Defending Public Education Workshops, Rally

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Threats to Public Education loom on all fronts. Whether in the U.S. or abroad, in primary and secondary K-12 schooling or in institutions of higher education, we encounter once-proud state education systems crumbling under the weight of sustained budget reductions and pressures to privatize. In concert with severe financial cuts we find assaults against the principle that it is in a society’s best interest to educate its citizenry, the principle that society bears a responsibility to provide quality education to all its members, and the principle that education as a space for critical thought ought to be free from the direct profit motives of private business.

As one example, here in New York State, the Legislature slashed SUNY’s budget by over $210 million this year, meaning SUNY’s total operating budget has been reduced by 30% over the past three years. This will likely result in (another) round of tuition fee hikes, further restricting New York State’s citizens’ access to higher education and adding to the mounting debt burden of those students who can attend a State University. Cuts will result in fewer classes offered, larger class sizes, fewer faculty and staff, fewer programs and resources, and diminishing facilities. A similar story can be told about the pressures on K-12 education from budget reductions, Charter schools, threats to teachers, cuts to educational programming and the like. The current round of budget slashing would be difficult to swallow if it came as an isolated response to the severe economic recession in which we find currently ourselves. However, these cuts are only the most recent in a thirty-year assault against public education. In 1989-90, for instance, the State of New York contributed nearly 43% of SUNY’s operating budget- today the State’s contribution has dropped to nearly 15%. This withering of public support for education in New York has direct parallels at all educational levels, across the country and around the world.

As part of a National Day of Action to Defend Public Education a local coalition of faculty, student, labor and community groups, including the Albany Chapter of United University Professions, CDALF, AFL-CIO, Workers United, NYPIRG, NYSUT, and the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace as well as student and community groups will host three events— two workshops on September 29 and a rally on October 7, the National Day of Action—opposing cutbacks to public education.

September 29

5:00-6:30 p.m. UAlbany Uptown Campus, Science Library Standish Room

Schools Under Siege: The Case for Restoring Public Funding to Education. Speakers include UAlbany Prof. Fernando Leiva and Doctoral Student Jackie Hayes, both from the UAlbany Department of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies, and Cathy Corbo, President of the Albany Public School Teachers’ Association (APSTA).

7:30-9:00 p.m. UAlbany Uptown Campus, Science Library Standish Room

The Costs of War and the Struggle for Public Services: Is the War Really Making Us More Secure? Speakers include Prof. Ron Friedman, Dept. of Psychology, UAlbany- Joe Lombardo, Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace- John Amidon, Veterans for Peace- and, Chris Hellman, National Priorities Project.

October 7

12:00-2:00 p.m. UAlbany Podium in front of the Campus Center

Rally to Oppose Cuts to Public Education

Finger Lakes Museum Unveils New Logo

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Finger Lakes Museum board president John Adamski recently unveiled the logo that will symbolize the museum’s future brand and identity. In his remarks, Adamski said that the bald eagle represents the most successful wildlife restoration success story in American history and it all began in the Finger Lakes Region near Hemlock Lake in the 1970s.

He later stated, “Our plans for the museum project, which started out with a handful of supporters just two and a half years ago, are to mirror the success of the bald eagle.”

Adamski and Finger Lakes State Parks Regional Director Tim Joseph also signed a Letter of Intent to start the process that will enable the Finger Lakes Museum to build its campus in Keuka Lake State Park.

Under the Letter of Intent, the Finger Lakes Museum and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation will begin a comprehensive planning process for the Museum’s facilities at Keuka Lake State Park. The process, which will include public input opportunities and a full environmental review, will develop a detailed concept design and site building plans.

A joint Memorandum of Understanding listing the commitments of five other Keuka Lake State Park site sponsors was also signed. Those members include Yates County, the Town of Jerusalem, Finger Lakes Economic Development Center, Keuka College and the Finger Lakes Visitors Association. A separate agreement with the Yates County Chamber of Commerce will be signed at a future date.

