10th Annual Algonquian Peoples Seminar Program

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The Native American Institute of the Hudson River Valley and The New York State Museum have announced the program for this year’s 10th Mohican/Algonquian Peoples Seminar to be held at the NYS Museum in Albany April 17, 2010.

This year’s featured speakers will include keynote speaker Tribal Council President Kimberly M. Vele, Mohican historian Shirley Dunn, Mohican military historian and veteran, JoAnn Schedler, Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife pathologist Ward Stone, noted archaeologists, and more.


Here is a complete schedule:

9:00 &#8211 9:30 Registration -Clark Auditorium -Please take the escalator or the elevator# 8 to the left of the security desk (behind the front desk) in the main lobby to the lower or Concourse level.

9:30 &#8211 10:00 Welcome & Board Introduction: Mariann Mantzouris

Presentation of Colors by the Mohican Veterans

Morning speaker introductions: Lisa Little Wolf

10:00 &#8211 10:20 President Kimberly M. Vele: “Family Circles”

Keynote speaker, President Vele’s presentation is “Family Circles”. She will be speak on reflecting on the past and what it means for the present in the context of families. Ms. Vele was elected to serve as President of the Tribal Council in the fall of 2009. Ms. Vele also served as an Associate Judge for the Tribal Court from 1996-2007 at which time she began serving as a Council member for the Tribal Council. She served as General Legal for the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe in Bowler, Wisconsin for several years before starting a private practice which involved representing numerous Tribes throughout the country.

President Kim Vele is a member of the Federal Bar Association- State Bar of Wisconsin- Wisconsin Indian League of Lawyers and was a former member of the Wisconsin Tribal Court Judges Association- former Treasurer for the National Tribal Court Judges Association- and past Chairperson of the Management and Oversight Committee for the National Tribal Justice Resource Center. She is a faculty member at the National Judicial College and has given presentations at numerous Bar Association and Judicial Conferences.

10:25 &#8211 10:45 Shirley Dunn: &#8220River Indians: Mohicans Making History”

In her book, The River Indians: Mohicans Making History. Ms. Dunn stresses the often- overlooked importance of the Mohicans to New York history and pre-history. The new book presents a rare look at historic events in which the Mohicans (called “River Indians”) should get credit. Leaders among the native nations on the Hudson River, Mohicans welcomed explorer Henry Hudson, who visited them for 13 days, longer than he stayed with any other Indian nation. She will explain how Mohicans initiated the upriver fur trade and continued in it for a century. Mohicans were close friends with the Dutch leader Arent Van Curler, and helped save the farms of Rensselaerswyck. There is a surprise here. Did he have a Mohican daughter? There is new information about the Mohican leader Etowokoaum, who went to England in 1710. We know that Mohicans fought beside English soldiers in wars against Canada from 1690 to 1765, protected Albany from attack from Canada on more than one occasion, and enlisted in the Revolution on the American side at George Washington’s request. (After the Revolution, they were refused soldiers’ grants of their own land.) The land where the State Museum is located was once in Mohican territory.

Further, the information is valuable to archaeologists because it identifies Mohican areas taken over by the Mohawks after 1629. So, whose artifacts are being found? These overlapping locations will be explained, as well as the connections of Arent Van Curler’s grandson with the Mohicans. He ran a fur trade in Washington County in the 1700s, and lived to be 106 years old! An explanation of Mohican place names will conclude the talk.

Shirley Wiltse Dunn, a holder of Masters’ degrees in English and History, has worked as a teacher, museum interpreter, and historic preservation consultant. A scholar of the Mohicans and early Dutch, she is the author of The Mohicans and Their Land, 1609-1730 (1994), The Mohican World, 1680-1750 (2000) and co-author of Dutch Architecture Near Albany: The Polgreen Photographs (1996), and The Mohicans (2008), a booklet for young readers. (All have been published by Purple Mountain Press.) She also has edited a book of family stories, Pioneer Days in the Catskill High Peaks (Black Dome Press, 1991) and three bulletins, each containing Native American Institute seminar papers, for the New York State Museum. She became interested in the Mohicans two decades ago while studying Indian deeds for early properties in the Albany, New York, area.

