Month: April 2013

A Tompkins County Civil War Love StoryNew Exhibition Opens At The NYS Museum

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tarbell_portraitsAn exhibition featuring a Civil War love story, I Shall Think of You Often: The Civil War Story of Doctor and Mary Tarbell, opened Saturday, March 30, 2013 at the New York State Museum.

The exhibit focuses on the life and marriage of Doctor and Mary Tarbell of Tompkins County, New York, during the Civil War. The exhibition is presented in conjunction with An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War, a 7,000-square foot exhibition commemorating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Both exhibitions are open through September 22, 2013. Read more →

Four New Online Resources For New York History

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l-retro-computer-ads-80s-eg_largeHere’s a quick look at some of the latest New York History resources to hit the web:

The Museum of the City of New York and the South Street Seaport Museum have launched a joint &#8220catablog&#8221 which provides online access to finding aids for their archival collections.  The archivists at both museums will continue to make more finding aids accessible via the Catablog as the collections are processed. Read more →

NY Public Historians: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

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albany_state_education_buildingApril 11, 2013 marks the 94th anniversary of Governor Al Smith’s signing the law that established New York’s system of local government Historians (Laws of 1919, Ch. 181). Smith was a history-minded leader.

As an Assemblyman, he had sponsored the bill in 1911 that moved the State Historian’s office to the State Education Department and initiated the state’s local government records program. In 1919, his first year as governor, he was preparing to reorganize and modernize state government.

His approval of the Historians’ Law was a milestone event. New York was, and still is, the only state in the nation to declare preservation and dissemination of local history to be a public purpose so important that it is embodied in statute.
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CFP: Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums Conference

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MAAM_logoboxThe Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) is now accepting submissions for session proposals for the fall 2013 Annual Meeting.  This year’s meeting, themed Back to the Future: Where Do We Go From Here?, will be held in Washington DC, October 20 &#8211 22, 2013.

The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, represents museum professionals, organizations, institutions and museum service providers, in a forum to enhance the image of museums and educate individuals on an array of field specific study and programs. The MAAM annual meeting is an important gathering providing an opportunity to share and exchange ideas. Read more →

Eliakim Briggs: Horse Power Inventor

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Briggs' 1834 horse treadmill BRIn the 1830s, hundreds of inventors around the world focused on attempts at automating farm equipment. Reducing the drudgery, difficulty, and danger of farm jobs were the primary goals, accompanied by the potential of providing great wealth for the successful inventor. Among the North Country men tinkering with technology was Eliakim Briggs of Fort Covington in northern Franklin County.

Functional, power-driven machinery was the desired result of his work, but while some tried to harness steam, Briggs turned right to the source for providing horsepower: the horse. Read more →