Events Will Mark 1964 Civil Rights Act 50th Anniversary

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800px-Lyndon_Johnson_signing_Civil_Rights_Act,_July_2,_1964Women’s Rights National Historical Park will offer a special program and kick-off event “1964 Civil Rights Act Revisited” with park ranger Jamie Wolfe and volunteer Harlene Gilbert on June 22 at 11:00 AM in the Wesleyan Chapel.

In recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Women’s Rights National Historical Park will sponsor a year-long series of programs titled “Keep the Dream Alive” Events. The kick-off program will correspond with the introduction of the most prominent civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. Read more →

A Unique North Country Civil War Connection

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Plaque 77th Reg NYS Vol NYH1It’s guaranteed that you’re going to enjoy this, another unique North Country link to the Civil War. It sounds like something culled from the pages of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and begs the question: what the heck are the odds of that happening?

Though I can’t answer the question, I do recall that in my former employment, it was notable when three men all having the same first name worked in the same department. So what can you say about “The One-Legged Jims,” a group of three Civil War veterans? Read more →

Getting Played: Andrew Cuomos 400 Special History Events

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Path Through historyFrom a press release issued on May 31, 2013:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that more than 400 special (emphasis added) events are planned for New York State’s Path Through History Weekends and Museum Week at venues throughout the state&#8230-. &#8220Last year, we launched Path Through History to highlight the rich cultural history of New York and to boost tourism in our state,&#8221 Governor Cuomo said. &#8220This weekend is the start of the Path Through History Weekends as well as Museum Week, which will offer some of the best opportunities for families, history buffs, and students to explore over 500 historic institutions and sites in communities all across the state. I encourage New Yorkers to take advantage of these events this summer.&#8221

Aren’t you excited to know that more than 400 special events were planned for these two weekends and the following week in June? Aren’t you eager to see the results of the all the regional planning sessions and state leadership that has gone into creating the special events? Read more →

This Weeks New York History Web Highlights

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An Innovative 3D, Augmented Reality Shaker Village Project

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virtual-geShaker Heritage Society recently completed a dynamic on-line resource called Virtual Watervliet (VWV).  Virtual Watervliet provides a high quality experience via a website or mobile application that helps users better understand the significance and development of America’s first Shaker settlement.

At the core of VWV, is the digital reconstruction of all known Shaker structures built in the publically accessible areas of the Watervliet Shaker National Historic District since the late 18th century.  The digital reconstruction allows users to fly through the historic site and to rotate 3D models of historic Shaker architecture. Read more →

When The City Celebrated The Queensboro Bridge

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936full-manhattan-posterOn June 12, 1909, New York City began an eight-day celebration of the connection of the East Side of Manhattan with Long Island City in Queens with the Queensboro Bridge, designed by Henry Hornbostel.

Though it officially opened to traffic on March 30, 1909, the June festivities drew over 300,000 people (larger than the population of Queens at the time) to see the bridge lit up with electricity, and hear 1,500 children sing the &#8220Star-Spangled Banner&#8221 in its honor. It meant that crossing the East River was no longer an obstacle to the development of the borough of Queens. Read more →

NYS History Conference Features William Seward Talk

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seward bookWalter Stahr, the author of Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man, speaks tomorrow June 7 in Cooperstown. His talk, the keynote address at the 2013 Conference on New York State History, begins at 7:30 pm in the Fenimore Art Museum Auditorium and is open to the public. The cost is $5.00.

William Seward, widely known for arranging the purchase of the Alaskan territory from Russia, was one of the most important Americans of the nineteenth century. He was a progressive governor of New York and an outspoken federal senator.  As secretary of state, he became Lincoln’s closest friend and adviser during the Civil War. He was also a target of the assassins who killed Lincoln. Read more →

Musician Blind Tom: Black Pianist and Entertainer

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3b30858rIn June 1874, music lovers in Northern New York were excited. For the second time in three years, Blind Tom, the world-renowned black pianist and entertainer and arguably the first black superstar to perform in the U.S., was coming to Malone. For years after the Civil War, he had been wowing audiences throughout the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, continental Europe, and South America with his one-man show which was part vaudeville and part classical piano music.

Tom had many talents including the ability to: play the piano, coronet, French horn and flute- sing and recite speeches of well-known politicians in Greek, Latin, German and French- mimic any music a member of the audience might offer for him to hear- and use his voice to make the sounds of locomotives, bagpipes, banjos and music boxes. While singing one song, he could play a second with his right hand, and a third with the left. Read more →