10:45 &#8211 11:00 Break

11:00 &#8211 11:20 JoAnn Schedler “Mohican/Stockbridge Military History”

Ms. Schedler will review Mohican/Stockbridge military history and present information on individuals as it relates to their military service in various wars and conflicts from our homelands to Wisconsin. She will share the projects the Mohican Veterans are working on to preserve this history and honor our ancestor’s military service.

Ms. Schedler, BSN, MSM, RN, is a life member Reserve Officers Association, Mohican Veteran Officer founding member, 1996-present, American Legion post # 0117, 2004-present, Tribal Historic Preservation committee for Stockbridge-Munsee Community, 2004-present, Constitution committee for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, 2005-present, Peacemaker, Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Court 2005- present Nursing Instructor for Associate Degree Program at College of the Menominee Nation 2008/ 2009, Officer in the US Army Nurse Corps Reserves 1984, served over twenty years with the 452 Combat Support Hospital (CSH), retired as a Major from the Army Reserve in July 2004, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nurses since 1992, National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association # 10179.

11:25 &#8211 11:45 Ted Filli: “The Importance of Exploring Waterways Flowing To and From the Hudson River in Relation to Locating Contact Period Mohican Sites”

This presentation will cover from the early 1600&#8242-s &#8211 mid 1700&#8242-s newly discovered Contact Period Mohican sites that have not been documented before in Columbia county. Physical evidence will be shown demonstrating trade and interaction with the early European settlers in the Claverack / Greenport areas of Columbia County. The objective of this presentation is to encourage more research in this area and to demonstrate a larger need to study these waterways.

Ted Filli has lived his entire life in the town of Claverack, NY and as a young man was mentored by the well known advocational archaeologist, Ken Mynter, who excavated the with Claverack rock-shelter the results being included in the Recent Contributions of the Hudson Valley Prehistory by Robert Funk. Ted is a former town historian and is still active in Native archaeological research.

11:50 &#8211 12:10 Matthew T. Bradley: “Reconstructing the 17th century path across the Berkshires”

This presentation presents the first rigorous reconstruction of the course of the 17th century path connecting Springfield and Albany which was documented at least as early as the foray into the Berkshires lead by Major John Talcott in August of 1676. Evidence for the reconstruction will include textual accounts (including those related to the Talcott foray and the Knox Expedition of 1775–76), early cartographic records, archaeological site distribution, and topographic features.

The reconstruction will add to already existing work on regional transportation networks such as the Mohawk Trail
and as such will aid scholars concerned with the broader historical geography of New England and the Mid-Atlantic. It will also be of interest to descendent communities of the indigenous peoples of New England and the Mid-Atlantic as well as to all current residents of the Berkshires and the Capital Region.

Matthew Bradley is a graduate student affiliated with the Indiana University Anthropology Department and currently residing in the Berkshires. His interests include the culture history of the Iroquoian peoples, north/south interaction within the Eastern Woodlands culture area, and the history of the discipline of anthropology as it relates to the study of American Indians.

12:15 -1:15 Seminar Luncheon: Buffalo Loaf (“Thunder Rumble”), Maple Roasted Turkey, Wild Rice with Nuts and Berries, Succotash, Maple Squash, Corn Bread and Strawberry Desert- Fresh Brewed Coffee, Decaf, Hot Tea and Water

Afternoon speaker introductions: Larry Thetford

1:15 &#8211 1:35 James C. Davis: “A Brief Look at the Links Between the Prophecies of the Algonquin People and the Ongoing Elimination of Ancient Sacred Ceremonial Sites in the Hudson Valley Region”

This presentation will include original footage from the &#8220Cry of the Earth: The prophecies of the First Nations at the United Nations&#8221 in November 1993 as well as, a reading of a portion of Grandfather William Commanda’s statement on The Seven Fires Prophecy Belt. He will also speak about the damage currently being done to the sites that may have been used for millennia, including the Ulster Ridge sites and the lack of any Native American review of such sites. This work is an outgrowth of Grandfather Commanda’s statement of 2008, &#8220Respecting the Sacred in the Land:”Inherent in the prayer of the Indigenous Nations of Turtle Island is the deep knowledge that we are all connected –my people in the east say GINAWAYDAGANUC. The prayer is a celebration of the profound knowledge that we are connected with the each other, as well as with the chief elements–Mother Earth, Water, Air and Fire–the animate and inanimate, the plants and animals and the larger universe, connected energetically.

