Hudson Valley - Catskills

Columbia County Magazine: The 1737 Van Alen House

August 27, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Columbia County Historical Society in Kinderhook, New York has published the latest issue of Columbia County History & Heritage magazine. The Spring/Summer 2014 issue is subtitled “Celebrating Our Legacy The Luykas Van Alen House 1964-2014”.

In honor of the Van Alen House 50th anniversary, Executive Director and Curator Diane Shewchuk solicited articles from local authors and scholars Ruth Piwonka and Roderic Blackburn, who have been involved with the National Historic Landmark 1737 Van Alen House since the 1970s. [Read more…] about Columbia County Magazine: The 1737 Van Alen House

Underground Railroad History: Vigilance Committees

August 25, 2014 by Paul Stewart 22 Comments

As the 1830s drew to a close and the 1840s began, committees were formed in some cities in the north to protect freedom seekers from re-enslavement, and to assist them in their flight to freedom in the north or in Canada. As slave catchers sought freedom seekers, these “vigilance” committees provided legal assistance, food, clothing, money, employment, and temporary shelter.

Such a committee formed in Albany in the early 1840s, and one continued to exist up to the time of the Civil War. Albany’s anti-slavery newspaper, Tocsin of Liberty, identifies ten people, Blacks and whites, as members of the executive body of the local Vigilance Committee in 1842. Some are familiar names from the city’s history, such as Thomas Paul and Revolutionary War veteran Benjamin Lattimore. [Read more…] about Underground Railroad History: Vigilance Committees

Washington’s Headquarters: The Death of Jonathan Hasbrouck

August 12, 2014 by A. J. Schenkman 1 Comment

There are many stories circulating about Newburgh’s Colonel Jonathan Hasbrouck (better known today as Washington’s Headquarters). Some are believed true, such as Tryntje Hasbrouck sitting in “sullen silence” when told that her home was chosen as Washington’s Headquarters, and some are simply made-up. One such story involves Washington’s stay at the house from 1782-1783.

General Washington loved horses. In fact he loved to go for rides on his favorite mount whenever possible. The story told to me, after a lecture, involved General Washington, Col. Hasbrouck and Hasbrouck’s sons. They would sometimes go horseback riding together. A favorite stop was the vast Hasbrouck family orchards. Washington, the story goes, loved peaches. Hasbrouck, his sons, and Washington spent hours picking peaches. When enough peaches were picked the Hasbroucks and Washington delighted in feasting on them. This story is obviously false for one simple reason; Colonel Jonathan Hasbrouck had died in 1780. [Read more…] about Washington’s Headquarters: The Death of Jonathan Hasbrouck

Stanley Maltzman Exhibition at Thomas Cole Historic Site

July 16, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site has announced a summer exhibition and birthday celebration for a very special tree that turns 200 years old this year.

The exhibition entitled Thomas Cole’s Honey with new artworks by the beloved artist Stanley Maltzman will open July 26 with a reception that is free and open to the public from 4:30 to 6 pm. The exhibition will run through October 2, 2014.

A special selection of approximately ten new artworks by Stanley Maltzman will be on view at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site from July 26 – October 2, 2014. All made between 2013 and present, Maltzman’s watercolors, pastels, and drawings pay homage to the towering, 200 year old Honey Locust tree that stands across from Thomas Cole’s front door. [Read more…] about Stanley Maltzman Exhibition at Thomas Cole Historic Site

Hudson Valley Heritage Area Awards Grants

July 10, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area and the Hudson River Valley Greenway highlighted five National Heritage Area Heritage Development Grants awarded to historic and cultural institutions in the Mid-Hudson Valley last week.

The National Park Service calls the Hudson River Valley “the landscape that defined America.” These small National Heritage Area Heritage Development Grants are expected to support a wide range of historic and cultural projects, including installations, demonstrations, and public outreach and education projects that will connect more people with the rich tapestry of heritage and cultural experiences in the Mid-Hudson Valley. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley Heritage Area Awards Grants

Copake Iron Works Tours And Talk Planned

June 4, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Historian Jim Mackin will present “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Copake Iron Works But Were Afraid to Ask” at a lecture and slide show on Saturday, June 21st at 2pm at the Roeliff Jansen Community Library, 9091 Route 22 in Copake, Columbia County, NY, followed by a reception and tour of the Iron Works.

Mackin will also host guided tours of the Copake Iron Works Historic District throughout the summer, beginning on June 8th as part of New York State’s Path Through History Weekend. [Read more…] about Copake Iron Works Tours And Talk Planned

Mount Lebanon Heritage Herb Festival Planned

May 30, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The third annual Mount Lebanon Heritage Herb Festival celebrates the illustrious past of herbs in town history as well as the Native American and Shaker traditions in the heart of the Lebanon Valley of New York, considered the birthplace of the herbal pharmacy in the United States.

The event takes place on Saturday, June 7, 2014 from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the historic grounds of Darrow School, at Mount Lebanon Shaker Village. More than eighteen talks, walks and workshops explore the role of herbs in food, gardens, medicine and health from the early days of the Native Americans to current practices. [Read more…] about Mount Lebanon Heritage Herb Festival Planned

Mount Lebanon Shaker Museum Adds 61 Acres

May 22, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Shaker Museum – Mount Lebanon, in New Lebanon, Columbia County, NY, has completed the acquisition of 61 acres of land adjacent to its North Family site, part of the Mount Lebanon Shaker Society National Historic Landmark District.

The parcel, known as the North Pastures, was purchased from the Darrow School, whose campus consists of the former Church and Center Families of Mount Lebanon’s former Shaker community. The purchase was achieved in a partnership with the Open Space Institute, a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to preserving scenic, natural, and historic landscapes, and also with funding from a 2012 grant from New York State. [Read more…] about Mount Lebanon Shaker Museum Adds 61 Acres

Swords in Their Hands:
George Washington and the Newburgh Conspiracy

May 17, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

A new book by Dave Richards, Swords in Their Hands: George Washington and the Newburgh Conspiracy (Pisgah Press, 2014) is being hailed as the first book-length account of a plot that can be described as the closest thing to a coup that the United States has ever experienced.

In late 1782, many Revolutionary War officers in the Hudson Highlands had grown angry and frustrated that they had not been paid—for months or even years. With victory in sight, they feared they might never get their back pay and promised pensions, because the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia under the Articles of Confederation, had no authority to raise money. Nationalists wanted Congress to have direct taxation authority, while their opponents insisted that only individual states should have that power. [Read more…] about Swords in Their Hands:
George Washington and the Newburgh Conspiracy

Thurgood Marshall’s 1940s Rockland County Desegregation Case

May 15, 2014 by Bill Batson Leave a Comment

Like most public school students of color in mid-20th century America, Travis Jackson did not have a white classmate for a significant portion of his education. This demographic detail was not coincidental, but by design and accomplished with the pernicious misuse of public funds to maintain separate schools for black children. [Read more…] about Thurgood Marshall’s 1940s Rockland County Desegregation Case