Month: November 2010

New Netherland Research Center Opened

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A ribbon-cutting ceremony today officially opened the New Netherland Research Center (NNRC) on the 7th floor of the New York State Library in Albany. The NNRC will focus attention on New York State’s rich collection of historic Dutch Colonial documents and facilitate access to them for future scholars, teachers and students both here and abroad.

The New Netherland Research Center, which will provide access to the colonial Dutch documents held by the New York State Archives and New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections, is the first step in an international effort to launch a collaborative digitization project to share collections and archives from former Dutch colonies.

During the 2009 Quadricentennial celebration of Henry Hudson’s voyage opening up the New World to Dutch settlement, Dutch dignitaries, including the Prince of Orange and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, visited the Cultural Education Center’s 1609 Exhibition.

At that visit the government of the Netherlands committed to a grant of €200,000 (approximately $275,000) to the New Netherland Institute to continue and expand the New Netherland Project by establishing a New Netherland Research Center. This gift, with matching support from the Institute, are expected to transform what started out as a translation project into a collaborative research initiative with international scope and context.

Modern technologies are hoped to make New York’s collections, along with those in other similar or complementary repositories, available digitally and to promote a more complete story of the Dutch global reach during the colonial period and its lasting impact on today’s world.

The NNRC is the culmination of a decades-long translation effort, the New Netherland Project, at the New York State Library. Dr. Charles Gehring is the project’s Director and principal translator. Dr. Janny Venema is Assistant Director. Both have worked to unlock the wealth of information in these collections by making them available in English. They have also written extensively and spoken widely on the scope and legacy of our early Dutch heritage.

Seventeenth century collections of government records in the New York State Archives and non-government documents in the Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections constitute the world’s largest collection of early Dutch language documentation of the New World colonies. Encompassing what is now a large part of the northeastern United States, the early Dutch colony, its language, culture and laws, lie at the roots of much of our nation’s modern history. Scholars regularly explore the collections for insights into 17th century life in New Netherland. Russell Shorto relied heavily on Gehring and Vanema and the New York State collections in writing his book The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America.

The New York State Library is a program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education.

Preservation Leagues Pillar of New York Award

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The Preservation League of New York State will present its most prestigious commendation, the Pillar of New York Award, to two honorees at the 2010 Pillar of New York Awards gala on November 9 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

Since 1992 the Preservation League has presented its Pillar of New York Award to individuals and organizations whose work in the field of historic preservation makes them role models for others throughout the state and nation.

Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP of New York City will be celebrated for the firm’s role as one of America’s premier authorities on historic preservation, and for their work on some of New York State’s most iconic and best-loved historic buildings and important historic areas, including Grand Central Terminal and the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden.

Matthew Bender IV’s name is virtually synonymous with philanthropy and leadership in historic preservation, particularly in upstate New York, where he has served on the New York State Commission on the Restoration of the Capitol since its creation in 1979, and was a founding member and long-time board member of Historic Albany
Foundation and the Preservation League of New York State.

Each year the League presents The Pillar of New York Award to those who have demonstrated a keen understanding of the value of New York’s historic resources by taking extraordinary actions to protect, preserve, and promote those assets. Tickets for the black tie gala start at $600 for individuals, and tables of 10 are available starting at $10,000. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the
Preservation League at 518-462-5658 x11.

&#8220Beyer Blinder Belle’s deep understanding of New York’s history as reflected in patterns of settlement and land use has made them a leader in architecture and planning,&#8221 said Arete Swartz Warren, Chair of the Preservation League. &#8220Since 1968, the firm’s work has set a high standard around the country and around the world. Beyer Blinder Belle successfully applies classical principles to a new generation of
design and planning, and, as William Shakespeare said, &#8216-makes us heirs of all eternity.’ For their profound respect of the importance of a community’s social history in architecture and planning, we recognize Beyer Blinder Belle as a Pillar of New York.&#8221

