Call For Proposals For Maritime Environments Conference

admin

Continued concerns over depleted fish stocks, piracy, changing climate, global shipping policies, and the safety of merchant mariners and port communities have all recently converged to remind scholars, policy makers, and citizens alike that we ignore our relationships to the marine world at our peril. More than just recent phenomena, however, each of these ties between human society and the marine environment has deep historical roots. The event will be held May 12-16, 2010 at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point and Mystic Seaport.

Under the theme &#8220Maritime Environments,&#8221 the 2010 annual meeting of the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH), the Council of American Maritime Museums (CAMM), the National Maritime History Society (NMHS), and The Steamship Historical Society of America (SSHSA) seeks papers exploring the scholarly contexts of these contemporary crises in the world’s oceans.

All interested scholars, especially historians, marine environmental historians, museum professionals, archaeologists, historical ecologists, and graduate students are invited to submit proposals for papers examining the &#8220maritime&#8221 environment.

The Conference Call defines the terms &#8220Maritime&#8221 and &#8220Environments&#8221 broadly to include the widest range of human relationships to the sea. How have human labor practices affected ties between human communities and natural resources? How and where did humans experience the oceanic realm and how did those sites frame experiences? What economic, defense, commercial, and foreign policy initiatives drive human efforts
in the maritime environment? And, of particular interest, how have human actions affected the world’s oceans, and what can historical records tell us about the changing health of the fisheries, climate, or other natural forces? Finally, how do scholars convey these lessons to a larger public?

Individual papers are welcome, but full sessions with three papers and a chair are preferred. Proposals should include a brief abstract of 500 words for each paper, plus a one-page abstract for proposed panels, and a brief bio of 200 words for each participant, including chairs. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to submit
proposals for presentations. Accommodations for PowerPoint presentations
will be provided- however, any other requirements, including audio-visual equipment, special outlets, or accommodations for disabilities should be included in the proposal. Scholars interested in chairing sessions are welcome to send a brief bio to the Program Committee Co-chairs. Please note that all participants must register for
the conference.

Specific questions may be directed to Program Committee Co-Chairs, Matthew McKenzie ([email protected]), Brian Payne ([email protected]), or Vic Mastone ([email protected]).

The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2010.

Photo: 1904. Erie Canal at Salina Street, Syracuse, New York.&#8221 Detroit Publishing Company glass negative, Library of Congress.

Colonial Dutch Clergy Conference Announced

admin

The Reformed Church Center of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, N.J. will co-host an event titled &#8220The Colonial Clergy Conference: Dutch Traditions and American Realities&#8221 with the Collegiate Church of New York, the Van Raalte Institute in Holland, Michigan, the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, Netherlands, and the Reformed Church in America Archives. The conference will be held September 27-28th at the Haworth Center at Hope College in Holland, Michigan and October 24th at First Reformed Church, 9 Bayard St., New Brunswick, N.J.

In Holland, Michigan, the speakers will be Dr. Leon van den Broeke, Assistant Professor in Religion, Law and Society and Director of the Center for Religion and Law at Free University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands- Dr. Willem Frijhof, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at Free University- Dr. Hans Krabbendam, Assistant Director of the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, The Netherlands- Dr. Earl Wm.
Kennedy, Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Religion Emeritus at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa- Dr. Firth Haring Fabend, Fellow of the New Netherland Project and Historian for The Holland Society of New York,- and Dr. John Coakley, L. Russell Feakes Memorial Chair and Professor of Church History at New Brunswick Theological Seminary.

Speakers in New Brunswick, New Jersey will include Dr. Leon van den Broeke- Dr. Joyce Goodfriend, Professor of History at the University of Denver- Dr. John Coakley- Dr. Dirk Mouw, past Albert A. Smith Fellow at New Brunswick Theological Seminary- Dr. Firth Haring Fabend, and Dr. Robert Naborn, Director of the Dutch Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Also included in the day is a tour of the church’s
historic cemetery and bell tower, lunch, and an opportunity to order a book which will be based on the papers presented. First Reformed Church was founded in 1717 and the current building dates to 1765.

Further information about the event in Holland, Michigan, may be found on the Van Raalte Institute website at: http://www.hope.edu/vri/

Information about the event in New Brunswick, New Jersey, may be found on the New Brunswick Seminary website at: http://www.nbts.edu/clergyconference/

New York City Fire Department History Lecture

admin

The New York Public Library’s Bloomingdale Library (150 W 100th St, NYC) will play host to a lecture on the history of the New York City Fire Department on Thursday, October 8, 2009 from 6:00 PM &#8211 7:30 PM. Robert Holzmaier, Chief, Eleventh Battalion which covers Manhattan’s Upper West Side will be discussing fire extinguishing in 1609, the first controversial fire tax- hooks & ladders- horses and dogs- the connection to the city’s water supply- the city’s great conflagrations- attempts to destroy the city by fire- fire company feuds- and the the uses of volunteers.

