Month: March 2010

Upcoming Events at Olana State Historic Site

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The Olana New York State Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark, and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Hudson Valley and upstate New York has announced a series of upcoming events.

Named for a fortress treasure-house in ancient Persia, Olana was the home of Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), one of America’s most important artists, a student of Thomas Cole, and a major figure in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Olana stands high on a hill near Hudson, New York and offers sweeping vistas of the Catskill Mountains, the Hudson River and the Taconic Hills.

Family Tour at Olana
Saturday, March 13, 11:30AM

Explore the house, its paintings and treasures from a child’s perspective. Tours are geared for families with 6-12 year olds, but all ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are required by 4PM the preceding Friday. Call (518) 828-0135 for information. $9/adult- $8/students and seniors, free for children under 12 and members of The Olana Partnership.

First Spring Weekend Hike
Sunday, March 21, 1PM

Celebrate the first weekend of spring (and the Vernal Equinox) by getting outside for a little fresh air. Pre-registration required by 4PM the Wednesday preceding. Dress for the weather and meet in front of the Visitor Center.

Local Flora and Fauna: Nature Photography
Monday, March 22, 10AM-12PM

Larry Federman, Assistant Warden/Educator for Audubon New York’s Rheinstrom Hill, Buttercup Farm, RamsHorn-Livingston Audubon Centers and Sanctuaries offers this exciting lecture on the flora and fauna of our community. In the course of daily routines, Larry always has a camera with him at Audubon sites- now you can too discover the plants and animals that call these sanctuaries home through his incidental photos. After the presentation we’ll head out for a landscape walk- bring your binoculars and cameras! Children sized binoculars and sketch pads will be available for borrow. Come out and capture the first of spring. All ages. Free. Meet at Olana’s Wagon House Education Center. Register: [email protected] or (518) 828-1872 ext. 110.

Green Gardening
Friday, March 26, 2-4PM

Spring is almost here! Watch your own kitchen garden grow: come to Olana’s farm complex to create your own fairy garden to bring home. Plant herb, vegetable and/or flower seeds in recyclable/re-used containers and then decorate your garden pots with art supplies inspired by Olana. Ages 3-5 and their caregivers. Free. Register: [email protected] or call (518) 828-1872 x110.

Family Tour at Olana
Saturday, March 27, 11:30AM

Explore the house, its paintings and treasures from a child’s perspective. Tours are geared for families with 6-12 year olds, but all ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are required by 4PM the preceding Friday. Call (518) 828-0135 for information. $9/adult- $8/students and seniors, free for children under 12 and members of The Olana Partnership.

Landscape Yoga
Sunday, March 28, 3-4PM

Does your New Year’s resolution include time for well-being? Nourish body and soul this winter in our education center that has radiant floor heating! This gentle yoga class will bring the inspiring picturesque landscape views inside, celebrating the spirituality of nature. Yoga instructor Ed Sisk from the Yoga With Ed studio in Hudson, NY will provide mats and modification tools, or you are welcome to bring your own. $10/adult- $5/member. Space is limited. Register: (518).828.1872 x110.

April Fools Olana!
Thursday, April 1 – Sunday, April 4

Tours at 11AM, 1PM and 3PM daily

Olana’s been pranked! Objects that just don’t fit in are scattered throughout the house, some better hidden than others. Bring the family and see who has the sharpest eye. Admission is free for members of The Olana Partnership. $9/adult- $8/students and seniors, free for children under 12. Standard tours available on the hour and half hour except for the times listed above. Call (518) 828-0135 for information.

FIRST FRIDAYS SERIES:

April 2 (Also May 7, June 4)

Easy Tai chi, 10:00AM-12PM
Tap into the spirituality of nature (like a Hudson River School artist but without the paint)! Tai chi is a mind-body practice that originated in China as a martial art. The body moves slowly and gently, while breathing deeply and meditating. Many practitioners believe that Tai chi helps the flow throughout the body of a proposed vital energy called qi, increasing our wellness. Join John Middlebrooks (Omega Institute) as he guides you in this intro class. Classes will meet at the education center- if weather permits we will practice out in the landscape that day. Please attend all three classes as they go in sequence and allow time for practice. Space is limited- register by the preceding Thursday: [email protected] (518)828- 1872&#215-110. Wagon House Education Center/Farm Complex. Adults. Free.

