History, Natural History & the Arts
As we come toward the end of our lucky 13th year of the New York Almanack, I want to say thank you for reading and for your support.
It’s also time to ask for your help in raising the last $6,600 to reach our 2021 fundraising goal.
Please make a contribution online at our new Rally.org page: https://rally.org/f/4LBVKo9zYjO Or, send a check to: [Read more…] about Please Support New York Almanack’s Year-End Fundraising
Before the Civil War, as many as 100,000 people escaped from slavery, some alone and some with help from allies of African, European, and Indigenous descent. As a major transportation hub, Oneida County, NY became a center of this national movement.
Many freedom seekers went through Oneida County on their way to safety in Canada. [Read more…] about The Underground Railroad in Oneida County (Virtual Program)
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Rangers Rescue Injured, Lost Hikers & Hunters
Following his political successes in the disputed Election of 1824, Thurlow Weed was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1825 and again in 1830.
In the 1820s, like many in Upstate New York with populist, anti-elite feelings, Weed strongly believed the Masons were trying to control government using secret means. He felt that political affairs should be conducted publicly and particularly opposed the fraternal secrecy of Freemasonry. An alleged conspiracy by Masons to murder William Morgan in Western New York in September, 1826 sparked the anti-Freemasonry movement. Weed began publishing the Anti-Masonic Enquirer in Rochester, NY in February, 1828.
Soon Weed was hired as editor of the newly formed Anti-Masonic Albany Evening Journal, which began publication on March 22, 1830. The move to Albany made him a statewide leader of the fledgling Anti-Masonic Party. [Read more…] about The End of the Whigs: Thurlow Weed & The Birth of the Republican Party
Rev. Robert Everett was a Welsh-American who came to Oneida County, NY in 1823 from Wales. He very quickly became involved in the anti-slavery movement. In 1835, Utica was selected as the site for the first New York State Anti-Slavery Convention.
The meeting was broken up by an angry mob. Initially stationed in Utica, Everett was forced to move several times because his views were considered so radical during those early times. His church services were often interrupted by people who rejected his abolitionist message. [Read more…] about Robert Everett: Remsen Publisher & Abolitionist (Virtual Talk)
Judges selected 12 photographs that represent the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor for the organization’s 16th Annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest. Winners were chosen from a competitive group of more than 300 entries. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Photo Contest Winners Announced
This week on The Historians Podcast, Bob Cudmore has stories from his Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder Focus on History columns including Amsterdam’s horse racing track, the life of a volunteer nurse in the Civil War and Amsterdam radio announcers who served in Armed Forces Radio. [Read more…] about Amsterdam’s Racetrack and Other Mohawk Valley Stories
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Two Helicopter Rescues Among Many Keeping Rangers Occupied
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has announced they are now accepting applications for its IMAPCT! Grant Program. The grants range from $2,500 to $12,000 and will be awarded to municipalities, not-for-profits with a 501(c)(3) designation, and federally-recognized Native American tribes within the boundaries of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. [Read more…] about Applications Open for Erie Canalway IMPACT! Grants
The New York State Canal Corporation has announced that effective Thursday, September 16th, all locks and lift bridges on the Canal system will operate daily between 7 am and 5 pm. [Read more…] about Canal System Update: Hours and Last Day of Navigation