Month: September 2009

Atlatl Contest Highlights Chimney and Crown Points Festival Of Nations

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Vermont’s and New York’s annual shared celebration of Lake Champlain, The Festival of Nations, hosted by the Chimney Point and Crown Point, N.Y., State Historic Sites will be held Sept. 18-20 and will feature a wide variety of events, including the 14th Annual Northeastern Open Atlatl Championship at Chimney Point.

The event honors the Native American, French, and early American history of the region and includes music- food vendors- Native American and primitive life and craft demonstrations- exhibits- showings of the award-winning documentary film Champlain: The Lake Between– a colonial French encampment with re-enactors- tours of Crown Point’s historic forts- historic, cultural, educational, nature, and family activities- a ceremony re-dedicating the Champlain Memorial lighthouse- and fireworks on Saturday night. The nearby DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) State Park will offer camping on a first-come, first-served basis.

The atlatl, a shaped wooden stick, acts as an extension of the throwing arm, so hunters can throw long, flexible darts with greater accuracy, energy, and speed. The atlatl was one of the earliest prehistoric weapons, pre-dating the bow and arrow, and was used by many cultures, including Native Americans.

On Friday, there will be a workshop held at Chimney Point at which participants can learn modern and ancient atlatl construction as they build their own dart-thrower and projectiles and learn how to use them. The fee of $65 includes instruction by champion atlatlist Robert Berg and all materials. Pre-registration is required.

On Saturday competitors of all ages test their prowess in using the atlatl to “hunt” wooly mammoth, bison, and other game targets- shoot at modern day bulls-eyes (International Standards Accuracy), and compete in a distance challenge.

The winners in each category compete in a shoot-out at the end of the event for the title of Grand Champion. At 5:30 p.m. and leading up to the start of the fireworks, enjoy lively music from Atlantic Crossing, well-known for their vast repertoire of music highlighting and honoring the history of the region. The Seth Warner Mount Independence Fife and Drum Corps will also perform.

On Sunday morning, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. one lane of the Lake Champlain Bridge between Addison and Crown Point, N.Y. will be open for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The Sky Blue Boys, Banjo Dan and Willy Lindner, will be performing their lively music near the Vermont end of the bridge from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.

On Sunday morning there will be another International Standards Accuracy competition at 10:00 a.m., followed by master coaching for youth and the young at heart, as well as conversations with Samuel de Champlain and wood carving demonstrations.

Saturday’s and Sunday’s contests are $5 and $3 respectively to enter. Admission to the site on each day is free.

Photo: John Morris using an atlatl. Morris, along with Greg Maurer, will be offering master coaching on Sunday, as well as competing on Saturday. Courtesy Vermont Division for Historic Preservation

Dutch Colonial Clergy Conference Announced

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The Reformed Church Center of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, N.J. will co-host an event titled The Colonial Clergy Conference: Dutch Traditions and American Realities with the Collegiate Church of New York, the Van Raalte Institute in Holland, Michigan, the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, Netherlands, and the Reformed Church in America Archives. Planned as part of a larger celebration this year of Henry Hudson’s voyage for the Dutch to the Hudson River and New York, it is an international event being held September 27-28th at the Haworth Center at Hope College in Holland, Michigan and October 24th at First Reformed Church, 9 Bayard St., New Brunswick, N.J. Additional information about registration, etc. can be found on the website: http://www.nbts.edu/clergyconference/

In Holland, Michigan, the speakers will be Dr. Leon van den Broeke, Assistant Professor in Religion, Law and Society and Director of the Center for Religion and Law at Free University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands- Dr. Willem Frijhof, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at Free University- Dr. Hans Krabbendam, Assistant Director of the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, The Netherlands- Dr. Earl Wm. Kennedy, Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Religion Emeritus at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa- Dr. Firth Haring Fabend, Fellow of the New Netherland Project and Historian for The Holland Society of New York,- and Dr. John Coakley, L. Russell Feakes Memorial Chair and Professor of Church History at New Brunswick Theological Seminary.