Visual Arts Workshop, 1-3PM

Retired? Ready to finally explore your love of art? It is never too late! Adults with little or no formal art training will realize that creating art can be accomplished through a variety of materials and techniques. Create a work of art in a safe setting with new friends, providing a personal sense of accomplishment and ownership. Wagon House Education Center/Farm Complex. Adults (50+). Free. Register: [email protected] or (518) 828-1872 x110.

MyStory in History: Contemporary Art in a Historical World, 4-5PM

Use the life of Frederic Church and his home, Olana, as inspiration, to take a new look at the world. In this mixed media after school drop-off art class lead by local art teacher Claudia Brehse, you will begin to think about the importance of art as a form of communication, about the “message of the medium” and why people collect and create art. Students will work in the studio to create the newest history- the history of you. Great for homeschoolers or teen art club members. Register: [email protected] or (518) 828-1872 x110.

Landscape Yoga, 5:30-6:30PM

This gentle yoga class will bring the inspiring picturesque landscape views inside. Celebrate the spirituality of nature with yoga instructor Ed Sisk from the Yoga With Ed studio in Hudson, NY. Mats and modification tools will be provided- you are welcome to bring your own. Space is limited. Free. Register: [email protected] or (518).828.1872&#215-110.

Educator Tour
Tuesday, April 6, 10am

Join area educators for a tour with Olana’s Director of Education. Discussion will include history as well as practical application, and participants are invited to sit down together after the tour to discuss content and classroom applications. Educator resources will be available. Reservations are required by 4pm Monday, April 5th. Regular tour rates apply, $9/adult, $8 student/senior. Call 518.828.0135 to reserve a space.

ADK Backs Plan to Remove 2 Fire Towers, Preserve Others

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The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) supports the preservation of the vast majority of Adirondack fire towers, but concurs with the Department of Environmental Conservation’s conclusion that the towers on St. Regis and Hurricane mountains are non-conforming uses and should be removed, according to a recently issued press release.

“Fire towers are an important part of the Adirondacks’ history and culture and provide important educational and recreational benefits,” said Neil Woodworth, ADK’s executive director. “For the hiking public, which ADK represents, a fire tower can provide the reward of a panoramic view after a demanding climb. But Hurricane and St. Regis already have spectacular views, so even if these towers were open, they would add nothing to visitors’ experience of these summits.” Here is the rest of the club’s press release:

For nearly two decades, the Adirondack Mountain Club has been a leader in the effort to preserve and restore the Adirondacks’ historic fire towers, which are monuments to the fire observers who protected the region’s forests and communities. In 1993, the club invited interested parties to the Indian Lake Town Hall to discuss ways to restore the Blue Mountain Fire Tower. That successful restoration effort became a model for other fire tower projects. ADK also publishes “Views from on High,” by John P. Freeman, a guide to fire tower trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills. Furthermore, ADK’s volunteer and professional trails crews have done considerable work in recent years to maintain the trails to fire tower summits, including Mount Arab, Azure Mountain, Pillsbury Mountain, St. Regis Mountain and Hurricane Mountain.

ADK has been an equally strong supporter of the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, including its language permitting the maintenance and restoration of fire towers in Wild Forest areas. The Master Plan, which is codified in state Executive Law, clearly states that fire towers located in Wilderness, Primitive and Canoe areas are non-conforming structures. In 2005, ADK’s board of directors passed a resolution opposing any changes to the Master Plan that would allow fire towers to remain in Wilderness, Primitive or Canoe areas. The ADK board also opposed spot zoning that would carve out historic-area footprints on fire-tower summits in Wilderness, Primitive or Canoe areas.

