- Fenimore Art Museum: A 17th Century Calling Card
- Ephemeral New York: The Rustic Cabins of Manhattan
- Brooklynology: Brooklyn And The Atomic Age
- Bowery Boys: Walt Disney’s 7 Big Apple Moments
- Cafe Hayek: Paul Krugman’s Faux History
- Carole’s Thoughtful Spot: Walkway Over the Hudson
- Peeling Back the Bark: Bringing Ski Jumping to Chicago [1930s]
- The Uncataloged Museum: Ten Ways To Be Better
- Ephemeral NY: Mabel Dodge’s Bohemian Salons
CFP: Berkshire Conference of Women Historians
The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians is holding its next conference at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on June 9-12, 2011. 2011 marks the 15th Berkshire Conference on Women’s History and the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, which was first celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland and is now honored by more than sixty countries around the globe. The choice of “Generations” reflects this transnational intellectual, political, and organizational heritage as well as a desire to explore related questions such as:
* How have women’s generative experiences – from production and reproduction to creativity and alliance building – varied across time and space? How have these been appropriated and represented by contemporaries and scholars alike?
* What are the politics of “generation”? Who is encouraged? Who is condemned or discouraged? How has this changed over time?
* Is a global perspective compatible with generational (in the genealogical sense) approaches to the past that tend to reinscribe national/regional/racial boundaries?
* What challenges do historians of women, gender, and sexuality face as these fields and their practitioners mature?
To engender further, open-ended engagement with these and other issues, the 2011 conference will include workshops dedicated to discussing precirculated papers on questions and problems (epistemological, methodological, substantive) provoked by the notion of “Generations.”
The process for submitting and vetting papers and panels has changed substantially from previous years, so please read the instructions carefully. To encourage transnational discussions, panels will be principally organized along thematic rather than national lines and therefore proposals will be vetted by a transnational group of scholars with expertise in a particular thematic, rather than geographic, field.
All proposals must be directed to ONE of the following subcommittees (listed below) and should be submitted electronically. Please list a second choice for the subcommittee to vet your proposal but do not submit to more than one subcommittee. Instructions for submission will be posted on the Berkshire Conference website (www.berksconference.org) by November 1, 2009.
Preference will be given to discussions of any topic across national boundaries and to work that addresses sexuality, race, and labor in any context, with special consideration for pre-modern (ancient, medieval, early modern) periods. However, unattached papers and proposals that fall within a single nation/region will also be given full consideration.
As a forum dedicated to encouraging innovative, interdisciplinary scholarship and transnational conversation, the Berkshire conference continues to encourage submissions from graduate students, international scholars, independent scholars, filmmakers, and to welcome a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
Paper abstracts should be no longer than 250 words- panel (2-3 papers and a comment), roundtable (3 or more short papers) and workshop (1-2 precirculated papers) proposals should also include a summary abstract of no more than 500 words. Each submission must include the cover form and a short cv for each presenter. If you have questions about the most appropriate subcommittee for your proposal or problems with electronic submission, please direct them to Jennifer Spear ([email protected]).
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: March 1, 2010.
SUBCOMMITTEES:
* Beauty and the Body, Stephanie Camp
* Migrations: Race, Gender and Activism, Annelise Orleck
* Economies, Labors, and Consumption, Tracey Deutsch
* War, Violence, and Terror, Madhavi Kale
* Youth and Aging, Jennifer Spear
* Race in Global Perspective, Marilyn Lake
* Health and Medicine, Julie Livingston
* Sexuality, Kathy Brown
* Religion: Belief, Practice, Communities, Madhavi Kale
* Politics and the State, Margot Canaday
Symposium: Early Transportation in The Mohawk Valley
The 2009 Western Frontier Symposium, “Moving Frontiers: Early Transportation in the Mohawk Valley,” will be held this weekend, October 17 – 18, 2009, at Fulton Montgomery Community College in Johnstown. This year’s symposium will explore the ways that transportation changed the culture, economy and social life in the Mohawk Valley from 1700 to 1890. As turnpikes, canals and railroads made it easier to move people and goods, New York?s colonial frontier became the central corridor into America’s midlands.