The League will honor Matthew Bender for fostering a family tradition of historic preservation, and as a lifelong leader in the support of preservation and the performing arts. &#8220Of all the ideals and traditions one can pass on to the next generation, a love of history and the arts may be the finest,&#8221 said Jay DiLorenzo, president of the Preservation League. &#8220When we value our history, we engender both
appreciation for the past and anticipation for the future. Matthew Bender IV is building a legacy that truly matters, brick by brick and acre by acre. For philanthropic leadership and a peerless reputation as a community leader and executive volunteer, we honor Matthew Bender IV as a Pillar of New York.&#8221

Past honorees of the League’s Pillar of New York Award include the Pell Family for their leadership in the preservation of Fort Ticonderoga and its surroundings- the Pratt Family for the founding and preservation of the Pratt Institute Campus- Tiffany & Co. and The Tiffany & Co Foundation- preservation advocates Connie and David Clapp- Phyllis Lambert, the film Citizen Lambert: Joan of Architecture, and its director, Teri Wehn Damisch- David Beer and Brennan Beer Gorman / Architects and Brennan Beer Gorman Monk / Interiors- Cook + Fox Architects- Southampton Town Councilman Dennis Suskind- Governor George E. Pataki- developer Frank J. Sciame- Ronald Lauder- the Honorable James R. Houghton- Mrs. Vincent Astor- Peggy and
David Rockefeller- architect Hugh Hardy- and Jane Forbes Clark. The League has also previously honored William S. Beinecke, Chairman and Director of the Prospect Hill Foundation- Friends of Hudson- Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries- LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation- Chubb Corporation- Cablevision Systems- and the Hilton Hotel Corporation.

The Preservation League of New York State – New York’s only statewide historic preservation organization – is dedicated to promoting historic preservation as a tool to revitalize our neighborhoods, honor our heritage, and enrich our lives. As the State’s preservation leader, the League seeks to recognize and applaud individuals, organizations and businesses which understand the value of our historic resources and have taken extraordinary actions to protect, preserve and promote those assets.

Schenectady Genealogy Day Event Saturday

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On Saturday November 6th the Schenectady County Historical Society will explore the many possible ways to uncover your family history during Genealogy Day, an event that will feature several speakers along with open hours in the library. Frank Taormina, a retired teacher and long-time Schenectady resident, will describe the history of the ethnic communities of Schenectady as he shows us the City’s many places of worship: churches, synagogues and mosques. Bob Sullivan, librarian at the Schenectady County Public Library and webmaster of Schenectady Digital History Archive, will explain how to mine the wealth of the Internet to locate historic newspapers on the Internet. During the lunch hour Kim Mabee, a community volunteer and tireless family researcher, will share the story of her own research on the Mabee Family of Rotterdam, NY.

The afternoon of Genealogy Day offers participants the choice of sitting in on a beginning genealogy class or exploring the resources of the Grems-Doolittle Library. Nancy Curran, a genealogical consultant, will be on hand in the library to field research questions. Curran is an experienced researcher well versed in using the New York State Department of Health vital records indexes at the New York State Archives. Katherine Chansky, librarian at the Historical Society’s Grems-Doolittle Library, will talk about ways to begin a genealogy project. She will share some tips on organizing family records, suggest Internet sites to visit, and demonstrate
Family Tree Maker software.

Reservation are recommended. Participants will be asked for a 5 dollar donation to benefit the Historical Society. Lunch is bring your own bag lunch- cold beverages and homemade desserts will be provided by Grems-Doolittle Library volunteers.

Genealogy Day Schedule Saturday Nov. 6th :

10:00 am – 10: 45 am Churches of Schenectady by Frank Taormina. This PowerPoint presentation by Schenectady resident Frank Taormina, will explore the ethnic character of the City of Schenectady’s places of worship. Taormina was a social studies teacher for ten years, a school administrator and for many years the principal of Niskayuna High School. He has been president of the Schenectady County Historical Society and is a frequent speaker at SCHS events.