Spirit embraces and unifies us all~ Inherent in the prayer is a deep respect for both Mother Earth, the penultimate provider and nurturer, and all her children. The prayer is a constant reminder to honor this connectedness, and walk gently in the places of our differences, for those are the places of co-creation.&#8221

James C. Davis is Environmental Director of the Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources in Woodstock, NY. and a co-founder of the Earth Reunion Project which works with traditional wisdom keepers of Earth traditions from around the world. For the past 30 years Jim has pursued mastery of the wisdom of the Earth and of the earth-based traditions. His primary focus has been the Hudson Valley and the Catskill watershed bio-regions, yet he has travelled extensively to explore the shamanic teachings of many traditions and was adopted as an Elder by the Yuin Nation of Australia. He has written a lexography of the Annishinabe places of the region

1:40 &#8211 2:00 Ward Stone: The Destruction and Contamination of Mohican Ancestral Lands by the Cement Plant Operation in Ravena, Albany County, New York

Ward B. Stone, Elyse Griffin, Elyse Kunz, Amanda Allen, Michael M. Reynolds, and Aaron W. Behrens New York State Wildlife Pathologist, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Delmar New York, Community Advocates for Safe Emissions, Ravena, New York, State University of New York of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill, NY

Since 1962 in Ravena, Albany County, New York cement plant operations have impacted thousands of acres of land with plant operations, quarrying of limestone, and pollution. This extensive environmental damage is within several miles of the site where the Mohican council fire was located on Schodack Island in the Hudson River. Much of this Albany County area has received little study by professional archeologist. Valuable artifacts and Mohican cultural material may still be able to be saved.

It appears that historic preservation studies have been, at least very limited, on this former Mohican land. The requirements were not in place in 1962 on the cement plant and permits have largely been “grandfathered in”. We will present a case for the need of a thorough historic preservation study.

Ward B. Stone, B.A., M.S., Sc. D. (Hon.),Wildlife Pathologist NYS Dept. Environmental Conservation, Wildlife Pathology Unit, Delmar, NY- Adjunct Professor, SUNY Cobleskill- Adjunct Professor, College of Saint Rose.

2:05 &#8211 2:25 Ed Lenik: Mythic Creatures: Serpents, Dragons and Sea Monsters in Northeastern Rock Art

Serpentine images carved into non-portable rock surfaces and on portable artifacts were invested with ideological and cultural significance by American Indian people in the Northeast. These images occur on bedrock outcrops located along the shores of lakes, the banks of river, seaside bays, low hills and mountains. Serpentine images have also been engraved into utilitarian and non-utilitarian artifacts such as tools, ornaments, pebbles, and on small, flat stones. They appear on wood and bark, and as facial tattoos on an 18th century Mohican Indian and on a portrait of a Delaware Indian. These various images are described and an interpretation of their origin, age and meaning is presented.

Ed Lenik has thirty-seven years of fieldwork and research experience in northeastern archaeology and anthropology, specializing in rock art research, documentation and preservation.

M.A. in Anthropology, New York University- Registered Professional Archaeologist.

Proprietor and Principal Investigator of Sheffield Archaeological Consultants, Wayne, NJ Author of these books: Making Pictures in Stone: American Indian Rock Art of the Northeast (University of Alabama Press, 2009) and Picture Rocks, American Indian Rock Art in the Northeast Woodlands. (University Press of New England, 2002) [The first comprehensive study of rock art in the northeast].