The events keynote speaker will be Daniel Larkin, noted author of books on railroad and canal engineering, and editor of Erie Canal: New York’s Gift to The Nation
Other symposium scholars will present fascinating insights into various aspects of the region’s transportation history – from native American trails and early canals, through the glory days of the Erie Canal and into the railroad age and the first bicycle craze.
Participants can learn about early roads, the businesses that served merchants and travelers, and the impact of these movements on the Palatine and Dutch settlements of the Mohawk Valley and then spend a day at historic sites throughout the region, viewing special exhibits related to transportation history and discussing specific topics with additional speakers in the field.
All presentations are free and open to the public, thanks to the generosity of the New York Council for the Humanities a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities
Tickets for Special Events & Packages are available for a fee. (Pre-registration required.)
The event is sponsored by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, NYS Archives Partnership Trust, Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor Commission, Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor & related Mohawk Valley historic sites
For additional details visit the website: www.oldfortjohnson.org/symposium.html
NYS Museum Photo Exhibit On Great Depression
A new traveling exhibition opens at the New York State Museum on October 17 showcasing the works of a legendary group of photographers who documented the lives and struggles of Americans enduring the Great Depression. “This Great Nation Will Endure,” open through March 14, 2010, features more than 150 images of America taken between 1935 and 1942 by the legendary photographic unit of the Farm Security Administration (FSA). This remains the largest documentary photography project ever undertaken. The photographs include some of the most familiar and powerful images of the nation to emerge from the Depression era. Many have reached iconic status in American culture.
Curated and designed by staff at the Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Library and Museum in Hyde Park, the exhibition features images from every region of the nation, culled from the enormous FSA photography collection (numbering tens of thousands of images) at the Library of Congress. Included are photographs taken during the 1930s and
1940s by Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks, Ben Shahn, Walker Evans, Arthur Rothstein, Carl Mydans, Russell Lee, John Vachon, Marion Post Wolcott and Jack Delano.
The FSA was a New Deal agency created by President Roosevelt in 1937 to help American farmers and farm laborers who were confronting economic depression and natural disaster, including the ecological disaster known as the Dust Bowl. It developed out of an earlier agency called the Resettlement Administration (RA) for which its director, Rexford Tugwell, had established a publicity department to document rural poverty and government efforts to alleviate it. That department included a photographic unit called the “Historical Section,” administrated by former Columbia University economics instructor, Roy Stryker. To accomplish the agency’s goals, Stryker enlisted a group of men and women who today comprise a virtual “Who’s Who” of 20th-century documentary photography. The RA and its “Historical Section” were merged into the newly created FSA in 1937. Many of its
photographers later forged careers that helped define photojournalism at magazines like Life and Look.
Most of the photographs in the exhibition depict rural life and hardships but they also include many images of town and city life. The FSA created a very diverse
record of American life during the 1930s and early 1940s, including images of hardship, endurance, hope, recovery, migration, recreation and community life. The photographs provide visual affirmation of President Roosevelt’s bold assertion in
his first inaugural address, delivered at the lowest point of the Great Depression: “This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper … the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
The exhibition also includes a specially commissioned, short documentary film that explores the work of four of the most prominent FSA photographers. There also is a soundtrack of folk music sung by migrant workers that was recorded in migrant worker camps in California in 1940-41. An interactive computer program allows visitors to explore entire series of images shot by FSA photographers during individual
photo assignments. Also featured is a short silent video that depicts the ways in which FSA photography was used in newspapers and magazines of the 1930s and 1940s.
Photo: Lower Manhattan seen from the S.S. Coamo leaving New York, by Jack Delano.Courtesy Library of Congress
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. To Appear in Albany
The State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust have organized an evening honoring Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. with the Empire State Archives and History Award on October 26th at the Egg in the Empire State Plaza. The event promises an “engaging evening of conversation between nationally renowned scholar of African American studies,” who along with nationally prominent Lincoln Scholar Harold Holzer, will discuss Dr. Gates’ life, work and passion for history.