A few weeks ago, more than 70 people from 60 architectural, engineering, and exhibit design firms from across the country met at Keuka Lake State Park to listen to Adamski and project director Don Naetzker describe the concept, mission and vision for the project. After the presentation, they took a walking tour of the park and the Branchport School campus, which is serving as the museum’s interim headquarters.

When asked what constitutes a world­class museum, Adamski responded, &#8220When dozens of design professionals from five countries—Canada, China, England, Germany, and the United States—express an interest in designing the project, you can’t get much more world­class than that.&#8221

The attendees were asked to submit qualifications to compete for the commission of designing the Finger Lakes Museum. The board plans to narrow the list to five firms, which will then each submit design proposals before the end of the year.

The Finger Lakes Museum is an initiative to create a world­class educational institution to showcase the cultural heritage and ecological evolution of the 9,000 square­mile Finger Lakes Region, since the last glacial recession began over 12,000 years ago. Last April, Keuka Lake State Park was selected as the preferred location to build the project.

Second Photo: Finger Lakes Museum project director Don Naetzker, left, facilitates the signing ceremony at Keuka Lake State Park. Seated from left are museum trustee David Wegman, Regional Parks Director Tim Joseph, board president John Adamski, Jerusalem town supervisor Daryl Jones, Yates County Legislature president Taylor Fitch, Finger Lakes Economic Development Center CEO Steve Griffin, Keuka College president Dr. Joseph Burke, and Finger Lakes Visitors Association Executive Director Steve Knapp.

For more information or to make contact, see www.fingerlakesmuseum.org.

Lyons Erie Canal Improvements Opened

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The New York State Canal Corporation and the Village of Lyons, Wayne County, have officially opened the Lyons waterfront improvements along the Erie Canal at North Side Canal Park. The opening event also welcomed the 2010 World Canals Conference International Flotilla which was en route to Rochester.

The project, partially funded through an Erie Canal Greenway Grant, provided new docks on both sides of the Erie Canal and additional improvements to the boating area and park.

The flotilla was bound for Rochester as part of the 2010 World Canals Conference September 20-24. Included in the flotilla were boats from the Canal Corporation’s historic and working fleet, historic tugboats, and a variety of recreational pleasure craft. From the junction of the Erie Canal and Genesee River the fleet traveled north along the Genesee River, in a grand parade to Corn Hill Landing in Rochester.

Directions to the North Side Canal Park in Lyons: Take NYS Thruway (I-90) to Interchange 42 (Geneva, Lyons, Route 14) toward Sodus Point. Turn left to Route 14 North. Turn left onto Water Street. Municipal parking is available adjacent to the Firehouse.

The Masculinity of Antebellum Landscape Painters

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As one who hobnobbed in elite cultural circles but also worked with his hands and roughed it in the woods and mountains, was the antebellum American landscape painter to be a gentleman or an undomesticated wild man, a James Fenimore Cooper or a Davy Crockett? Join Dr. Sarah Burns, Ruth N. Halls Professor of Fine Arts at Indiana University, as she examines the ways in which Hudson River School painters attempted to reckon with the problematic aura of femininity that clung to the image of the artist at that time. The lecture, &#8220Outdoor Men: Manliness, Masculinity, and the Antebellum Landscape Painter,&#8221 will be held on Sunday October 10 is at 2pm at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill. Admission is $7 per person, or $5 for members, and is first-come-first-served.

Illustration: Asher Durand, Kindred Spirits (detail), 1849. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Whither Wall Street: Architecture of Wall Street Event

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Organized by The Skyscraper Museum in partnership with the Museum of American Finance, “Whither Wall Street” will address the changing fortunes of Wall Street –– not the forecast of financial markets, but the architectural assets and liabilities of the physical place. The panel discussion, part of the American Museum of Finance’s 2010 Henry Kaufman Lecture/Symposia Series, will take place Wednesday, October 13, 2010 from 6 to 7:30 PM.

