Oxford, where he researched and developed new curricula for teaching the history and practice of democracy in public schools.
Dreyfuss received the Academy Award for Best Actor in Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl (1977), the youngest actor to be so honored until 2002. Dreyfuss was nominated a second time for Mr. Holland's Opus in 1995. The actor's other noteworthy films include The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), his first lead role, American Graffiti (1973), Jaws (1975), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Tin Men (1987), Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), and Oliver Stone's W. (2008). Dreyfuss's remarkable performance in W. as Vice President Dick Cheney earned him a great deal of critical attention and praise. Dreyfuss received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.
Dreyfuss's many television credits include four episodes of the Showtime series, Weeds in its 2010 season, two episodes voicing himself in the 2009 season of Family Guy, and the title role in the CBS series, The Education of Max Bickford (2001-2002), about a history professor at a women's college. The latter role earned him a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Actor.
Dreyfuss is also the coauthor of a novel with leading fantasy writer, Harry Turtledove - The Two Georges (1995), which presents an alternative history of the American Revolution.
In advance of the program, a ticketed reception to honor Dreyfuss will be held at The Egg from 5:30-7:00 p.m. To learn more, contact the Trust at (518) 486-9349, or online at http://www.archives.nysed.gov. Proceeds will benefit the New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust.
Andy Flynn's Sixth Adirondack Attic Book
By Editorial Staff
Hungry Bear Publishing recently released its sixth volume in the “Adirondack Attic” book series, highlighting dozens of artifacts from the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.
Author Andy Flynn, of Saranac Lake, tells 53 more stories about the museum’s collection in New York State’s Mountain Heritage: Adirondack Attic, Volume 6, bringing the story count to more than 300 for the six-volume series that began in 2004. Stories, and artifacts, come from all over the Adirondack region.
“Each story is special unto itself; however, taken as a whole, this series gives us the big picture,” Flynn told the Almanack. “Thanks to these artifacts, we now have a unique perspective on the Adirondack experiment and a better understanding of the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park, its people and communities, and how life has changed here over the past 300 years.”
Stories from Adirondack Attic 6 come from the following communities: Au Sable Forks, Bangor, Blue Mountain Lake, Brantingham Lake, Canton, Chestertown, Cranberry Lake, Dickinson Center, Elizabethtown, Hague, Johnsburg, Lake George, Lake Placid, Long Lake, Loon Lake, Lyon Mountain, Mohawk, Newcomb, North River, Northville, Paul Smiths, Port Henry, Raquette Lake, Saranac Lake, Ticonderoga, Tupper Lake, Warrensburg and Wilmington.
Flynn created the Adirondack Attic History Project to “promote the heritage of the Adirondack Park to residents and visitors through publications and programs.” As the owner/operator of Hungry Bear Publishing, he works with curators at the Adirondack Museum and other historical associations and museums in the region to tell human-interest stories about their artifact collections.
Flynn’s “Adirondack Attic” column ran weekly in several northern New York newspapers from 2003 to 2009. The stories in Adirondack Attic 6 represent the columns from 2008. Each volume includes columns from a specific year; for example, Adirondack Attic 1 featured columns from 2003, the first year of the Adirondack Attic History Project.
In April 2010, North Country Public Radio began running Flynn’s new Adirondack Attic Radio Series, sponsored by the Adirondack Museum and singer/songwriter Dan Berggren. It airs the first Tuesday of the month during the Eight O’Clock Hour with Todd Moe. For each program, Flynn features a different artifact from the collection of a museum in the Adirondack North Country Region. He uses the Adirondack Museum as his “History Headquarters” but also visits other museums to track down the objects people have made, used and left behind.
In 2008, Andy Flynn was awarded a Certificate of Commendation from the Upstate History Alliance for the Adirondack Attic History Project. He has since presented programs on his work with the Adirondack Museum to scholars at the New York State Archives Conference (2008), Association of Public Historians of New York State (2008) and Conference on New York State History (2009).
Flynn also publishes the Meet the Town community guide series with booklets for Saranac Lake, Lake Placid/Wilmington, Canton, Potsdam, Tupper Lake/Long Lake/Newcomb and the Au Sable Valley. From 2001 to 2009, he was employed as the Senior Public Information Specialist at the Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Interpretive Center in Paul Smiths.
Flynn is an award-winning journalist, garnering merits of excellence from the National Newspaper Association, New York Newspaper Publishers Association and the New York Press Association. While the staff writer at the Lake Placid News, he was named the 1996 NYPA Writer of the Year for weekly New York state newspapers with circulations under 10,000. Before joining the VIC staff, he was a writer and editor for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake and the Lake Placid News, a correspondent for the Plattsburgh Press-Republican, an announcer for WNBZ 1240-AM in Saranac Lake, and a general assignment news reporter and radio documentary producer for North Country Public Radio in Canton. He is a graduate of the SUNY College at Fredonia (1991) and the Tupper Lake High School (1987).
For more information about the Adirondack Attic book series and radio program, call (518) 891-5559 or visit online at www.hungrybearpublishing.com.