You can learn more about the history of the New York City Fire Department at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/history/fire_service.shtml

(Forgotten) Melting Pot: A Quadricentennial Discussion

admin

Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site will hold The (Forgotten) Melting Pot: A Quadricentennial Panel Discussion on Thursday, October 8, 2009 in an attempt to address the historic ethnic and cultural elements oftentimes lost within the “melting pot” of America.

The evening will tackle the transitional 17th century in New York, but will also look to other moments in history, from pre-history to modern day. Our panelists will discuss both the roles of and the cultural shifts within African American, Native American, Dutch and women’s groups.

Panelists will include moderator Daniel Wolff, author of How Lincoln Learned to Read: Twelve Great Americans and the Educations That Made Them, Sherrill Wilson, Ph.D., urban anthropologist and author of New York City’s African Slave Owners: A Social and Material Culture History, David Oestricher, Ph.D., author and curator of the current exhibit Lenape: Ellis Island’s First Inhabitants, Tom Lake, archaeologist and professor of anthropology at SUNY Dutchess Community College and Martha Shattuck, Ph.D., editor and researcher with The New Netherland Project.

At 6 p.m., guests are invited to bring in their American “found objects,” whether pre-historic fossils or African textiles, for friendly analysis by our panel members before the discussion. Art appraiser and consultant Louise Devenish will also be on hand to tell the stories of objects. At 7 p.m. we will begin our panel discussion, immediately followed by a Q & A session for the audience. At 8:30 p.m. a reception and book signing will be held. For further information, please call 914-965-4027 or visit our event information website, philipsemanorhall.blogspot.com. This event is free to the public, but donations are appreciated.

Philipse Manor Hall, a high-style Georgian manor house, was the seat of a 52,000-acre estate and home to three generations of the Lords of Philipsburg Manor. Built between c. 1680 and 1755, it is the site around which the City of Yonkers grew and developed. Philipse Manor Hall is located at 29 Warburton Avenue, at Dock Street, in Yonkers, and parking is available on site. The historic site is one of six state historic sites and 12 parks administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation – Taconic Region: www.nysparks.com.

Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up

admin

Annette Gordon-Reed Wins Frederick Douglass Book Prize

admin

Annette Gordon-Reed, Professor of Law at New York Law School, Professor of History at Rutgers University-Newark, and Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard University, has been selected as the winner of the 2009 Frederick Douglass Book Prize, awarded for the best book written in English on slavery or abolition. Gordon-Reed won for her book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (W.W. Norton and Company). The prize is
awarded by Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The award is named for Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), the slave who escaped bondage to emerge as one of the great American abolitionists, reformers, writers, and orators of the 19th century.

In addition to Gordon-Reed, the other finalists for the prize were Thavolia Glymph for Out of the House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household (Cambridge University Press) and Jacqueline Jones for Saving Savannah: The City and the Civil War (Alfred A. Knopf Publishers). The $25,000 annual award is the most generous history prize in the field. The prize will be presented to Gordon-Reed at a dinner in New York City in February 2010.

This year’s finalists were selected from a field of over fifty entries by a jury of scholars that included Robert Bonner (Dartmouth College), Rita Roberts (Scripps College), and Pier Larson (Johns Hopkins University). The winner was selected by a review committee of representatives from the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and Yale University.

&#8220In Annette Gordon Reed’s The Hemingses of Monticello, an enslaved Virginia family is delivered &#8212- but not disassociated &#8212- from Thomas Jefferson’s well-known sexual liaison with Sally Hemings,&#8221 says Bonner, the 2009 Douglass Prize Jury Chair and Associate Professor of History at Dartmouth College. &#8220The book judiciously blends the best of recent slavery scholarship with shrewd commentary on the legal structure of Chesapeake society before and after the American Revolution. Its meticulous account of the mid-eighteenth century intertwining of the black Hemingses and white Wayles families sheds new light on Jefferson’s subsequent conjoining with a young female slave who was already his kin by marriage. By exploring those dynamic commitments and evasions that shaped Monticello routines, the path-breaking book provides a testament to the complexity of human relationships within slave societies and to the haphazard possibilities for both intimacy and betrayal.&#8221

The Frederick Douglass Book Prize was established in 1999 to stimulate scholarship in the field of slavery and abolition by honoring outstanding books. Previous winners were Ira Berlin and Philip D. Morgan in 1999- David Eltis, 2000- David Blight, 2001- Robert Harms and John Stauffer, 2002- James F. Brooks and Seymour Drescher, 2003- Jean Fagan Yellin, 2004- Laurent Dubois, 2005- Rebecca J. Scott, 2006- Christopher Leslie Brown, 2007- and Stephanie E. Smallwood, 2008.