ADK welcomes DEC’s “Fire Tower Study for the Adirondack Park,” an in-depth, thoughtful analysis that will provide much-needed guidance in determining the future of the 20 remaining fire towers in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. It takes a broad, parkwide view that takes into account the characteristics, location and existing or potential public benefits of each tower. It goes a long way in resolving, through objective criteria, the debate over which towers should remain and which should be removed.

Aside from the substantial legal issues, a number of practical considerations make these two towers poor candidates for preservation and restoration in their current locations. Neither is used for communications purposes. Both towers have long been long closed to the public, with their lower stairs removed. Despite the removal of the stairs, some people still attempt to climb these towers, which makes them public hazards.

From a historical perspective, neither of these structures is unique. The St. Regis and Hurricane fire towers are 35-foot Aermotor steel towers, Model LS-40, erected in 1918 and 1919, respectively. There are 11 other fire towers of this same size and model extant in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Neither St. Regis nor Hurricane is the oldest, the newest, the shortest or the tallest among Adirondack fire towers.

Nor does the towers’ listing on national and state historic registers provide them with any special status. These and other Adirondack fire towers were added to the historic registers pursuant to a 1994 agreement between DEC and the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation that acknowledged from the outset that some of these towers would be saved and others removed.

While ADK supports removal of these two towers from their current locations, the club does not believe they should be discarded or scrapped. Relocation has long been an important tool in preserving structures of historic significance, including the Adirondack fire towers that have been relocated to the Adirondack Museum and the Adirondack History Center in Elizabethtown. The St. Regis and Hurricane towers should be relocated to other mountain summits or to public locations where the public can view and enjoy them.

The Adirondack Mountain Club, founded in 1922, is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the New York State Forest Preserve and other wild lands and waters through conservation and advocacy, environmental education and responsible recreation.

Historic Huguenot St Hosts Candlelight Tour, Lecture

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Historic Huguenot Street (HHS), located on the banks of the Wallkill River where small group of French-speaking Huguenots settled in 1678, is 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.

This Friday and Saturday HHS is offering two unique programs. On Friday, a Candlelight Tour that features the historic Deyo and Jean Hasbrouck houses, and more on Saturday &#8220Before Stone: Early Structures of the New Paltz Region,&#8221 a talk offered as part of the HHS’s Second Saturdays lecture series.

Candlelight Tour

On Friday, March 12th at 7pm, HHS will present a special Candlelight Tour. In the Jean Hasbrouck House, guests will have an opportunity to experience the house as few do – by the nighttime candlelight that would have been part of every late winter evening in the 1700s. Guides will talk about how light, the scarcity of it and the need to capture as much natural light as possible informed both design and function of the houses. Unique lighting implements from the collections at Historic Huguenot Street, including the betty lamp, will be featured and discussed.

Across the street in the Deyo House, guests will experience one of the village’s finest houses just at the time that electric light has come to the village. The Brodheads, then in residence, take advantage of this new innovation, but continue to live by the soft, warm glow they knew from gas and candlelight. The result is a transition from the old to the new.

The tour will begin at 7pm in the DuBois Fort Visitor Center, where guests can enjoy a glass of wine or sparkling water before departing down a candlelit path to the museum houses. The DuBois Fort is located at 81 Huguenot Street in New Paltz.

Saturday, “Before Stone” Talk Focuses on Earliest Homes

&#8220Before Stone: Early Structures of the New Paltz Region, will be a talk offered on Saturday, March 13th as part of the Second Saturdays lecture series at Historic Huguenot Street.

Until recently, not much was known about what came before the iconic stone houses. Family histories told us that the stone houses dated to the late 1600s. Investigation and research conducted in the past several years have revealed that the houses were not built until the early 1700s. This begged the question of what the community’s early Huguenot founders lived in for almost thirty years. Archaeology on the site has also improved our understanding of how Native Americans lived on the site prior to European contact.