ADIRONDACK ATTIC 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1: Delaware & Hudson Railroad guides
2: Camp Santanoni Gate Lodge rendering (Newcomb)
3: Long Lake fire truck
4: Snowbug and Luvbug snow machines
5: Lake Placid bobsledding cassette tape (Saranac Lake, Lake Placid)
6: Mystery of Ironshoes, the bobsled (Lake Placid, Port Henry, Lyon Mountain, Elizabethtown)
7: Nehasane Park wagon (Long Lake)
8: Republic Steel miner’s helmet (Port Henry)
9: J. & J. Rogers Company safe (Au Sable Forks)
10: Paul Smith’s hotel stagecoach photo
11: Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine (Mohawk)
12: Bonnie Belle Farm ensilage cutter (Chestertown)
13: Maple sugaring sledge (Dickinson enter, North River)
14: Acme Leader cooking stove (Warrensburg)
15: Steamer Vermont III menu (Lake Champlain, Lake Placid, Loon Lake)
16: Au Sable Forks archery set
17: Bear Pond Preserve posted sign (Raquette Lake)
18: Fire tower string map (Warrensburg, Lake George)
19: Whiteface Mt. Ski Center brochures
20: Hendrik Van Loon’s Wide World Game
21: “Uncle Mart” Moody pocket watch (Tupper Lake)
22: Civil War memorial poster (Warrensburg)
23: “Assaulted by Mosquitoes” photo
24: Bug dope in the Adirondack woods
25: Sunset Cottage (Forked Lake)
26: Frederic Remington painting (Canton, Cranberry Lake)
27: A Pleasant Day at Lake George painting
28: Picturesque America book
29: Swizzle sticks (Ticonderoga, Port Henry, Hague)
30: E.R. Wallace guidebooks
31: Long Lake church souvenir tray
32: In Nature’s Laboratory book
33: Clock Golf lawn game
34: Altamont Milk Company cooler (Tupper Lake)
35: Blue Mountain House artist’s cottage
36: North River crazy quilt
37: 18th century clay pipe fragment (Blue Mountain Lake)
38: Raquette Lake sectional rowboat
39: Ticonderoga Indian Pageant booklet
40: Lake George souvenir china
41: Sacandaga Park souvenir china (Northville)
42: O.W.D. Corporation 5-cent token (Tupper Lake)
43: 1833 needlepoint sampler (Johnsburg)
44: Warrensburg hearse
45: Lake Placid violin
46: Mystery of the postal hand stamp (Bangor)
47: Dwight P. Church’s aerial camera (Canton)
48: Civilian Conservation Corps ring (Glens Falls/Hudson Falls)
49: Tupper Lake baby shoes
50: 1929 firemen’s convention ribbon (Saranac Lake)
51: Dr. William Seward Webb mailbag
52: Brantingham Lake rustic chair
53: Newcomb Snow Plow
Note: Books noticed on this site have been provided by the publishers.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
New York Photography by James Maher
By Editorial Staff
I recently learned about a New York City street photographer that's a big fan of New York history. New York Photography by James Maher focuses on both the architecture and the people on the streets of the city, but Maher also writes historical photo articles on some of the more interesting aspects of the city, such as the construction of the brooklyn bridge, the old Atlantic Avenue Tunnel and the old City Hall subway station.
Photo: Housing for patients, Ellis Island. Courtesy James Maher.
National Archives Launches 'Our Archives' Wiki
By Editorial Staff
The National Archives has launched its first public wiki called “Our Archives” on Wikispaces located at http://www.ourarchives.wikispaces.net. “Our Archives” provides a collaborative space for members of the public, researchers, and staff to share knowledge about National Archives records, resources and research. The wiki is an opportunity for researchers, historians, archivists, and citizen archivists to work together to create pages on specific records or topics as well as to share information and resources to connect with other researchers.
Users may participate in the wiki in the following ways:
* Create new pages and edit pre-existing pages about historical subjects and records held by the National Archives;
* Expand upon a description in the National Archives online catalog;
* Publish a transcription of a document;
* Add information to build upon other resources;
* Collaborate with other users working on similar subjects or to work together on research projects;
* Join in the discussions for various pages.
Joining the Wiki
Anyone is able to read the pages and join in the discussions. Contributors to the wiki will need a user login and password. To create an account, go to http://www.ourarchives.wikispaces.net and click “Join” in the top left corner, and follow the instructions. New accounts will be approved Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.
Questions about the Archives wiki may be sent to Rebecca Warlow at OurArchiveswiki@nara.gov
New Paltz: Nov Events at Historic Huguenot Street
By Editorial Staff
Historic Huguenot Street (HHS), located on the banks of the Wallkill River, is where small group of French-speaking Huguenots settled in 1678. Today, just steps from downtown New Paltz, the site features seven stone houses dating to 1705, a burying ground and a reconstructed 1717 stone church – all in their original village setting. HHS offers six acres of landscaped green space and public programming to the local community and visitors from around the world. For more information about Historic Huguenot Street visit www.huguenotstreet.org or call (845) 255-1660.
