New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Conference: Merchant Jews in The New World: 1500-1800

by Leave a Comment

The first of three annual conferences focusing on a lesser-known role played by merchants, especially Jewish merchants, in the Caribbean and major ports of Colonial America in the establishment of the United States, will be held at the ‘Center for Jewish History’ in New York City on Sunday, October 18, 2009.

The initial one-day gathering, “Merchant Jews in The New World: 1500-1800” is being organized by ‘The Gomez Foundation for Mill House’, an organization focused upon the pioneer experience in America. The aim of this conference is to highlight current research and foster further study in this long neglected corner of New World and Colonial American history. Represented on the panels will be noted scholars in the field, including Keynote Speaker, Dr. Jonathan Ray of Georgetown University, Washington, DC.

Gomez Foundation for Mill House manages and operates one of the oldest, continuously occupied dwellings in North America, the 300-year-old ‘Gomez Mill House’ in Orange County, New York. On the National Register of Historic Places, the house was named after a Jewish merchant named Luis Moses Gomez. Other pioneers, patriots and significant owners who came after him are also honored at the house.

Gomez was born in Spain, fled with his family to Southwestern France, and came to New York by way of England and the Caribbean. His aim in building his trading post (now the house) was to help open up the Hudson River to increased trade.

The conference is open to those with both academic and non-academic backgrounds, particularly those who share an interest in the economic birth, maturity and modern expansion in the New World and early America. For further information on the conference, visit www.gomez.org.

Rensselaerswijck Seminar Scheduled For Oct 1-3

by Leave a Comment

The Rensselaerswijck Seminar, this year themed “Kiliaen van Rensselaer’s Colonie: The Beginning of European Settlement of the Upper Hudson,” will be held in the New York State Museum’s Carole Huxley Theatre October 2nd and 3rd. Scholars and historians from this country and the Netherlands will present seminar topics over the two days, giving current information about the origins and history of Rensselaerwijck, a million acres that encompassed what is now Albany, Rensselaer and Columbia counties. Admission to the seminar is $75 for both days, $50 for one day, and $25 for students.

Noted author Russell Shorto will speak on “Oh, Henry: What Has the Hudson Year Wrought?” at the opening reception of the 32nd Annual Rensselaerswijck Seminar, Thursday, Oct. 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the NYS Museum, Albany. Admission to Shorto’s talk is free.

The New Netherland Institute’s conference theme is a return to its roots as a platform for local historians to present their latest research on the only successful patroonship in New Netherland.

The members of the New Netherland Project staff will all take part. Charles T. Gehring, Ph.D., director of the project, Janny Venema, Ph.D., assistant director, and Martha D. Shattuck, Ph.D., editor, will present new information from their research specialty areas.

Shorto will also take part on a panel of authors Friday at 10:30 a.m., with other contributors to the institute’s recent publication, “Explorers, Fortunes & Love Letters: A Window on New Netherland.” Martha D. Shattuck, Ph.D., editor, will be moderator.

More detailed information and registration forms are available at the New Netherland Institute website at www.nnp.org.

Capital Region Underground Railroad Conference

by Leave a Comment

The Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region will hold its ninth annual conference at Russell Sage College in Troy in February. Considered “the gold standard of Underground Railroad conferences” the conference brings together a wide spectrum of scholars, authors and interested laymen. This year’s keynote speaker will be Rhonda Y. Williams, Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University and a History News Network “Top Young Historian.”

Each year the conference attracts over 300 attendees each year and features presentations by academic and nonacademic speakers providing a unique opportunity for younger scholars to take part.

The call for papers is here in pdf, and the stated deadline for proposals is October 1st, but word has it that proposals will be accepted after that date.

Dutch Colonial Clergy Conference Announced

by Leave a Comment

The Reformed Church Center of New Brunswick Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, N.J. will co-host an event titled The Colonial Clergy Conference: Dutch Traditions and American Realities with the Collegiate Church of New York, the Van Raalte Institute in Holland, Michigan, the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, Netherlands, and the Reformed Church in America Archives. Planned as part of a larger celebration this year of Henry Hudson’s voyage for the Dutch to the Hudson River and New York, it is an international event being held September 27-28th at the Haworth Center at Hope College in Holland, Michigan and October 24th at First Reformed Church, 9 Bayard St., New Brunswick, N.J. Additional information about registration, etc. can be found on the website: http://www.nbts.edu/clergyconference/

In Holland, Michigan, the speakers will be Dr. Leon van den Broeke, Assistant Professor in Religion, Law and Society and Director of the Center for Religion and Law at Free University in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Dr. Willem Frijhof, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at Free University; Dr. Hans Krabbendam, Assistant Director of the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, The Netherlands; Dr. Earl Wm. Kennedy, Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Religion Emeritus at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa; Dr. Firth Haring Fabend, Fellow of the New Netherland Project and Historian for The Holland Society of New York,; and Dr. John Coakley, L. Russell Feakes Memorial Chair and Professor of Church History at New Brunswick Theological Seminary.