2:25 &#8211 2:40 Break

2:40 &#8211 3:00 Paul Nevin: The Safe Harbor Petroglyphs &#8211 Research in the New Century

The Safe Harbor Petroglyphs, Lancaster County, PA, are one of three major rock art sites on the lower Susquehanna River and the only one that remains accessible in its original location. Information on the general nature of the site with and emphasis on research conducted there in the past ten years will be presented.

Paul Nevin: Safe Harbor Petroglyph documentation and research, 1982-present- Board Member, Eastern States Rock Art Research Association (ESRARA)- President, Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Inc., 2007-2008- Contributing Author, The Rock Art of Eastern North America (University of Alabama Press, 2004)- Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award, 2003, Safe Harbor Petroglyph Recording Project.

3:05 &#8211 4:15 Panel Discussion:

John Bonafide, Historic Preservation Services Coordinator, New York State Historic Preservation Office

Nancy Herter, Scientist, Historic Preservation Archaeology Analyst, New York State Historic Preservation Office

Charles E. Vandrei, Agency Historic Preservation Officer, New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Bureau of State Land Management, Historic Preservation Unit

Jeff Gregg, Indian Nations Affairs Coordinator, New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Office of Environmental Justice

The Army Corps of Engineers will have two representatives

Representatives from the New York State Historic Preservation Office, the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers will discuss the process of reviewing potential projects within the State of New York. The focus will be on determining whether it is a federal, state, or SEQR project and how the agencies consult with the Native American Tribes.

***Please note!
This panel is here to describe their agency’s criteria for determining sites. Questions will not be entertained on specific sites.

4:15 &#8211 4:30 Closing Remarks and Retreat of the Colors” by Mohican Veterans

For questions or for a copy of the registration form, email Mariann Mantzouris, Seminar Chairwoman at [email protected] or call

This Weeks New York History Web Highlights

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Museum of American Finance Exhibit: Scandal!

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On Thursday, April 29, the Museum of American Finance will open “Scandal!: Financial Crime, Chicanery and Corruption that Rocked America,” a richly informative exhibit about the history of financial scandals in America. “Scandal!” will cover several of the major scandals in American finance, from William Duer’s role in the Crash of 1792 through Lehman’s colossal downfall. The Salad Oil and Teapot Dome scandals, Ponzi schemes from Charles Ponzi himself to Bernie Madoff, Credit Mobilier and Enron scandals will also be featured. Artifacts range from historical newspapers and images to original documents and objects from some of history’s most infamous white collar criminals.

According to Leena Akhtar, the Museum’s director of exhibits and archives, “Scandal!” is particularly relevant today in light of the financial schemes and accounting frauds that have occurred over the last decade.

“The purpose of the exhibit is to connect recent events to what has happened in the past, and to educate students, investors, industry professionals and aspiring Wall Street professionals about the history and consequences of dishonesty in government and finance,” Akhtar said.

Marc Hodak, managing director of Hodak Value Advisors and an adjunct associate professor at New York University, served as a guest curator of the exhibit. Hodak teaches a class at the NYU Stern School of Business entitled “A History of Scandal: The Evolution of Corporate Governance.”

All are welcome to attend a reception to open “Scandal!” on Thursday, April 29, from 5 – 7 pm. For information and reservations, please contact Lindsay Seeger at 212-908-4110 or [email protected]. Working members of the press should contact Kristin Aguilera at 212-908-4695 or [email protected]. “Scandal!” will be on display through April 29, 2011.

New-York Historical Society Wins Lincoln Award

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The 2009 Barondess/Lincoln Award was presented at the Round Table’s 537st meeting by Len Rehner, Past President of the CWRT of New York and Chairman of the Awards Committee, and Charles Mander, Current President. Accepting the award for the The New-York Historical Society were three recipients: Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and Chief Executive Officer- Harold Holzer, Chief Historian- and Richard Rabinowitz, Chief Curator for the Exhibit.

The Barondess/Lincoln Award was established in 1960. Dr. Barondess was a distinguished charter member and former vice president of the Civil War Round Table of New York, and this award is presented in his memory. These awards, in the form of a copy of a bust of Lincoln, is given annually “to any person or institution and for any contribution to the greater appreciation of the life and works of Abraham Lincoln.” Previous winners have included Doris Kearns Goodwin, Craig Symonds, Gabor Boritt, William Gienapp, William C. Davis, Gary Wills, William Safire, and Gore Vidal, just to name a few.

