New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Capital-Saratoga

Anna Rosenberg: A Key Aide to FDR and Truman

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The Confidante - The Untold Story of the Anna Rosenberg Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern AmericaThis week on the Historians Podcast, author Christopher C. Gorham discusses his biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman aide Anna Rosenberg, The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WW II and Shape Modern America (Citadel Press, 2023).

Anna Rosenberg was dubbed by Life magazine as “far and away the most important woman in the American government.”  From New York City, Rosenberg devised a plan that helped diversify the ranks of factory workers during the Second World War.  She also served as deputy defense secretary during the Korean War. [Read more…] about Anna Rosenberg: A Key Aide to FDR and Truman

1745: The First Battle of Saratoga

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Johannes Scuyler and his wife Elizabeth Staats Wendell Schuyler (New-York Historical Society)The First Battle of Saratoga took place during King George’s War (1744-1748) in November 1745. A force of French and Native allies set out from Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point to attack English colonies in either New England or Albany.

When deep snow made travel into New England impractical, they turned toward Old Saratoga, now known as Schuylerville in Saratoga County, NY (near where the 1777 Battles of Saratoga would later take place during the American Revolution). [Read more…] about 1745: The First Battle of Saratoga

Expelling the Poor: The Nineteenth-Century Origins of American Immigration Policy

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Expelling the PoorHistorians have long assumed that immigration to the United States was free from regulation until anti-Asian racism on the West Coast triggered the introduction of federal laws to restrict Chinese immigration in the 1880s. Studies of European immigration and government control on the East Coast have, meanwhile, focused on Ellis Island, which opened in 1892. [Read more…] about Expelling the Poor: The Nineteenth-Century Origins of American Immigration Policy

Ten Broeck Mansion Announces Fall Art, History, and Garden Workshops

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Sara Pruiksma, Where We Once Stood, (detail) 2019 courtesy the artistThe Albany County Historical Association, which operates the historic 1798 Ten Broeck Mansion in Albany as a museum and gardens, has announced new fall art, history, and garden workshops. [Read more…] about Ten Broeck Mansion Announces Fall Art, History, and Garden Workshops

New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

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First Dutch Church at Albany as it appears in several of the works of James EightsBy 1642, the number of inhabitants of Rensselaerwyck (spelled Rensselaerswijck in Dutch), at the time basically what is now Albany and Rensselaer Counties, had grown and Patroon Kiliaen Van Rensselaer willingly complied with a requirement of the Dutch West India Company to secure a clergyman for a Dutch Church to conduct services for the settlers. [Read more…] about New Netherlanders’ Views of Indigenous People

Underground Railroad Education Center Online Reading Series

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The Underground Railroad was the movement that enslaved African Americans used to gain freedom in the 19th Century. The Capital Region of New York State was visited by thousands of fugitives seeking freedom in the years prior to the Civil War. [Read more…] about Underground Railroad Education Center Online Reading Series

Data Shows Libraries Recovering From Pandemic, Extending Services

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Patrons at the New York Public Library Main Branch, 2005The past several years of New York State’s public and association library annual reports highlight some promising trends as libraries recover from the pandemic. COVID-19 hit libraries hard, negatively impacting nearly every measure of library success. [Read more…] about Data Shows Libraries Recovering From Pandemic, Extending Services

The New York State Library Becomes A Preservation Steward

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The Cultural Education Center State Museum Archives and Library on Madison Avenue in Albany, home of the New York State Library, New York State Museum, and New York State Archives.The New York State Library recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) to become a Preservation Steward. Under this agreement, the State Library pledges to keep permanent print collections of historical and current government publications produced by the GPO. [Read more…] about The New York State Library Becomes A Preservation Steward

$600,000 in Mohawk River Watershed Grants Awarded

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Paddler on the Erie Canal Mohawk River near Utica$600,000 in grants have been awarded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to implement the goals and objectives of the Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda 2021-2026. The Action Agenda is a five-year plan advancing efforts to conserve, preserve, and restore the Mohawk River and its watershed and the grants will support local partnerships and initiatives throughout the region. [Read more…] about $600,000 in Mohawk River Watershed Grants Awarded