Saturday, November 6, 10am to12pm
Behind the Scenes: Coverlets with the Curator
This program is offered in conjunction with the Binary Visions Exhibit at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. Limited to 15, the morning offers an opportunity to see up close the historic coverlets too fragile to exhibit. Cost: $25/$20 for Friends of Huguenot Street
Saturday, November 13, 7 to 9pm
Second Saturdays: The Lenape, Lower New York's First Inhabitants
In this lively and engaging talk, David M. Oestreicher combines archaeological and historical evidence with decades of firsthand ethnographic and linguistic research among present-day Lenape traditionalists, to arrive at a full picture of the Lenape from prehistory to the present. The presentation includes a slide program featuring native artifacts, maps, illustrations, and photographs, as well as images of contemporary Lenape who are among the last repositories of their culture. This lecture offers a unique opportunity to learn about lower New York's original inhabitants, the Lenape -- not the romanticized figures of popular mythology or new-age literature, but a living people as they really are. Dr.David M. Oestreicher is recognized as a leading authority on the Lenape (Delaware), our region's first inhabitants. Cost: $8/$6 for Friends of Huguenot Street
Friday, November 19, 5 to 8 pm
Downtown Unwrapped/ Tree Lighting
What a great way to do your holiday shopping. Downtown New Paltz, including Huguenot Street, will be open late to start the holiday shopping season. Start the evening with the traditional tree lighting ceremony being held on Huguenot Street. Stop in the museum shop, enjoy some homemade hot chocolate and find some unique items in the shop, including holiday decoration and cards.
Saturday, November 20, 4-7 pm
Third Saturday Art Walk: As the Seasons Turn, Holiday Greetings Card
The collections at Historic Huguenot Street include an impressive collection of holiday cards from the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries. Many are richly detailed. Others contain "holiday" motifs that are just puzzling in our modern world. This exhibit gives guests rare opportunities to see the celebration of holidays through cards that span several decades.
Friday, November 26, 11am to 3pm
Giving Thanks Day
It's Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and you're all cooped up in the house. Don't go to the mall. Come enjoy a special "Giving Thanks" day at HHS. Cost: For this day only, tours are just $5 per person or $20 for the whole family.
Saturday, November 27, 11am to 2pm
Photos with Vintage Santa | 11am to 2pm
Come and have your picture taken with our vintage Santa Claus seated next to the period fireplace in the historic Jean Hasbrouck House. These are timeless photographs, of exceptional quality, taken by a professional photographer familiar with the interesting backdrops that our house interiors offer. Every photo will be inserted in a replicated card form the vintage holiday card collection we have here at HHS. For this event we will again partner with Rite Aid, a trusted local business and, at your request, send a .jpg oh your photograph so that they can create your holiday cards with convenience and ease. Imagine, pictures with the most authentic Santa in New Paltz and your holiday cards all wrapped up - and it isn't even December yet!! Cost: $15 first photo, $5 for each additional photo
Saturday, November 27, 11am to 2pm
Christmas Quest
Children will search through the grand Deyo House on Huguenot Street looking for Christmas themed clues (vintage cards, stockings, antique cookie cutters...). Exploring this stately colonial revival will be a delightful challenge as you discover the clues and solve the mystery of the hunt! Holiday treats and warm cider will be provided back at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center upon completion of the hunt. Please note this event is suitable for ages 5 and up. Cost: $7 per child
Friday, September 24, 2010
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
By Editorial Staff
- Operation Pastorius: Hitler's Dream of a NY in Flames
- Inside Higher Ed: Times Change in Higher Ed Coverage
- Mary-Ann Kirkby: Cultural Heritage A Real Gift
- Schenectady Co. Historical: USS Schenectady
- Adirondack Almanack: Paulist Fathers Ponder Future
- WNYC: Some NYC History
- Mindful Walker: Trotters at Goshen's Post Office
- Inside the Apple: The First New York City Marathon
- Clermont Historic Site: A Brief History of Sitting
- Travel Film Archive: Adirondack Holiday, 1960
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NYSHA President Chairs Assoc for State, Local History
By Editorial Staff
At the Association’s annual conference in Oklahoma City yesterday, NYS Historical Association (NYSHA) President and Chief Executive Officer, D. Stephen Elliott, began a two-year term as Chair of the American Association for State and Local History’s (AASLH) 20-member governing Council. Elliott was elected to the position last year by the Association’s membership.
Based in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH is the country’s leading association for history organizations and those who staff them. It provides leadership and support for its 6300 institutional and individual members, including professional development and recognition, publishing and networking, and advocacy.
The Association has been a leader in helping history museums, historic house museums, historical agencies and societies, and archives think creatively and entrepreneurially about their roles in contemporary society and in their communities and about how to sustain their programs and services even as traditional funding sources also are under duress.
Elliott will continue to serve as President and CEO of NYSHA and The Farmers’ Museum, and as Vice President of the Museum Association of New York.
Terry Davis, AASLH President and CEO, noted that Elliott had previously served on the Association’s Council and other national history education boards. “Steve is highly respected in the field. His thoughtful approach to issues and tireless advocacy for collaboration among history, museum, and educational organizations are timely strengths.”
Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of The Farmers’ Museum Board of Directors, also commended Elliott’s selection. “He is a solid leader who works extremely well with Boards of Directors, and he certainly knows well the operational challenges that museums and history organizations have been surmounting.”
Dr. Douglas E. Evelyn, Chairman of the NYSHA Board of Trustees, is himself a former Chair of AASLH. “Steve is a good pick for this important national position at this particularly challenging time. He has a wealth of varied professional experience, having served in the field for 38 years, from Williamsburg to Cooperstown, and is wholly committed to maximizing how these vital keepers of America’s diverse heritage serve well their broad constituencies.”