Speakers in New Brunswick, New Jersey will include Dr. Leon van den Broeke- Dr. Joyce Goodfriend, Professor of History at the University of Denver- Dr. John Coakley- Dr. Dirk Mouw, past Albert A. Smith Fellow at New Brunswick Theological Seminary- Dr. Firth Haring Fabend, and Dr. Robert Naborn, Director of the Dutch Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Also included in the day is a tour of the church’s historic cemetery and bell tower, lunch, and an opportunity to order a book which will be based on the papers presented. First Reformed Church was founded in 1717 and the current building dates to 1765.

Workshops And Webinars On NYS Preservation Tax Credit

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The Preservation League of New York State is sponsoring or participating in a series of workshops and webinars this fall to help New Yorkers take advantage of New York’s expanded preservation tax credit which begins in 2010. The tax benefit provides incentives for developers and municipalities seeking to rehabilitate historic buildings, and is hoped to advance redevelopment and economic stimulus goals throughout New York State by spurring over $500 million dollars of economic activity and creating some 2,000 jobs over its initial five-year lifespan.

The act will take effect on January 1, 2010. For more information on New York’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit Programs, call the New York State Historic Preservation Office at (518) 237-8643 or visit http://nysparks.state.ny.us/shpo/investment/index.htm .

Workshops and webinars:

Albany Tax Credit Workshop
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Time: 8:30 to 12:00 noon
Place: 11 North Pearl Street
$5 for Historic Albany Foundation members, $10 for the general public. Email Cara Macri at [email protected] or call 518-465-0876 x12

Rochester Tax Credit Workshop
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Time: 8:00 to 11:00 a.m.
Place: Nixon Peabody LLP, 1100 Clinton Square
Register online, or for more information, email Dan Kolodner at [email protected].

Statewide Tax Credit Webinar
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The law firm of Cannon Heyman & Weiss will host a webinar on the recently expanded NYS Historic Preservaion Tax Credit. For further details and registration information, visit www.chwattys.com or call 518-465-1500 (Albany) or 716-856-1700 (Buffalo).

Syracuse Tax Credit Workshop
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Place: Hotel Syracuse, 500 South Warren Street, Persian Terrace
Sponsored by the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York. For more information, contact Ben Walsh at [email protected].

Buffalo Tax Credit Workshop
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Times: 1:00 &#8211 3:00 p.m. (Commercial) 5:30 &#8211 7:30 p.m. (Residential)
Place: Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, 25 Nottingham Terrace
Hosted by Assemblymember Sam Hoyt, the workshops will offer guidance for people and businesses interested in using the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits authored by the Assemblyman. To RSVP, call Preservation Buffalo Niagara at 716-852-3300.

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Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up

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New Amsterdam: The Island at the Center of the World Exhibit

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Another exhibit will mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s arrival in New York harbor, this one running September 13, 2009 &#8211 January 3, 2010. This exhibit, however, is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Many, if not most, of the documents included in the exhibition have never been shown publicly in this country. Some have never been exhibited at all. At the close of the exhibition, most will be returned to archival storage and will not be seen again.

South Street Seaport Museum will be partnering with the Dutch National Archives to present a remarkable exhibition, New Amsterdam: The Island At The Center Of The World. It will contain extraordinary early maps, as well as the oldest documentary &#8216-evidence’ on the early history of the settlement New York- the period of Dutch New Amsterdam (1609-1664).

The exhibition is divided into three sections: The World, The Island and The Origins, each with a different focus.

The World will feature approximately 20 watercolors by 17&#8242-h century cartographer Johannes Vingboons, illustrating trading posts from around the world.

The Island will contain extraordinary rare documents, maps and books about New Amsterdam, many of which have never before been exhibited in the United States. The centerpiece is the Schagen letter (1626), which is the oldest surviving evidence of the purchase of &#8216-manhattes’ from the Indians for goods worth 60 guilders. Many of the pieces belong to the National Archives of the Netherlands- other important loan items will come from the Royal Library in the Netherlands, the U.S. Library of Congress, the New York Historical Society and the Ostereichische National Bibliothek in Vienna.