11:00 am – 11:45 am Digital Newspapers Online by Robert Sullivan, reference librarian at the Schenectady County Public Library and Trustee of the Schenectady County Historical Society. Bob will give a survey of assorted Internet sites where the public can find digital historic newspaper collections. He will also discuss the wealth of information available through Newsbank and Google/Gazette.

12:00 noon to 1:30 Lunch Break Guest Speaker, Kim Mabee, Mabee/Mabie/Maybee/Maybee: Soup to Nuts. Kim Mabee has spent years adding her own genealogy research to the extensive Mabee family genealogical record. A member of the Maybee Society, she describes herself as a “professional volunteer.” Kim has taken leadership roles
in a variety of area organizations including president of the Sacandaga PTA, President of the Schenectady County Historical Society, and Volunteer registrar for the Highland Soccer Club. She has received awards for her community service and takes pride in being a life-long student and self-taught scholar. From the summer into the fall season Kim is the “butter lady” at the Historic Mabee Farm in
Rotterdam Junction, NY, teaching hundreds of school children on farm tours how to make homemade sweet butter and giving lessons in farm-based traditions of the Mohawk Valley.

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Beginning Genealogy by Katherine Chansky, Librarian/Archivist for the Grems-Doolittle Library. Katherine Chansky has been working in local history and genealogy for over 10 years. She will share suggestions on organizing your family records, setting up files in Family Tree Maker, and identify several Internet
website for the beginning genealogist.

2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Library Open Hours with Nancy Johnsen Curran. Curran is a genealogist and experienced researcher. She will be available in the library to brainstorm answers to your genealogy questions.

On any project, a thorough search of the Internet may lead to intensive local research in nearby counties’ courthouses, historical societies, libraries and churches.

An important resource is the New York State Library and Archives, one of the leading repositories in the country. For 20th-century research, New York State’s vital records are familiar territory. Other holdings consulted may include colonial wills, tax records, military records and prison records, as well as the unique documents
in the Manuscript Collection. Nancy Johnsen Curran brings many years experience locating family history in these records in the Capital region. She is a member of the board of trustees of Schenectady County Historical Society and the New Netherland Institute, the membership organization in support of the New Netherland Research Center. Curran brings to genealogy research a discipline instilled by many years in print and electronic journalism. Experience as a feature writer and
columnist is called into play, as she presents factual history in readable, interesting form. Her website address is www.nancycurran.com.

The Schenectady County Historical Society is located at 32 Washington Avenue, Schenectady, NY 12305. The building is wheel chair accessible with off-street parking.

For more information contact Katherine Chansky at (518) 374-0263 or email [email protected]. Find directions to SCHS at www.schist.org.

100th Anniversary of the Harriman Gift

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On October 29, 1910, 18-year-old Averell Harriman, the future governor of the State of New York, represented the Harriman family in donating 10,000 acres of land in the Lower Hudson Valley and $1 million dollars to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC). The young Averell stated &#8220it is the hope that through all the years to come the health and happiness of future generations will be advanced by these gifts.&#8221 The family’s gift created Bear Mountain and Harriman State Parks, which now encompass more than 50,000 acres, more than three times the size of Manhattan.

In recognition of this year’s historic anniversary, PIPC has initiated a fundraising effort to rebuild, repair, and restore the Harriman Group Camps, with a goal of $2 million. The effort hopes to build a new generation of philanthropy for the Harriman Group Camps so generations of children can share in the wilderness experience. Donations for the Harriman Group Camps can be made to the Palisades Parks Conservancy Group Camp Fund.

Photo: Women enjoying the serenity of Bear Mountain c. 1914. Photo Courtesy of PIPC Archives.

Slavery in New York, Slavery Today Event

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Teachers, librarians, local historians and teaching artists are invited to explore slavery in New York State, historically and today, with guest scholars, curriculum specialists, and front-line investigative reporters on Friday, December 3, 2010, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Heaven Hill Farm, on Bear Cub Road in Lake Placid, New York.