Elliott has been the President of the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers’ Museum since 2005. Previously he served for five years as Executive Director of the First Freedom Center, in Richmond, Virginia, a non-profit whose educational mission focuses on the development of religious freedom in America. He held numerous posts over 28 years with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in Virginia, the world’s largest living history museum, including Vice President of Education and Museums; Vice President and Chief Administration Officer; Vice President of Planning, Information and Capital Project Management, and Quality Performance; and, Secretary of the Foundation. He has also served on the Board and as a member of the Executive Committee of National History Day; as a governing Council Member and Vice Chair of the American Association for State and Local History; a Board Liaison for the National Council for History Education; and held leadership positions with many public service and community organizations in the Williamsburg-Hampton Roads and Cooperstown areas. Elliott received his Bachelor’s degree cum laude from Cornell University; completed doctoral coursework in history at The College of William and Mary; was a Fellow to the 1972 Seminar for Historic Administration, and completed the 1990 Tuck Business School Executive Program at Dartmouth College.
Photo: NYSHA and The Farmers’ Museum President and Chief Executive Officer, D. Stephen Elliott
State Board Recommends to State, National Registers
By Editorial Staff
The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended that 24 properties be added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including the nationally significant Haviland Middle School in Hyde Park and the birthplace of an important American statesman, William H. Seward.
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. Listing will oblige state and federal government agencies whose projects would adversely impact the properties to consider other options. Private projects are not subject to state or federal review after a property is listed, and private property owners – or in historic districts, a majority of property owners – must consent for the listing to move forward.
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 approximately 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
Dutchess County
Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School, Hyde Park. – today the Haviland Middle School, the architecturally and historically significant Colonial Revival-style school shares direct associations with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who, along with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, dedicated the building at a public ceremony in October 1940, and made several subsequent appearances there.
Erie County
The Calumet, Buffalo – the 1906 commercial building is unique example of the use of glazed architectural terra cotta, decorated with running reeds, their leaves and flowers.
The Zink Block, Buffalo – the 1896 commercial building with Italian Renaissance styling is a particularly rare resource on the once thriving Connecticut Street commercial corridor, which before the mid-century stood as a thriving commercial anchor for the neighborhood.
Kensington Gardens Apartment Complex, Buffalo – the apartment complex built for the influx of workers to the city's World War II industries reflects designs of the Garden City movement and was one of the earliest projects supported by the Federal Housing Administration.
Nassau County
Glen Cove Post Office, Glen Cove – the distinctive Craftsman/Tudor-style structure was built in 1905 to serve the community's fast-growing population.
Johns S. Phipps Estate, Old Westbury – the National Register of Historic Places listing from 1976 will be amended to include a large part of the property known as Orchard Hill, which was part of the original estate, and the more information on the significance of the estate's landscaping and architecture.
Onondaga County
John G. Ayling House, Syracuse – the 1915 Tudor Revival home was designed by noted Syracuse architect Ward Wellington Ward.
Indian Castle Village Site, Manlius and Carley Onondaga Village Site, Pompey – the two sites are significant in the history of the Onondaga Nation and the regional development of the Iroquois Confederation and have yielded significant archaeological insight into domestic life in the seventeenth century.
Orange County
John G. Beakes House, Middletown – built around 1884, the Queen Anne-style home is an architecturally significant example of fashionable middle class housing erected at a time when the city's West Main Street was being developed as a desirable residential quarter.
Grace Episcopal Church, Middletown – a prominent and recognizable landmark built in 1846 and substantially modified in the late 1860s, Grace Episcopal Church's soaring spire and highly picturesque masonry work mark it as a significant example of 19th century Gothic Revival-style religious architecture.
Mortimer Mapes House/William H. Seward Birthplace, Florida – the property includes an 1887 Queen Anne-style home built for a prominent local citizen as well as the 1797 home – later converted into a carriage house – where New York Governor, U.S. Senator and U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward was born.
Queens County
Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, Forest Hills – the church and parish hall complex built in stages between 1924 and 1950 is an outstanding example of early-20 century Collegiate Gothic architecture.
Richmond County
Louis A. and Laura Stim House/Casa Belvedere, Staten Island – the 1908 Renaissance mansion, a prominent reminder of the 19th and early 20th-century development of Grymes Hill as a fashionable enclave of great estates and overlooking New York Harbor, is one of the few houses of its kind surviving on Staten Island.
Saratoga County
Nathan Garnsey House, Rexford – built in 1791 and remaining in the same family for generations, the home is a virtually untouched gem of Federal architecture owned by one of Clifton Park's important first families
Jonesville Store, Jonesville – originally built about 1845 or 1850, and expanded in 1900, the Main Street building has been a community gathering spot since throughout its history.
Mohawk Valley Grange Hall, Clifton Park – the 1896 single-story wood frame building used as a gathering place for the agricultural community retains its rural setting, despite the town's increasing suburbanization.
Abraham Best House, Vischer Ferry – built around 1815, the sophisticated brick federal farmhouse is a rare survivor from the agricultural era of Clifton Park.
