The Olana Partnership will present “To See a Summer Sky,” a one-woman theatrical performance based on the life of Emily Dickinson. Excerpted from William Luce’s play “The Belle of Amherst,” on Saturday, July 2 from 3:00-4:30 p.m. The performance will take place at Cosy Cottage, the first home of Hudson River School painter Frederic E. Church located in the historic farm complex at Olana State Historic Site.
The production, performed by Triple Shadow actress Mari Andrejco as Emily Dickinson, and directed by Beth Skinner, focuses on Dickinson’s quiet life of transcendent reflection. Dickinson’s poems were inspired by a circumscribed world of home, garden, and village of Amherst. Andrejco says the play is “created for family audiences and allows them to learn about Emily Dickinson as if they were living at that time period (1830-1886).”
Triple Shadow creates visual theater challenging artistic boundaries, revealing the interconnectedness between human cultures and nature. The collaborative process is intercultural and interdisciplinary, affecting audiences in sensory and subconscious ways creating new perceptions of time and memory.
Mari Andrejco trained with Sanford Meiser at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. She has performed in Europe, Mexico, Egypt, and the United States. Andrejco has done stage acting, television, and video including appearing as Queen Elizabeth I and Susan B. Anthony for PBS. She has worked with Shakespeare and Company, Triple Shadow, and the Pleiades Company and has taught at the Institute for Arts in Education in the Albany schools.
Beth Skinner has premiered ten productions at La Mama E.T.C. in New York City with support from the theater programs of National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts and Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as grants from NEA Opera and NEA Presenting Program. The company has toured in Egypt, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Canada, and Indonesia and collaborated with artists from Japan, China, Korea, Hungary, Romania, Indonesia, Mexico, and Russia.
The performance will take place at Olana State Historic Site 5720 State Route 9G, Hudson, NY.
Cost of the play is $5.00 per person for non-members and free for members of The Olana Partnership. A $5.00 entry fee per vehicle will be charged (fee is waived for members of The Olana Partnership). This fee may be credited toward a house tour as long as house tour tickets are available. Please bring blankets and lawn chairs for seating. For more information contact Sarah Hasbrook, Education Coordinator for The Olana Partnership, at shasbrook@olana.org or call (518) 828-1872 x 109.
This program is made possible in part through support provided by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency; the Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation; the Educational Foundation of America; the John Wilmerding Educational Initiative, and the members of The Olana Partnership.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Olana Presenting The Life of Emily Dickinson
By Editorial Staff
Brooklyn Museum Cancels Street Art Exhibition
By Editorial Staff
The Brooklyn Museum has canceled the spring 2012 presentation of Art in the Streets, the first major United States museum exhibition of the history of graffiti and street art. Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, where it is currently on view at The Geffen Contemporary through August 8, 2011, the exhibition had been scheduled at the Brooklyn Museum from March 30 through July 8, 2012.
"This is an exhibition about which we were tremendously enthusiastic, and which would follow appropriately in the path of our Basquiat and graffiti exhibitions in 2005 and 2006, respectively. It is with regret, therefore, that the cancellation became necessary due to the current financial climate. As with most arts organizations throughout the country, we have had to make several difficult choices since the beginning of the economic downturn three years ago," Brooklyn Museum Director Arnold L. Lehman said in a prepared statement.
The announcement follows a recent follows the limiting of Friday hours, effective July 1. The Brooklyn Museum will no longer remain open until 10 p.m. every Friday, a change resulting from what museum officials called "the challenging economic climate confronting many public institutions throughout New York City and the country."
Finger Lakes Museum Presents Inaugural Program
By Editorial Staff
The Finger Lakes Museum will present its inaugural program series, “Back from the Brink: The Story of Hemlock and Canadice Lakes”, at Keuka College in three separate installments during the month of July. The first part of this series will begin with the telling of one of North America’s most fascinating conservation stories. Parts 2 and 3, which are scheduled for later in the month, complete this chronicle series. Each of the programs will be held at the Lightner Library.
Part I – From the Brink of Extinction: On Saturday, July 2nd at 2:00 p.m., bald eagle specialist Mike Allen, who recently retired from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, will talk about the discovery of the last remaining pair of nesting bald eagles in New York State in 1965 and the decades-long endeavor that ensued to restore their population. The original pair nested at the south end of Hemlock Lake. While telling his story, Mike will also present his original photographs and will be accompanied by Liberty, a magnificent live bald eagle.
Part II – Blue Blood to Blue Water: On Thursday, July 14th at 7:00 p.m., Lima Town Historian Douglas Morgan will present a forgotten view of what Hemlock and Canadice Lakes—the only two undeveloped Finger Lakes—looked like between 1875 and 1945. It is a remarkable story of cottages, summer homes, resort hotels, and steamboats—and the City of Rochester’s need of a new source for clean drinking water. Doug will include a slide presentation of antique photographs that help tell his story.
Part III – Lakes Go Wild: On Thursday, July 28th at 7:00 p.m., Jim Howe, executive director of the Central New York Chapter of the Nature Conservancy; Don Root, the Hemlock-Canadice Watershed Conservationist for the last 30 years; Steve Lewandowski, founder of the Coalition for Hemlock and Canadice Lakes; and Paul D’Amato, Regional Director for NYS DEC Region 8—all longtime advocates for the permanent protection of Hemlock and Canadice Lakes—will present this program. They will tell about watershed protection efforts that began more than a century ago and detail the trials and tribulations that eventually evolved into the 7,000-acre Hemlock-Canadice State Forest in 2010. A slide presentation will accompany this final program chapter.
Each of the “Back from the Brink” presentations is free and open to the public but pre-registration is requested. Donations are encouraged. For more information or to pre-register, see www.fingerlakesmuseum.org.
Note: This series will also be taking place at the Finger Lakes Wine Center in Ithaca on August 6th, August 18th, and September 1st.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Peterboro: Harriet Tubman, Maggie Fox Lectures
By Editorial Staff
The New York Council for the Humanities Speakers in the Humanities Program will provide two free presentations for the 2011 Peterboro Heritage Summer Programs.
On Sunday, July 17 at 2 p.m. at the Smithfield Community Center (5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Peterboro) the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will host Harriet Tubman: Myth, Memory, and History presented by Milton C. Sernett Ph.D. Syracuse University professor emeritus. Then, on Sunday, July 24 at 2 p.m. the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark (4543 Peterboro Road, Peterboro) will host Nancy Rubin Stuart and her program Maggie Fox, Victorian America’s Reluctant Spiritualist.
Milton C. Sernett's illustrated talk tells the story of how a black woman, once enslaved but self-liberated, became the dominant symbol of the Underground Railroad and an inspiration today for American of diverse backgrounds and reform interests. The audience will hear of the exciting findings of the latest research regarding Tubman the historical person, and of the many ways in which her life has been celebrated by writers, artists, and other creative spirits. Dr. Sernett has completed a book on the interplay of myth, memory and history during the years when Tubman was being canonized as an American saint.
On Sunday, July 24, in a talk accompanied by slides, Stuart will describe the Fox Sisters’ rise to national fame as communicators with spirits, the prominent people that followed Spiritualism in the 19th Century, and the history of young and beautiful Maggie Fox after she gave up her mediumship. Rubin will illustrate how 150 years ago the Fox sisters’ introduction of spirit communication swept through American and why it continues to fascinate people today.
These programs are free and open to the public. More information can be found online, by e-mailing mail@sca-peterboro.org or calling 315-280-8828.
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum are open from 1 – 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from May 14 to October 23 in 2011. Admission to each site is two dollars. Stewards and students are free. For more information: Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark, 4543 Peterboro Road, Peterboro NY 13134, National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134.
Launched in 1983, the Speakers in the Humanities program brings the best in humanities scholarship to thousands of people at hundreds of cultural organizations in virtually every corner of New York. Speakers in the Humanities lectures are made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York State Legislature, and through funds from the Gladys Krieble Delm.