This conversation on slavery and human trafficking in the Empire State, will include special guests:

Margaret Washington, Professor of History at Cornell University and award-winning author of Sojourner Truth’s America, a groundbreaking biography examining the harsh realities of Dutch New York slavery that helped forge one of the nation’s greatest and most widely admired reformers.

John Bowe, prize-winning journalist and author of Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the Global Economy, an eye-opening look at labor abuse and cases of outright slavery in the U.S. today.

Cost: $55 per person includes a box lunch, lesson plans, and other resource materials. Reduced rates are available at $100 for 2 people or $150 for 3 people per institution. Books and other teaching tools will be available for purchase.

SLAVERY IN NEW YORK? SLAVERY TODAY? is part of the Anti-Slavery Convention in the Adirondacks on December 3-5, 2010 and is a joint program of John Brown Lives! and Center for Diversity, Pluralism & Inclusion at SUNY Plattsburgh.

For information and to pre-register contact Martha Swan (518-962-4758 [email protected]) or Lindsay Pontius (518-962-8672 [email protected]).

Early American Crime Site Launches Podcast

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One of the more interesting early American sites on the internets, Anthony Vaver’s Early American Crime, is now available as a podcast. Beginning with “Early American Criminals: Thomas Mount and the Flash Company,” you can subscribe to hear (as well as read) tales of America’s earliest criminals.

Early American Crime features stories about the criminal underworld of colonial America and the early United States including criminal profiles, cultural essays, features on early crime slang, and an outstanding series of posts on convict transportation including it’s evolution as a new form of punishment, the business of transportation, convict voyages, and the end of the system.

Vaver described his site when it launched in 2008 by saying: &#8220Crime and its punishment are among the top social concerns in the United States today. Over one percent of the adult population in the United States now lives in prison, and even though the United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it holds almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. Stories of crime fill our newspapers and affect the elections of our public officials. Yet, we as Americans know little about the history of crime and punishment that has brought us to this point. My hope is that this website will help provide a more complete understanding of crime and punishment in America by focusing on its early appearance and practice.&#8221

The site is well worth taking a look at, and now also a listen to.

Museum Hosts Womens Civil Rights Panel

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Five of the six editors of Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC (University of Illinois Press), will join moderator Debra L. Schultz for a conversation about their own activist experiences and their ground-breaking efforts to preserve the personal stories of 52 women who fought for civil rights with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s.

The panel discussion, presented by the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, will take place on Sunday, November 14, from 2 to 4 p.m., in the Museum’s Glass Pavilion. This is the first New York City book party celebrating Hands on the Freedom Plow. A book signing, provided by MOBILE LIBRIS, follows. The event is open to the public and is free with Museum admission.

These accounts by women of various ages, races, and creed, document the many ways that women carried the southern civil rights movement and demonstrate how their stories have changed our historical understanding of one of the country’s most important democratic movements.

The Editors, who have all worked for SNCC include:

Faith S. Holsaert, a teacher and fiction writer from Durham, North Carolina, who has remained active in lesbian and women’s, antiwar, and justice struggles.

Martha Prescod Norman Noonan, a community organizer, activist, homemaker, and teacher of history including the civil rights movement, who lives near Baltimore.

Judy Richardson, a filmmaker and Movement lecturer from Cambridge, Massachusetts, whose projects include the PBS documentary series Eyes on the Prize and other historical documentaries.

Betty Garman Robinson, a community organizer who lives in Baltimore and is active in the reemerging grassroots social justice movement.

Jean Smith Young, a child psychiatrist who works with community mental health programs in the Washington, D.C. area.

Dorothy M. Zellner, a New York City consultant who wrote and edited for the Center for Constitutional Rights and CUNY Law School.

Moderator, Debra L. Schultz, a feminist historian and author, is Director of Programs for the Open Society Institute (Soros Foundations) Network Women’s Program, which works to include women in the development of emerging democracies.