National Archives Launches Our Archives Wiki

The National Archives has launched its first public wiki called “Our Archives” on Wikispaces located at http://www.ourarchives.wikispaces.net. “Our Archives” provides a collaborative space for members of the public, researchers, and staff to share knowledge about National Archives records, resources and research. The wiki is an opportunity for researchers, historians, archivists, and citizen archivists to work together to create pages on specific records or topics as well as to share information and resources to connect with other researchers.

Users may participate in the wiki in the following ways:

* Create new pages and edit pre-existing pages about historical subjects and records held by the National Archives-

* Expand upon a description in the National Archives online catalog-

* Publish a transcription of a document-

* Add information to build upon other resources-

* Collaborate with other users working on similar subjects or to work together on research projects-

* Join in the discussions for various pages.

Joining the Wiki

Anyone is able to read the pages and join in the discussions. Contributors to the wiki will need a user login and password. To create an account, go to http://www.ourarchives.wikispaces.net and click “Join” in the top left corner, and follow the instructions. New accounts will be approved Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Questions about the Archives wiki may be sent to Rebecca Warlow at [email protected]

New York Photography by James Maher

I recently learned about a New York City street photographer that’s a big fan of New York history. New York Photography by James Maher focuses on both the architecture and the people on the streets of the city, but Maher also writes historical photo articles on some of the more interesting aspects of the city, such as the construction of the brooklyn bridge, the old Atlantic Avenue Tunnel and the old City Hall subway station.

Photo: Housing for patients, Ellis Island. Courtesy James Maher.

This Weeks Top New York History News

Each Friday morning New York History compiles for our readers the previous week’s top stories about New York’s state and local history. You can find all our weekly news round-ups here.

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State Board Recommends to State, National Registers

The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended that 24 properties be added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including the nationally significant Haviland Middle School in Hyde Park and the birthplace of an important American statesman, William H. Seward.

State and National Historic Register listing can assist property owners in revitalizing the structures, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits. Listing will oblige state and federal government agencies whose projects would adversely impact the properties to consider other options. Private projects are not subject to state or federal review after a property is listed, and private property owners – or in historic districts, a majority of property owners – must consent for the listing to move forward.

The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archeology and culture of New York State and the nation. There are approximately 90,000 historic buildings, structures and sites throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.

Once the recommendations are approved by the state historic preservation officer, the properties are listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed and, once approved, entered on the National Register.

STATE REVIEW BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS

Dutchess County

Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School, Hyde Park. – today the Haviland Middle School, the architecturally and historically significant Colonial Revival-style school shares direct associations with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who, along with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, dedicated the building at a public ceremony in October 1940, and made several subsequent appearances there.

Erie County

The Calumet, Buffalo – the 1906 commercial building is unique example of the use of glazed architectural terra cotta, decorated with running reeds, their leaves and flowers.

The Zink Block, Buffalo – the 1896 commercial building with Italian Renaissance styling is a particularly rare resource on the once thriving Connecticut Street commercial corridor, which before the mid-century stood as a thriving commercial anchor for the neighborhood.

Kensington Gardens Apartment Complex, Buffalo – the apartment complex built for the influx of workers to the city’s World War II industries reflects designs of the Garden City movement and was one of the earliest projects supported by the Federal Housing Administration.

Nassau County

Glen Cove Post Office, Glen Cove – the distinctive Craftsman/Tudor-style structure was built in 1905 to serve the community’s fast-growing population.

Johns S. Phipps Estate, Old Westbury – the National Register of Historic Places listing from 1976 will be amended to include a large part of the property known as Orchard Hill, which was part of the original estate, and the more information on the significance of the estate’s landscaping and architecture.

Onondaga County

John G. Ayling House, Syracuse – the 1915 Tudor Revival home was designed by noted Syracuse architect Ward Wellington Ward.

Indian Castle Village Site, Manlius and Carley Onondaga Village Site, Pompey – the two sites are significant in the history of the Onondaga Nation and the regional development of the Iroquois Confederation and have yielded significant archaeological insight into domestic life in the seventeenth century.

Orange County

John G. Beakes House, Middletown – built around 1884, the Queen Anne-style home is an architecturally significant example of fashionable middle class housing erected at a time when the city’s West Main Street was being developed as a desirable residential quarter.