In its exhibit, “Lincoln and New York,” Awards-Committee Chairman Len Rehner described to the audience how “Lincoln can be seen and felt through the incredible artifacts and memorabilia on display.” He explained how “This evocative show takes one back in time to the visit Lincoln paid to New York in February, 1860 to deliver his Presidential credentials speech at the Cooper Union. Room after room reveals the New York City of then and the political whirl over the impending Presidential election. You step into another dimension—be it a saloon with its spittoons or the handbills advertising the excitement of this new man’s appearance.”

ABOUT THE RECIPIENTS

A preeminent educational and research institution, The New-York Historical Society is home to New York City’s oldest museum and one of the nation’s most distinguished independent research libraries. Founded in 1804, the Society is dedicated to presenting exhibitions and public programs and fostering research that reveals the dynamism of history and its influence on today’s world. Its holdings cover four centuries of American history, and include one of the world’s greatest collections of historical artifacts, American art, and other materials documenting the history of the United States as seen through the prism of New York City and New York State.

Named President and Chief Executive Officer of The New-York Historical Society in 2004, Dr. Louise Mirrer holds a Ph.D in Spanish and Humanities from Stanford University and has over 20 years of experience as an academic administrator, most recently serving as Executive Vice Chancellor for Academics at CUNY. An eminent scholar in her field, Dr. Mirrer has published widely on language, literature, medieval studies, and women’s studies, both books and articles, in Spanish and English. Her most recent book is Women, Jews, and Muslims in the Reconquest Castile.

One of the leading public historians in the United States with over thirty years of experience in creating new museums, exhibits, media presentations, and educational programs, Richard Rabinowitz is the founder and president since 1980 of the American History Workshop. A scholar of American social and religious history, Dr. Rabinowitz has taught at Harvard, Skidmore and Scripps colleges. His book, The Spiritual Self in Everyday Life: The Transformation of Personal Religious Experience in Nineteenth-Century New England has been recognized as a “thoughtful analysis of what it has meant to be religious in America.” An award-winning museum and exhibit planner, Dr. Rabinowitz graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and received his Ph.D in History of American Civilization from Harvard University.

A prolific writer and lecturer and a frequent guest on television, Harold Holzer was Co-Chairman of the United States Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. He has authored or co-authored over thirty books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Mr. Holzer has won four Barondess/Lincoln Awards from the Civil War Round Table of New York- a 2005 Lincoln Prize, perhaps the most prestigious award in the field, for Lincoln at Cooper Union(2004)- the coveted Nevins-Freeman Award from the Civil War Round Table of Chicago- and three Awards of Achievement from the Lincoln Group of New York. Educated at the City University of New York, he is currently senior vice president for external affairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE OF NEW YORK

Founded in 1951, The Civil War Round Table of New York generally meets the second Wednesday of the month from September to June. Members assist each other with research, discuss preservation strategy for endangered battlefield, and listen to a distinguished speaker talk about a particular aspect of the war. For the year 2009/2010, the meeting location will be the 3 West Club, 3 West 51st Street in Manhattan.

For more information on the Civil War Round Table of New York, please contact The Civil War Round Table of New York at our mailing address: 139-33 250th Street, Rosedale, New York 11422. Or, if you prefer, call , or email us at [email protected]. Check out our website at www.cwrtnyc.org.

ABOUT THE LINCOLN MASK

A number of years ago, Dr. Mark D. Zimmerman was attempting to negotiate the purchase of a Roman death mask at an antique store. Hanging nearby was a plaster mask the origin of which no one seemed to know other than it had been included in a large estate sale whose contents were not well documented. As it turned out, it happened to be the mask of Abraham Lincoln.