A diverse panel of experts will discuss the recent history and possible futures of one of America’s most famous streets. Key topics include the widespread conversion of office buildings to residential, hotel and retail uses and the new demands on the design of the public realm that need to serve the conflicting needs of both access and security of a post-9/11 world.

Panelists will include:

Carol Willis, Director, The Skyscraper Museum (Introduction and moderator)

Elizabeth H. Berger, President, Downtown Alliance

Rob Rogers, Principal, Rogers Marvel Architects- streetscape designers of Wall Street for the NYC Department of City Planning

Kent Swig, President of Swig Equities, LLC- owner of a portfolio of properties on Wall Street and in the financial district

Alexandros Washburn, Chief Urban Designer, NYC Department of City Planning

The panel discussion will be followed by a question and answer session and reception. Reservations required. Admission is free for students and members of the Museum of American Finance and the Skyscraper Museum, or $15 for non-members. For additional information, contact Lindsay Seeger at 212-908-4110 or [email protected].

Glens Falls Feeder Canal and Towpath Trail Improvements

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State and local officials have announced completion of connection improvements to the Glens Falls Feeder Canal and Towpath Trail, and officially opened the improved waterfront.

The &#8220Warren County – Improving Feeder Canal Community Connections Project&#8221 has expanded community connections along the Glens Falls Feeder Canal and the Towpath Trail with $140,585 funded by the New York State Canal Corporation through the Erie Canal Greenway Grant Program.

Warren County partnered with the Canal Corporation, the City of Glens Falls, the Town of Queensbury and the Feeder Canal Alliance, a not-for-profit entity whose mission includes preserving and expanding public use of the Feeder Canal Towpath and associated structures.

Work has been completed in both the Overlook Park in the Town of Queensbury and Haviland Cove in the City of Glens Falls. Site improvements to both parks included resurfacing of the roadways, trailways and parking areas, including Haviland Cove, where school buses park. Electrical services were also installed in both parks, including the pavilion in Haviland Cove. Benches, tables, grills, and a covered pavilion were installed in Overlook Park. Additionally, 3.6 miles of towpath trail was resurfaced by county work forces with stonedust for use as a bike and pedestrian trail.

In addition, the Canal Corporation provided $9,000 to complete signage along the seven-mile Feeder Canal Trail in both Warren and Washington Counties. Weathered signs were refurbished and replaced, and obsolete signs were replaced with new interpretive signs.

The Erie Canal Greenway Grant Program, administered by the Canal Corporation, was created to help spur community revitalization along the 524-mile Canal System. Fifty-four Greenway grants were awarded on a competitive basis to communities and non-profit organizations for capital projects that enhance and promote tourism, recreation, historic interpretation, and community revitalization in 19 counties along the New York State Canal System. All grants require a 50-percent match in local funds or in-kind services.

The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways, the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles across New York State, the waterway links the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Niagara River with communities rich in history and culture.

The New York State Canal Corporation is a subsidiary of the New York State Thruway Authority. In 1992 State legislation transferred the Canal System from the New York State Department of Transportation to the Thruway Authority. Canal operating and maintenance activities are supported by Thruway toll revenues.

Photo: Glens Falls Feeder Canal Lock 1. Photo Courtesy of Tug44.org.

Andy Flynns Sixth Adirondack Attic Book

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Hungry Bear Publishing recently released its sixth volume in the “Adirondack Attic” book series, highlighting dozens of artifacts from the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.

Author Andy Flynn, of Saranac Lake, tells 53 more stories about the museum’s collection in New York State’s Mountain Heritage: Adirondack Attic, Volume 6, bringing the story count to more than 300 for the six-volume series that began in 2004. Stories, and artifacts, come from all over the Adirondack region.

“Each story is special unto itself- however, taken as a whole, this series gives us the big picture,” Flynn told the Almanack. “Thanks to these artifacts, we now have a unique perspective on the Adirondack experiment and a better understanding of the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park, its people and communities, and how life has changed here over the past 300 years.”

