NYSs Museums in Conversation: What Inspires You?

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The Upstate History Alliance and the Museum Association of New York are sponsoring &#8220New York State’s Museums in Conversation: What Inspires You?&#8221 a three-day conference April 11-13, 2010 at the Albany Marriott, Wolf Road, in Albany. The event organizers seeks discussion proposals that focus on what inspires you about the work of others, be they museums, libraries, nature centers or parks, small or big businesses. What have you seen that’s been so great, so innovative, so enterprising, so adaptable, and so fun that you want to talk about it with your colleagues?

Proposals are welcome from a wide range of institutions and practitioners, within and outside the museum community, to encourage lively discussions that offer new perspectives on museum work and create new connections to each other.

Submitting a Proposal

The deadline for submitting a proposal is November 2, 2009. Proposals must be submitted electronically, as an email attachment to [email protected]

Visit www.upstatehistory.org to download the proposal form and for more information. The program committee will review proposals and decisions will be made by mid-November.

If you have any questions or are looking for assistance with developing a proposal, contact UHA Program Coordinator, Stephanie Lehner, at 800.895.1648 [email protected] or MANY Director Anne Ackerson at 518.273.3400 [email protected]

Champlain Quad Project Featured In Federal Publication

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A project that helped celebrate the 400th anniversary of the navigation of Lake Champlain by Samuel de Champlain is being held up as an example of how partnerships between public broadcasters, libraries, and other entities can benefit communities.

The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation joins the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) in announcing the release of a new publication, Partnership for a Nation of Learners: Joining Forces, Creating Value, which offers guidance on creating effective community collaborations.

The publication profiles the recent Lake Champlain Voyages of Discovery project of the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and Chimney Point State Historic Site, with its partners—Vermont Public Television, Broadwing Productions, and the Bixby Memorial Free Library.

This project received a $250,000 grant from the Partnership for a Nation of Learners program, which united libraries, museums, and public broadcasters to address issues of central concern to their local communities.

“This program made it possible for our partnership to use many disciplines to look at the relatively unknown early history of Lake Champlain from before Samuel de Champlain’s arrival in 1609 up to the time of the American Revolution, engage our communities to participate with us, and to generate valuable resources for – as well as interest in – the 2009 Champlain 400th anniversary,” said Elsa Gilbertson, Voyages project director and Chimney Point administrator.

“The project products, including the New England Emmy-award winning documentary Champlain: The Lake Between- publication (Lake Champlain Voyages of Discovery: Bringing History Home)- forthcoming web site- exhibit at Chimney Point, new books and other materials at the Bixby Library- and Bixby educational kits for local schools will have a long-term effect on the region and how we understand this history,” Gilbertson said.

“I am gratified that the Partnership for a Nation of Learners project will live on through this publication, which spotlights exemplary community partnerships across the country, such as the one with the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, and shares ‘how-to’ information on successful collaborations,” said IMLS Director Anne-Imelda Radice. “In these challenging economic times, partnerships are more valuable than ever.”

“Libraries, museums, and public broadcasting licensees are valuable and respected assets trusted by the public,” said Patricia de Stacy Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer, Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “Together, they have an important role to play ensuring our democracy comprises an informed and educated citizenry, by providing lifelong learning opportunities for everyone.”

The new report is based on the work of the 2005 and 2006 PNL Community Collaboration Grants, which provided seed investments for 20 collaborative projects across the country. It can be read online at: www.imls.gov/pdf/PNLReport.pdf

The new IMLS book profiles illustrate how vital community organizations can collaborate to effectively tackle important local issues and achieve outcomes that would be unattainable for a single organization. It also provides a lessons learned section on best practices for successful partnerships.

The Chimney Point State Historic Site in Addison is located at the intersections of Vermont Routes 125 and 17, at the foot of the Lake Champlain Bridge, overlooking Lake Champlain.

It was the site of military installations in 1690, 1731, and during the American Revolution. The 1785 tavern building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, houses exhibits interpreting the Native American, French colonial, and early American history of the area.

In the summer of 1759, as British forces closed in, the French retreated north into Canada, destroying their forts and burning their houses so that only the chimneys remained, lending the area its name.

First Of Several Local John Brown Events On Saturday

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This year marks the 150th anniversary of abolitionist John Brown’s anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, his subsequent execution and the return of his body to North Elba, Essex County, NY.

