History, Natural History & the Arts
Mention It, Don’t Insist
These words of wisdom
Respect boundaries
Keep friendships
Defuse enemies
And are more likely
To give you what you want
Mention it, don’t insist
Lawrence Venturato has authored numerous literary works of public interest.
I admit to being one of those people who perhaps overly prepares for winter in Upstate New York. We have a generator for our 200-year-old home because we live in a place where the power goes out. I have a “winter bag” with blankets, flashlight, water, and granola bars as well as a very large brush and ice scraper in my car.
In the Museum Association of New York office in Troy, we keep extra jackets on hand and cover the windows with plastic to hold back wind blowing off the Hudson River. [Read more…] about Museums, Historical Societies: Be Prepared for Winter
The Bacon Hill community in Saratoga County is the subject of an upcoming local history documentary, which will premiere in special screenings in March.
The documentary is part of the Forgotten Crossroads series of videos which tells the history and stories of people living in still-existing communities that started in the early days of the county. [Read more…] about Bacon Hill Hamlet is Focus of Saratoga History Center Video
“
Lotsa Screes in here tonight,” Willard spoke low. “Puts me in mind of a he-scree I see up in Hawk’s Nest one fall when I was trappin’.”
And so began a story that would enliven the trailside or campsite for those who had the privilege to spend time with Willard Howland. Little has been written about the life of this woodsman beyond bits and pieces of the stories he told. It could even be said that his tales, everything from experiences in the woods, to amazing fantasy creatures that inhabited his wilderness, tell more of who Willard was than anything a written history could reveal. [Read more…] about Woodsman Willard Howland and his Amazing Critters
Stairway from Heaven
My nephew, now a noted astrophysicist,
toddled down steep, awkward cabin stairs
one extended-family Adirondack vacation,
to ask each of the adults: “Are I baby Jesus?”
Now, perhaps, his cosmic inwardness basks
amidst so-called heavens with an expansive
sense of reality suitably immense enough
to encompass whatever reality may proffer,
knowing that, despite dark matter and deaths
of stars, nothing but nothing that breathes air
is ever alone in this world.
In this episode of the Becoming Barnum podcast, we dive into P.T. Barnum‘s 1846 letters to his uncle Alanson Taylor. He shares his business advice for their partnership in the Baltimore Museum, emphasizing the importance of good systems, press relations, and gradual improvements.
He also expresses disdain for previous museum managers and their lack of physical improvements. [Read more…] about Becoming Barnum: Going It Like a Rush
Elite white women in the British Atlantic world commemorated transitions in their lives with shellwork grottos, shadow box scenes, dollhouses, and dolls. While these objects usually marked marriages or the births of children, they often did not depict these milestones. [Read more…] about Nostalgia and the Miniature in Eighteenth-Century Women’s Work
In this episode of the Becoming Barnum podcast, explore the letters P.T. Barnum wrote on New Year’s Day in 1846 as he navigated his business dealings on both sides of the Atlantic and grappled with the difficult decision of whether to return home during his wife’s confinement. From business schemes to the challenges of managing a family across the ocean, this episode offers a unique insight into the mind of the legendary showman. [Read more…] about Becoming PT Barnum: New Year’s Day, 1846
The coffee habit was introduced into Western Europe in the mid-seventeenth century. The emergence of the London coffeehouse transformed various aspects of intellectual and commercial life. Lloyd’s insurance, the postal system and the auction house are some of the institutions that trace their origins back to the coffeehouse.
At a time that journalism was in its infancy, the coffeehouse provided a center of communication and news dissemination. It served as a forum of discussion, often becoming a hotbed of political strife and faction. Coffeehouse culture helped shape the public sphere of the Enlightenment. [Read more…] about The Queen of Greenwich Village: Romany Marie Marchand
In this episode of the Becoming Barnum podcast, we learn about P.T. Barnum’s thoughts on personal wealth, honor, and “gulling” the public, as well as his religious beliefs and values.
We explore letters written in December 1845 in which Barnum discusses his wife’s pregnancy, his acquisition of paintings of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and his efforts to persuade others of his Universalist beliefs. Don’t miss this fascinating look into the personal and financial life of P.T. Barnum in the 19th century. [Read more…] about PT Barnum’s Personal Life