Hyde Collection Receives Gift of Major Crockwell Painting

admin

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY has announced that it has received a gift of a 1934 oil painting by Douglass Crockwell (1904-1968) entitled &#8220Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co,&#8221 from Mr. and Mrs. Samuel P. Hoopes, of Bolton Landing, New York.

Douglass Crockwell was a founding trustee of The Hyde Collection, acted as its first director, and was famous for his illustrative paintings for such national publications as the Saturday Evening Post, Life, Look, and Esquire. His commercial illustrations were commissioned by such manufacturing and industry giants as General Electric, General Motors, Coca Cola, and Standard Oil. Crockwell lived and worked in Glens Falls from 1932 until his death in 1968.

“Although Crockwell is more widely known as a commercial illustrator, this painting is a remarkable example of his endeavor as a fine artist &#8212- long before he became the famous illustrator of the 1940s and 50s,” stated Hyde Chief Curator Erin B. Coe. The painting depicts two anonymous Finch Pruyn workers smoothing a massive roll of newsprint on a towering paper machine while in the lower left corner a manager supervises their work. Crockwell painted two nearly identical versions of this image of labor during the Great Depression, when many American workers were unemployed. “Crockwell is boldly presenting the primary industry of Glens Falls at the height of the Depression,” added Coe. The first version belongs to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. and was created by Crockwell in 1934 for the Works Progress Administration. This second version, donated to The Hyde, was made by the artist for Finch Pruyn & Co. later that same year.

According to The Hyde’s Executive Director David F. Setford, the gift is a major acquisition for a number of reasons. “Sam Hoopes saw the opportunity to share with the Museum a piece of Glens Falls history. The image of Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co. connects us with the industrial roots that allowed The Hyde Collection to begin.”

The painting joins two other works in the Museum’s collection by Crockwell. The first, acquired in 1971, is a painted illustration for the Saturday Evening Post and was gifted to The Hyde by Crockwell’s wife and son. The second is an unfinished portrait of Louis Fiske Hyde, which was donated to the Museum by Mrs. Crockwell and her family in 1979.

&#8220Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co.&#8221 was presented by The Hyde’s Collections Committee to the Board of Trustees for approval at their meeting on September 21, 2009. The work will be sent to the Williamstown Art Conservation Center for conservation treatment, and when the painting returns it will be placed on public view.

Photo: Douglass Crockwell, American, 1904-1968 &#8220Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co.,&#8221 Glens Falls, New York, 1934, Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in.

CFP: French Colonial Historical Society Annual Meeting

admin

The 36th annual meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society (FCHS) will take place in Paris, France, June 17-19, 2010, hosted by the University Paris 8 (Vincennes &#8211 Saint- Denis). The theme for the conference will be &#8220Ends of Empire&#8221 but proposals on all aspects of overseas France will be considered. The Society encourages scholars from all disciplines to submit proposals. Please do not send proposals for papers that have already been presented or scheduled for presentation at other conferences, or that have already been published. The time limit for presenting papers will be 20 minutes, and the deadline for submitting papers to the session moderator is three weeks in advance of the conference.

Individual paper proposals must include a 100-200 word summary with the title of the paper, name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, phone and fax numbers, and a brief curriculum vitae, all integrated into a single file, preferably in MS-Word. Proposals for entire sessions or panels must contain the same information for each participant, as well as contact information and a brief C.V. for the moderator if you suggest one. (The program committee can help find moderators, if necessary.) There will be a limited number of AV-equipped rooms available so it is essential that you indicate your need for audiovisual equipment (and what kind) in your proposal.

Proposals should be sent by e-mail attachment to: [email protected]. Individuals wishing to moderate a session should send a statement of interest, contact information, and a brief C.V. to the Program Chair. The deadline for proposals is November 1st, 2009.

The FCHS is a private society dependent on membership dues. All conference participants must be or become members at the time of acceptance (roughly January 1, 2010). Unfortunately, the FCHS does not have funds to subsidize scholars’ participation at the meeting. Please check the FCHS website for further details (http://www.frenchcolonial.org). If you have any questions about membership, please contact Elizabeth Foster, Treasurer ([email protected]). If you have any questions about conference logistics, please contact Emmanuelle Sibeud, Local Arrangements ([email protected]).