Grace Episcopal Church, Middletown – a prominent and recognizable landmark built in 1846 and substantially modified in the late 1860s, Grace Episcopal Church’s soaring spire and highly picturesque masonry work mark it as a significant example of 19th century Gothic Revival-style religious architecture.

Mortimer Mapes House/William H. Seward Birthplace, Florida – the property includes an 1887 Queen Anne-style home built for a prominent local citizen as well as the 1797 home – later converted into a carriage house – where New York Governor, U.S. Senator and U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward was born.

Queens County

Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, Forest Hills – the church and parish hall complex built in stages between 1924 and 1950 is an outstanding example of early-20 century Collegiate Gothic architecture.

Richmond County

Louis A. and Laura Stim House/Casa Belvedere, Staten Island – the 1908 Renaissance mansion, a prominent reminder of the 19th and early 20th-century development of Grymes Hill as a fashionable enclave of great estates and overlooking New York Harbor, is one of the few houses of its kind surviving on Staten Island.

Saratoga County

Nathan Garnsey House, Rexford – built in 1791 and remaining in the same family for generations, the home is a virtually untouched gem of Federal architecture owned by one of Clifton Park’s important first families

Jonesville Store, Jonesville – originally built about 1845 or 1850, and expanded in 1900, the Main Street building has been a community gathering spot since throughout its history.

Mohawk Valley Grange Hall, Clifton Park – the 1896 single-story wood frame building used as a gathering place for the agricultural community retains its rural setting, despite the town’s increasing suburbanization.

Abraham Best House, Vischer Ferry – built around 1815, the sophisticated brick federal farmhouse is a rare survivor from the agricultural era of Clifton Park.

Cyrus Rexford House, Rexford – the Stick-style Victorian was built in 1883 by Cyrus Rexford, who owned a canal store in the hamlet named for his father, and served as Clifton Park town supervisor and justice of the peace.

Suffolk County

Winganhauppauge, Islip – the 1941 French Provincial style home was built for Dr. Richard Pasternack, a research scientist whose work allowed Pfizer, his employer, to become the largest producer and distributor of pharmaceuticals in the world in the twentieth century.

The Edwards Homestead, Sayville – believed to be the oldest extant residence in Sayville with a portion dating to 1785, the home is an excellent surviving example of an early Long Island farmstead that began as a smaller New England Colonial but expanded over time by the family of early colonial settlers.

Sullivan County

Greenville Preparative Meeting House/Catskill Meeting House, Grahamsville – built in 1838-39 by Quakers from New England and the Hudson Valley, the simple and symmetrical building remains virtually unchanged since its original construction, lacking central heat, electricity, and indoor plumbing.

Washington County

L.C. Simonds Adirondack Cabin, Clemons – the 1910 cabin built by a Whitehall manufacturer features the hallmarks of the so-called Adirondack style, popularized in the late 19th century, including saddle-no
tched spruce log walls, rustic rough hewn masonry chimney, wraparound porch, and interior rustic detailing.

Westchester County

Hartsdale Railroad Station, Hartsdale – built in 1914 to replace and earlier, smaller wood frame structure, the Tudor Revival-style structure has a pivotal role in the connecting Hartsdale to New York City and attracting homeowners to the community.

NYSHA President Chairs Assoc for State, Local History

At the Association’s annual conference in Oklahoma City yesterday, NYS Historical Association (NYSHA) President and Chief Executive Officer, D. Stephen Elliott, began a two-year term as Chair of the American Association for State and Local History’s (AASLH) 20-member governing Council. Elliott was elected to the position last year by the Association’s membership.

Based in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH is the country’s leading association for history organizations and those who staff them. It provides leadership and support for its 6300 institutional and individual members, including professional development and recognition, publishing and networking, and advocacy.

The Association has been a leader in helping history museums, historic house museums, historical agencies and societies, and archives think creatively and entrepreneurially about their roles in contemporary society and in their communities and about how to sustain their programs and services even as traditional funding sources also are under duress.

Elliott will continue to serve as President and CEO of NYSHA and The Farmers’ Museum, and as Vice President of the Museum Association of New York.

Terry Davis, AASLH President and CEO, noted that Elliott had previously served on the Association’s Council and other national history education boards. “Steve is highly respected in the field. His thoughtful approach to issues and tireless advocacy for collaboration among history, museum, and educational organizations are timely strengths.”

Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of The Farmers’ Museum Board of Directors, also commended Elliott’s selection. “He is a solid leader who works extremely well with Boards of Directors, and he certainly knows well the operational challenges that museums and history organizations have been surmounting.”

Dr. Douglas E. Evelyn, Chairman of the NYSHA Board of Trustees, is himself a former Chair of AASLH. “Steve is a good pick for this important national position at this particularly challenging time. He has a wealth of varied professional experience, having served in the field for 38 years, from Williamsburg to Cooperstown, and is wholly committed to maximizing how these vital keepers of America’s diverse heritage serve well their broad constituencies.”

Elliott has been the President of the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers’ Museum since 2005. Previously he served for five years as Executive Director of the First Freedom Center, in Richmond, Virginia, a non-profit whose educational mission focuses on the development of religious freedom in America. He held numerous posts over 28 years with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in Virginia, the world’s largest living history museum, including Vice President of Education and Museums- Vice President and Chief Administration Officer- Vice President of Planning, Information and Capital Project Management, and Quality Performance- and, Secretary of the Foundation. He has also served on the Board and as a member of the Executive Committee of National History Day- as a governing Council Member and Vice Chair of the American Association for State and Local History- a Board Liaison for the National Council for History Education- and held leadership positions with many public service and community organizations in the Williamsburg-Hampton Roads and Cooperstown areas. Elliott received his Bachelor’s degree cum laude from Cornell University- completed doctoral coursework in history at The College of William and Mary- was a Fellow to the 1972 Seminar for Historic Administration, and completed the 1990 Tuck Business School Executive Program at Dartmouth College.

Photo: NYSHA and The Farmers’ Museum President and Chief Executive Officer, D. Stephen Elliott

This Weeks New York History Web Highlights

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Local Museums Offer Free Admission Saturday

Saturday, September 25, 2010, museums around New York State will participate in the sixth annual Museum Day, presented by Smithsonian magazine.

A celebration of culture, learning, and the dissemination of knowledge, Smithsonian’s Museum Day reflects the spirit of the magazine, and emulates the free-admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, DC-based institutions. Doors will be open free of charge to Smithsonian readers and www.Smithsonian.com visitors at museums and cultural institutions nationwide.

Museum Day 2010 is poised to be the largest to date, outdoing last year’s record-breaking event. Over 300,000 museum-goers and 1,300 venues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participated in Museum Day 2009. Last year, two million visitors logged on to www.smithsonian.com/museumday to learn more about the program.

Attendees must present the Museum Day Admission Card to gain free entry to participating institutions. Visit www.Smithsonian.com/museumdayto download your Museum Day Admission Card. Each card provides museum access for two people, and one admission card is permitted per household. Listings and links to participating museums’ and sponsors’ web sites can also be found at the site. The complete list of participating museums in new York State is located here.

Adirondack Museum to Host Fiber Fest

Talented artisans will make this year’s Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival at the Adirondack Museum the premier needlework event of the season. The festival will be held on Saturday, September 25, 2010. Activities are planned from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. All are included in the price of general museum admission.

The festival will include demonstrations of rug hooking, quilting, felting, spinning, and weaving, a regional quilt show, textile appraisals, an artisan marketplace, a &#8220knit-in&#8221 for a good warm cause, hands-on activities, and the museum’s beautiful exhibit, &#8220Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters.&#8221

Demonstrations will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at locations throughout the museum campus. Returning participants include the Serendipity Spinners, members of the community-based needlework group Northern Needles, the Adirondack Regional Textile Artist’s Association, as well as felter Sandi Cirillo and mixed-media quilter Louisa Austin Woodworth.

Liz Alpert Fay will make her first appearance at the festival, demonstrating the art of rug hooking. Fay studied at Philadelphia College of Art, and then participated in the Program in Artisanry at Boston University, where she received a BAA in Textile Design in 1981.

Fay created art quilts for seventeen years, exhibiting nationally and in Japan. Her work was exhibited in shows such as &#8220Quilt National&#8221 and at the American Craft Museum in New York City. In 1998 she became intrigued with the technique of traditional rug hooking. Since then she has created colorful hand hooked rugs of her own design. The rugs have been purchased for private collections, and many have been selected for juried shows and invitational museum exhibitions. In 2002, Fay’s rugs were featured in the October issue of Country Living magazine- in 2005 she was filmed in her studio and her rugs featured on HGTV (the Home and Garden Channel).

