New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Arts

Albany Artist Walter Launt Palmer: A Short Biography

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image008Artist Walter Launt Palmer (1854–1932), the son of Albany sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer, enjoyed a revival of interest in the art world in the 2010s. It became common to see his paintings in art magazines and at major auctions across the country, bringing record prices for his oils and watercolors.

As an artist who preferred living and working in his home community of Albany, rather than New York City, Palmer carried forward the creative genius that emerged in the region generations earlier with the Hudson River School and his father’s own sculpture. [Read more…] about Albany Artist Walter Launt Palmer: A Short Biography

Museum Planning, Travel Grants Available

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MANY LogoThe New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) has provided $102,000 to be distributed by the Museum Association of New York (MANY) between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2015.

During this period MANY will offer “Mini-Grants” and “Travel Grants.” This program replaces Get Ready, Get Set, Go! the Grants for Museum Advancement. [Read more…] about Museum Planning, Travel Grants Available

NYS Arts Council Awards $36 Million

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nysca logoThe New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) has announced it has awarded $36 million in 1,899 grants to 1,242 New York State non-profit organizations to supports arts, culture and heritage organizations in New York State.

NYSCA awards grants in 16 program areas representing a cross-section of artistic disciplines and funding goals. Across the disciplines, grants support arts, culture and heritage programming; organizational operations; individual artists’ projects; additional granting opportunities, known as ‘regrants’ and services to the field. The agency also administers $674,000 in federal grant funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. [Read more…] about NYS Arts Council Awards $36 Million

The REDCs, History and the NYS Council on the Arts

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REDC RegionsThis posts is the third in a series of posts examining the awards approved by the Regional
Economic Development Councils (REDC) from the perspective of the Path through History.

Below is a list of projects which were found based on the term “history” for the search criteria. Although there are not many grants with a specifically historical-focus, the ones that do tend to be funded by New York State Council on the Arts as part of its Culture & Heritage Project Grant. Below are the awards for 2014 by the Council of Arts that are relevant to the history community. [Read more…] about The REDCs, History and the NYS Council on the Arts

Update On MANY’s 2015 Legislative Priorities

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MANY LogoThe Museum Association of New York (MANY) has announced that the Museum Education Act is ready for introduction in the New York State Legislature and has outlined its priorities for 2015, including support for the Commission on New York State History Bill.

“We have held a series of meetings with the staff of the Office of Cultural Education and finalized the language of the [museum education] bill as well as planned a strategy with them for the 2015 Legislative Session,” an announcement to supporters said. [Read more…] about Update On MANY’s 2015 Legislative Priorities

Washington Irving’s Spooky Tale of Mamakating Hollow

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IrvingIt was once without question the best known ghost story set in Sullivan County, written by one of America’s most respected writers, and yet it is largely unknown today.

It combines detailed descriptions of the rich and bountiful beauty of this area in the 19th century with cleverly conceived ghouls as hideous as any in American literature.

It is Washington Irving’s 1838 short story “Hans Swartz: A Marvelous Tale of Mamakating Hollow” and it is still appropriate reading this Halloween season, more than 170 years after it was penned. [Read more…] about Washington Irving’s Spooky Tale of Mamakating Hollow

AMC’s ‘Turn’: Lively Fiction, But Tenuous Connections to Fact

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TURN-Official-Teaser-TrailerOh, dear. What a disappointment. Many who were thrilled by the news that the AMC Channel was creating “Turn”, a television series to tell the true story of George Washington’s Long Island spy ring were startled to see glaring inaccuracies depicted, from the opening scene on April 6, 2014.

Had the writers not pinned the names of historic figures onto their characters, and instead developed a script of pure fiction about spying, adultery, gratuitous violence and traitorous generals during the American Revolution, one could sit back with feet up and relax with escapist fantasy. No problem. But – when a producer and a network advertise a program as “a true story,” and then proceed not only to bend the truth but, on occasion, to break it across their knees, and when “real” characters bear no resemblance to their flesh and blood namesakes, it is time to protest. [Read more…] about AMC’s ‘Turn’: Lively Fiction, But Tenuous Connections to Fact

Early Black Musicians in Upstate New York

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Early African American FiddlerThe film 12 Years a Slave tells the story of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was lured away from Saratoga Springs, New York in 1841, and sold into slavery. Though he played the fiddle (and the men who tricked him into leaving Saratoga told him they wanted him to fiddle for a circus), the film overstates Northup’s status as a musician. Primarily, he earned his money from other work.

In his 1853 autobiography however, Northup wrote that prior to moving to Saratoga he had performed: “Wherever the young people assembled to dance, I was almost invariably there.” He attained some renown in Washington County, since: “Throughout the surrounding villages my fiddle was notorious.” [Read more…] about Early Black Musicians in Upstate New York

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…] about Musician Blind Tom: Black Pianist and Entertainer

Westchester County Civil War Monuments (Part Two)

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Sleepy HollowThis granite and bronze monument in the Village of Sleepy Hollow, is located near southwestern corner of the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and was dedicated on May 30, 1890. by the local GAR post. Inscriptions on the front (west) face include a Latin dedication, along with “Our Union Soldiers” and the following poem: “While Freedom’s name is understood, they shall delight the wise and good; They dared to set their country free and gave her laws equality 1861-1865.”

The monument’s south, east and north faces feature bronze plaques honoring some 240 local veterans. The references to Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant reflect the fact that the Village of Sleepy Hollow lies within Mount Pleasant, which is just north of Greenburgh. The monument is surrounded by a plot containing graves of Civil War veterans. The names of soldiers killed in action are engraved into the monument’s base; those who served are listed on tablets mounted to the base. The work was made in the New York foundry of the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company.
[Read more…] about Westchester County Civil War Monuments (Part Two)