A literary critic, educator, scholar, writer, editor, and public intellectual, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. Gates hosted the 2006 and 2008 PBS television miniseries African American Lives, which explored the genealogy of prominent African Americans. He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University, where he is also Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.
The event will be held Monday, October 26, 2009 at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $10 per person- for reservations call The Egg Box Office at (518) 473-1845.
In advance of the program, a reception to honor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will be held at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts, from 5:30-7:00 pm.
Members of the Trust …-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-..$50.00 a person
Become a Member and attend reception…-..$65.00 a person
Non-Members…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-…-..$75.00 a person
All reception attendees will also receive a complimentary ticket to the 7:30 pm program in The Egg. If attending the reception you do not need to make a separate reservation at The Egg Box Office.
To learn more about the reception please contact Grazia Yaeger, manager of membership & special initiatives, Archives Partnership Trust at (518) 474-1228 with questions. Reservations are not confirmed until payment is received.
RVSP by October 20, 2009.
Proceeds from this event will go to support the projects of the New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust.
Thomas Edison Home, Laboratory Complex Reopens
The National Park Service is welcoming visitors to the new newly renovated Edison Laboratory Complex at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, New Jersey. According to the site’s Superintendent Greg Marshall, “The original music recording studio, Thomas Edison’s private laboratory, and a photography studio will be open to the public for the first time in the history of the site.”
The renovation was a complex project to preserve the historic buildings and the artifact and archival collections at the Laboratory Complex and Glenmont Estate. The original historic furnishings and documents were beginning to deteriorate because of lack of adequate heating and cooling systems. They were at risk of loss or damage from fire because of old, outdated alarm and sprinkler systems. The vast majority of the artifact collection was inaccessible to visitors and researchers while stored on the upper floors of the historic main laboratory.
The original furnishings have been moved back into many rooms and the unique museum collections will be available to see, hear, and experience. Installation of a new elevator and stair tower adjacent to the main laboratory building allows new public access to the upper floors of the laboratory that now feature new exhibits. The Edison home at the Glenmont Estate has also been renovated. Other improvements include new fire detection system and upgraded fire sprinkler system, new heating and cooling systems, and exterior building repairs and an integrated drainage system.
The $13 million partnership project with the Edison Innovation Foundation and Charles Edison Fund of Newark, New Jersey also includes new heating and cooling systems, new fire detection and suppression systems, and structural repairs to the historic building’s roofs, foundations, and windows. The new Thomas Edison experience offers visitors self-guided audio tours, cell phone tours, films, grounds walks, school workshops and traditional guided programs.
Thomas Edison National Historical Park is a unit of the National Park Service that preserves and interprets the West Orange Laboratory and Home of inventor Thomas Alva Edison. Information is available at: www.nps.gov/edis.
The Edison Innovation Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the Edison Legacy and encourages students (including women and minorities) to embrace careers in science, technology and engineering and is committed to educating the next generation of great innovators while using Edison and his Invention Factory as the foundation. For information on the Foundation, visit: www.thomasedison.org.
14th Adirondack Architectural Heritage Awards
On Friday afternoon, October 9, 2009, preservation enthusiasts gathered at the The Inn at Erlowest on Lake George to honor and celebrate the 14th Annual Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) Awards. Six awardees shared their stories of challenge and success, passion and purpose amongst a lively and engaged group of supporters and friends. In all of the awards, the stewardship committee seeks representative examples of long-term stewardship and committed preservation practice as well as sensitivity to the original function and period of each resource.