Thistle Hill Weavers, Cherry Valley, N.Y. will offer a weaving demonstration from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The company is a commercial weaving mill that produces reproduction historic textiles for museums, designers, private homeowners, and the film industry. Textiles created by Thistle Hill have appeared in more than thirty major motion pictures. The business was founded by Rabbit Goody, who is also the owner and current director. For more about Thistle Hill Weavers, visit www.rabbitgoody.com.

Museum visitors can learn more about personal antique and collectible fabrics with Ms. Goody who is a textile appraiser and historian. For a small donation to the Adirondack Museum, she will examine vintage textiles and evaluate them for historical importance and value. Appraisals will be held in Visitor Center from 9:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon.

The second annual &#8220Great Adirondack Quilt Show&#8221 will feature a display of nearly three-dozen quilts inspired by or used in the Adirondack Mountains.

A presentation, &#8220Knitting in the North Country: History and Folklore,&#8221 will be offered by Hallie Bond and Jill Breit at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. in the museum’s Auditorium. Bond, a museum curator and novice knitter, will share her ongoing research about the place of spinning and knitting in local history including traditional techniques and the wearing of knitted garments. Breit, Executive Director of Traditional Arts in Upstate New York and a superb knitter, will discuss the vital and vibrant knitting scene in
the North Country today.

A special knit-in, &#8220Warm Up America!&#8221 will create afghans that will be donated to Hamilton County Community action, an organization that helps people help themselves and others. The knit-in will be held in the Visitor Center from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Participants will knit or crochet 7&#8243- by 9&#8243- rectangles that will be joined together to make cozy afghans.

A dozen regional artisans will sell handmade fabrics and fiber specialty items in a day-long marketplace as part of the Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival.

The Adirondack Museum tells stories of the people &#8211 past and present &#8212- who have lived, worked, and played in the unique place that is the Adirondack Park. History is in our nature. The museum is supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. For information about all that the museum has to offer, call (518) 352-7311, or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org.

A Fort Edward French & Indian War Encampment

Two full days of free family entertainment and education are being offered at Rogers Island Visitors Center in Fort Edward this weekend, September 25 and 26. French and Indian War reenactors from across the Northeast will establish an authentic period encampment on Rogers Island along the Hudson River.

Visitors can see how the men prepared for battle, learn what the women did in the military camps, and browse through the sutlers’ tents and see the merchandise that was offered in the military camps. Enjoy the smells as meals are prepared over open camp fires and listen to stories of 18th century camp life. At the 2:00 PM military tactical each day you will hear the musket fire as troops are ambushed by the French beyond the fort and watch as the British and provincial soldiers, along with their Native American allies, hurry to their defense. With the dredging now completed around the Island four period bateau will be launched in the river and joining in the battle.

“The End of the Campaign Reenactment” is this Saturday and Sunday, September 25 and 26, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Rogers Island Visitors Center, Route 197 (just off Route 4) in the Village of Fort Edward. Free admission. For more information call 518-747-3693.

Saratoga Battlefield Announces Autumn Hours

Saratoga National Historical Park’s visitor center, located on Route 32 and 4 in Stillwater, remains open year-around from 9am to 5pm, but as day-light gets shorter the park’s scenic 10-mile tour road will close earlier as follows:

Through Sunday September 19, the road is open from 9am to 7pm

Monday September 20, the road will be open from 9am to 6pm

Monday October 4, the road will be open from 9am to 5pm.

The road remains open 9am to 5pm thru mid-to late November, depending on the weather.

With over 25 miles of tranquil roads, paths and trails, Saratoga Battlefield provides a great many opportunities to enjoy history, nature, recreation and special programs. Upcoming autumn events include:

233rd Anniversary Encampment on September 18 and 19

24th Regiment Encampment on October 9 and 10

Plein-Air Painting on October 9 (rain date October 10)

Candlelight Tour of Schuyler House on October 16

From May 1 to October 31 a seven-day entrance pass for the Battlefield is $5 for a vehicle, $3 for hiking or bicycling. An annual pass, good for the whole family, is only $10. Senior and access passes, plus passes to any of the nation’s 390 national parks are also available.

Come explore the National Park in your backyard! For more information, contact the Visitor Center by calling 518-664-9821 ext. 224, or check the Park website at www.nps.gov/sara