The Story of Newburgh: A Creative Community Collaboration

Newburgh SpanishThe Sound and Story Project whose mission is to strengthen community through the power of listening, and the Newburgh Free Library invites the community to participate in the making of a multimedia documentary featuring their personal impressions of Newburgh. “Our Story,” a collaborative multimedia program, will take place at the Library on June 1, 2013 from 10:00 – 4:00. Contact Chuck Thomas at 845-3614 to reserve a space.

Community members, assisted by local artists Eileen McAdam, Mia Lobel, Ilene Cutler, and Mariel Fiori, will record stories, take photos and shoot video to tell the story of Newburgh through their eyes. From the material collected and the participant’s impressions, The Sound and Story Project will produce a multimedia presentation that will premier during a public celebration at the Newburgh Free Library. Read more

Torcedores: Gothams Hispanic Cigar Rollers at Work

NYC Cigar StoreIt now seems hard to believe that for most of the latter part of the 19th century, New York City was the cigar making capital of the United States.

New York State as a whole had 364 cities and towns with 4,495 cigar factories and 1,875 (41%) of these were operating in mid and lower Manhattan. The island which then comprised the City, made 10 times the number of cigars as Havana, Cuba.

At the city’s peak before WWI and the beginning of the Machine-Age, approximately 3,000 factories, including many of America’s largest, rolled cigars in Manhattan. Read more

Spain’s Gift to Catholic New York

St. Peters c. 1785It is hard to imagine now but in the 18th century New York City and much of the rest of the thirteen British colonies of America, it was practically illegal to be a Roman Catholic. Widespread anti-Catholicism was a side effect of the Catholic-Protestant wars of 17th century Europe and the geo-political rivalries between the English Crown and the allied Franco Spanish Kingdoms for control of the Americas.

The anti-Catholic animosity &#8211 Leyenda Negra the Spanish called it &#8211 was ingrained into the psyche of the largely Protestant British immigrants who came to dominate North America in the wake of the arrival of the Pilgrims and other fundamentalists in the early 1600s. Read more

American Latino Heritage Focus of Road Trip

Five of the nation’s top Latino social media influencers are setting off on Saturday on a road trip with the shared mission of visiting historic sites protected by the National Park Service that honor the contributions of Latinos throughout American history.

Organized by the American Latino Heritage Fund in partnership with Hispanicize 2013 and PapiBlogger.com founder Manny Ruiz, and with the support by automotive sponsor Chevrolet and telecommunications partner Verizon, this unique social media project is expected to raise awareness of, and support for, the American Latino Heritage Fund. The Fund strives to tell of a more inclusive story of American History by preserving, celebrating and promoting the cultural, economic and civic contributions of Latinos to the American story.

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New York Folklore Society Latino Artists Gathering

The New York Folklore Society, in collaboration with Go Art!, will hold its second Latino Artists’ Gathering on March 19, 2011 At the Homestead Event Center, Batavia City Center, Batavia, New York.

Supported by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, the gatherings provide an opportunity for Latino artists residing in non-metropolitan New York State to come together to discuss issues and solve common problems. March’s theme will be &#8220Challenges and Opportunities for Traditional Artists in Rural New York&#8221, and we will hear of some of the current initiatives being tried to link artists across distances.

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CFP: Latino Folk Culture, Expressive Traditions

The New York Folklore Society has announced a Graduate Student Conference on Latino Folk Culture and Expressive Traditions to be held on November 20, 2010 at New York University, 20 Cooper Square, 4th Floor, NYC.

For over 65 years, the New York Folklore Society (NYFS) has held an annual conference, typically with guest speakers, such as master artists and academic scholars, who have addressed a particular theme. This year, in collaboration with NYU’s Latino Studies and Latin American Studies Departments, NYFS seeks to encourage young scholars to continue their studies and become active contributors to the fields of folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology and more. Read more

CFP: Latino Folk Culture and Expressive Traditions

For over 65 years, the New York Folklore Society (NYFS) has held an annual conference, typically with guest speakers, such as master artists and academic scholars, who have addressed a particular theme. This year, in collaboration with NYU’s Latino Studies and Latin American Studies Departments, we invite graduate students to present their work on Latino Folk Culture and Expressive Traditions.

In this way, students will be given a platform at a local conference to share their work and connect with other young academics from around the state. The NYFS seeks to
encourage young scholars to continue their studies and become active contributors to the fields of folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology and more. Read more

Atlantic World Literacies: Before and After Contact

Atlantic World Literacies: Before and After Contact will be a an international, interdisciplinary conference sponsored by the Atlantic World Research Network, October 7-9, 2010 at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Elliott University Center. Featured Speakers will include
Laurent DuBois (Professor of French and History, Duke University), Susan Manning (Professor of English, University of Edinburgh), Peter Mark (Professor of Art History and African-American Studies, Wesleyan University), and Julio Ortega (Professor of Hispanic Studies, Brown University). Read more

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