In Wilimington: 'Adirondack Tools and Tales'
By Editorial Staff
The Wilmington Historical Society will host a program with historian and author Don Williams entitled "Adirondack Tools and Tales" on Friday, July 15th at 7 pm at the Wilmington Community Center on Springfield Road in Wilmington (Essex County). Early Adirondack settlers had to live and survive in a rugged mountain environment with a harsh climate. Mr. Williams will explain how the tools they used were critical to that survival.
Don Williams grew up at the ingress of the Northville-Lake Placid Trail and on Route 30. He has authored nine books of Adirondack and local history and has written over 250 articles for magazines including Adirondack Life and the Journal of Outdoor Education. He served as Adirondack regional editor for New York Sportsman Magazine for twenty years. His “Blueline” newspaper column has appeared weekly in four newspapers since 1989. He also hosted the television program Inside the Blueline in Gloversville and Glens Falls for a total of six years.
Don Williams has appeared regularly as an Adirondack lecturer and storyteller at schools and organizations throughout the northeast for over forty years. He appears in the PBS documentary, The Adirondacks. A former school principal and licensed Adirondack guide, he has taught "The Adirondacks" at grade schools, libraries, high schools, colleges and elderhostel. Don lives in his "replicated Great Adirondack Camp" with his wife, Beverly, in Gloversville.
The “Adirondack Tools and Tales” program on July 15th is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For further information, contact Karen Peters at (518) 524-1023 or Merri Peck at (518) 946- 7627.
July 4th Jamboree at John Hay Homestead
By Editorial Staff
On Monday, July 4, John Jay Homestead State Historic Site in Katonah, N.Y. will hold special programs in celebration of America's 235th birthday.
The festivities will begin at 11:00 a.m. with The American Colonials Fife and Drum Band playing Yankee Doodle and other patriotic songs, followed by a reading of the Declaration of Independence from the front porch of the Jay home. This part of the program will conclude with visitors, young and old, getting an opportunity to sign a copy of the Declaration themselves. The fife and drum concert and reading will be given free of charge.
At noon, tours of the first floor period rooms of John Jay's house will become available for $5.00 for adults, seniors, and students. Children aged twelve and under, and members of the Friends of John Jay Homestead, can tour the house free. Admission tickets will be sold until 1:30; the historic house will close at 2:00 p.m.
A new part of the program will also begin at noon and continue until 4:00, a July 4th Jamboree, sponsored by the Bedford-Armonk Rotary Club. The Jamboree is a charity event that will take place near the Jay Homestead barnyard, and will include colonial games for kids, wagon rides, a patriotic pet parade and contest, a beekeeper, a blacksmith, a SPCA pet adoption station, live music, and food. Wristbands needed for participation in these activities will cost $10 for adults and $5 for children. The proceeds will benefit John Jay Homestead, the SPCA of Westchester County, and other local community organizations. For more information about the Jamboree, log onto www.july4jamboree.com.
John Jay Homestead State Historic Site is located at 400 Route 22 in Katonah, N.Y. It is one of six historic sites and 16 state parks administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation – Taconic Region.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
New App Highlights American Revolution
By Editorial Staff
Revolutionary War is the latest release from Multi-Educator's History on the Go series of mobile applications for iPad, iPhone and iTouch users. The program covers a variety of topics all accessible by touch menu screens.
Major battles and events of the War are covered with a short and lengthier text entries illustrated by drawings, paintings and maps. Most of the battles include multimedia presentations of the battle, several first-hand accounts, as well as reports about the battle by General Washington to the Continental Congress.
One section focuses on "Famous Stories and Sayings of the Revolutionary War". Each of these stories and words- such “We have only begun to fight” includes both an illustrated text entry on the true events surrounding the story or quote, as well as a multimedia presentation on the event.
Other sections include: over 200 biographies of participants in the war and the signers of the Declaration; the complete text of the Journals of the Continental Congress that tell the story of the deliberation of the Congress as it struggled with the decision to declare independence; a diary of the Revolution; historic correspondence between John and Abigail Adams; details of the economy of America of the period; as well as a section identifying who were the Americans of that key generation. An updated release of the program to be released later this summer will include a section of simulation so student of all ages can remake historic decisions.
Revolutionary War contains over 100 high quality drawing and illustration (all of which you can zoom into), one hour of multimedia presentations, over 40 high quality maps; and dozens of first-hand accounts.
The app is available online at the Apple iTunes store for $4.99.
July 4th at Boscobel House and Gardens
By Editorial Staff
Former NY State Governor Nelson Rockefeller called Boscobel "one of the most beautiful homes ever built in America." National media mogul Martha Stewart featured Boscobel in Living magazine’s American Treasures section. And Boscobel itself rests on a bluff, dutifully overlooking The United States Military Academy at West Point. So what better Hudson Valley location is there for celebrating America’s birthday than at Boscobel?
Monday July 4th from 7 to 9 pm at Boscobel will include a 20-piece jazz orchestra, The Big Band Sound, fresh grilled food by Inn Credible Caterers Chalet On The Hudson, and weather permitting, there will be one of the best views of the West Point Band’s fireworks display in the area.
Visitors should pack chairs, blankets and a picnic. Gates open at 6 pm for picnicking. Adults $16, Senior $14, Children (6-14) $9, Children under 6 FREE. Friends of Boscobel adults are just $14.
Photo: Boscobel House decorated with patriotic bunting.
Special Tour of Grant's Cottage, Mt. McGregor Offered
By Editorial Staff
Adirondack Architectural Heritage is offering a special tour of Mt. McGregor in Saratoga County on Monday, July 18. Mt. McGregor is the home to Grant’s Cottage and Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility. The latter is a compound of buildings that sprawls along the mountaintop and was constructed in 1912 as a tuberculosis hospital by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to care for its afflicted employees.
By the 1940s it had become a veteran’s camp, and then a center for people with developmental disabilities. After a period of vacancy, the site reopened in 1976 as a medium security prison. Just over the fence is the cottage where Ulysses S. Grant spent his final months completing his memoirs before succumbing to throat cancer in 1885.
The tour will be led by Wilton Town historian, Jeannine Woutersz, and will include a visit to the Wilton Heritage Museum, Grant’s Cottage, and Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility. The tour begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. The fee is $40 for AARCH and Wilton Heritage Society members and $50 for non-members. Reservations are required; the registration deadline is Friday, July 8.
Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) is the private, non-profit, historic preservation organization for the Adirondack Park region. This tour is one of over fifty events in their annual series highlighting the region’s architectural legacy. For more information on membership and our complete program schedule contact AARCH at (518) 834-9328 or visit their website.
Photo: The Wilton Heritage Society Museum, formerly the Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1871.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Fort Ticonderoga Acquires Significant Papers
By Editorial Staff
A donation of four important manuscripts describing the American attack on Mount Independence on September 18, 1777 was recently made to the Fort Ticonderoga Museum. The collection of four letters was drafted by American Brigadier General Jonathan Warner and relate to Colonel John Brown’s raid on Ticonderoga. The donation was discovered and organized by Dr. Gary M. Milan and made possible by the generous support of George and Kathy Jones.
After the American army at Ticonderoga was forced to evacuate with the approach of the British army under General John Burgoyne in July 1777, Burgoyne left a small force of British and German soldiers to garrison Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence as the bulk of his army pursued the American army southward. In mid September two 500-men forces were ordered to test the defenses of the two posts and on September 18, the forces converged on the sleeping garrisons.
These documents detail the actions around Mount Independence offering on-the-spot reports of the engagement. The beginning of the skirmish near Mt. Independence is described “Our advanc’d party met with a small piquet guard of the Enemy’s about 1 mile from their lines who after the first fire retired leaving around them a few tents, blankets, packs, &c”. A few minutes later “We…heard a brisk firing from Ticonderoga side… It is supposed by many that Colo Brown has got possession of the Batteries upon the large Mountain call’d Mount Defiance.” These documents shed new light on the only time that the two posts were directly fired upon in battle and the last military engagement to occur at Fort Ticonderoga in its final months as an active military post.
