The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House has announced that its’ keynote speaker for the 2015 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon will be Lynn Sherr, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and biographer. The 2015 luncheon theme, Thanks to Susan B., We Can Reach For the Stars!, a celebration of the impact Susan B. Anthony’s life and work has had on subsequent generations of women. [Read more…] about Sally Ride Biographer Keynoting Susan B. Anthony Event
Western NY
Sesquicentennial Observance of Battle of Cedar Creek
Three days before the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War Battle of Cedar Creek, Sue Greenhagen will deliver the second program in the new Madison County Civil War Series.
At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, October 16, 2014 at the Hamilton Public Library (13 Broad Street, Hamilton NY) Greenhagen will describe the October 19, 1864 battle in Middletown (Belle Grove) Virginia with particular attention to the service of the 114th Infantry Regiment which was recruited primarily from Chenango, Cortland, and Madison Counties in New York State with recruitment headquarters in Norwich NY: Companies A and H were from Oxford, Companies B and C from Norwich. Company D from Eaton, Company E from Greene, Company F from Sherburne and New Berlin, Company G from Hamilton and Brookfield, Company I from Otselic, and Company K from Cazenovia. [Read more…] about Sesquicentennial Observance of Battle of Cedar Creek
Landmark Society Names 2014 Five to Revive
The Landmark Society of Western New York has announced its 2014 Five to Revive – a list of historic sites it has determined to be in need of targeted revitalization. The announcement was made at the Landmark Society headquarters on Fitzhugh St. in Rochester.
“The preservation efforts of The Landmark Society of Western New York continue to be focused on community revitalization,” Executive Director Wayne Goodman said in a statement to the press. “This is the second year we are announcing a Five to Revive list to call attention to key properties in western New York that are in need of investment. We can’t stress enough that these are significant historic properties whose rehabilitations can become catalytic projects for the neighborhoods and communities that surround them.”
The 2014 Five to Revive list includes: [Read more…] about Landmark Society Names 2014 Five to Revive
Sunday: Southern Tier Event Recalls Civil War Veteran
The Coventry Town Museum Association will present its 10th Annual Civil War Commemorative event “Celebrating And Remembering The Life Of Coventry’s Immigrant Son, Private John Shaver – Stonemason, Family Man, Civil War Infantryman”, on Sunday, September 28th, on the grounds of the Coventryville Congregational Church.
This all day event honors John Shaver, ancestor of numerous descendants live throughout the Southern Tier including Chenango, Cortland and Broome counties. [Read more…] about Sunday: Southern Tier Event Recalls Civil War Veteran
Madison County Civil War Series Begins September 18th
In recognition of the last year of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Sue Greenhagen (Village of Morrisville Historian), Matthew Urtz (Madison County Historian) and Dot Willsey (23rd Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend committee member) are planning a Madison County Civil War Series of programs that feature New York State’s role in the Civil War with particular attention to Madison County’s connection to the War Between the States.
Called “The Banner County” in the mid-1800s because of its voting support of anti-slavery measures, Madison County was a hot-bed of activities that were critical to the outbreak of the war. [Read more…] about Madison County Civil War Series Begins September 18th
NYS Museum Exhibiting At New York State Fair
The New York State Museum is displaying two historical vehicles at the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY, through September 1, 2014. The two vehicles, a 1932 Packard Phaeton and a 1967 Lincoln Executive Limousine, were used by New York Governors Franklin D. Roosevelt and Nelson A. Rockefeller, respectively.
“The Board of Regents and the New York State Museum are honored to exhibit two historical vehicles from the Museum’s collections at the Great New York State Fair,” said State Museum Director Mark Schaming. “For the first time at the State Fair, thousands of New Yorkers will have the opportunity to see these two historical cars that transported Governors Roosevelt and Rockefeller across New York State.” [Read more…] about NYS Museum Exhibiting At New York State Fair
Underground Railroad History: Vigilance Committees
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
Manlius, Madison County, and Abolitionists Talk Planned
After six years of research Alethea “Lee” Connolly has published her book on “forgotten trailblazers” in early 19th Century Central New York. Connolly will present her research on her book The Seceders: Religious Conviction & the Abolitionist Movement in the Town of Manlius, 1834-1844 at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 26, 2014 at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134.
As Barbara S. Rivette, Manlius Town Historian, states “The network of families and church affiliations involved in The Seceders spread through Canastota, Clockville, and Peterboro.” Seceders, like early Manlius settler Elijah Bailey, “believed the church had veered off the simple path of Bible religion into pride and folly.” [Read more…] about Manlius, Madison County, and Abolitionists Talk Planned
University at Buffalo Launches Online LGBT Archive
The hand-written, photocopied flyer from 1980 asks a question and offers a response: “Gay at UB? Well, you are not alone!!”
The word “not” is underlined four times.
The flyer, as well as other materials in the University at Buffalo Libraries’ latest online archive, “LGBT at UB,” documents lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history at the university from the 1970s to the late 1990s. [Read more…] about University at Buffalo Launches Online LGBT Archive
Gerrit Smith Estate, Abolition Hall of Fame 2014 Events
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) in Peterboro, Madison County, N.Y. will open for the 2014 season on Saturday, May 17 and will be open from 1 – 5 pm seven days per week until Sunday, August 17. The sites will then be open on weekends until September 21 from 1 – 5 pm.
The Gerrit Smith Estate has interior and exterior exhibits on freedom seekers, Gerrit Smith, Smith’s wealth, philanthropy and family, and the Underground Railroad. This site is on the national, state, and county Underground Railroad Trail. NAHOF has the Abolition Hall of Fame exhibit and the chronology of American Abolition from the Colonial Period to Reconstruction. An exhibit on women in the anti-slavery movement was added to the NAHOF museum in 2013. [Read more…] about Gerrit Smith Estate, Abolition Hall of Fame 2014 Events