The faded color and worn edges of this “Bow Ties” quilt bespeak the toll of the long days of World War II in the Netherlands. There is still time to see this and other authentic WWII relief quilts in an interpretive exhibit at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY. The exhibit includes a DVD with An Keuning-Tichelaar telling how she received and distributed the quilts to refugees in war-torn Netherlands.
“Passing on the Comfort: World War II, Quilts & The Women Who Made a Difference” offers a rare look into world history, heartbreak and humanity Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 5 pm. The New York Council for the Humanities- the Mennonite Heritage Association, Croghan, NY- the Town of Hounsfield, National Grid, Key Bank Foundation- and the Seaway Trail Foundation, and volunteer docents are making this exhibit possible for the first time in New York state. More info: 315-646-1000, www.seawaytrail.com.
Newspaper Vital Records Index Reaches 50,000 Entries
Bob Sullivan of the Schenectady Digital History Archive at the Schenectady County Public Library has announced that the organization’s obituary index has passed the 50,000-citation mark. The index includes scattered records from Schenectady newspapers before 1822, more complete coverage from 1822 to 1858, some later 1800s, 1902, 1993 to mid-1995, and Dec. 2005 to date. Some other papers from neighboring areas are also included from 2005 to date including regional papers such as the Saratogian, the Gloversville Leader-Herald and the Glens Falls Post-Star. Also available are some years of the Hamilton County News, the Business Review, the Jewish World and the Evangelist.
Most of the newspapers are available in the collections of the Schenectady County Public Library or the Schenectady County Historical Society. See “What Newspapers Are Included?” and “How May I Obtain Copies?” at the top of each obituary page for more information about specific dates and holding libraries.
The index can be accessed here http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/vitalrecords/
New Netherland Project Featured in New Documentary
The New York State Library’s New Netherland Project is featured in the documentary “Uncovering America’s Forgotten Colony: The New Netherland Project.” The documentary focuses on the work of Dr. Charles Gehring and his colleagues and highlights more than 30 years of uncovering America’s forgotten Dutch colonial history through the transcription and translation of the official archives of New Netherland. The documentary “Uncovering America’s Forgotten Colony: The New Netherland Project” was produced by Mogul One Productions in partnership with the New Netherland Institute. DVDs are available for $19.95, at http://ForPeopleWhoThink.com. Fifty percent of the proceeds will go to support future work of the New Netherland Project.
One of the most unique history projects in America, the New Netherland Project provided the documentation and inspiration for Russell Shorto’s recent best seller, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America
A program of the New York State Library, the New Netherland Project has been working since 1974 to translate and publish the official 17th-century Dutch colonial documents of one of America’s earliest settled regions. Originally created under the sponsorship of the New York State Library and the Holland Society of New York, the New Netherland Project has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the New York State Office of Cultural Education. Translated documents and other work by the New Netherland Project can be accessed at www.nnp.org.
Also based on the work of the New Netherland Project, the exhibit Light on New Netherland is the first to introduce adults and children to the scope of the 17th century colony of New Netherland. Previously on view at the State Museum in Albany, the exhibit will tour the regions once encompassed by New Netherland, appearing at venues to include the GaGa Arts Center in West Haverstraw, New York- the Museum of Connecticut History at the Connecticut State Library in Hartford- the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities in Cold Spring Harbor, New York- Federal Hall in Manhattan- and the FDR Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York.
The book Explorers, Fortunes and Love Letters (Mount Ida Press)
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Underwater Explorer Presents Lake Ontario Shipwrecks
Noted shipwreck explorer Jim Kennard will present an all-day program on the “Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario” on Saturday, June 13 as part of the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series. Kennard’s discoveries have received worldwide attention and have been featured in National Geographic Magazine. The program at the “Red Barn” at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site on Hill Street in Sackets Harbor benefits the nonprofit Great Lakes Seaway Trail Foundation that promotes tourism-based learning experiences along the 518-mile-long freshwater shoreline of New York and Pennsylvania. The program fee for the day-long shipwrecks program on June 13th is $15 or $5/program payable at the door.
The waters of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail hold many of the more than 200 wrecks Kennard has discovered in more than 35 years of diving. Each of his four presentations on May 21st will focus on a different wreck that Kennard and exploration partner Dan Scoville have discovered over the past six years in Lake Ontario. The program begins at 10 am and will include presentations on:
“Discovery of the Steamer Homer Warren,”
“The Last Voyage of the Schooner Etta Belle,”
“Discovery of an Early 19th Century Lake Ontario Schooner,” and
“The Deep Water Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario.”
During each program Kennard will present a brief update & short video on HMS Ontario, a British sloop-of-war that sank in Lake Ontario on October 31, 1780, during the Revolutionary War. Kennard also be signing copies of the recently-published book “Legend of the Lake,” the story of the HMS Ontario.