Illustration: Jonathan Warner by Joseph Blackburn.
'Gage Girls' Summer Day Camp
By Editorial Staff
The Matilda Joslyn Gage Center (210 E. Genesee Street, Fayetteville, Onondaga County) will offer a 'Gage Girls' Summer Day Camp, August 15 - 19, from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. for girls entering 6th through 8th grades.
Participants will explore the rooms in the home of 19th century activist Matilda Joslyn Gage through fun, thought-provoking and empowering activities including:
Haudenosaunee Room - Outdoors for nature exploration and to learn about the culture of Central New York's Native Americans and how they inspired Joslyn Gage in her work for social justice.
Women's Rights Room - Create a special exhibit with a Seneca Falls doll house crafter and portrait artist and meet a local pioneer of science.
Oz Parlor & Local History Hall: Learn about the powerful girls of Oz, see what it was like to wear corsets and petticoats and take a look at today's clothing styles.
Religious Freedom Room - Discover the rich diversity of people and religion in Central New York; learn about labyrinths; try meditation.
Underground Railroad Room - Uncover the secrets of the Underground Railroad; examine today's bullying problem; try your hand at acting; join a drumming circle
Each day wraps-up with a Victorian tea party. Register by Saturday, July 30 ~ Space is limited. Call (315) 243-7667 or email jpsfishman@windstream.net. The cost is $135.00 members, $150.00 non-members ~ Some scholarships are available. A $50.00 deposit is required to reserve a space, the balance due by Friday, August 5.
Adirondack Museum Offers Paddle Making Workshops
By Editorial Staff
Craftsman Caleb Davis will return to the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake this summer to teach a series of one-day paddle making workshops. Students will use hand-tools to craft their own wooden canoe paddle. The first workshop is offered on June 29, 2011. Additional workshops on June 30, July 5, 7, 12, 19, 21, 26 and August 2, 18, 25.
Students may choose a single or double blade cherry wood paddle. The workshops start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. Space is limited to 5 participants per workshop, and pre-registration is required. The non-refundable fee is due at registration: $115 for single blade paddle, $120 for double blade paddle. Register online, but note this is a
physically demanding activity.
Caleb Davis, proprietor of Tremolo, creates handcrafted canoe paddles. He is a former shop teacher and a member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. Tremolo is both a vocation and a passion for Caleb, whose enthusiasm towards the art of both canoeing and paddle making is contagious; all it takes is five minutes with Caleb to make you want to pick up a blank and craft that perfect paddle, then to jump into your solo or
tandem canoe and master traditional flatwater paddling techniques.
Davis is a skilled instructor and continues to enhance his skills with course work and certifications. His past and current certifications include: Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association Instructor, Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association Instructor, Eastern Professional Ski Touring (XC) Instructor, United States Rowing Association Coach, League of New Hampshire Craftsman - Canoe Paddles, American Canoeing Association Flat Water Tandem Instructor, American Canoeing Association Flat Water Solo Instructor, Traditional Flatwater Canoeing Association.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
200 Years of Landscape History at Hyde Park
By Editorial Staff
Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites will be offering historic landscape and garden tours, free, on the third Sunday of the month offered by the National Park Service and their partner, the Frederick W. Vanderbilt Garden Association.
On July 17, August 21, September 18 and October 16, participants can meet at 1:00 pm at the Vanderbilt Mansion visitor parking area for the “200 Years of Landscape History” tour led by an NPS Ranger. The tour concludes at the Formal Gardens where visitors may join FWVGA volunteers between 1:00 pm and 3:30 pm for an additional 30-minute tour.
Interpreter-guides will discuss the history of the gardens, Vanderbilt ownership and the on-going work by the Vanderbilt Garden Association which was formed in 1984 to rehabilitate and maintain the garden plantings.
Park in the Vanderbilt Mansion visitor parking lot and follow the gravel path on the south side of the mansion. Tours will be cancelled if it rains. Please call 845-229-7770 or 845-229-6432 for status if the weather is questionable.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Ogdensburg Founder’s Day Weekend July 23-24
By Editorial Staff
Ogdensburg, in St. Lawrence County, will play host to it's annual Founder's Day celebration, French and Indian War reenactment, and colonial trade fair on Saturday, July 23 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday, July 24 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
More than 250 years ago the roar of cannon fire echoed over the St. Lawrence River on the now peaceful stretch between Ogdensburg, New York and Prescott, Ontario. The final battle of the French and Indian War – the battle that truly led to the French losing Canada to the English – was fought here in August 1760.
Founder’s Day Weekend is the annual commemoration of Ogdensburg’s French colonial history and the Battle of the Thousand Islands. Lighthouse Point features a military re-enactment and colonial trade fair. As many as 500 participants from the U.S. and Canada, dressed in 18th-century clothes, will establish an encampment of white canvass tents.
French and English naval contingents will moor their historically accurate small boats along the shore and bivouac there. The crews will race on Saturday morning, but Saturday and Sunday afternoon the boats with bow guns and muskets in battle on the river. The skirmishing on the water leads into the land battle. Across the width of Lighthouse Point, the opposing forces and their Native allies will maneuver.
Civilian life of the colonies will also be represented as women and children, pipers, dancers, artisans, traditional tradesmen and women, and sutlers, the merchants that followed the armies, set up their shops to furnish just about anything a re-enactor, or 21st-century tourist, could want.
The re-enactment of the Battle of the Thousand Islands and the colonial trade fair are adjacent to the archaeological remains of Fort de la Présentation, built by the French in 1749. When the tide of war turned in favor of the English, the French vacated the fort in early 1759 and continued the construction of Fort Lévis downriver on Île Royal, now Chimney Island. La Présentation was a wooden stockade; Lévis was a substantial fortification.
The 1760 Battle of the Thousand Islands began with the capture of the French corvette L’Outauaise by a swarm of English row galleys off abandoned Fort de la Présentation. The battle continued with the successful, weeklong siege of Fort Lévis. The English pressed on to accept the capitulation of Montreal.
For more than a decade, the annual Founder’s Day Weekend has honored the shared history of Canada and the United States. Here, where the Oswegatchie River flows into the St. Lawrence, the Fort La Présentation Association plans to rebuild the historic fort as a high-quality, tourist attraction.
Admission: Adults $8; Children 7 to 12 $2; children 6 and under free.
More information is available online or by calling the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce at 1-877-228-7810.
Photo courtesy Sandy Goss, Eagle Bay Media.
Friday, June 24, 2011
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
By Editorial Staff
- Queer Beacon: LGBT Spaces in New York City
- Robert Waite: The Albany County Penitentiary
- Conservation Magazine: Dead Space for Baby Boomers?
- Adirondack Attic: Antique Railroad Oil Lamps
- Philip Terrie: The Tahawus Blast Furnace Ruins
- Mirror Mag: Peter Kalm’s Adirondack Travels
- General Electric: Early Lab Sign-In Book
- Old Salt Blog: South Street Save our Ships Rally
- Virtual Dime Museum: Belden's Miniature NYC
- Upstate Earth: Ancient Mohawk Village of Otstungo
Each Friday afternoon New York History compiles for our readers a collection of the week's top weblinks about New York's state and local history. You can find all our weekly round-ups here.
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Saratoga Automobile Museum Names New Chair
By Editorial Staff
Trustees of the Saratoga Automobile Museum (SAM) unanimously elected Gloversville businessman Charles Montano as Board Chairman at their annual election meeting of the trustees in May.