Over at Adirondack Almanack I’ve been writing a series of posts &#8211 The Last Days of John Brown &#8211 to commemorate Brown’s struggle to end slavery in America, and both here and at the Almanack I’ll be reporting on events as the anniversary approaches. So far local activities include a lecture, a symposium, and a reenactment of the return of Brown’s body to North Elba. It all kicks off with a lecture this Saturday, October 10th, with a lecture by historian Zoe Trodd at 2:00 PM, at John Brown’s Farm.

Here is the event announcement:

A Living Legacy: John Brown in the Anti-Lynching Protest Tradition, a lecture by Zoe Trodd. Protest writers have long pointed to the abolitionist past as central to present and future social change. At the heart was of this living legacy was one figure: John Brown. This lecture will trace the presence of Brown in anti-lynching literature from the Niagara Movement to Langston Hughes. Trodd is the author of Meteor of War: The John Brown Story- American Protest Literature- and The Tribunal: Responses to John Brown and the Harper’s Ferry Raid. This event is presented by John Brown Lives!

New Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives Collections

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives has announced that three recently processed collections relating to the institution are now open for scholarly research. The papers of Met founder John Taylor Johnston, New York art collectors Louisine Waldron Elder and Henry (Harry) Osborne Havemeyer, and long time Met staff member Richard F. Bach have all been made available (with online finding aids).

John Taylor Johnston Collection, 1832-1981: John Taylor Johnston was a founder of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and was elected its first President in 1870. He held this position until he retired in 1889- the institution’s Trustees subsequently voted him Honorary President for Life. The collection consists of travel journals, visitor books, correspondence, family histories, and other unpublished and published documents relating to the life, travels and family history of John Taylor Johnston. The bulk of this material relates to Johnston’s personal affairs and is not concerned with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Finding aid.

The Havemeyer Family Papers relating to Art Collecting, 1901-1922: The New York art collectors Louisine Waldron Elder (1855-1929) and Henry (Harry) Osborne Havemeyer (1847-1907) assembled a large and diverse collection of paintings, sculpture and decorative art between 1876 and 1924. It was known for being one of the first American art collections to include Spanish and Impressionist paintings. The papers include correspondence, writings, notes, and ephemera that document the Havemeyers’ art collecting activities between 1901 and 1922. The majority of the collection consists of correspondence with art dealers and agents, such as Mary Cassatt, Theodore Duret, Albert E. Harnisch and Ricardo de Madrazo, who worked on behalf of the Havemeyers to build their renowned art collection. Finding aid.

Richard F. Bach Records, 1913-1953: During his tenure at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Richard F. Bach served as Associate in Industrial Arts (1918-1929), Director of Industrial Relations (1929-1941), Dean of Education and Extension (1941-1949), and Consultant in Industrial Arts (1949-1952). Bach championed the collaboration of museums and the industrial arts, working extensively with manufacturers, industrial designers, and educational institutions. In addition to his work at the Museum, Bach was a member and leader of a number of arts and education organizations as well as a prolific writer and lecturer. The Richard F. Bach Records primarily contain correspondence, meeting minutes, and pamphlets related to Bach’s activities as Director of Industrial Relations, Dean of Education and Extension, and Consultant in Industrial Arts. The majority of the correspondence is professional in nature and concerns Bach’s role as liaison between The Metropolitan Museum of Art and industrial designers, manufacturers, educators, and arts organizations. Finding aid.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives The objective of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives is to collect, organize, and preserve in perpetuity the corporate records and official correspondence of the Museum, to make the collection accessible and provide research support, and to further an informed and enduring understanding of the Museum’s history. Archives holdings include Board of Trustees records, legal documents, Museum publications, office files of selected Museum staff, architectural drawings, press clippings, and ephemera. The Archives is accessible to Museum staff and to qualified scholarly researchers at the graduate level and above. Requests for access should be sent via email, and should include a brief summary of the research project, an outline of sources already consulted and a curriculum vitae or resume.

Access is granted at the discretion of Archives staff, and certain materials may be restricted. Email: [email protected].

CFP: Historians Of The Early American Republic

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“Contested Terrain and the Early Republic,” the 32nd annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, will be hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology, July 22-25, 2010. The Program Committee invites proposals for sessions and papers exploring all aspects of the history and culture of the early American republic, together with its northern and southern borderlands and international connections, c. 1776-1860.

Proposals that reflect the application of new methodologies or perspectives, or that explore new approaches to teaching and to public history are welcome. Given the conference’s location, we particularly encourage papers and panels that address such themes as the emergence of markets and communications- Native American history- Canada and the Great Lakes region- the 1812 War- religious awakenings- slavery, abolition, the underground railroad, and reform movements- women’s rights- urbanization- consumption- visual culture and the origins of photography. Participants from outside the traditional boundaries of the field are welcomed.