After several years of Internet searches and endless phone calls to private individuals, major museums, private collections, and many other sources, Dr. Zimmerman realized that this mask was an authentic 19th century cast from the original 1860 Leonard Wells Volk life mask. The mask was evaluated at a major university archival research center. Comparisons were made with their own authentic Lincoln Plaster Mask, and the facial markings, structure and measurements necessary to provide authenticity were exact.

Dr. Zimmerman took the plaster cast to the Bronzart foundry in Sarasota, Florida, and they carefully reproduced the exact mask in bronze from the plaster using the “lost wax technique.” The Bronze mask weighs approximately 15 pounds with the base of polished black absolute granite weighing 14 pounds. Abraham Lincoln’s exact signature is inscribed in the front of the base. The face swivels on a brass pin imported from Italy. The total height is approximately 15 inches and the mask alone is 12.5 inches.

Through his generosity, Dr. Zimmerman donated these pieces of art to the Civil War Round Table of New York to be used as the Barondess/Lincoln Award.

Photo: Recipients of the Barondess/Lincoln Award for The New-York Historical Society: Harold Holzer, Chief Historian- Valerie Paley, Historian For Special Projects (accepting for Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO)- and Richard Rabinowitz, Chief Curator (Photo Credit: R. L. Burke)

Adirondack Wild Center Museum Launches Wings Group

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When a group of young Adirondack enthusiasts first met in 2009 they never imagined the energy and passion they brought would grow so quickly, drawing in other like-minded people to form Wings. Wings recently launched, bringing together the next generation of Adirondackers who want to share their passion for the natural world of the Adirondacks, while supporting the important educational and environmental work of The Wild Center.

According to the Adirondack Park Regional Assessment Project Report, if current population trends continue in the next 20 years, the Adirondacks will rival Florida’s west coast as the region with the oldest population in America. It is time for the younger generation to actively participate in the future of the Adirondacks. Wings will encourage and engage this exciting group of 21-45 year olds who live in and outside of the Adirondacks in social, educational and philanthropic ways. They will come together for regular gatherings where they can network, develop a greater understanding for the natural world of the Adirondacks and support the programs and initiatives of The Wild Center.

Wings will play an active role in the future of The Wild Center. “It is so important to incorporate various perspectives into the future of The Wild Center,” said Stephanie Ratcliffe, Executive Director of The Wild Center. “Wings is a way of actively engaging the younger population both inside and outside of the Adirondacks in the future of the region. Creating future stewards of the Adirondacks is integral to the survival of the area.”

Ed Forbes and David Bickford, Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee, will serve as Wings representatives to the Advisory Board of The Wild Center. A former resident of Lake Placid, Ed graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2002 and joined the staff of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise as a reporter covering Saranac Lake and the Adirondack Park Agency. In 2003, he became the editor of the Lake Placid News. He left the News in 2007 to pursue a Master’s degree at the Columbia University Graduate School. In 2008, he became an editor at The Journal News in White Plains. He and his wife, Emily Hunt Forbes, live in Bronxville and visit the North Country as often as they can. &#8220Emily and I think about and miss the North Country every day,” said Ed. “While I grew up in northern New Jersey and she was raised in Buffalo, we consider the Adirondacks our home. Wings, to us, offers a range of opportunities: We can connect inside the Blue Line and out with other expatriates who share our love for the region, we can learn more about the Adirondacks’ natural wonders and we can support the critical mission of The Wild Center.&#8221

Dave currently lives in New York City with his wife and six-month old daughter. A 2000 graduate from St. Lawrence University, over five generations of his family have been going to Upper Saranac Lake since the 1940s. He currently works in ad sales at CNBC.

Joining Wings provides numerous opportunities for attending Wings events in various locations and visiting The Wild Center. Wings participants will see their contribution make an impact at the Museum in the form of a collective annual gift toward a specific program or exhibit.

Using an email mailing to announce the launch of Wings demonstrates how the group will continue to communicate and spread the word. “The way of the world has shifted dramatically towards internet-based communication and social networking,” said Dave Bickford. “If we can use it to harness the energy of our supporters, while using fewer resources and funds, it won’t matter where someone is in the world. If they love the Adirondacks and want to be involved, they can. We plan to use our Facebook fan page to keep in frequent communication with everyone. Our social events will be both inside and outside of the Adirondacks, enabling everyone to meet in person too.”