Montano becomes the fourth Board Chair of the Museum, joining the late founder and initial chairman Lewis Golub of Lake George, Bob Bailey of Diamond Point and the most recent chairperson, Jean Hoffman of Clifton Park, as head of the Board of Trustees. Other board officers elected at the meeting included Seth Rosner of Saratoga Springs as Vice-Chairman, Dr. James Hoehn of Menands as Treasurer and Robert Ensign, Jr. of Latham as Secretary. Chairs of the board’s various sub-committees will be announced at a later date.
A Gloversville native, Montano owns and operates a commercial/industrial rental business with divisions specializing in apartments and luxury home development in the downstate area. He is also a well known automobile collector, with a number of “Woodies” from his collection the focus of a recent exhibit in the Museum’s Golub gallery.
“Cars with wooden bodies have always fascinated me,” offered Montano. “But they only represent a segment of my collection and my interests. I truly love all aspects of the automotive world.
“As chairman of the Board of Trustees, my goal is to continue and expand our programs that bring these diverse communities together. Whether your focus is woodies, the brass era, auto racing, classic cars, any of the diverse makes that highlight our lawn shows or our automotive-themed educational programs, the Auto Museum is your place and I want everyone to feel welcome here.”
“Charlie Montano epitomizes the caliber of leadership and automobile enthusiasm the Museum needs to continue advancing the exceptional cultural enrichment we strive to provide for our growing communities,” said Taylor C. Wells, SAM Executive Director.
SAM Board members fulfilling their current terms include Bob Bailey, David Darrin, Wayne Freihofer, Ron Hedger, Jean Hoffman, Tony Ianniello, Eric King, Ed Lewi, Lee Miller, and Alan Rosenblum.
The mission of the Saratoga Automobile Museum is to preserve, interpret and exhibit automobiles and automotive artifacts. We celebrate the automobile and educate the general public, students and enthusiasts regarding the role of the automobile in New York State and in the wider world. In addition to technical and design aspects, our educational focus is on the past, present and future social and economic impact of the automobile
The Museum is chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York Department of Education as a not-for-profit institution. Additionally, the Museum is a member of the American Association of Museums (AAM) and the National Association of Automobile Museums (NAAM).
The Saratoga Automobile Museum is located on the grounds of Saratoga Spa State Park at 110 Avenue of the Pines. For more information, guests can visit the Museum’s website at www.saratogaautomuseum.org or call (518) 587-1935.
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- NNY Civil War Group to Gather Info
- Ticonderoga: No Metal Detector Ban
- Museum Acquires Keeseville Farm Stand
- Coltrane House Named Most Endangered
- Frederic Remington's Ring Recovered
- Mohawk, Seneca Will Fight Taxes
- Rare Drawing of Troy Identified
- Boquet Footbridge Being Replaced
- Judge Lifts Ban on Cigarette Tax
- Senecas Fight for Kinzua Dam
Each Friday morning New York History compiles for our readers the previous week's top stories about New York's state and local history. You can find all our weekly news round-ups here.
Subscribe! More than 1,000 people get New York History each day via E-Mail, RSS, or Twitter or Facebook updates.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Finger Lakes Museum Publishes New Guide
By Editorial Staff
As part of its mission to serve as a gateway to the Finger Lakes Region, The Finger Lakes Museum has published the premier edition of Pathways, a full-color map and guide to attractions and historical venues throughout the 14-county area. The publication is a partnership venture with Life in the Finger Lakes magazine and is being distributed as a removable insert in the Summer 2011 issue, which will be on newsstands soon. It can also be ordered online.
In a prepared statement the museum's executive director, John Adamski, said, “The Pathways guide will be a valuable resource for anyone who is traveling in the Finger Lakes Region and looking for something to do.” It provides a map and directions to major museums, historical centers, historic sites and villages, state parks, visitors’ centers, nature centers, scenic vistas, byways, hiking trails, and waterfalls.
He added, “This publication is the result of an enormous amount of work by a group of tireless volunteers in a very short period of time. The research and graphic design efforts that went into this project are incredible.” The guide is planned to be updated and published annually in time for the tourism and vacation seasons.
The Finger Lakes Museum is an initiative to build a premier educational institution in Keuka Lake State Park to showcase the cultural heritage and ecological evolution of the 9,000 square-mile Finger Lakes Region. It was chartered by the New York State Board of Regents in 2009. The museum is operating from offices in a former elementary school in Branchport, NY (Yates County), which it purchased from the Penn Yan Central School District last January.
As part of its strategic plan, the Finger Lakes Museum has been forming collaborative partnerships with other historical and academic institutions in the region. Adamski said, “Pathways is the best way that we know of to direct people to the places where they can learn more about something that is of particular interest to them. And it has helped to cement some exciting new partnerships for us.”
An operational fundraising effort is presently underway in the form of The Finger Lakes Museum Founders Campaign. To learn more or to volunteer visit their webpage.
Lake Placid Olympic Musum Establishes Endowment
By Editorial Staff
In memory of longtime Winter Olympic supporter and 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Organizing Committee member Philip G. Wolff, the Lake Placid 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Museum announces the kickoff of its first endowment fund campaign in a public ceremony, Thursday, June 30. With the completion of the campaign in 2013, the endowment fund, named in Mr. Wolff’s honor, is hoped to allow the Museum to increase its pace of collecting, strengthen its extensive collection, and bring more artifacts of the Winter Games back to the region where America’s Winter Olympic movement began.
“Over time, this endowment will allow the Museum to add to its collection with such items as Olympic torches from the 1952 Oslo (Norway) and 1960 Squaw Valley (Calif.) games, which Dad would have loved to have seen in his lifetime,” said David Wolff, Phil Wolff’s son and now a member of the Museum’s board.
“The endowment fund will also provide continuous support for the Museum to enhance and increase its educational programming for visiting families, adjust to fluctuations in giving, and reduce dependence on overstrained public and private funding sources,” added MaryLou Brown, Museum Board president.
Philip G. Wolff, who died in February, was a founder of the Lake Placid 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Museum and a member of the 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympic bid committees. In 1978, he was appointed chief of staff of the Lake Placid Winter Olympic Organizing Committee, a position he held until its closure in 1987, volunteering his time during the last three years of that assignment. He also served as chief of the security committee for the 1980 Winter Games. Wolff was instrumental in the Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum, being awarded the 2005 Olympic Cup by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). More recently, Wolff played a key role in getting the Lake Placid 1932 and 1980 Olympic Bobsled Track named to the National Register of Historic Places. Wolff spoke at a ceremony to mark that designation, which was also attended by Gov. David Paterson (D-New York), in June of last year. At the time of his death, Wolff was the oldest living licensed bobsled driver in the U.S.
The campaign kickoff for the Philip G. Wolff endowment fund will take place at a celebration of Wolff’s life to be held June 30 from 3-4:30 p.m. at the new Olympic Conference Center in Lake Placid. His many friends are invited to attend to honor this man who gave so much to the Museum and to the local area.
The 1932 & 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum is an independent, not-for-profit corporation. Its mission is to collect and preserve artifacts and archival materials associated with Lake Placid’s winter sports and winter Olympic heritage; to interpret Lake Placid’s winter sports and winter Olympic heritage to the public; and to preserve and maintain the collection of artifacts and archives assembled by the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee.
The only official Olympic museum in the United States, Lake Placid’s 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Museum features the largest collection of winter Olympic artifacts outside the IOC’s museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. The collection includes the first Winter Olympic medal ever awarded – for the 500 meter speed skating competition - won by Lake Placid native Charles Jewtraw in the 1924 Games in Chamonix. His historic medal can be viewed with other items in the Museum collection, including equipment worn by 1980 U.S. Hockey Team goalie Jim Craig during the historic Miracle on Ice, parade clothing from the 1932 winter games, athletes participation medals and Olympic medals from every winter Olympics.
Hudson Valley Farm Photo Exhibit at Olana
By Editorial Staff
Olana has announced the opening of a new exhibition by photographer Brandt Bolding entitled FARM: Agricultural Life of the Hudson Valley. The exhibit in the recently restored Coachman’s House Gallery at Olana State Historic Site.