Speakers in New Brunswick, New Jersey will include Dr. Leon van den Broeke; Dr. Joyce Goodfriend, Professor of History at the University of Denver; Dr. John Coakley; Dr. Dirk Mouw, past Albert A. Smith Fellow at New Brunswick Theological Seminary; Dr. Firth Haring Fabend, and Dr. Robert Naborn, Director of the Dutch Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Also included in the day is a tour of the church’s historic cemetery and bell tower, lunch, and an opportunity to order a book which will be based on the papers presented. First Reformed Church was founded in 1717 and the current building dates to 1765.

America’s First River: The Hudson A Conference

by Leave a Comment

America’s First River: The Hudson A Conference Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s Voyage in 1609 will be held on September 25-26, 2009 at the FDR Presidential Library and Marist College. The Conference is sponsored by The Hudson River Valley Institute, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the Hudson River Valley Greenway, the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, the National Park Service, and the New York State Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission.

For information, a schedule of speakers and events, and reservations email hrvi@marist.edu or call 845-575-3052 or visit www.hudsonrivervalley.org

CFP: 2010 Agricultural History Conference

by Leave a Comment

While I normally stick to New York history exclusively here, sometimes a national (or even international) conference comes up that promises to inspire New York historians toward greater understanding of the state’s history. The 2010 Agricultural History Conference – Local Stories, Global Connections: The Context of Agriculture and Rural Life – at the University of Central Florida and Rollins College on June 10-12, 2010 is one of those events thanks to New York’s important role in national and international agricultural history.

Here is the announcement:

Agriculture and rural life are tied to specific places, but those places are in turn bound to larger communities, often with global connections. The Agricultural History Society (AHS) invites proposals for papers that address the particular ways in which
people and places have shaped agriculture and rural living in their local communities as well as how rural ecosystems, production, processing, and consumption tie farmers and rural people to distant people, places, and institutions. Topics from any location or time period will be welcome. In the interest of promoting understanding of
the context of agriculture and rural life, the program committee wishes to encourage submissions of interdisciplinary and cross- national panels. We encourage proposals of all types and formats, including traditional papers/commentary sessions, thematic panel discussions, roundtables on recent books, and poster presentations, and we extend a special welcome to graduate students. We are able to provide up to $250
in travel reimbursement to each graduate student whose paper is accepted for the conference. We will consider submissions of full panels and individual papers, as well as paired or individual posters.

Submission Procedures

Complete session proposals should include a chair, participants, and, if applicable, a commentator. Please include the following information: An abstract of no more than 200 words for the session as a whole; a prospectus of no more than 250 words for each presentation; a mailing address, email, phone number, and affiliation for each participant; and a CV of no more than a page for each participant.

Individual submissions should include all the above except a session abstract.

Please send submissions, in Microsoft Word or RTF format, to Melissa.walker@converse.edu.

Alternatively, applicants may mail five hard copies of their proposals
to:

Melissa Walker, Chair
Converse College
580 East Main St.
Spartanburg, SC 29302

Please direct questions regarding the program to any member of the program committee:

Melissa Walker, Chair, Converse College, Melissa.walker@converse.edu
Joe Anderson, Mount Royal College, jlanderson@mtroyal.ca
Sterling Evans, University of Oklahoma, evans@ou.edu
Angie Gumm, Iowa State University, asgumm@iastate.edu
Cecilia Tsu, University of California at Davis, cmtsu@ucdavis.edu

Researching NY Conference Deadline Extended

by Leave a Comment

The deadline for submitting proposals for the Researching New York Conference has been extended to July 10th.

DEADLINE EXTENDED

Researching New York 2009
November 19 & 20, 2009
University at Albany, SUNY

The organizers of the annual Researching New York Conference invite proposals for panels, papers, workshops, roundtables, exhibits, documentary, and media or multimedia presentations on any facet of New York State history -in any time period and from any perspective. The conference will be held at the University at Albany, Albany, New York, on November 19th and 20th, 2009.

We especially invite proposals that explore and interpret not only the exploits of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain, but the many kinds of exploration that have taken place in the ensuing 400 years of New York State’s rich and diverse history-including consideration of how we remember, celebrate, interpret, and commemorate historical events.

We are also soliciting commentators for panels. If you would like to participate as a commentator, please send a note to resrchny@albany.edu indicating your area of expertise, along with a one-page vita.

Researching New York brings together historians, researchers, archivists, museum curators, librarians, graduate students, teachers, Web and multimedia producers, and documentarians to share their work on New York State history.

Presentations that highlight the vast resources available to researchers of New York State history, as well as scholarship drawn from those resources, are encouraged.

Proposals are due by July 10, 2009. Full panel proposals, workshops, roundtables, exhibits, film screenings and media presentations are welcome. Partial panels and individual submissions will be considered. For panels and full proposals, please submit a one-page abstract of the complete session, a one page abstract for each paper or presentation, and a one-page curriculum vita for each participant. Individual submissions should include a one-page abstract and one-page curriculum vita.

Submissions must include name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address. Please submit your proposal electronically to resrchny@albany.edu. All proposals must note any anticipated technology or audio visual needs.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at resrchny@albany.edu. Further details and program updates will be available at http://nystatehistory.org/researchny.

