Documenting Leadership: Symposium on Public Executive Records

The New York State Archives Partnership Trust and the Albany Law School’s Government Law Center have joined forces to sponsor a two-day event focused on the need for effective record keeping by elected government executives. Entitled Documenting Leadership: A Symposium on Public Executive Records in the 21st Century, the program is designed to explore the importance of the records generated by governors and other
high ranking elected public executives, such as presidents, attorneys general, and mayors. The symposium will be held on the Albany Law School campus, New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY on May 20-21.

Panelists for the program are coming from throughout the nation and represent government, the media, academia, and law. Among the presenters will be former U.S. Attorney General and former Governor of Pennsylvania Richard Thornburgh, nationally renowned presidential historian Richard Norton Smith, and former NYS Comptroller Ned Regan.

Sessions will include: Public Policy and the Public Interest- Transparency, Executive Records, and the Media- Executive Records: Access and Disclosure- Access in the Digital Age- and Executive Records as Legacy.

The event is free and open to the public. For information about the program and to register, go to www.albanylaw.edu/executiverecords/

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. To Appear in Albany

The State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust have organized an evening honoring Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. with the Empire State Archives and History Award on October 26th at the Egg in the Empire State Plaza. The event promises an &#8220engaging evening of conversation between nationally renowned scholar of African American studies,&#8221 who along with nationally prominent Lincoln Scholar Harold Holzer, will discuss Dr. Gates’ life, work and passion for history.

A literary critic, educator, scholar, writer, editor, and public intellectual, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. Gates hosted the 2006 and 2008 PBS television miniseries African American Lives, which explored the genealogy of prominent African Americans. He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University, where he is also Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.

The event will be held Monday, October 26, 2009 at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $10 per person- for reservations call The Egg Box Office at (518) 473-1845.

In advance of the program, a reception to honor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will be held at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts, from 5:30-7:00 pm.

Members of the Trust &#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-..$50.00 a person
Become a Member and attend reception&#8230-..$65.00 a person
Non-Members&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-&#8230-..$75.00 a person

All reception attendees will also receive a complimentary ticket to the 7:30 pm program in The Egg. If attending the reception you do not need to make a separate reservation at The Egg Box Office.

To learn more about the reception please contact Grazia Yaeger, manager of membership & special initiatives, Archives Partnership Trust at (518) 474-1228 with questions. Reservations are not confirmed until payment is received.

RVSP by October 20, 2009.

Proceeds from this event will go to support the projects of the New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust.

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

Presidential Historian Wins Archives and History Award

Best selling author and historian Michael Beschloss, a scholar named by Newsweek magazine as “the nation’s leading Presidential historian,” will be in Albany, Wednesday, Oct. 22 to receive the New York State Archives Partnership Trust’s 2008 Empire State Archives and History Award. The hour-long conversation on the upcoming Presidential election and awards ceremony will be held at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts at the Empire State Plaza at 7:30 p.m.

According to New York State Archivist and Trust CEO Christine W. Ward, Mr. Beschlosswas selected to receive the award based upon his rich and distinguished career as one of this nation’s leading interpreters of the American Presidency. “We are honored to, once again, have Mr. Beschloss return to Albany as we honor him for his decades of extraordinary scholarship on many of the nation’s most recent presidents, as well as the components of Presidential character,” she said.

A native of Chicago, Mr. Beschloss has an extraordinary academic pedigree, having attended Andover, Williams (where he studied under the legendary Williams’ College professorJames McGregor Burns) and Harvard. In recognition of his accomplishments to the world of academe, he has received three honorary doctorates.

A prolific contributor to the national dialogue on the American Presidency, Mr. Beschloss has written nine books on American Presidents. His most recent two books, Presidential Courage (2007) and The Conquerors (2002), were each on the New York Times bestseller list for months. Presidential Courage was #1 on the Washington Post bestseller list. The Conquerors was Amazon.com’s top bestselling history book of the year.

Mr. Beschloss’s previous books include two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s secret tapes, which a New York Times editorial called “an important event,” and The Crisis Years, which the New Yorker called the “definitive” history of John Kennedy and the Cold War.

A regular commentator of national prestige, Mr. Beschloss serves as the NBC NewsPresidential Historian, the first time a major television network created such a position. He appears on all NBC News programs, hosting a regular segment on NBC’s Today show called “American Minute with Michael Beschloss.” He is also a commentator on PBS’s “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” and writes a regular column for Newsweek called “Traveling through History with Michael Beschloss.”

The Empire State Archives and History Award was inaugurated in 2005 to honor national figures who, through their achievements, have advanced the understanding and uses of history within our society. Previous winners have included: C-SPAN founder and CEO Brian Lamb, actor Sam Waterston for his efforts to bring Abraham Lincoln and other characters from U.S. history to life on stage and screen, and Pulitzer Prize winning writer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Title sponsors for the New York State Archives Partnership Trust’s signature event are Time Warner Cable and History. Premier sponsors include: Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture and Engineering P.C., Greenberg Traurig, Key Private Bank, New York State United Teachers, Times Union, and New York Council for the Humanities. Supporting sponsors include: 2K Design- 74 State- Berkshire Bank- Chateau LaFayette Reneau- Edward Ryan- Janney Montgomery Scott LLC- McCadam Cheese- WAMC Northeast Public Radio- Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, Attorneys at Law- and Wojeski & Co., CPAs, P.C.

Tickets for the Empire State Archives and History Award are $10 and are available at The Egg Box Office. Invitations to a private fund-raising reception with Mr. Beschloss may be obtained by calling (518) 474-1228.

NYS Archives Research Residency Program

The Archives Partnership Trust and the New York State Archives announce the availability of awards to support research using state government records held by the Archives. The Larry J. Hackman Research Residency program is intended to encourage product-related research in such areas as history, law, public policy, geography, and culture by covering research-related expenses such as travel, lodging, meals, and copying of records. Award amounts have ranged from $100 to $4,500.

Academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers and writers, and primary and secondary school teachers are encouraged to apply. Projects involving alternative uses of the State Archives, such as background research for multimedia projects, exhibits, documentary films, and historical novels, are eligible. The topic or area of study must draw, at least in part, on the holdings of the New York State Archives.

Information on the 2009 Larry J. Hackman Research Residency Program and application forms are available online at www.nysarchivestrust.org For further information contact the Archives Partnership Trust, Cultural Education Center, Suite 9C49, Albany, New York 12230- (518) 473 7091. Applications must be postmarked by January 15, 2009.