In 1860, Frederic Church purchased approximately 126 acres of farmland and immediately set out to build a new “farm house” for his family. The artist expanded his land holdings over the next ten years and ultimately moved his family to the larger stone-and-brick house he built near the summit of the hill, but he continued to work on and operate a farm at Olana for the rest of his life. Church was proud of his farming accomplishments, writing friends and family of the success of his orchards, vegetables, and livestock.
The FARM exhibit coincides with extensive farm restoration work about to begin in Olana’s historic farm complex. The Olana Partnership and Olana State Historic Site have secured two major grants to focus on restoring Frederic Church’s farm. Over the next several years, meadow and orchard restoration projects will return the neglected farm to potentially active agricultural use. “According to a report of the American Farmland Trust, every hour we lose 125 acres of farm and ranch land in the U.S.,” reports Olana Partnership President Sara Griffen. “By focusing on the restoration of Olana’s farm we hope to play a small role in ensuring the agricultural future of Columbia County.”
Photographer Brandt Bolding states, “through extensive travels photographing and documenting the farms of northeastern America I am attempting to bring awareness of just a small part of what is at stake. Nowhere is this more of a concern than in the Mid-Hudson Valley…where citizens, and civic organizations large and small rally to preserve the irreplaceable beauty of our landscape from less than circumspect development.”
The photos included in the exhibition will be printed by the photographer in a limited edition of twelve and are available for purchase in the Olana Museum Store. The exhibit will be open every day through October 30, 2011 at Olana State Historic Site, 5720 State Route 9G, Hudson, New York.
About Brandt Bolding:
Brandt Bolding’s photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the northeastern part of the U.S. and have appeared in newspapers, journals, and publications by various preservation organizations in New York State. His work on agricultural life will be the subject of a solo exhibition at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie, NY, later this year. Two of his photographs appeared in the book entitled Old Homes of New England: Historic Houses in Clapboard, Shingle, and Stone published by Rizzoli in April 2010.
Photo: Level Acres Cornfield, Route 82, Columbia County. Courtesy Brandt Bolding Photography.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Broolyn Museum Programming, Hours Changes
By Editorial Staff
Open every Thursday evening until 10 p.m. since last October, the Brooklyn Museum will enhance its Thursdays @ 7 programming this fall to better meet the needs of visitors who work during the day.
However, effective July 1, the Brooklyn Museum will no longer remain open until 10 p.m. every Friday. This change is a result of the challenging economic climate confronting many public institutions throughout New York City and the country.
In a press statement issued last week, Museum Director Arnold L. Lehman said, "Although the difficult economy made it impossible to serve our visitors two evenings each week, based on our good experience with the history of First Saturdays, we believe that by focusing our resources on Thursday nights, we can more effectively serve our audience by presenting an increasingly dynamic and engaging schedule of programs each Thursday."
The Museum will continue to be open every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. with a series of special programs including interviews, performance, film, and tours. The lineup for July and August is as follows:
July 7
Music: Winard Harper, one of the most celebrated drummers in jazz, performs with his sextet. Presented in conjunction with WBGO Jazz 88.3FM and Heart of Brooklyn as part of Jazz: Brooklyn's Beat.
Moonlight Tour: "Nude, Naked, or Undressed? Eroticism in American Art"
July 14
Moonlight Tour: "Behind the Scenes with Split Second: Indian Paintings."
Curator Joan Cummins and Director of Technology Shelley Bernstein discuss the curatorial experiment that resulted in Split Second. Space is limited, and reservations are required. RSVP to museum.guides@brooklynmuseum.org.
July 21
Moonlight Tour: "Visitor's Choice"
July 28
Moonlight Tour: "Fantasy, Fashion, and Reality in American Art"
Film: POV Short Cuts (2011, 60 min.). A collection of documentary films on subjects ranging from bird watching and Tiffany lamps to Sunday school teachers and family relationships. Appropriate for all audiences.
August 4
Moonlight Tour: "Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior with Curator Joan Cummins"
August 11
Moonlight Tour: "The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago"
August 25
Film: Yogawoman (Kate Clere and Saraswati Clere, 2011, 90 min.). Documentary about how women are changing the face of yoga.
Kids History Adventures at John Jay Homestead
By Editorial Staff
This summer your kids can become pioneering wilderness explorers with Lewis and Clark, patriotic soldiers during the War of 1812, and investigative naturalists and archeologists during John Jay Homestead’s History Adventure Days, a themed summer camp weeks at John Jay Homestead, organized as three weekly sessions.
Kids entering grades 2-7 can sign up for one session or all three. This year’s themes are “Exploring the Unknown: Lewis & Clark and the Corp of Discovery” (July 25-29), “Broad Stripes and Bright Stars: The War of 1812” (August 1-5), and “Seeing is Believing: Uncovering the Cabinet of Curiosity” (August 8-12).
Each session runs Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. The cost is $250.00 per week. A 10% discount is given to members of Friends of John Jay Homestead. Daily rates are available. More information about the program can be found online or by calling (914) 232-5651 x101. Be sure to register your child soon; spaces are limited and fill up quickly.
John Jay Homestead State Historic Site is located at 400 Route 22 in Katonah, Westchester County, NY. It is one of six state historic sites and 16 parks administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation – Taconic Region.
Fort Ticonderoga to Recreate 1759 British Capture
By Editorial Staff
Re-enactors portraying French and British soldiers of the Seven Year’s War, also known as the French and Indian War, will converge upon Fort Ticonderoga this Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26 to recreate the tumultuous and chaotic events by which General Amherst’s British army captured the vital Fort. Visitors will experience the life of British soldiers and besieged French soldiers recreated around them, with all the sights and sounds they would have encountered at Fort Ticonderoga in the summer of 1759.
The modern recreation of this clash for empire will feature a variety of demonstrations and events. Highlights of the weekend include: a battle each day featuring re-enactors recreating events of the siege as reported in the diary of a private in Willard’s Regiment of Massachusetts Provincials, who was part of the British force attacking the Fort; artillery and musket demonstrations; a talk by author Russ Bellico on his book, Empires in the Mountains; 18th-century music performed on period instruments by musician Robert Mouland; a rousing game of 18th-century cricket; and historic merchants to give visitors an immersive experience in the inevitable victory for the British forces. In addition to these special events, visitors to Fort Ticonderoga on June 25 and 26 can also enjoy the museum’s extensive collection of artifacts and militaria and the King’s Garden; admission to this reenactment weekend is included in the price of general admission to the Fort.
During the Seven Year’s War the great rivalry between France and Britain played out in their American colonies. The summer of 1759 saw General Amherst, commander and chief of all British forces in North America, moving to take the French Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) from the rear guard of soldiers posted there. Amherst moved his massive force of 11,000 to siege lines previously held by the French outside the Fort. The tiny French contingent of 400 pounded the British line with artillery for four days, in a futile attempt to stave off the inevitable. Finally, with their defeat in sight, the French spiked the cannons in the Fort, rendering them useless, and lit a fuse in the powder magazine, which exploded with destructive force. The French force retreated by boat to Fort St. Frederic in the north, also known as Crown Point. Out of the rubble of the old Fort Carillon rose the new Fort Ticonderoga as the British forces immediately moved in to begin reconstructing the fortifications.
Photo: Fort Ticonderoga’s Historic Interpreters Portray Massachusetts Provincial Soldiers in 1759. Courtesy Fort Ticonderoga.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Champlain Maritime Museum Native American Encampment
By Editorial Staff
The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum will be hosting a Native American Encampment Weekend this weekend, June 25 & 26, that is expected to give visitors a Native American perspective on life – past, present, and future – in the Champlain Valley and across Vermont.
Members of the Elnu and Missisquoi Abenaki tribes, the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk and Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation will gather will gather at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum for the annual celebration of the region’s Native American Heritage.
