Since 1999, the Preservation League of New York State has highlighted the state’s threatened historic sites through the Seven to Save list, which provides enhanced services from the League to bolster visibility and build support for preservation. Through partnerships with groups and individuals, threats to dozens of at-risk buildings, landscapes, downtowns, and neighborhoods have been reduced, and in many cases, eliminated by the Preservation League’s listing and subsequent actions. [Read more…] about 7 Historic Places That Need Saving Now
Hudson Valley - Catskills
Kinderhook Historian Named 2020 Woman of History
Historian and preservationist Ruth Piwonka is this year’s recipient of the Martha Washington Woman of History Award. This award is given by Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site each year to a woman who has made a contribution to the history of the Hudson Valley through education, promotion, or preservation. The honor was inspired by Martha Washington, who resided in the Hudson Valley with her husband, General George Washington, during the last days of the Revolutionary War. [Read more…] about Kinderhook Historian Named 2020 Woman of History
New Westchester County History Published
Field Horne’s new book Westchester County: A History (Westchester County Historical Society, 2018) includes over 225 illustrations and is the first comprehensive history of the county to be published in 40 years.
The book traces the history of Westchester County from its early native peoples to today. [Read more…] about New Westchester County History Published
Significance of Impeachment Lectures Set for Hudson
Columbia County Historical Society and Hudson Area Library are set to co-sponsor a presentation by author and historian Dr. Christopher Leahy entitled “Historical Significance of Impeachment in the U.S.” .
Leahy will deliver an overview of the historical significance of impeachment in the United States, including: insights on impeachment, its historical basis, constitutional significance, and the impeachment process. [Read more…] about Significance of Impeachment Lectures Set for Hudson
Lessons from a Social Studies Conference
As 2019 drew to a close, I concluded my review of the conferences I attended or would like to have attended in 2019. The final one was the annual conference of the Westchester/Lower Hudson Council for the Social Studies held on December 13 at a hotel in West Harrison in Westchester County. [Read more…] about Lessons from a Social Studies Conference
Historic Preservation Certificate Program Set for Peekskill
Westchester Community College has announced a new four-class certificate program in Historic Preservation, based at its Center for the Digital Arts, Peekskill Extension Center in the Peekskill Historic District
The program is geared towards providing a specialization for tradesmen who work in historic communities, for students in history or related fields that want to have an add-on to their traditional degree or for anybody who wants to be more effective in engaging local politicians as preservation advocates. [Read more…] about Historic Preservation Certificate Program Set for Peekskill
Time and the Valleys Interactive K-12 Field Trips
The Time and the Valleys Museum provides two interactive field trips to immerse students in the importance of water to all life, and the history of how water has changed both the environment and our culture over thousands of years.
Guided by trained Museum educators, students handle million year old fossils and Native American artifacts, build tunnels, visit an outdoor 1930s farm with a farm house, barn, milk house and working waterwheel, experience an interactive exhibition on NYC’s water supply system, and more. [Read more…] about Time and the Valleys Interactive K-12 Field Trips
Crisis: Forgetting Thomas Paine in New Rochelle
The City of New Rochelle, the last home of Thomas Paine, is beginning to undergo something of an economic renaissance. A number of the City’s tremendous historical resources however, remain neglected.
The Thomas Paine Museum on North Avenue — once the centerpiece of an international effort to recognize and promote the importance of Thomas Paine – has been vacant for years and is headed for sale and destruction. [Read more…] about Crisis: Forgetting Thomas Paine in New Rochelle
Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History
When you enter the hamlet of Wallkill, you are greeted by the happy face of the Borden Company’s mascot, Elsie the Cow. The company’s website states that this mascot dates to the 1930s.
Underneath Elsie is a sign stating that the Hamlet of Wallkill was the location the “Home Farm” of John G. Borden. Thus, many commonly believe that Borden Condensed Milk was in fact invented in the Hamlet of Wallkill; however, its origins can be traced to Burrville, Connecticut and Gail Borden, Jr. Actually, the business was not originally called Borden at all – that title would come later. [Read more…] about Everyone Knows Elsie: A Short Borden Company History
The Prophet Matthias and Elijah the Tishbite
Long before the fictional and shocking “Peyton Place” of TV and film fame came along in the late 1950s, and early 1960s there was an actual suburban community where its residents were roiled by rampant scandal, moral and religious hypocrisy and a sensational a murder in their midst. [Read more…] about The Prophet Matthias and Elijah the Tishbite