Researching New York is sponsored by the Department of History and the History Graduate Student Organization, University at Albany, SUNY and the New York State Archives Partnership Trust with support from the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives, University at Albany Libraries.

Henry Hudson, New Netherland, and Atlantic History

by 5 Comments

Dr. L.H. Roper, Professor of History at SUNY New Paltz and a scholar of international reputation in the field of Atlantic History has announced a symposium, ‘Henry Hudson, New Netherland, and Atlantic History‘, at SUNY New Paltz the weekend of 25-26 September, 2009. This host two-day international symposium on “The Worlds of Henry Hudson” is expected to be the premier intellectual event held in conjunction with the celebration of the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s exploration of the Hudson River. Leading historians from the Netherlands, France, and Germany, as well as the United States will present papers on a series of topics related to Hudson and his times.

The program will include panel discussions, teaching workshops, and two luncheon addresses over two days to be held on the campus of SUNY New Paltz., as set forth below. At each session, two-to-three presenters will give talks on topics closely related to the character of the European exploration and colonization of the Hudson Valley, which arose from Hudson’s voyage, and the historical significance of the issues generated by these phenomena.

The emergence of the transatlantic perspective during the last two decades is a major development in the study of the history of Europe, Africa and the Americas during the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The scholars invited to this conference are among the major figures in advancing this perspective. The conference program is designed to provide an opportunity for the further integration of their work, and its advancement through publication of the papers it generates and by providing a means for secondary and elementary school teachers to incorporate this scholarship into their own classrooms.

A second goal, equally important, is to further the integration of the African, American Indian, and European contexts (“the transatlantic perspective” or “Atlantic history”) into teaching and learning about exploration and “colonial America” in our schools. The conference structure provides for interaction in each session among leading scholars of early modern Africa and Europe and of American Indian societies and current and future elementary and secondary school teachers.

The cost of registering for this conference will be $20/day and $15 per luncheon session. Teachers who wish to attend, with the exception of those in Ulster, Dutchess, and Orange Counties, should register through the Center for Regional Research, Education, and Outreach at SUNY New Paltz. The costs for attending the symposium will be payable directly to CRREO.

Teachers in Ulster, Dutchess, and Orange Counties who wish to attend one or both days should register via MyLearningPlan. Teachers in other counties should register through the Center for Regional Research, Education, and Outreach at SUNY New Paltz. Professional development hours are available for approval. The first fifty teachers who sign up and who have been participants in the Ulster BOCES Teaching American History Summer Institute for at least one week will have their registration fee paid by the TAH grant. Ulster BOCES will notify those registrants that their fee has been paid.

For further information, please contact Lou Roper of the Department of History at roperl@newpaltz.edu.

Museum Institute at Sagamore Application Available

by Leave a Comment

The 2009 Museum Institute at Sagamore, sponsored by the Upstate History Alliance, will focus on Understanding Audiences. The Institute is a reflective, intensive, four day retreat at Great Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks that gives New York State museum professionals the opportunity to learn, reflect, and work with their colleagues from across the state.

The 2009 institute will take place September 22 – 25th. Acceptance to the institute is by application, the postmark deadline is July 17, 2009. To download an application, please click here. For more information on the Museum Institute at Sagamore, please visit our website www.upstatehistory.org and click on What’s New.

CFP: Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850

by Leave a Comment

The Consortium on the Revolutionary Era, 1750-1850 (CRE) is a venue for the presentation of original reserach on not only the revolutionary history of Europe, but also the Atlantic World and beyond. We welcome proposals from allied disciplines and comparative studies; in short, the conference offers a platform for research into the revolutionary era broadly defined.

The 2010 conference will be held February 25-27 at the College of Charleston and the Francis Marion Hotel, located in the center of Charleston’s historic district. The conference venues are within easy walking distance of Charleston’s eighteenth- and nineteenth-century urban core, its museums, waterfront, and many exceptional restaurants.

The program committee prefers proposals for complete sessions (three papers, plus a chair and a commentator). However, we will accept proposals for incomplete sessions and individual paper proposals. Session proposals should include name of presenter, title of paper, and brief abstract (no more than one page) for each paper; and brief CVs (no more than 2 pages) for each participant. The deadline for proposals is October 15, 2009. We welcome traditional presentations of new research as well as roundtable discussions and pedagogical panels. Proposals from doctoral students are welcome. Electronic submissions should be sent in Word format.

Send proposals to:
Professor Carol Harrison
Department of History
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
ceharris@mailbox.sc.edu

Travel and accommodations:
Reservations should be made at the Francis Marion Hotel, located at 387 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403, which will serve as the conference hotel. To make your reservation and to obtain the group rate discount, call either 843-722-0600 or 1-877-756-2121 and state that you are attending the annual meeting of the Consortium on the Revolutionary Era. The deadline for reserving a room is January 26, 2010. The room rate for CRE participants is $169.00 per night, plus tax.

Charleston International Airport is served by AirTran, American Eagle, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United Express, and US Airways.

For more information about visiting Charleston, please see the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (www.charlestoncvb.com).