As in other years, tribal members dressed in garments like those worn by their ancestors over the centuries will demonstrate singing, drumming, basket making, quillwork and bead decoration, food preparation, and other life skills. This year official recognition by the State of Vermont was granted to the Elnu and Nulhegan on April 22, and other applications are pending. “A new dawn has risen,” said Nulhegan Chief Don Stevens. Video footage of the April 22 Recognition Day declaration and celebration will be screened during the LCMM event.
The Native people at the encampment are experts in living indigenous arts and traditions, which they expect to share, rather than sell. They have researched, reconstructed, or apprenticed to learn long-forgotten techniques and now are able to create outstanding beadwork, quillwork, basketry, pottery, woodworking and other items for personal use or commissioned pieces.
Cherished family stories and photographs provide the basis for a presentation by Koasek Chief Nancy Millette Doucet, who has recreated the clothing worn by an ancestor in the nineteenth century. The Koasek have also established a program to help preserve Abenaki as a living language. “I have been amazed by the richness and depth of the new cultural and historical information generated by the Vermont Indigenous bands in their research for applications for Vermont State Recognition,” says Frederick M. Wiseman, Ph. D., Director of the Wobanakik Heritage Center in Swanton. “This is a potential new stage in Vermont culture and history – for Native people to work on their own history and culture and then present the results.”
The weekend includes hands-on activities for children, a demonstration of the ancient art of twining textiles, wampum readings, singing, drumming, dancing, and documentary video about the region’s Native American heritage created by student Lina Longtoe.
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is located on the shore of Lake Champlain, seven scenic miles from historic Vergennes, Vermont at 4472 Basin Harbor Road, across from the Basin Harbor Club. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through October 16, 2011. All event activities are included with museum admission, LCMM Members, School Family Pass Members, and children 5 and under get in free. For information call (802) 475-2022 or visit www.lcmm.org.
Photo: Chief Roger Longtoe and Vera Longtoe present a “Calling-in” Song.
A Stoddard Adirondack Waterfalls Photo Exhibit
By Editorial Staff
A new exhibit featuring twenty original Seneca Ray Stoddard photographs of waterfalls in the Adirondacks is now on view at the Chapman Historical Museum. Included are popular falls located on the Hudson, Raquette and Ausable Rivers, as well as lesser known falls in remote locations in the central Adirondacks — places that today still are accessible only by foot. Examples are Roaring Brook Falls on Giant, Buttermilk Falls on the Raquette, Surprise Falls on Gill Brook near Lower Ausable, and Silver Cascade in Elizabethtown. The photos will be on display until July 3rd.
In 1864, when Seneca Ray Stoddard relocated to Glens Falls from Troy, NY, he first worked as a sign painter, but soon took up landscape photography. Several times Stoddard made treks through the Adirondacks to photograph the sights that drew tourists to the region. Abundant waterways and the steep terrain made for many scenic cascades and falls, which became popular destinations for travelers. For the next 50 years he sold his images of these falls to tourists visiting the region.
The Chapman Historical Museum is located at 348 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY. Public Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday, noon to 4 pm. For more information call (518) 793-2826.
Photo: Silver Cascade, Barton Brook, Elizabethtown, ca. 1880.
Brooklyn Museum Sanford Biggers Exhibit Planned
By Editorial Staff
"Sanford Biggers: Sweet Funk-An Introspective" challenges and reinterprets symbols and legacies that inform contemporary America in a focused selection of eight installations and five additional artworks created by the New York-based artist. On view September 23, 2011, through January 8, 2012, this will be Biggers' first museum presentation in New York, and it will mark the Brooklyn debut of his Blossom (2007), a large-scale multimedia installation.
Sanford Biggers employs a variety of media, and his work incorporates references to a range of artistic and cultural traditions. The focal point of the Brooklyn Museum exhibition, Blossom (2007), is composed of a large tree that grows through, and uproots, a grand piano. At various intervals, the keys move as the piano plays the artist's arrangement of "Strange Fruit," a song first recorded in 1939 by the blues singer Billie Holiday.
In Biggers' work, the tree suggests multiple, divergent ideas and references, some of them horrifying, such as lynchings and other race crimes that the 1930s song movingly protested. But other references are positive, such as Buddha's finding enlightenment while sitting under the bodhi tree. Addressing the historical and cultural landscape, Blossom, which was recently acquired by the Brooklyn Museum, also references the ideologically tinged landscapes by artists such as Alfred Bierstadt and Frederic Church.
Blossom will occupy the center of the Museum's fifth-floor Rotunda (the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery), where it will be presented along with eight other, thematically related installations. One of Biggers' earliest videos, Bittersweet the Fruit (2002) introduces the imagery of tree, piano, and black male subject. Cheshire (2008), a sculptural installation, alludes to the disembodied smile of the cat in Alice in Wonderland as well as to the caricatured wide grin associated with blackface minstrelsy. The video installation Cheshire (2007) presents a sequence of professionally attired African American men who each attempt to climb a large tree. The installation Kalimba II (2002), named after an African percussion instrument, incorporates a piano that has been cut in two by a wall; a bench invites the visitor to sit down and play half of the keyboard, initiating a dialogue/duet with an unseen visitor on the other side of the wall.
Another related installation is a large glass disc, titled Lotus (2007) that refers to the Buddhist symbol but also to the slave trade: etched in glass, the filigree pattern contained in each petal of the lotus flower is made up of diagrams of the placement of human bodies in the cargo hold of an eighteenth-century slave ship. The remaining installations include Shuffle (2009), a video installation that explores the shifting identities of the main protagonist; Calenda (Big Ass Bang) (2004), a dance diagram affixed to the floor and walls that evokes both a cosmic explosion and codified dance forms; and Passage (2009), an altered portrait bust of Martin Luther King Jr. that casts a large shadow, a silhouette of Barack Obama, on the wall.
Sanford Biggers has been creating installations and performances for more than fifteen years. He now works and lives in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, he attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, earning his B.A., and then the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, completing his M.F.A. He was the recipient of a Creative Time Global Residency grant, which took him to Brazil in 2009. Biggers joined the faculty of Columbia University in January 2010. He was also part of the affiliate faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University and spent a year as a visiting scholar and resident artist at Harvard University.
Sanford Biggers: Sweet Funk-An Introspective is organized by Eugenie Tsai, John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum. The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with an introduction by Eugenie Tsai and an essay by the critic Gregory Volk. The Museum is coordinating this exhibition with the Sculpture Center, in Long Island City, Queens, which will host a concurrent exhibition of new work by Biggers.
Illustration: Sanford Biggers (America, b. 1970). Blossom, 2007. Steel, Zoopoxy, silk leaves, wood, piano w/MIDI system. Courtesy of the artist and Michael Klein Art.
Monday, June 20, 2011
History of NY Hydroelectric Power Event Wednesday
By Editorial Staff
This Wednesday, June 22 at 7 pm, National Park Service Historian Duncan Hay will speak at the Chapman Historical Museum in Glens Falls, Warren County, on The History of Hydroelectric Power in Northeastern New York. The lecture is the third in a series funded by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities and presented in conjunction with the museum’s summer exhibit, Harnessing the Hudson. The program is free and open to the public.
The speaker, Duncan Hay, works for the National Park Service as an historian and hydroelectric licensing specialist in the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program. He advises license applicants and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding protection of historic and archeological properties and outdoor recreation at hydroelectric projects.
Duncan also works as a cultural resources and museum specialist on planning teams for proposed new units and heritage areas of the National Park Service. Previously he worked for the Museum of American Textile History, and the New York State Museum as curator of industrial history. Duncan earned a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware’s Hagley Program in the History of Industrial America.
The author of Hydroelectric Development in the United States, 1880-1940, Mr. Hay will speak about the significance of Spier Falls dam and other early hydroelectric generators in the region. He also will address the rapid growth and consolidation of the industry during the first three decades of the 20th Century, leading ultimately to the formation of Niagara Mohawk.