Cyrus Rexford House, Rexford – the Stick-style Victorian was built in 1883 by Cyrus Rexford, who owned a canal store in the hamlet named for his father, and served as Clifton Park town supervisor and justice of the peace.
Suffolk County
Winganhauppauge, Islip – the 1941 French Provincial style home was built for Dr. Richard Pasternack, a research scientist whose work allowed Pfizer, his employer, to become the largest producer and distributor of pharmaceuticals in the world in the twentieth century.
The Edwards Homestead, Sayville – believed to be the oldest extant residence in Sayville with a portion dating to 1785, the home is an excellent surviving example of an early Long Island farmstead that began as a smaller New England Colonial but expanded over time by the family of early colonial settlers.
Sullivan County
Greenville Preparative Meeting House/Catskill Meeting House, Grahamsville – built in 1838-39 by Quakers from New England and the Hudson Valley, the simple and symmetrical building remains virtually unchanged since its original construction, lacking central heat, electricity, and indoor plumbing.
Washington County
L.C. Simonds Adirondack Cabin, Clemons – the 1910 cabin built by a Whitehall manufacturer features the hallmarks of the so-called Adirondack style, popularized in the late 19th century, including saddle-notched spruce log walls, rustic rough hewn masonry chimney, wraparound porch, and interior rustic detailing.
Westchester County
Hartsdale Railroad Station, Hartsdale – built in 1914 to replace and earlier, smaller wood frame structure, the Tudor Revival-style structure has a pivotal role in the connecting Hartsdale to New York City and attracting homeowners to the community.
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- Bronx School Highlighted in LoC Program
- Upper Canada Land Petitions Now Online
- Footnote.com Acquired by Ancestry.com
- Cornell Creating New Digital Collections
- Meryl Streep Calls for Women's History Museum
- Relics Kept in Twin Towers Back in Iraq
- VT Arrested in Van Gogh Theft
- A Town's Historic Buildings Double
- Nazi Items Pulled From Auction
- State Museum Gets Rotting Whales
- Crown Point Notes 100 Years
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Thursday, September 23, 2010
A Fort Edward French & Indian War Encampment
By Editorial Staff
Two full days of free family entertainment and education are being offered at Rogers Island Visitors Center in Fort Edward this weekend, September 25 and 26. French and Indian War reenactors from across the Northeast will establish an authentic period encampment on Rogers Island along the Hudson River.
Visitors can see how the men prepared for battle, learn what the women did in the military camps, and browse through the sutlers’ tents and see the merchandise that was offered in the military camps. Enjoy the smells as meals are prepared over open camp fires and listen to stories of 18th century camp life. At the 2:00 PM military tactical each day you will hear the musket fire as troops are ambushed by the French beyond the fort and watch as the British and provincial soldiers, along with their Native American allies, hurry to their defense. With the dredging now completed around the Island four period bateau will be launched in the river and joining in the battle.
“The End of the Campaign Reenactment” is this Saturday and Sunday, September 25 and 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Rogers Island Visitors Center, Route 197 (just off Route 4) in the Village of Fort Edward. Free admission. For more information call 518-747-3693.
Local Museums Offer Free Admission Saturday
By Editorial Staff
Saturday, September 25, 2010, museums around New York State will participate in the sixth annual Museum Day, presented by Smithsonian magazine.
A celebration of culture, learning, and the dissemination of knowledge, Smithsonian's Museum Day reflects the spirit of the magazine, and emulates the free-admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution's Washington, DC-based institutions. Doors will be open free of charge to Smithsonian readers and www.Smithsonian.com visitors at museums and cultural institutions nationwide.
Museum Day 2010 is poised to be the largest to date, outdoing last year's record-breaking event. Over 300,000 museum-goers and 1,300 venues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participated in Museum Day 2009. Last year, two million visitors logged on to www.smithsonian.com/museumday to learn more about the program.
Attendees must present the Museum Day Admission Card to gain free entry to participating institutions. Visit www.Smithsonian.com/museumdayto download your Museum Day Admission Card. Each card provides museum access for two people, and one admission card is permitted per household. Listings and links to participating museums' and sponsors' web sites can also be found at the site. The complete list of participating museums in new York State is located here.
Adirondack Museum to Host Fiber Fest
By Editorial Staff
Talented artisans will make this year's Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival at the Adirondack Museum the premier needlework event of the season. The festival will be held on Saturday, September 25, 2010. Activities are planned from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. All are included in the price of general museum admission.
The festival will include demonstrations of rug hooking, quilting, felting, spinning, and weaving, a regional quilt show, textile appraisals, an artisan marketplace, a "knit-in" for a good warm cause, hands-on activities, and the museum's beautiful exhibit, "Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters."
Demonstrations will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at locations throughout the museum campus. Returning participants include the Serendipity Spinners, members of the community-based needlework group Northern Needles, the Adirondack Regional Textile Artist's Association, as well as felter Sandi Cirillo and mixed-media quilter Louisa Austin Woodworth.
Liz Alpert Fay will make her first appearance at the festival, demonstrating the art of rug hooking. Fay studied at Philadelphia College of Art, and then participated in the Program in Artisanry at Boston University, where she received a BAA in Textile Design in 1981.