The Program Committee will consider proposals for individual papers and for full sessions- panels with no more than two papers and two commentators are preferred. We also welcome workshops with pre-circulated papers, or sessions in which panelists assess the state of debate on a topic. Each proposal should include a brief abstract of the session, together with a one-page abstract of each paper and a short C.V. for each participant, including the chair and commentator(s). It should also specify any special requirements, such as audio-visual equipment, outlets, or facilities for disability. Any scholar interested in acting as a session chair or commentator should submit a short C.V. Please note that all program participants will be required to register for the conference. The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2009.

Submissions should be sent to the Program Committee Chair:
Christopher Clark
Department of History
University of Connecticut
Wood Hall, 241 Glenbrook Road, U-2103
Storrs, CT 06269-2103, U. S. A.
[email protected]

Program Committee:
Christopher Clark, University of Connecticut, Chair
Elizabeth J. Clapp, University of Leicester
Catherine Kelly, University of Oklahoma
John Lauritz Larson, Purdue University
Richard Newman, Rochester Institute of Technology
Stacey Robertson, Bradley University
Nikki Taylor, University of Cincinnati
Tamara Plakins Thornton, SUNY Buffalo
Jose Torre, The College at Brockport, SUNY

Presentation: Fort Ontario: 250 Years of History

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George A. Reed, the author of Fort Ontario: 250 Years of History, 1755-2005 will offer a presentation on the truth and legends of Fort Ontario at 2 P.M. Oct. 17 at the Busy Corner Cafe, 234 Ford Street (at the intersection of Ford and State streets) in Ogdensburg. Reed’s informal talk, hosted by the Fort La Presentation Association, will focus on Fort Ontario’s rich history at the time of the French and Indian War.

The old fort Ontario was first constructed in 1755 overlooking the Oswego River, the main route west in colonial times, to protect the fur trading settlement at Oswego. Following the American Revolution, the fort remained in British hands until the Jay Treaty in 1796. 

The Fort saw action twice during the War of 1812 and received and trained troops during the Civil War. Troops from Fort Ontario fought in the Philippines during the Spanish American War and the fort was enlarged in 1909 and became the Flower Medical Unit, training Army doctors, nurses, and medics, and treating wounded troops from the battlefields of France. Between World Wars, Fort Ontario s mission changed to training National Guard troops and Artillery. Its currently serves as a historic site.

The Fort La Presentation Association is hosting New York State’s final 250th anniversary commemoration of the French and Indian War, July 16-18, 2010.

Conference on John Brown and the Legacies of Violence

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Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition will host John Brown, Slavery, and the Legacies of Revolutionary Violence in Our Own Time: A Conference Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Harpers Ferry Raid on Oct 29-31, 2009 at the university’s campus in New Haven, CT.

Discussions of the place of violence-its forms, its causes, its justice or injustice-in American history often begin with John Brown and his exploits in Kansas and at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in the 1850s. Brown’s image has been appropriated by groups from the left and the right. He is a historical as well as a legendary figure, and often the myth overshadows the reality. This conference will explore the meaning and memory of John Brown as well as the problem of violence in American culture, past and present.

The conference will open on the evening of Thursday, October 29 with a performance of John Brown: Trumpet of Freedom by actor and playwright Norman Marshall. On Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31, conference panels will focus on four major themes:

. John Brown: A Problem in Biography

. John Brown and the Arts

. John Brown and the Legacies of Violence

. John Brown and Abolitionism

. Concluding Roundtable: A Problem for Our Own Time

For information on the conference visit: http://www.yale.edu/glc/john-brown/index.htm

Adirondack Museum Offers Free Admission to Park Residents

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The Adirondack Museum once again extends an invitation to year-round residents of the Adirondack Park to visit free of charge from October 1 through October 18, 2009. Through this annual gift to close friends and neighbors, the museum welcomes visitors from all corners of the Adirondack Park. Proof of residency, such as a driver’s license, is required. The Adirondack Museum is open each day through October 18, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

The Adirondack Museum tells the story of the Adirondacks through exhibits, special events, classes for schools, and hands-on activities. Introducing the new exhibits: Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters and A &#8220Wild, Unsettled Country&#8221: Early Reflections of the Adirondacks. The Adirondack 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, please call (518) 352-7311, or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org.