The Chapman Historical Museum is located at 348 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY. The exhibit Harnessing the Hudson will be on display through September 25th. Public hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm , and Sunday, noon to 4 pm. For more information call (518) 793-2826 or go to www.chapmanmuseum.org.
Lower East Side History Project Walking Tours
By Editorial Staff
The Lower East Side History Project (LESHP), a non-profit organization dedicated to research, education and preservation, has announced its Summer 2011 walking tour schedule.
LESHP walking tours have been called a “Must do...” by Frommers Guide (2009) and was ranked “Top Five in New York City” by Time Out New York (2010). New York Newsday announced, “Nothing will get you closer to the real thing...” (2010) and NBC declared “You will be amazed...” (2010).
LESHP's stable of licensed tour guides are multigenerational, native New Yorkers with well over a century of personal insight. They are veteran educators, professional authors, movie consultants, researchers active in neighborhood politics, arts and culture. The organization is partnered with museums and cultural institutions in the City of New York and has unique access to images, documents and information.
The full schedule is below, but you can find out more online or call 347-465-7767.
LESHP Summer 2011 public walking tour schedule:
Alphabet City Walking Tour
Once the godforsaken broken heart of the ghetto, the most densely populated square mile on the face of the earth, built over an industrial wasteland, then abandoned to a wild mix of marginal artists, angry anarchists, gangs, dealers, excons and thieves, against a backdrop of urban blight, tenements burned to rubble and danger on every corner out of which grew jazz and the beat generation, graffiti art and punk rock, the squatters movement, the garden movement and radical underground cinema: there's more to Alphabet City than meets the eye, stories that could happen only in metropolis' darkest corner.
When: Every Saturday at 11:00am
Reservations: Not Required
Fee: $20 General Admission
Meet: Entrance to Tompkins Square Park, St. Marks and Avenue A
Subway: L train to 1st avenue or 6 train to Astor Place
Bowery Walking Tour
The Bowery is not just the oldest and most architecturally diverse thoroughfares in NYC, it is one of most historically significant streets in the country. Beyond the myths, legends and gritty reputation, the Bowery offers an absolute treasure trove of NYC and American history.
Once an important Native American trail, the Bowery has undergone many changes in its modern history. From elegant opera houses to rowdy working-class theaters; from America's vice district controlled by gangs and crooked politicians to a haven for the homeless and downtrodden as "skid row" during the great depression; and from factories and warehouses to pioneering artist colonies. Today the Bowery has become a popular hotel, restaurant and nightclub district, but buried beneath the five-star offerings is a repository of social, economic, political, immigrant, labor, underground, criminal, deviant, marginal, counter-cultural, literary, musical, dramatic and artistic history.
When: Every Sunday at 11:00am
Reservations: Not Required
Fee: $20 General Admission
Meet: Astor Place Cube, E.8th St and 4th Ave
Subway: 6 train to "Astor Place"
Chinatown/Five Points Walking Tour
New York's legendary slum, a story of Irish, Italians, Africans, Germans, Jews and Chinese, their struggles, their cultures; gangs of New York to the tongs of Chinatown -- with underground passageways still in use on winding Blood Alley where countless gang members were murdered in half a century of turf warfare -- to the single oldest relic of western civilization on the island of Manhattan. It's 19th century New York: bigotry and rivalry, ribaldry and racism, oppression, defiance, perseverance, progress and reform.
When: Every Sunday at 2:00pm
Reservations: Not Required
Fee: $20 General Admission
Meet: SE corner of Centre & Worth Streets
Subway: J to Chambers St or 4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall
East Village Walking Tour
This is a crash course in East Village/Lower East Side history. From the farmlands of the 1600s and the wealthy estates of the 1700s, to immigration, tenements, the "melting pot" and how the East Village became a haven for artists and counter culturalists in the twentieth century (and everything in between). Also learn about how recent commercial development and gentrification is the changing landscape of the East Village and surrounding neighborhoods.
When: Every Saturday & Wednesday at 12:00pm
Reservations: Not Required
Fee: $20 General Admission
Meet: In front of Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery
Subway: F train to "2nd Avenue/Lower East Side"
Jewish Mob Walking Tour
Trace the steps of pre-Prohibition era gangsters like Monk Eastman, Max “Kid Twist” Zweifach, “Big” Jack Zelig and Benjamin “Dopey” Fein – pivotal figures in the organizing of crime in New York City; paving the way for men like Arnold Rothstein, Meyer Lansky and "Bugsy" Siegel. Learn about the Jewish immigrant experience on the Lower East Side and the conditions that led to organized gangsterism; visit the sites of gang headquarters, shootouts and assassinations, and learn how the Jewish Mob expanded out of the slums and into a contemporary organized crime syndicate.
When: Every Sunday at 12:00pm
Reservations: Required, RSVP: 347-465-7767 or online.
Fee: $20 General Admission
Meet: Outside of Landmark Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston
Subway: F to "2nd Ave/Lower East Side"
Lower East Side Walking Tour
This one-of-a-kind tour of the LES highlights all aspects of our neighborhood's rich diversity by providing an introduction to the many distinct populations -- Native-American, African, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Chinese, Hispanic, and others -- which influenced the character of the Lower East Side over the last thousand years.
When: Every Friday at 12:00pm
Reservations: Not Required
Fee: $20 General Admission
Meet: Outside of New Museum of Contemporary Art, 235 Bowery
Subway: F to "2nd Ave/Lower East Side"
Mafia Walking Tour
This popular and exciting weekly tour explores the Sicilian/Italian immigrant experience and examines the roots of the Mafia in America: From the original Sicilian Black Handers and Neapolitan Camorra to the forming of the Mafia Commission in 1931 -- this tour visits the early homes, headquarters, hangouts of such criminal heavyweights as "Lucky" Luciano, Al Capone, Giuseppe Morello, Joe "The Boss" Masseria, Vito Genovese, and many more.
When: Every Saturday at 2:00pm
Reservations: Not Required
Fee: $20 General Admission
Meet: Outside of New Museum of Contemporary Art, 235 Bowery
Subway: F to "2nd Ave/Lower East Side"
Radical Spirits Bar Crawl
Whether you like a warm pub, a dive bar or an innovative cocktail lounge, the East Village has a history and a present to satisfy your fermented dreams. In fact, there are more liquor licenses (old and new) issued in this zip code than any other in New York. Explore why that's a good thing and why that's a bad thing in this bar crawl focusing on the East Village's legacy of artists, writers, musicians, radicals and other indulgers. In short, an evening walk of the New York of Lou Reed, W.H. Auden, Charlie Parker, Jack Kerouac, Keith Haring, and Abbie Hoffman...with refreshments
When: Every Tuesday at 6:15pm
Reservations: Not Required (21 and over only, with ID)
Fee: $35, includes three drinks
Meet: Outside St. Marks Bookshop, 31 3rd Ave at E. 9th St
Subway: 6 train to "Astor Place"
Photo: The Bowery.
Shakespeare Co Launches Preservation Effort
By Editorial Staff
Adirondack Shakespeare Company (ADK Shakes) is returning to the Adirondack region for its second full Summer Festival Season. The company plans to follow last summer’s presentations of As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth with an all-new expanded season featuring ADK Shakes’ daring and adrenaline-fueled RAW performance style which strips the Bard down to the bare bones.
This year, the company will present A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice, along with The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield and Theseus and the Minotaur, an original children’s production by Sean Adams.
In addition to their full season, ADK Shakes has taken on a new challenge. The company is determined to revitalize the outdoor amphitheater at Scaroon Manor Day-Use Facility (formerly Taylor’s Point). This historic landmark was once a vibrant destination for locals as well as tourists looking to take in professional theatre amidst the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains. ADK Shakes’ Artistic Board has made it their mission to get the outdoor amphitheater on New York’s list of historic sites.