Fay created art quilts for seventeen years, exhibiting nationally and in Japan. Her work was exhibited in shows such as "Quilt National" and at the American Craft Museum in New York City. In 1998 she became intrigued with the technique of traditional rug hooking. Since then she has created colorful hand hooked rugs of her own design. The rugs have been purchased for private collections, and many have been selected for juried shows and invitational museum exhibitions. In 2002, Fay's rugs were featured in the October issue of Country Living magazine; in 2005 she was filmed in her studio and her rugs featured on HGTV (the Home and Garden Channel).
Thistle Hill Weavers, Cherry Valley, N.Y. will offer a weaving demonstration from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The company is a commercial weaving mill that produces reproduction historic textiles for museums, designers, private homeowners, and the film industry. Textiles created by Thistle Hill have appeared in more than thirty major motion pictures. The business was founded by Rabbit Goody, who is also the owner and current director. For more about Thistle Hill Weavers, visit www.rabbitgoody.com.
Museum visitors can learn more about personal antique and collectible fabrics with Ms. Goody who is a textile appraiser and historian. For a small donation to the Adirondack Museum, she will examine vintage textiles and evaluate them for historical importance and value. Appraisals will be held in Visitor Center from 9:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon.
The second annual "Great Adirondack Quilt Show" will feature a display of nearly three-dozen quilts inspired by or used in the Adirondack Mountains.
A presentation, "Knitting in the North Country: History and Folklore," will be offered by Hallie Bond and Jill Breit at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. in the museum's Auditorium. Bond, a museum curator and novice knitter, will share her ongoing research about the place of spinning and knitting in local history including traditional techniques and the wearing of knitted garments. Breit, Executive Director of Traditional Arts in Upstate New York and a superb knitter, will discuss the vital and vibrant knitting scene in
the North Country today.
A special knit-in, "Warm Up America!" will create afghans that will be donated to Hamilton County Community action, an organization that helps people help themselves and others. The knit-in will be held in the Visitor Center from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Participants will knit or crochet 7" by 9" rectangles that will be joined together to make cozy afghans.
A dozen regional artisans will sell handmade fabrics and fiber specialty items in a day-long marketplace as part of the Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival.
The Adirondack Museum tells stories of the people - past and present -- who have lived, worked, and played in the unique place that is the Adirondack Park. History is in our nature. The museum is supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. For information about all that the museum has to offer, call (518) 352-7311, or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Furniture of Historic Huguenot Street
By Editorial Staff
Known throughout the region for its unique architecture and for the preservation of the early stone houses, Historic Huguenot Street also boasts an extraordinary collection of carefully preserved furniture and accessories spanning over a three-hundred year period. This intimate tour will focus on the many treasures found in the house museums as well as in the collections storage.
Antiques expert Sanford Levy has a particular love for and knowledge of historical items from the Hudson Valley. Owner of Jenkinstown Antiques, Levy specializes in furniture, fine art, and accessories from the Valley, including kasten, country and formal pieces in original surfaces. He is also well-known as a dealer in regional artists such as D.F. Hasbrouck, T.B. Pope, Michael Kelly, Joseph Tubby, and Julia Dillon.
The tour begins at 4pm on Sunday, September 26th, at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center at 81 Huguenot Street in New Paltz. Two hours in length, the event is limited to 15 guests. Reservations are strongly suggested. There is a $25 charge per person ($20 for Friends of Historic Huguenot Street).
Actor Will Portray Marquis de Lafayette Saturday
By Editorial Staff
The Marquis de Lafayette may not be a household name in America, but without him this country might not even exist. Even as a new documentary film traces Lafayette’s descent from one of the most famous men on the planet to relative historical obscurity, the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation offers visitors the chance to “meet” this extraordinary character.
On Saturday, September 25, at 1:00 p.m. at the Mount Independence State Historic Site British actor-playwright Howard Burnham will portray Lafayette in his one-man costumed program, “Liberty now has a new country!: The Marquis de Lafayette.”
“Lafayette’s story is a truly remarkable one, and Howard Burnham captures the spirit of this gallant Frenchman who came to America as a young man to fight for the cause of liberty during the Revolutionary War,” said Elsa Gilbertson, Regional Historic Site Administrator for the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.
A new documentary, “Lafayette: The Lost Hero,” recently debuted on Vermont Public Television and other stations around the nation, telling the story of the aristocrat who led troops against the British; befriended Gen. George Washington and served with him at Valley Forge; and helped bring France into the war on the colonists’ side.
Burnham will portray Lafayette on his triumphal tour of America in 1824 and 1825, when President James Monroe invited him to visit in part to celebrate the nation’s 50th anniversary.
“At the time, Lafayette was wildly popular all over the country,” Gilbertson said. “He was welcomed as a hero; Fayetteville, North Carolina was named after him; and the United States Congress voted him a gift of $200,000 and a township in Florida.”
Lafayette will reflect on his long and eventful life and will transport the audience to Camden, South Carolina, where he laid the foundation stone for the monument to Baron de Kalb – with whom he came to America in 1777 – as well as eulogize the Baron.
General Lafayette’s aide de camp, Michel Capitaine du Chesnoy, created an important map of Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga, showing it after the Americans retreated in July 1777.
“Lafayette visited every state during his visit, and on June 30, 1825, he traveled south on Lake Champlain past Mount Independence on the steamboat Phoenix on his way to Whitehall, New York, at the end of his visit through Vermont,” Gilbertson said.