Architect Amanda Lewkowicz and Richard Heyl de Ortiz, Director of Community Relations at Historic Huguenot Street, will offer and informative and interesting talk about this evolving understanding of these structures. The talk will be offered on Saturday, March 13th at 7pm at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center, 81 Huguenot Street, in New Paltz. The talk is $7 per person ($5 for Friends of Huguenot Street).

Reservations are not required for either event, but are suggested. For more information, visit www.huguenotstreet.org or call (845) 255-1889.

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.

Canal Splash Event: Erie Canal Tour of Cayuga County

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The Old Brutus Historical Society, Weedsport- Lock 52 Historical Society, Port Byron- and the Montezuma Historical Society, will present an all day canal sites tour as part of the statewide Canal Splash day. &#8220Following The Flow: The Tale of Two Erie Canals- A Narrative Driving and Walking Tour Featuring Historic Canal Sites and Villages Along the Erie Canal in Cayuga County, NY, will be a day long celebration of the Erie Canal following its route through the three canal villages of Weedsport, Port Byron, and Montezuma.

Participants will learn about the original Erie Canal, and its replacement, the Enlarged Erie. We will tour five canal sites and see the remains of canal structures. We will also learn about the canal side businesses, a murder, the largest grain mill in the state (in 1830) and even a little about the Montezuma Swamps (and much more).

The tour is organized so that you can do it at your own pace, or, by joining one of two guided groups. The tours consists of two walking segments- one in Montezuma and the other in Port Byron- and driving between other stops that are located alongside the road. Both walking tours cover about 1.6 miles.

The guided tours are structured so that you can pick and chose what stops you wish to see. There is no cost for attending the tours. The organizers are asking that people pre-register if they wish to attend the guided tour.

Details on times and stops are available on the blog site at http://www.canalsplash.blogspot.com/

This event is part of a yearly Canal Splash Celebration of the extraordinary history and culture of the New York Canal System and the Erie Canalway Trail that is coordinated by the New York State Canal Corporation and the Erie Canalway National Corridor.

Photo: Erie Canal’s Centreport Aqueduct, West of Weedsport in Cayuga County. Courtesy http://www.eriecanal.org/

Underground Railroad Association Presents Herstory

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In celebration of Women’s History Month (March), the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association will host a celebration of the role of women in humanity’s great moments, from Miriam at the Red Sea to Catherine Keese who hid fugitives from slavery in Peru, New York, during the Underground Railroad era. The event will be held March 19, 2010 at 7 pm, at the Peru Community Church, 13 Elm Street, in Clinton County.

The evening will include short presentations on women prominent in the success of the underground railroad and a photo journal of the Keese-Smith barn project narrated by the local restoration, history and archeological specialists who are donating their time and skills to the stabilization.

Music and song will be provided by Sounds of the Northway, a trio of local women: Ann Ruzow Holland, Cathie Davenport and Jennifer Van Benschoten who sing and play guitar, piano, flute and violin.

The cost will be $10 for adults, $8 for children and seniors. Proceeds will provide the materials necessary for the stabilization of Peru’s most recognized Underground Railroad hiding place, the Stephen Keese-Smith barn, located at the former Stafford property on Union Road. All labor is being donated for this project.

Illustration: Catherine Keese, Peru NY Abolitionist.

Conference on NYS History Program Announced

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The program schedule and registration form for the 31st Conference on New York State History at Ithaca College on June 3-5 are now available at http://www.nyhistory.com/cnysh/2010CNYSHProgram.htm. This year’s keynote Wendell Tripp Lecture will be &#8220How Historical Enterprise in New York State Became Fractured (and sometimes dysfunctional) in the Twentieth Century” by Michael Kammen, Cornell University.

The Conference on New York State History, now in its thirty-first year, is an annual meeting of academic and public historians, educators, librarians, archivists, museum professionals, publishers, and students of history who come together to discuss topics and issues related to the people of New York State in historical perspective and to share information and ideas regarding historical research, programming, and the networking of resources and services. The conference is self-sustaining and is organized by a Steering Committee of historians from a variety of institutions across the state.