The Wings Steering Committee is actively seeking like-minded supporters, people who want to get together with others who share a love for the Adirondacks, be future stewards of the Adirondacks, and get involved in Wings. For more information, visit www.wildcenter.org/wings.

NYSHA Research Library Offers Genealogy Workshops

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The New York State Historical Association Research Library will be offering three workshops for both the beginner and intermediate genealogist on Wednesday, April 7- Thursday, April 8- and Wednesday, April 14.

Workshops will be held from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in the NYSHA Research Library in Cooperstown, NY. Each session is $10 for NYSHA members and $15 for non-members. Registration required- contact the Research Library at (607) 547-1470 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Genealogy Workshops may be taken individually, although it is recommended that Researching Your Family History: An Introduction Part I and II be taken in sequence.

Wednesday, April 7: Researching Your Family History: An Introduction, Part I
This workshop provides an introduction to family history research and an overview of the genealogical records at the New York State Historical Association’s Research Library. Some popular online databases and websites will be demonstrated.

Thursday, April 8: Researching Your Family History: An Introduction, Part II
This workshop will teach you how to research your ancestors using major genealogical sources, including cemetery records, Bible records, church records, and other primary resource materials. In addition, Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers will be covered. (Attendance at Workshop Part I helpful but not required.)

Wednesday, April 14: How to Find Your Ancestors in Census Records
The first federal census was taken in 1790. During this workshop, participants will learn how to search censuses and use the indexes to them in their family history research. Participants will also learn how to use the census taken by New York State.

Replica Ship Half Moon Seeks Volunteer Crew

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William T. (Chip) Reynolds, Director, New Netherland Museum and Captain, Replica Ship Half Moon has announced that volunteer crew are needed to move the Half Moon from its winter berth at King Marine, in Verplanck, NY, to Peckham Wharf, Athens, NY from April 9 to 11th. This will be the first shake down cruise of the season as the ship is moved to Peckham Wharf in Athens for outfitting.

The voyage will pass the Hudson Highlands, Lange Rack, and along the Catskills. Both experienced crew and new comers are welcome. Crew should plan to board the ship at King Marine in Verplanck on Friday afternoon, April 9, and depart the ship Sunday afternoon in Athens. This is a working cruise, with emphasis on running our rigging, getting systems operational, and starting our annual refresher training with safety harnesses and procedures. In Athens the crew will proceed with rigging sails, installing tanks, and renewing woodwork.

If you are interested in joining the voyage, contact Karen Preston at [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name, address, and telephone in your e-mail, and tell &#8216-em we sent ya!

Brooklyn Museum to Host Annual Brooklyn Ball

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The Brooklyn Museum will celebrate the major exhibition &#8220American High Style: Fashioning a National Collection&#8221 and the landmark collection-sharing partnership between Brooklyn and the Metropolitan Museum of Art at its annual gala, the Brooklyn Ball, on Thursday evening, April 22, 2010.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres in the Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing on the fifth floor and an exclusive opportunity to preview American High Style. Featuring some eighty-five masterworks from the newly established Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the exhibition traces the evolution of fashion in America from its nineteenth-century European beginnings through the twentieth century. It marks the first time in more than two decades that a large-scale survey drawn from this preeminent collection will be on public view.

Included in the exhibition will be creations by such legendary American designers as Charles James, Norman Norell, and Gilbert Adrian- works by influential French designers including Charles Frederick Worth, Elsa Schiaparelli, Jeanne Lanvin, Givenchy, and Christian Dior- and works by such first-generation American women designers as Bonnie Cashin, Elizabeth Hawes, and Claire McCardell. Among the objects presented will be Schiaparelli’s Surrealist Insect Necklace, considered by experts to be one of the most important works in the collection- elaborate ball gowns and day wear by Charles James- evening ensembles by Yves Saint Laurent, Halston, Scaasi, and Mainbocher- street wear by mid-twentieth-century designers Vera Maxwell, Claire McCardell, and Elizabeth Hawes- a group of hats by celebrated milliner Sally Victor- and dazzling evening wear by Norman Norell.