The program is sponsored by the Mount Independence Coalition and Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, and admission is $5.00 for adults and is free for children under 15. It also includes admission to the museum and all the trails.
Burnham has given six performances at Mount Independence in recent years, including interpretations of British figures Gen. John Burgoyne; Lord Charles Cornwallis; and Maj. Banastre Tarleton, as well as Americans like Gen. Horatio Gates and Thomas Paine.
The Mount Independence State Historic Site is one of the best-preserved Revolutionary War sites in America.
On July 5, 1777, faced with a British force more than twice his size that had occupied a position from which they could bombard him with impunity, General Arthur St. Clair withdrew from Mount Independence and nearby Fort Ticonderoga without firing a shot.
Though his actions helped preserve the army, Congress was outraged and censured St. Clair for the loss. He later argued that his conduct had been honorable; demanded review by a court martial; and was ultimately exonerated.
The site is located near the end of Mount Independence Road, six miles west of the intersections of Vermont Routes 22A and 73 near Orwell village; carefully follow the signs. Regular hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily through October 12.
Call (802) 948-2000 for more information or visit: www.HistoricVermont.org/sites.
Glenn Curtiss Day at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
By Editorial Staff
The Hudson River Valley Institute (HRVI) at Marist College and the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum come to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area to pay tribute to Glenn Curtiss on Saturday, October 9. Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Air Shows President, Hugh Schoelzel expressed appreciation for the choice of the Aerodrome as a fitting venue and explained the special air show: “Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome’s replica of the 1911 Curtiss “D” Pusher…very similar to Glenn Cutiss’ Albany Flyer… will be on display to greet guests entering the Aerodrome courtyard.
At 2 PM, the Pioneer and Barnstorming Air Show will feature the Curtiss “D” Pusher in a taxi demonstration of its unique flight controls, flying exhibitions of an original Curtiss JN-4 H Hisso Jenny built for the Great War in 1918 and a Curtiss Wright Junior CW-1 built by Curtiss as an economical flying machine for recreational pilots in 1931.” The museum and grounds open at 10 AM with four hangars full of antique airplanes and related artifacts to browse through; biplane rides will also be available.
Following the air show, the Hudson River Valley Institute is sponsoring a lecture by Trafford Doherty, Executive Director of The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum of Hammondsport, New York. There will also be a special static display and photo opportunities of the Curtiss airplanes.
Old Rhinebeck Air Shows, The Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, and the Hudson River Valley Institute have missions related to education and, with the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, all four are 501c3 non-profit organizations.
Photo: A "Headed" Curtiss Model D (Curtiss photo 1196) Pusher later "Headless" models incorporated elevators around the rudder in the tail (like most aircraft since). Courtesy Wikipedia.
Saratoga Battlefield Announces Autumn Hours
By Editorial Staff
Saratoga National Historical Park’s visitor center, located on Route 32 and 4 in Stillwater, remains open year-around from 9am to 5pm, but as day-light gets shorter the park’s scenic 10-mile tour road will close earlier as follows:
Through Sunday September 19, the road is open from 9am to 7pm
Monday September 20, the road will be open from 9am to 6pm
Monday October 4, the road will be open from 9am to 5pm.
The road remains open 9am to 5pm thru mid-to late November, depending on the weather.
With over 25 miles of tranquil roads, paths and trails, Saratoga Battlefield provides a great many opportunities to enjoy history, nature, recreation and special programs. Upcoming autumn events include:
233rd Anniversary Encampment on September 18 and 19
24th Regiment Encampment on October 9 and 10
Plein-Air Painting on October 9 (rain date October 10)
Candlelight Tour of Schuyler House on October 16
From May 1 to October 31 a seven-day entrance pass for the Battlefield is $5 for a vehicle, $3 for hiking or bicycling. An annual pass, good for the whole family, is only $10. Senior and access passes, plus passes to any of the nation’s 390 national parks are also available.
Come explore the National Park in your backyard! For more information, contact the Visitor Center by calling 518-664-9821 ext. 224, or check the Park website at www.nps.gov/sara
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Important Slavery Collection Goes Online
By Editorial Staff
The New-York Historical Society has announced the launch of a new online portal to nearly 12,000 pages of source materials documenting the history of slavery in the United States, the Atlantic slave trade and the abolitionist movement. Made readily accessible to the general public for the first time at www.nyhistory.org/slaverycollections, these documents from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries represent fourteen of the most important collections in the library’s Manuscript Department.
The collections include account books and ship manifests documenting the financial aspects of the slave trade; legal papers such as birth certificates and deeds of manumission; and political works and polemics. The materials range from writings by the abolitionists Granville Sharp, Lysander Spooner and Charles Sumner to the diary of a plantation manager and overseer of slaves in Cuba, Joseph Goodwin, and that of a former slave in Fishkill, New York, James F. Brown.
The site also provides access to the archives of abolitionist organizations such as the New-York Manumission Society and the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, as well as the records of the African Free School, which document the education of free blacks in early nineteenth-century New York.
“The creative use of digital technology is a key priority in making the Society a highly accessible world-class resource for all,” stated Jean Ashton, Executive Vice President of the Historical Society and Director of the Library. “This project is a landmark achievement in our efforts to offer scholars, educators and students anywhere in the world immediate access to materials from the Society's museum and library collections.”