Stories from Adirondack Attic 6 come from the following communities: Au Sable Forks, Bangor, Blue Mountain Lake, Brantingham Lake, Canton, Chestertown, Cranberry Lake, Dickinson Center, Elizabethtown, Hague, Johnsburg, Lake George, Lake Placid, Long Lake, Loon Lake, Lyon Mountain, Mohawk, Newcomb, North River, Northville, Paul Smiths, Port Henry, Raquette Lake, Saranac Lake, Ticonderoga, Tupper Lake, Warrensburg and Wilmington.

Flynn created the Adirondack Attic History Project to “promote the heritage of the Adirondack Park to residents and visitors through publications and programs.” As the owner/operator of Hungry Bear Publishing, he works with curators at the Adirondack Museum and other historical associations and museums in the region to tell human-interest stories about their artifact collections.

Flynn’s “Adirondack Attic” column ran weekly in several northern New York newspapers from 2003 to 2009. The stories in Adirondack Attic 6 represent the columns from 2008. Each volume includes columns from a specific year- for example, Adirondack Attic 1 featured columns from 2003, the first year of the Adirondack Attic History Project.

In April 2010, North Country Public Radio began running Flynn’s new Adirondack Attic Radio Series, sponsored by the Adirondack Museum and singer/songwriter Dan Berggren. It airs the first Tuesday of the month during the Eight O’Clock Hour with Todd Moe. For each program, Flynn features a different artifact from the collection of a museum in the Adirondack North Country Region. He uses the Adirondack Museum as his “History Headquarters” but also visits other museums to track down the objects people have made, used and left behind.

In 2008, Andy Flynn was awarded a Certificate of Commendation from the Upstate History Alliance for the Adirondack Attic History Project. He has since presented programs on his work with the Adirondack Museum to scholars at the New York State Archives Conference (2008), Association of Public Historians of New York State (2008) and Conference on New York State History (2009).

Flynn also publishes the Meet the Town community guide series with booklets for Saranac Lake, Lake Placid/Wilmington, Canton, Potsdam, Tupper Lake/Long Lake/Newcomb and the Au Sable Valley. From 2001 to 2009, he was employed as the Senior Public Information Specialist at the Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Interpretive Center in Paul Smiths.

Flynn is an award-winning journalist, garnering merits of excellence from the National Newspaper Association, New York Newspaper Publishers Association and the New York Press Association. While the staff writer at the Lake Placid News, he was named the 1996 NYPA Writer of the Year for weekly New York state newspapers with circulations under 10,000. Before joining the VIC staff, he was a writer and editor for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake and the Lake Placid News, a correspondent for the Plattsburgh Press-Republican, an announcer for WNBZ 1240-AM in Saranac Lake, and a general assignment news reporter and radio documentary producer for North Country Public Radio in Canton. He is a graduate of the SUNY College at Fredonia (1991) and the Tupper Lake High School (1987).

For more information about the Adirondack Attic book series and radio program, call (518) 891-5559 or visit online at www.hungrybearpublishing.com.

ADIRONDACK ATTIC 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1: Delaware & Hudson Railroad guides

2: Camp Santanoni Gate Lodge rendering (Newcomb)

3: Long Lake fire truck

4: Snowbug and Luvbug snow machines

5: Lake Placid bobsledding cassette tape (Saranac Lake, Lake Placid)

6: Mystery of Ironshoes, the bobsled (Lake Placid, Port Henry, Lyon Mountain, Elizabethtown)

7: Nehasane Park wagon (Long Lake)

8: Republic Steel miner’s helmet (Port Henry)

9: J. & J. Rogers Company safe (Au Sable Forks)

10: Paul Smith’s hotel stagecoach photo

11: Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine (Mohawk)

12: Bonnie Belle Farm ensilage cutter (Chestertown)

13: Maple sugaring sledge (Dickinson enter, North River)

14: Acme Leader cooking stove (Warrensburg)

15: Steamer Vermont III menu (Lake Champlain, Lake Placid, Loon Lake)

