History, Natural History & the Arts
The Copake Iron Works historic site in Taconic State Park has been designated a Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Site.
The recognition, awarded through the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, in partnership with the National Park Service, recognizes the Copake Iron Works as a nationally-significant cultural and natural resource of the Hudson River Valley. [Read more…] about Copake Iron Works Designated National Heritage Site
Daniel Czitrom’s new book New York Exposed: The Gilded Age Police Scandal that Launched the Progressive Era (Oxford University Press, 2016) offers a narrative history of the Lexow Committee, which the author considers the first major crusade to clean up Gotham.
Czitrom tells this story within the larger contexts of national politics, poverty, patronage, vote fraud and vote suppression, and police violence. The effort to root out corrupt cops and crooked politicians morphed into something much more profound: a public reckoning over what New York had become since the Civil War. [Read more…] about New York Exposed: The Lexow Committee
New York’s Historic Inns, Restaurants, and Taverns (Globe Pequot Press, 2016) explores the history of over forty institutions throughout New York City and the Hudson Valley that are still in existence today. Travel to the tavern where George Washington hosted a farewell dinner for his officers at the close of the American Revolution. Eat steak at one of the city’s oldest steakhouses. Rest your head in one of the original houses built by Dutch colonists in the Hudson Valley. Part historical record and part travelogue, the book tells tales about the region’s most historical and storied establishments. [Read more…] about New York’s Historic Inns, Restaurants, and Taverns
The ancient Egyptians believed that to make rebirth possible for a deceased woman, she briefly had to turn into a man. In A Woman’s Afterlife: Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt, the Brooklyn Museum presents new research to tell the story of gender transformation in the ancient world.
Opening on December 15, the exhibition showcases 25 works from the Museum’s celebrated Egyptian collection to explore the differences between male and female access to the afterlife. The exhibition is part of A Year of Yes: Reimagining Feminism at the Brooklyn Museum, a yearlong project celebrating a decade of feminist thinking at the Brooklyn Museum. [Read more…] about Gender Transformation in Ancient Egypt Exhibit
Tour the 1754 house of John and Catherine Ellison from 5 to 8 pm on Saturday December 10th, decorated for Christmas and staffed by Revolutionary War era costumed interpreters.
For two Christmases, John and Catherine Ellison shared their home with the officers and soldiers of the Continental Army. Over the winter of 1780-81, General Henry Knox, his wife Lucy and their children Henry and Lucy were there, while two years later it was General Horatio Gates and his military family of aides de camp who shared in the season’s festivities. [Read more…] about Christmas at Knox’s Headquarters December 10th
The film IRONWEED, adapted for the screen by William Kennedy from his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will be shown on Friday, December 9, 2016 at 7 pm in Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the University at Albany downtown campus. The screening is a 30th anniversary celebration of its filming in Albany. Prior to the screening at 6:30 pm Kennedy will offer film commentary and reminiscences of the film’s production. The celebration will also include raffle giveaways and a reception following the screening. [Read more…] about Ironweed 30th Anniversary Screening, Celebration
The New York State Archives has invited students statewide to enter the 27th Annual Student Research Awards Contest. The contest is open to all New York State students in grades 4 – 12 who use historical records in their research projects.
The deadline for entries is July 1, 2017. Three awards will be presented in the fall of 2017. [Read more…] about NYS Archives Student Research Awards Contest
In conjunction with the City of Johnstown’s Colonial Stroll holiday activities, Johnson Hall State Historic Site will hold a Holiday Open House on Friday, December 2 from 6 to 8:30 pm. [Read more…] about Johnson Hall Holiday Open House December 2nd
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Schoharie County Historian Ted Shuart during the last of this year’s Tuesday Talk series. Shuart will present on the historic role that the Schoharie Creek has played in NYS History with a presentation called: “How a river shaped History; the unique role of the Schoharie Creek in the settlement of upstate New York” on November 29th. [Read more…] about How the Schoharie Creek Shaped History (Tuesday)
Garth Risk Hallberg will discuss and read from his international bestseller City on Fire (2015) at 8 pm on Tuesday, November 29 in University of Albany’s Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue in Albany.
His debut novel was named one of the best books of 2015 by The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Vogue.
City on Fire is set in New York City and spans a seven month period between New Year’s Eve 1976 through the city’s blackouts in July of 1977. The story revolves around a varied web of characters — two estranged heirs to one of the city’s great fortunes; two suburban teenagers involved in Manhattan’s punk scene; a magazine reporter; and a detective — whose lives interconnect around a shooting in Central Park. [Read more…] about ‘City On Fire’ Novelist Garth Risk Hallberg Reading Tuesday