The project was completed with the support of a $190,000 appropriation secured by Senator Charles E. Schumer’s office to digitize the Historical Society’s library collections. “As more and more of our world goes online, we must make sure that our historical records keep up,” said Senator Schumer. “By digitizing thousands of pages of materials documenting the history of slavery in the United States, the New-York Historical Society will make this collection accessible to any American interested in our history.”
Over the past six years, the New-York Historical Society has showcased documents, art and artifacts relating to the abolitionist movement and the network known as the Underground Railroad by publishing the papers of the African Free School in print and on the web, and through the following exhibitions:
Grant and Lee in War and Peace
Lincoln and New York;
Alexander Hamilton
Slavery in New York
New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War;
French Founding Father: Lafayette's Return to Washington's America.
Established in 1804, the New-York Historical Society (N-YHS) comprises New York's oldest museum and a nationally renowned research library. N-YHS collects, preserves and interprets American history and art; its mission is to make these collections accessible to the broadest public and increase understanding of American history through exhibitions, public programs and research that reveal the dynamism of history and its impact on the world today. N-YHS holdings cover four centuries of American history and comprise one of the world's greatest collections of historical artifacts, American art and other materials documenting the history of the United States as seen through the prism of New York City and State.
Meet The Most Hated Briton of the Revolution
By Editorial Staff
While King George III was certainly reviled by the American colonists during the Revolutionary War, he was by no means the most hated man on the continent at the time.
That honor went to Major Banastre “Ban” Tarleton, the infamous commander of the Green Dragoons, and the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation is presenting an opportunity to “meet” this historic figure at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 24, at the Old First Church barn in Bennington.
“English actor-playwright Howard Burnham really brings these figures from the past to life with his one-man costumed performances,” said Bennington Battle Monument site administrator Marylou Chicote. “He will reminisce – in his old age – about his colorful life and times in America and his legacy.”
Tarleton was the son of a wealthy Liverpool merchant and mayor, but it is reputed that while attending Oxford University the younger Tarleton’s two most successful activities were athletics and gambling.
He reportedly inherited 5,000 pounds upon his father’s death in 1773 and promptly lost it gambling in a year, forcing his family to scrape together enough money to purchase him a commission in the King’s Dragoon Guards in 1775.
Tarleton volunteered to sail to America later that year where he served under both Lord Charles Cornwallis and Gen. William Howe in the attempt to suppress the rebellion. He rose to the rank of brigade major of cavalry and was given command of the British Legion, a mixed unit of mostly Loyalist American infantry and cavalry.
Tarleton’s “Green Dragoons” were involved in a number of battles but earned their infamy during the Battle of Waxhaws on May 29, 1780, near Lancaster, South Carolina.
When the American commander, Colonel Abraham Buford, refused Tarleton’s demand to surrender the latter ordered a full charge, despite being outnumbered nearly two to one.
Buford’s decision not to deploy his troops in battle lines but instead maintain his marching formation proved disastrous as his men were routed, and what happened next would be the subject of great controversy.
Many Americans threw down their weapons and tried to surrender, and even Buford reportedly raised a white flag, but at that precise moment Tarleton’s horse was shot out from under him.
Enraged that their commander had apparently been killed by troops purporting to surrender, Tarleton’s men swarmed in and slaughtered much of the American force with sabers and bayonets.
Tarleton’s own report claimed 113 Americans killed and another 147 wounded, while his own losses were 5 killed and 12 wounded. The incident was called the Waxhaws Massacre by American forces; “Tarleton’s Quarter,” meaning no mercy, was reportedly used as a rallying cry by colonists for the rest of the war.
The next year Tarleton suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Cowpens and later surrendered with Cornwallis at Yorktown and returned to England where he was promoted to general and eventually served in the House of Commons.
His political career was as controversial as his military one; though his Whig party opposed the slave trade, Tarleton became a leader in the pro-slavery movement in Parliament, presumably because of its importance to his constituents in Liverpool but perhaps because of his own family’s shipping interests.
In 1815 he was made a baronet and in 1820 knighted. While he carried on a long affair with poet and actress Mary Robinson, he eventually married Susan Pricilla, the illegitimate daughter of Robert Bertie, the Fourth Duke of Ancaster, and died childless in January 1833.
In 2000, the Mel Gibson movie “The Patriot” featured a ruthless British cavalry officer – Colonel William Tavington – whose character was based on Tarleton, a move that inspired protests from some quarters in England that Tarleton was being unfairly smeared.
Burnham has toured the Northeast for several years appearing at Mount Independence, Saratoga, Bunker Hill and Fort Ticonderoga, and other performances have included interpretations of British General John Burgoyne and Lord Cornwallis, as well as American General Horatio Gates and Thomas Paine.
The program is sponsored by the Friends of the Monument and Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited; first come first served. A $5.00 donation to the Friends of the Monument is requested.
The Old First Church Barn is located on Monument Circle, near the Bennington Battle Monument in Old Bennington just north of Route 9. The Monument and Gift Shop are open 7 days a week from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., mid-April until October 31st.
For information call (802) 447-0550 or visit www.HistoricVermont.org/sites