Since 1970, Kennard has discovered shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, NY Finger Lakes, and Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Using his background as an electrical engineer, Kennard built the side scan sonar system that located the shipwrecks.
For more information on the Great Lake Seaway Trail and the Dive the Seaway Trail Project, visit www.seawaytrail.com or call 315-646-1000.
This Weeks Top New York History News
- Preview of Vintage Aircraft Show
- Schenectady Co. History & Heritage Day
- Dutch Help Fund Hudson Celebration
- Tinsmith: 18th Century Comes to Life
- River Towns Gear up For Flotilla
- Expose: Parks Commissioner’s Mansion
- Riding History Aboard The Half Moon
- Ontario Border Guards Flee Mohawks
- Historic Diner Moves Local Museum
- UVM Adjuncts Contract Impasse
Weekly New York History Blogging Round-Up
- Tenement Museum Blog: A Tale of Two Garment Districts
- Upstate Earth: Historic Hudson Red Light District
- Warwick, NY Local History: New Milford Fire of 1900
- The Kingston Lounge: Fort Totten Army Hospital
- Ephemeral New York: The Marx Brothers’ Yorkville Tenement
- Brooklynology: Library Budget Cuts – A Recurring Theme
- The Bowery Boys: Prospect Park, Olmsted and Vaux
- Adirondack Almanack: Canadian Guns on Mohawk Land, 400 Years Later
- Champlain’s Journal: Preparing For Exploration
La Escuela Electronica / The Electronic Schoolhouse
The New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust have announced La Escuela Electronica/The Electronic Schoolhouse, a bilingual website for teachers focusing on the Latino experience in New York. Using historical records such as photographs, letters, flyers, broadsides and more dating from 1861 to the present, the website combines historical records and technology to promote the development of critical thinking skills, reading and writing skills, understanding historical content and context. Read more
Adirondack Museum Offers More Quilt Exhibits
The Adirondack Museum has launched a new online exhibit, “Common Threads: 150 Year of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters” that will share quilts and Adirondack quilting history. The online exhibit includes quilts, text, and historic photographs and is a companion piece to a special exhibition, also named “Common Threads” that will open to the public at the Blue Mountain Lake museum on May 22, 2009.
The exhibit will include more than forty quilts: historic pieces from the Adirondack Museum’s textile collection, as well as contemporary quilts, comforters, and pieced wall hangings on loan from quilters in communities throughout the region. Demonstrations of handwork will accompany the exhibit throughout the summer. According to an Adirondack Museum announcement:
The Adirondack region has supported an active pieced-textile tradition for over a century and a half. From bedcovers, plain or fancy, meant to keep families warm through long Adirondack winters, to stunning art quilts of the twenty-first century, the quilts and comforters of the North Country mirror national trends and also tell a unique story of life in the mountains. “Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters” explores the themes of women’s work, domestic life, social networks in a rural area, generational continuity among women, and women’s artistic response to life in the Adirondacks.
“Common Threads” will include a family-friendly discovery area where kids can explore pattern and design, try simple stitching on child-sized quilt frames, or enjoy illustrated quilt-themed children’s books. The Adirondack Museum has also developed a special “Toddler Tour” of the quilt exhibit “that will lead the smallest visitors on a fun (and fast) search for color, shapes, and animals among the quilts on display.”
Museum Curator Hallie Bond will offer an illustrated Monday Evening Lecture on July, 27, 2009 entitled “Common Threads – Adirondack Quilts Tell Their Stories.” The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the Auditorium.
The Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival will be held on September 12, 2009. A celebration of traditional and contemporary fiber arts, the Festival will include demonstrations, a juried artisan’s market, and hands-on activities. In addition, folksinger, song writer Peggy Lynn will offer a special musical presentation, “A Stitch in Time: Songs Celebrating the Art and Heritage of Quilting.”
Ulster County Dutch Records Database To Go Online
Ulster County Clerk and Quadricentennial Committee Co-Chair, Nina Postupack has announced that a new database “The English Translations of the Dutch Colonial Records” will go online June 12th. The new database features keyword searches of the Dingman Versteeg
In 1895, Kingston Judge Alphonso T. Clearwater had the early Dutch records of his city examined by Dingman Versteeg, the official translator of the Holland Society. Judge Clearwater then pushed to have the records translated at the expense of Ulster County. The translations were indexed shortly after their completion and are the source of the online database “Ulster County Archive’s Deed Book 1,2 & 3 Index.” The new database will be an expanded version that also includes the Dutch Court and Secretary’s Papers volume 1, 2 and 3. These records are the earliest court and land records of Ulster County.
They will be available on line at www.co.ulster.ny.us/archives/database.html