“One of the reasons we are looking to establish a Shakespeare company in the Adirondacks is to save this amazing outdoor amphitheater,” says Artistic Director Tara Bradway. The company’s plans to raise awareness during the course of the season include public presentations and petitions in the Adirondack region.
The Adirondack region tour of The Complete Works will begin July 4th, while the Mainstage Season opens July 21st and will run through August 7th. Performances of the children’s show Theseus and the Minotaur are set to run from July 27th through August 6th. Performances will take place primarily at the Boathouse Theater in Schroon Lake Village, as well as the Little Theater on the Farm in Fort Edward and LARAC Gallery in Glen Falls. Weather permitting, the final weekend of performances will be held at the outdoor amphitheater at Scaroon Manor.
This event is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered locally by the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council. For more information, a full performance schedule and to purchase tickets, visit www.adkshakes.org. Email inquiries may be sent to info@adkshakes.org.
Illustration: Postcard of the historic Sacroon Manor outdoor amphitheater, Schroon Lake, NY.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Historic Saranac Lake Unveiling Photo Exhibit
By Editorial Staff
On June 22, 2011, Historic Saranac Lake will unveil a new John Black Room Exhibit, “The Little City in the Adirondacks: Historic Photographs of Saranac Lake.” Created in collaboration with the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library, the exhibit features almost fifty framed historic photographs of Saranac Lake residents and buildings during the early part of the twentieth century.
The exhibit portrays a vibrant little city with a prospering and diverse economy. Saranac Lake grew quickly in the early 1900s to accommodate thousands of health seekers that came to the village seeking the fresh air cure for tuberculosis, made famous by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau. The exhibit features the unique architecture of the village as well as photos of local residents at play and at work.
The photographs represent only small portion of the rich photo collection of the Adirondack Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library. Library curator, Michele Tucker graciously loaned the photos to Historic Saranac Lake, and a team of dedicated volunteers has worked to install the exhibit. Many of the photos were originally printed and framed by the late Barbara Parnass, who was one of the founding Board Members of Historic Saranac Lake in 1980.
The photograph exhibit replaces an earlier exhibit on World War I in Saranac Lake. The exhibit will be on display for twelve months. Plans are underway for a new, comprehensive exhibit on Saranac Lake history to be installed in the John Black Room in 2012.
The Saranac Laboratory Museum opens June 22. The public is invited to visit the new photo exhibit and the laboratory museum space during regular hours through October 7, Wednesday through Friday from 10:00 to 2:00, or any time by appointment. Admission is $5 per person, members and children free of charge.
Photo courtesy of the Adirondack Room, Saranac Lake Free Library.
Friday, June 17, 2011
This Week's New York History Web Highlights
By Editorial Staff
- Conservation Magazine: Dead Space for Baby Boomers?
- Adirondack Attic: Antique Railroad Oil Lamps
- Philip Terrie: The Tahawus Blast Furnace Ruins
- Mirror Mag: Peter Kalm’s Adirondack Travels
- General Electric: Early Lab Sign-In Book
- Old Salt Blog: South Street Save our Ships Rally
- Virtual Dime Museum: Belden's Miniature NYC
- Upstate Earth: Ancient Mohawk Village of Otstungo
- Franklin Co Historian: 1861 Poem 'Picking Hops'
- Old Salt Blog: Fleet Week Parade of Ships
Each Friday afternoon New York History compiles for our readers a collection of the week's top weblinks about New York's state and local history. You can find all our weekly round-ups here.
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Saratoga Battlefield New Exhibits, Audio Tour
By Editorial Staff
Saratoga National Historical Park, located on Route 32 and 4 in Stillwater, has opened a new exhibit called “They Had No Choice: Animals Exploited and Appreciated in the Revolutionary War” plus is also offering a free, downloadable iPod/MP3 narrated tour program of the “Wilkinson Trail” which is available on the park’s website.
The Animal in War exhibit, to be displayed for one year, features historical images, artifacts, contemporary artwork and original accounts depicting the multi-faceted roles played by horses, oxen, cattle, dogs and many other animals during the Battles of Saratoga and the Revolutionary War. It also reminds us that animals still play a vital role in modern conflicts as well. Park Ranger Joe Craig notes, “No army of the time could have functioned without using many different animals for transportation,
food and clothing. It wasn’t their conflict - but it became their fate.”
The new Wilkinson Trail iPod / MP3 narrated tour program features male and female actor’s voices describing personal experiences during the Battles of Saratoga. Visitors can listen to the program (on their own device) as they walk the scenic 4.2 mile trail. The free, downloadable file is available online.
For more information about these new offerings or other programs at Saratoga National Historical Park, please call the visitor center at 518-664-9821 ext. 224 or check their website.
Illustration: "Colonel Knox Bringing the Cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to the Siege of Boston" by John Ward Dunsmore. Courtesy Fraunces Tavern Museum.
This Week's Top New York History News
By Editorial Staff
- NNY Civil War Group to Gather Info
- Ticonderoga: No Metal Detector Ban
- Museum Acquires Keeseville Farm Stand
- Coltrane House Named Most Endangered
- Frederic Remington's Ring Recovered
- Mohawk, Seneca Will Fight Taxes
- Rare Drawing of Troy Identified
Each Friday morning New York History compiles for our readers the previous week's top stories about New York's state and local history. You can find all our weekly news round-ups here.
Subscribe! More than 1,000 people get New York History each day via E-Mail, RSS, or Twitter or Facebook updates.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
July 4th at New Windsor Cantonment, Knox's Headquarter
By Editorial Staff
The New Windsor Cantonment and Knox's Headquarters will present a day of Revolutionary War activities. At New Windsor Cantonment, visitors will see a military drill and cannon firing at 2:00 PM, as well as blacksmithing and children's activities throughout the day.
At Knox's Headquarters, tour the 1754 Ellison House, the military command post for three generals. New Windsor Cantonment is open Monday July 4 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. At Knox’s Headquarters see a small cannon fired at 1:30 & 3:15 PM. The house is open for tours at 11:00 AM & 3:00 PM. Admission is free.
On the 4th, at 3:00 P.M., New Windsor Cantonment invites visitors to help read the Declaration of Independence, the revolutionary document that started it all. Following the reading, the 7th Massachusetts Regiment will fire a "feu-de-joie," a ceremonial firing of muskets in honor of independence. Throughout each day authentically dressed soldiers and civilians will share stories of life from that exciting time. Knox's Headquarters, the Ellison House, honors the site's namesake General Henry Knox, Washington's Chief of Artillery, with the firing of a 4 1/2 " bronze coehorn mortar at 1:30 P.M. and 3:15 P.M. This mortar, designed to be carried by two men, fired a grenade size exploding ball. John and Catherine Ellison were gracious hosts to three Continental Army generals at different times during the Revolutionary War.
In addition to the special programs and activities, the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor and the New Windsor Cantonment Visitor Center are open. These buildings feature the history of the New Windsor Cantonment; Behind Every Great Man: The Continental Army in Winter, 1782-83, Revolutionary War artifacts, the exhibit The Last Argument of Kings, Revolutionary War Artillery and the story of the Purple Heart. A picnic grove is available and there is plenty of free parking. Just one mile from the Cantonment is Knox's Headquarters State Historic Site. Elegantly furnished by John and Catherine Ellison, the 1754 mansion served as headquarters for Revolutionary War Generals Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, and Horatio Gates. Also be sure to visit Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh, a short drive from the New Windsor Cantonment.
For more information please call New Windsor Cantonment at (845) 561-1765 ext. 22. New Windsor Cantonment is co-located with the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor on Route 300 (374 Temple Hill Road) in the Town of New Windsor, four miles east of Stewart Airport. It is three miles from the intersection of I-87 and I-84 in Newburgh, New York. Knox's Headquarters is located, a mile away from the New Windsor Cantonment, at the intersection of Route 94 and Forge Hill Road in Vails Gate.