16: Au Sable Forks archery set

17: Bear Pond Preserve posted sign (Raquette Lake)

18: Fire tower string map (Warrensburg, Lake George)

19: Whiteface Mt. Ski Center brochures

20: Hendrik Van Loon’s Wide World Game

21: “Uncle Mart” Moody pocket watch (Tupper Lake)

22: Civil War memorial poster (Warrensburg)

23: “Assaulted by Mosquitoes” photo

24: Bug dope in the Adirondack woods

25: Sunset Cottage (Forked Lake)

26: Frederic Remington painting (Canton, Cranberry Lake)

27: A Pleasant Day at Lake George painting

28: Picturesque America book

29: Swizzle sticks (Ticonderoga, Port Henry, Hague)

30: E.R. Wallace guidebooks

31: Long Lake church souvenir tray

32: In Nature’s Laboratory book

33: Clock Golf lawn game

34: Altamont Milk Company cooler (Tupper Lake)

35: Blue Mountain House artist’s cottage

36: North River crazy quilt

37: 18th century clay pipe fragment (Blue Mountain Lake)

38: Raquette Lake sectional rowboat

39: Ticonderoga Indian Pageant booklet

40: Lake George souvenir china

41: Sacandaga Park souvenir china (Northville)

42: O.W.D. Corporation 5-cent token (Tupper Lake)

43: 1833 needlepoint sampler (Johnsburg)

44: Warrensburg hearse

45: Lake Placid violin

46: Mystery of the postal hand stamp (Bangor)

47: Dwight P. Church’s aerial camera (Canton)

48: Civilian Conservation Corps ring (Glens Falls/Hudson Falls)

49: Tupper Lake baby shoes

50: 1929 firemen’s convention ribbon (Saranac Lake)

51: Dr. William Seward Webb mailbag

52: Brantingham Lake rustic chair

53: Newcomb Snow Plow

Note: Books noticed on this site have been provided by the publishers.

Richard Dreyfuss to Receive State Archives Award

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Richard Dreyfuss, Academy Award-winning actor and passionate advocate for teaching American history in primary and secondary schools, will be given the 2010 Empire State Archives and History Award on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in The Egg, Empire State Plaza, downtown Albany. As part of the program, Dreyfuss will be interviewed by noted Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer about his life, work and passion for history. Tickets are $10 and may be obtained from The Egg Box Office at (518) 473-1845 or online at www.theegg.org. The event is sponsored by the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, Greenberg Traurig, the Times Union, the History channel, and the New York State Writers Institute.

Dreyfuss is a leading advocate for the teaching of history in America’s primary and secondary schools. Recently, the Brooklyn-born actor founded a nonprofit organization, The Dreyfuss Initiative, whose mission is to promote Constitutional literacy, historical appreciation and open political dialogue among young people. Regarding the group’s mission, Dreyfuss states, &#8220We are a nation bound by ideas only. We have no common ancestry, no common religion, no common military victory or defeat, no common crime that binds us. If you don’t teach those ideas to every new generation of Americans with wit and rigor, we are not bound.&#8221

A member of the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Dreyfuss served as Senior Associate Member of St. Antony’s College, Oxford, where he researched and developed new curricula for teaching the history and practice of democracy in public schools.

Dreyfuss received the Academy Award for Best Actor in Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl (1977), the youngest actor to be so honored until 2002. Dreyfuss was nominated a second time for Mr. Holland’s Opus in 1995. The actor’s other noteworthy films include The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), his first lead role, American Graffiti (1973), Jaws (1975), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Tin Men (1987), Krippendorf’s Tribe (1998), and Oliver Stone’s W. (2008). Dreyfuss’s remarkable performance in W. as Vice President Dick Cheney earned him a great deal of critical attention and praise. Dreyfuss received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1996.

Dreyfuss’s many television credits include four episodes of the Showtime series, Weeds in its 2010 season, two episodes voicing himself in the 2009 season of Family Guy, and the title role in the CBS series, The Education of Max Bickford (2001-2002), about a history professor at a women’s college. The latter role earned him a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Actor.