This year’s awardees include:
William Gates
Paul and Susan Provost, for long-term stewardship of Hemlock Hall, Blue Mountain Lake
Sekon Association, for long-term stewardship of Fish Rock Camp and Camp Calumet, Upper Saranac Lake
Thomas Finnigan III, for long-term stewardship of T.F. Finnigan Men’s Clothing Store, Saranac Lake
The Atkinson Family, for long-term stewardship of their home, Keene Valley
Bruce and Beki Pushee, for long-term stewardshp of the Old Mill Bed and Breakfast, Elizabethtown
The Adirondack Architectural Heritage Awards program welcomes nominations throughout the year from its membership and the general public. Help us spread the word about the good work going on in our region by nominating a project from your community.
For more information about our awards program and to obtain a nomination form, contact Ellen Ryan, Community Outreach Director, Adirondack Architectural Heritage, 1790 Main Street, Suite 37, Keeseville, New York 12944, 518-834-9328 or visit their website at www.aarch.org.
CFP: Conference on New York State History
The Conference on New York State History will be held in the Ithaca on June 3—5, 2010. The conference is an annual meeting of academic and public historians, librarians and archivists, educators, publishers, and other interested individuals who come together to discuss topics and issues related to the people of New York State in historical perspective and to share information and ideas regarding historical research, programming, and the networking of resources and services. Ten to fifteen presentation sessions, workshops, and a keynote address mean more than fifty individuals take part in the program. The conference is self-sustaining and is organized by a committee of historians from a variety of institutions across the state.
Individual paper abstracts, panel proposals, workshop plans, and other program suggestions are invited- the deadline is December 31, 2009. Presentations may consider any aspect of the history of New York State over the past 400 years. Diverse theoretical perspectives and innovative methodological approaches are welcomed.
Special consideration is accorded first-time presenters, graduate students, and local government historians. Interested parties are encouraged to discuss proposals and any conference-related ideas with Field Horne, conference chair (e-mail preferred). The Program Committee will meet to consider proposals in mid-January. Applicants will be notified immediately thereafter.
If at all possible, proposals should be submitted as an MS Word document by e-mail to [email protected]. A proposal should be a one-page description of each presentation—not the full manuscript—and must include the following information at the top of the page: paper and/or session titles, names, postal addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all participants, and all equipment needs and scheduling requests. It should also briefly discuss sources, methodology, and argument. All program participants are required to register for the conference.
Send proposals to:
Field Horne
Conference on NYS History Chair
Box 215, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866¬0215
(518) 587-4962
[email protected]
Qualified commentators for sessions are needed. Please indicate your willingness, with your areas of expertise, in an e-mail to the conference chair.
The conference is sponsored by New York State Historical Association in collaboration with New York State Archives Partnership Trust and cosponsored by
New York Council for the Humanities.
Photo: Simeon De Witt, A Map of the State of New York. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
Managing Your Historical Photographs Workshops
The New York State Archives is offering two new workshops on managing historical photographs. The first, offered at three locations around the state in October is intended to present strategies for taking physical and intellectual control of photographs to ensure their long-term access and use. Participants will hear methods of organizing and making accessible photographic material, and preservation guidelines for photographs, along with reference, exhibition, and outreach strategies will be outlined. The workshops are free and open to the public. The second workshop in the two part series, “Digitizing Your Historical Photographs,” will be available next year.
Schedule and Registration
October 13, 2009, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Hanford Mills, East Meredith, NY
Presenter Ray LeFever, Coordinator of Archival Advisory Services, NYS Archives Register by downloading a registration form from Upstate History Alliance
October 20, 2009, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
New City Library, New City, NY (Rockland County)
Presenter Ray LeFever, Coordinator of Archival Advisory Services, NYS Archives
Register by emailing Dianne Macpherson
October 20, 2009 9:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Schenectady County Library Schenectady, NY
Presenter Denis Meadows, Regional Advisory Officer, NYS Archives Region 4
Register online with the State Archives.
For more information e-mail [email protected].
Photo: Bart Warren and helper in his blacksmith shop, West Sand Lake, NY c. 1900
@greaterhudson.org>
Shirley Dunn To Speak On Mohicans And Dutch
Shirley W. Dunn, who has published two books about the Mohicans (The Mohicans and Their Land 1609-1730