The third section, The Origins, will include first-person stories of some of the Native Americans, the first foreign settlers from Santo Domingo, Brazilian Jews, pioneers from Europe and the first free Afro-American population.

The exhibition will be curated by Dutch historian and author Martine Gosselink and co curated by Russell Shorto. Ms. Gosselink curated the 2008 show At Home in the Golden Age: Masterpieces from the S0R Rusche collection at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. She is also editor of the publication Iran and the Netherlands: Interwoven Through the Ages, to be published in September 2009.

On September 12, 2009 South Street Seaport Museum is having a reception for the opening of a new exhibition to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam by the Dutch. Prince Willem Alexander and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands will be attending the reception as well as other dignitaries from the Netherlands and the United States.

New York States First Heritage Weekend Approaching

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During a year filled with celebratory events, the 2009 Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission has partnered with the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area and the Historic House Trust of New York City to inaugurate the state’s first ever New York Heritage Weekend, September 12 and 13. Visitors are welcomed free, or at a reduced rate, to many museums, historical societies, and heritage areas- to architecturally significant buildings- and to battlefields, parks and historic districts in the Hudson River Valley, the Champlain Valley, and New York City. In addition, communities throughout the region are planning tours, special events and concerts that will highlight this first-ever celebration of New York’s unique cultural heritage. Participating counties include: Albany, Bronx, Columbia, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Orange, New York, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Saratoga, Kings, Ulster, Warren and Westchester.

Modeled after France’s popular annual event, “Les Journees du Patrimoine,” the inaugural New York Heritage Weekend will focus on the history and culture of the Champlain and Hudson River Valleys and showcasing these regions to residents and visitors alike. For further information on Heritage Weekend sites, visit the New York Heritage Weekend website www.heritageweekend.org.

America’s First River: The Hudson A Conference

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America’s First River: The Hudson A Conference Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s Voyage in 1609 will be held on September 25-26, 2009 at the FDR Presidential Library and Marist College. The Conference is sponsored by The Hudson River Valley Institute, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the Hudson River Valley Greenway, the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, the National Park Service, and the New York State Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission.

For information, a schedule of speakers and events, and reservations email [email protected] or call 845-575-3052 or visit www.hudsonrivervalley.org

Senate House State Historic Site Celebrates Heritage Weekend

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Senate House State Historic Site will celebrate New York State’s first annual Heritage Weekend by offering free admission to the site, free tours of Senate House, and demonstrations of 18th-century crafts and amusements on Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13. Visitors will be able to tour the first meeting place of New York’s elected Senate, which is also among the earliest homes built in Kingston’s historic Stockade district. The site’s museum collections include art and objects reflecting three centuries of mid-Hudson Valley history, including paintings by John Vanderlyn and other early American artists. Site staff will demonstrate 18th-century crafts, and introduce children to the toys of the past. The site’s special exhibition, Archives Alive!!, features highlights from the site’s extensive collection of documents.

On Sunday, September 13, at 2:00 pm, a free author’s talk and book signing by A. J. Schenkman will feature his recent book, Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh: Home to a Revolution, published by The History Press. Senate House State Historic Site is open 10:00 to 5:00 pm on Saturday, and 1:00 to 5:00 pm on Sunday. It is located at 296 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401. For more information call (845) 338-2786, or visit www.nysparks.state.ny.us.

150 Thomas Cole Images Now Online

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The Thomas Cole Historic Site is substantially increasing its online presence with the launch of a new interactive website where visitors can see Thomas Cole’s paintings in a new way, enabling a greatly enhanced understanding of the artist and his work.

The most ambitious feature of the new website is the learning portal. Five years in the making, it offers 150 of Thomas Cole’s best-known artworks all in one place. Written by some of the top scholars in the field of American art, it gives you the experience of seeing Cole’s artwork with a team of experts by your side.

High-resolution digital technology reveals details that are not evident in printed reproductions, and the visitor can zoom in closer to the painted surface than would be permissible in a museum. The database of images will continue to grow, eventually becoming as complete a resource as possible for Cole’s artistic output.

Photo: Autumn in the Catskills by Thomas Cole. Oil on wood, 1827.