Dreyfuss is also the coauthor of a novel with leading fantasy writer, Harry Turtledove &#8211 The Two Georges (1995), which presents an alternative history of the American Revolution.

In advance of the program, a ticketed reception to honor Dreyfuss will be held at The Egg from 5:30-7:00 p.m. To learn more, contact the Trust at (518) 486-9349, or online at http://www.archives.nysed.gov. Proceeds will benefit the New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust.

New Paltz: Nov Events at Historic Huguenot Street

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

Saturday, November 6, 10am to12pm
Behind the Scenes: Coverlets with the Curator

This program is offered in conjunction with the Binary Visions Exhibit at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art. Limited to 15, the morning offers an opportunity to see up close the historic coverlets too fragile to exhibit. Cost: $25/$20 for Friends of Huguenot Street

Saturday, November 13, 7 to 9pm
Second Saturdays: The Lenape, Lower New York’s First Inhabitants

In this lively and engaging talk, David M. Oestreicher combines archaeological and historical evidence with decades of firsthand ethnographic and linguistic research among present-day Lenape traditionalists, to arrive at a full picture of the Lenape from prehistory to the present. The presentation includes a slide program featuring native artifacts, maps, illustrations, and photographs, as well as images of contemporary Lenape who are among the last repositories of their culture. This lecture offers a unique opportunity to learn about lower New York’s original inhabitants, the Lenape &#8212- not the romanticized figures of popular mythology or new-age literature, but a living people as they really are. Dr.David M. Oestreicher is recognized as a leading authority on the Lenape (Delaware), our region’s first inhabitants. Cost: $8/$6 for Friends of Huguenot Street

Friday, November 19, 5 to 8 pm
Downtown Unwrapped/ Tree Lighting

What a great way to do your holiday shopping. Downtown New Paltz, including Huguenot Street, will be open late to start the holiday shopping season. Start the evening with the traditional tree lighting ceremony being held on Huguenot Street. Stop in the museum shop, enjoy some homemade hot chocolate and find some unique items in the shop, including holiday decoration and cards.

Saturday, November 20, 4-7 pm
Third Saturday Art Walk: As the Seasons Turn, Holiday Greetings Card

The collections at Historic Huguenot Street include an impressive collection of holiday cards from the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries. Many are richly detailed. Others contain &#8220holiday&#8221 motifs that are just puzzling in our modern world. This exhibit gives guests rare opportunities to see the celebration of holidays through cards that span several decades.

Friday, November 26, 11am to 3pm
Giving Thanks Day

It’s Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and you’re all cooped up in the house. Don’t go to the mall. Come enjoy a special &#8220Giving Thanks&#8221 day at HHS. Cost: For this day only, tours are just $5 per person or $20 for the whole family.

Saturday, November 27, 11am to 2pm
Photos with Vintage Santa | 11am to 2pm

Come and have your picture taken with our vintage Santa Claus seated next to the period fireplace in the historic Jean Hasbrouck House. These are timeless photographs, of exceptional quality, taken by a professional photographer familiar with the interesting backdrops that our house interiors offer. Every photo will be inserted in a replicated card form the vintage holiday card collection we have here at HHS. For this event we will again partner with Rite Aid, a trusted local business and, at your request, send a .jpg oh your photograph so that they can create your holiday cards with convenience and ease. Imagine, pictures with the most authentic Santa in New Paltz and your holiday cards all wrapped up &#8211 and it isn’t even December yet!! Cost: $15 first photo, $5 for each additional photo

Saturday, November 27, 11am to 2pm
Christmas Quest

Children will search through the grand Deyo House on Huguenot Street looking for Christmas themed clues (vintage cards, stockings, antique cookie cutters&#8230-). Exploring this stately colonial revival will be a delightful challenge as you discover the clues and solve the mystery of the hunt! Holiday treats and warm cider will be provided back at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center upon completion of the hunt. Please note this event is suitable for ages 5 and up. Cost: $7 per child