The Brooklyn Museum’s groundbreaking collection-sharing partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art went in to effect in January 2009. At that time Brooklyn’s renowned costume collection of 23,500 objects, acquired over the course of a century, was transferred to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is fully integrated into the Institute’s program of exhibitions, publications, and education initiatives and remains available for exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.

Co-chairs for this year’s Ball celebrating American High Style include chef and restaurateur Mario Batali and his wife Susan Cahn, European Editor-at-Large for Vogue Hamish Bowles, New York Times Style Editor Stefano Tonchi, Museum Trustee Stephanie Ingrassia, decorative arts specialist and educator Susan Weber, photographer Annie Leibovitz, fashion designer Zac Posen, and collector Carla Shen.

An interactive dining experience, designed by Jennifer Rubell, whom New York Times senior critic Roberta Smith credits with &#8220laying waste to the prolonged ordeal that is the benefit dining experience,&#8221 will begin at 8 p.m. in the magnificent Beaux-Arts Court on the third floor. The interactive food journey through the Museum is titled Icons and includes drinking paintings, suspended melting cheese heads, and a larger-than-life dessert surprise. A hybrid of performance and installation art, Rubell’s food projects deconstruct the ritual of the meal and are often of monumental scale.

During the evening, the Brooklyn Museum will honor the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and former Mellon Program Officer Angelica Rudenstine. Donald Randel, Mellon Foundation president, will accept the Museum’s highest honor, the Augustus Graham Medal, on their behalf.

Immediately following the Ball, the Museum will host High Style: The After Party in the Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavilion. The festivities will feature artists’ fashions and dancing to live music.

Tickets to the Ball range from $500 to $1,500, and tables are available from $5,000 to $50,000. All tickets to the Ball include admission to High Style: The After Party. Tickets to the after party start at $75. Tickets may be purchased online through Monday, April 19. You may also download, print, and complete a ticket request form and send it by fax to (718) 501-6139. Further information about ticket options and table purchases is available by e-mailing [email protected] or by phoning (718) 501-6423. Proceeds from the event will support the Museum’s public and education programs.

The Augustus Graham Medal is being presented to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in recognition of its outstanding support of the Brooklyn Museum, including funding for the survey of the costume collection and the endowment of curatorial positions at the Museum. Through the foundation’s generosity, the first complete inventory, collection review, digital photography, and cataloguing of the Museum’s holdings of approximately 23,500 American and European costumes and accessories has been completed. More than 5,800 of the most important works are now available to scholars, students, and the public through ARTstor, an innovative online initiative of the Mellon Foundation that provides access to curated collections of art images and associated data for noncommercial, scholarly, and not-for-profit educational use.

The Augustus Graham Medal is named after one of the founders of the Brooklyn Apprentices Library in 1823. That institution, which Graham nurtured and expanded, grew into the Brooklyn Institute and later became the Brooklyn Museum.

Exhibition Celebrates Important Literary Couple

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A new exhibit which will run for the next year at the The New York Society Library. &#8220Literary Lives: The World of Shirley Hazzard and Francis Steegmuller&#8221 will feature Shirley Hazzard, award-winning author, and Francis Steegmuller, award-winning author, Flaubert expert and translator along with unique images from Hazzard’s private collection.

Shirley Hazzard, author of The Transit of Venus and The Great Fire, unlocks her private collection of personal photographs and books that gives a first-ever look at the life she shared with her husband, Francis Steegmuller, whose pioneering work on Flaubert, Cocteau, and de Maupassant brought him worldwide acclaim.

On view at The New York Society Library, this FREE exhibition will also display photographs of European landmarks taken by Steegmuller, a gifted photographer whose work behind the lens has not been seen before. A 44-page catalogue accompanies the exhibit which will run from March 24, 2010 to January 31, 2011 at the New York Society Library’s, Peluso Family Exhibition Gallery, 53 East 79th Street, between Madison and Park Avenues, New York, NY. Admission is free.