Epic Stories of the Iroquois at the Adirondack Museum

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The Iroquois people are the original residents of what is now New York State. There were five tribes in the first Confederacy: the Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, and the Cayuga. Eventually, a sixth nation, the Tuscarora tribe, joined the confederation.

On Sunday, March 14, 2010, Mohawk storyteller Darren Bonaparte will share stories and recount the great legends of the Rotinonhsion:ni (Iroquois) Confederacy including &#8220The Creation Story&#8221 and &#8220The Great Peacemaker&#8221 at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York. The program, &#8220Epic Stories of the Iroquois,&#8221 is part of the popular Cabin Fever Sunday series.

Darren Bonaparte is a storyteller, Mohawk historian, artist, teacher, and maker of wampum belts from Akwesasne. He is the author of Creation and Confederation: The Living History of the Iroquois as well as A Lily Among Thorns: The Mohawk Repatriation of Kateri Tekahkwi:tha.

Bonaparte is a former elected chief of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne. His articles have been published in Aboriginal Voices, Winds of Change, The Nation, and Native American magazine. He is also the creator of &#8220The Wampum Chronicles: Mohawk Territory on the Internet&#8221 at www.wampumchronicles.com.

The presentation will be held in the Auditorium, and will begin promptly at 1:30 p.m. Cabin Fever Sunday programs are offered at no charge to museum members. The fee for non-members is $5.00. There is no charge for children of elementary school age or younger. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, please call the Education Department at (518) 352-7311, ext. 128 or visit the museum’s web site at
www.adirondackmuseum.org .

Also on March 14, the Adirondack Museum Education Department will hold an Open House for Educators from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. Area teachers are invited to visit the Mark W. Potter Education Center to discover the variety of hands-on programs available for students in Pre-K through grade 12. All are designed to meet curricular needs. Educators can learn about the museum’s School Membership program and enter to win a day of free outreach classes for their school. For more information, contact Christine Campeau at (518) 352-7311, ext. 116 or [email protected].

Photo: Darren Bonaparte with wampum.

World War II Ship USS Slater Seeks Guides

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The USS Slater, located in the Hudson River north of the Port of Albany is preparing to begin their 13th season. Each year they hire 6-8 part-time tour guides who learn the history and technology of World War II with &#8220on-the-job&#8221 training from veterans, as well as from experts in historic ship preservation. Guides have an opportunity to improve their &#8220people&#8221 skills by interacting with a variety of age groups on a daily basis- the
hours are flexible.

For an application, contact Business Manager Rosehn Gipe at [email protected] or by
phone at 518-431-1943.

NYS Museum: Womens History Exhibit During March

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In celebration of Women’s History Month, the New York State Museum will open a small exhibition March 1 featuring artifacts and images from the woman’s suffrage movement of the early 20th century. &#8220Women Who Rocked the Vote&#8221 will be open through March in the Museum’s front lobby window.

The exhibition chronicles the history of the suffrage movement, which was officially launched when Elizabeth Cady Stanton added the demand for equal suffrage to the Declaration of Sentiments at the first woman’s rights convention in Seneca Falls that she helped organize. Modeled on the Declaration of Independence, the declaration condemned male tyranny. It also claimed for women “all the rights and privileges” of citizenship. News of the convention sparked controversy and helped ignite a national movement.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a large wooden wagon that was once covered in suffrage banners and hand-painted signs as suffrage activists used the wagon as both a prop and a speaker’s platform. There also are historic images and a large painted banner carried in a massive suffrage parade up Fifth Avenue in New York City. The parade came just 10 days before the November 1917 election which gave women the right to vote in New York State. Two years later the state ratified the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibited sex-based restrictions on the right to vote.

The New York State Museum is a program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Founded in 1836, the museum has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the U.S. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open daily from 9:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

Photo: Suffrage Parade, NYC 1912