Appel a communications
Congres annuel de la Societe d’histoire coloniale francaise
Universite Paris 8 (Vincennes &#8211 Saint-Denis)
Paris / Saint-Denis, France
17-19 juin 2010

Le 36eme congres de la Societe d’histoire coloniale francaise se tiendra a Paris du 17 au 19 juin 2010, organise par l’Universite Paris 8 (Vincennes &#8211 Saint Denis). Le theme principal sera « Fins d’empire », mais comme toujours, des propositions de communication sur d’autres aspects de l’histoire coloniale francaise peuvent aussi nous etre adressees. La Societe encourage des chercheurs de toute discipline a soumettre des propositions. Les interventions ne doivent pas etre deja publiees, ni presentees ou programmees a un autre colloque. Chaque intervenant disposera de 20 minutes de presentation. Les communications devront etre soumises au president de seance au minimum trois semaines avant le debut du congres.

Les propositions de communications individuelles doivent comprendre un resume de 100 a 200 mots et indiquer : le titre de la communication, le nom, l’institution de rattachement, les coordonnees (e-mail, telephone, fax) et un curriculum vitae abrege de l’auteur, dans un seul dossier, de preference en MS-Word. Les propositions pour des seances completes, des panels ou des tables rondes, doivent contenir ces elements pour chacun des participants, de meme que pour le president/discutant pressenti. (Les organisateurs peuvent proposer des presidents et des discutants, si necessaire.) En raison du nombre limite de salles equipees, il est essentiel d’indiquer d’emblee si vous avez besoin d’equipements audiovisuels.

Les propositions doivent etre envoyees par courriel a l’adresse suivante : [email protected]. Les personnes souhaitant presider une seance doivent envoyer une declaration d’interet, leurs coordonnees et un CV abrege. La date limite pour les propositions de communication sera le 1er novembre 2009.

La FCHS est une association independante, sans autre source de financement que les cotisations de ses adherents. L’adhesion a la societe est obligatoire pour participer au congres. Malheureusement, la Society ne peut prendre en charge ni le voyage, ni le sejour des intervenants au congres. N’hesitez pas a consulter le site Internet de la Society pour de plus amples informations (http://www.frenchcolonial.org).

Si vous avez des questions sur l’adhesion a la Society, contactez Elizabeth Foster, Tresoriere ([email protected]). Si vous avez des questions sur l’organisation du congres,

John Jay Descendent Makes Gift of Early Historic Drawings

admin

John Clarkson Jay, Jr. of Massachusetts, a direct descendant of Founding Father, John Jay, together with his wife Emily, has donated two original family drawings to the permanent collection of the Jay Heritage Center. One is a watercolor and the other a pencil sketch- both depict the Jay family’s original home, “The Locusts” and its landscape in Rye circa 1745. John Jay’s family moved to Rye from Manhattan when he was only 3 months old and purchased an expanse of 250 acres between Long Island Sound and the Boston Post Road.

From his childhood upbringing in Rye, John Jay went on to serve in every branch of US government including roles as first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, two term governor of New York State, co-author of the Federalist Papers and negotiator of the Jay Treaty. He is buried in Rye with his family and descendants in a private cemetery. Upon visiting the Jay Property in 1976, the late Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun said, &#8220It was a place that struck me then as symbolic of what was impressive about certain aspects of the latter part of the 18th century—gracious living and status to be sure, but coupled with a sense of responsibility, particularly to government and to the art of getting along together&#8230-I am certain that all of us who are here today join in saluting the Jay family for its significant contributions that meant so much when this Nation that we all love was in its precarious infancy.”

“The Locusts” farmhouse will be a recognizable subject to those familiar with another artist’s work, that of renowned American modernist painter Guy Pene du Bois (1884-1958). Du Bois was a student of Robert Henri and a contemporary of Edward Hopper. Since 1938, du Bois’ mural of John Jay and “The Locusts” has adorned the interior of the Caroline O’Day Post Office in Rye. The composition of this WPA work was based on the very same 19th century sketches of the Jay home that have now been donated to the Jay Heritage Center.

While “The Locusts” no longer exists &#8211the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House was built atop its footprint&#8211 builders of the Greek Revival mansion salvaged original nails and timbers from the earlier farmhouse and used them in the new construction. The house is currently open for Sunday tours and visitors can see where these fragments were reincorporated into the building.

The newly acquired Jay drawings will be unveiled to the public on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at “Jay Day!” 1:00- 5:00pm. Several of the Jay descendants will also be on hand for this celebration of a legacy preserved. The JHC hopes that the community will be able to see firsthand how beautiful the Jays’ Rye estate once was and imagine it restored to glory and usefulness again.