New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Western NY

Peterboro Opens Heritage Season with Annual Party

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Gerrit SmithStewards for the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark (GSENHL) in Peterboro will announce plans for the 2013 Peterboro Heritage events at the annual Gerrit Smith birthday party on Saturday, March 9, 2013 at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Peterboro.

The doors will open at 1:00 pm for the Stewart organizational meeting, program announcements, and overview of site hosting schedule needs and responsibilities – in-depth training to be held before we open for 2013 Heritage Season. At 2:00 p.m. Norman K. Dann PhD, professor emeritus Morrisville State College and Smith biographer will present on Gerrit Smith and Smithfield in 1863. Dann’s program will be followed by birthday refreshments. The program is open for the public with a three dollar admission for adults, and free for students and 2012 GSENHL Stewards. [Read more…] about Peterboro Opens Heritage Season with Annual Party

The Leadership Role of Municipal Historians

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19120822As the new year gets underway, it is appropriate to pause and reflect on open issues from years gone by. I am referring now to the role in 2013 of the county historian as a custodian for New York State history as we forge ahead with our Path through History Project.

The starting point for this investigation is an article which appeared on September 12, 2012 just after the summer launch in August entitled “New York State’s Curious, Century-Old Law Requiring Every City and Town to Have a Historian” by Amanda Erickson in The Atlantic Cities. [Read more…] about The Leadership Role of Municipal Historians

Books: Fight All Day, March All NIght

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In 1862 twenty-one-year-old Morris Brown Jr. left his studies at Hamilton College to take up the Union cause. He quickly rose in rank from sergeant major to captain and acting regimental commander for the 126th New York Volunteers. Fight All Day, March All Night: A Medal of Honor Recipient’s Story (SUNY Press Excelsior Editions, 2012) is the narrative of a young Civil War officer, as told through his letters from the battlefield and edited by Civil War historian Wayne Mahood.

In letters written to his family in Penn Yan, New York, Brown describes his experiences at war: the unseemly carping between fellow officers, the fear that gripped men facing battle, and the longing to return home. Brown’s letters also reveal an ambitious young man who not only wanted recognition but also wanted to assure himself of a financial future. [Read more…] about Books: Fight All Day, March All NIght

Bob Weible: Making History in Difficult Times

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I was disappointed to hear the recent news that Schenectady County officials have chosen to cut funding for their county historian. This decision appears to have less to do with the historian than it did with the county’s fiscal problems.

Many of us are familiar with the state law that requires municipalities to appoint historians, and as Gerry Smith has pointed out, NYS County Law, section 400, also requires counties to make similar appointments. Many counties and many municipalities comply with these laws. Many don’t. But that’s not what’s at stake here. [Read more…] about Bob Weible: Making History in Difficult Times

Association of Public Historians of NYS Call for Proposals

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The Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS) has announced that the 2013 Annual State Conference will be held in Syracuse on April 17-19, 2013 at the Holiday Inn – Liverpool. APHNYS is currently accepting proposals for conference presentations.

Proposals can be submitted for papers, panels and interactive programs. The conference draws between 175 – 200 Local Government Historians and supporters of local history from across the Empire State. [Read more…] about Association of Public Historians of NYS Call for Proposals

State Historian to Speak at Abolition Hall of Fame Dinner

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Robert Weible, State Historian of New York and Chief Curator of the New York State Museum will provide the keynote address at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) annual dinner at 4:45 p.m. Saturday, October 20 in the Hall of Presidents at Colgate University in Hamilton NY.

Weible’s presentation “The Irrepressible Conflict: The Civil War in New York” will describe the large exhibit by the same name that opens September 22 at the state museum. The history of New York’s involvement in the Civil War – the state’s role leading up to war, during the war and Reconstruction – and the lasting impact the war had on New Yorkers – is told through four major themes: The Coming of War, The Battlefield, The Home Front, and Reconstruction and Legacy. The importance of the abolition activities in Central New York – including the acquisition of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and Gerrit Smith – will be included. [Read more…] about State Historian to Speak at Abolition Hall of Fame Dinner

Honoring Harriet Tubman in 2013

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Kate Clifford Larson Ph.D will share her research, the development of Harriet Tubman sites, and announce plans for Honoring Tubman in 2013 at the 11:30 a.m. National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum luncheon on Saturday, October 20, 2012 at the Hall of Presidents, Colgate University in Hamilton NY.

Born a slave in Maryland, Tubman’s birth date is unknown. Therefore Tubman’s death date March 10, 1913 has been observed as Tubman’s day of honor. Special tributes and projects are planned for 2013, the centennial of her death year. Persons involved in special Tubman tributes and programs are encouraged to participate with information, exhibits, and announcements at the luncheon with Larson.
Larson presented the lecture on Harriet Tubman at Tubman’s induction to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) in October 2005. Tubman was one of the five abolitionists to be inducted in the first class at the Peterboro Hall of Fame.

Kate Clifford Larson is Adjunct Faculty in the Department of History at Simmons College. A Simmons alumna, she earned her PhD at the University of New Hampshire and is the author of Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero (2004). Larson is also the consulting historian and curator for the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park and Visitor Center and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway and All American Road. Eastern Shore, Maryland. Larson will be introduced by Milton C. Sernett Ph.D, author of Harriet Tubman: Myth, Memory, and History.

The Colgate University Upstate Institute afternoon symposia on inductees Abby Kelley Foster, Jermain Wesley Loguen, and George Gavin Ritchie will follow the luncheon. Robert Weible, State Historian of New York and Chief Curator of the New York State Museum, will present The Irrepressible Conflict: New York State in the Civil War, the keynote address for the annual NAHOF dinner. The commemoration ceremonies of the three inductees to the Hall of Fame will follow dinner.

The Hutchinson Family Singers will provide a 19th C. anti-slavery concert at the First Baptist Church in Hamilton Friday, October 19 at 7 p.m. Panel presentations, exhibits, and tours are available during the three day event. These programs are supported by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities and with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Grant Program, a state agency, and the Cultural Resources Council, a regional arts council.

The public is encouraged to attend the programs. Reservations are required for lunch and dinner by October 10 and can be purchased as single events or in a NAHOF package for the October 19 – 21 conference at mercantile.gerritsmith.org or with a registration form at www. National AbolitionHallofFameandMusuem.org or at National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13035. For more information: nahofm1835@gmail.com 315-366-8101 315-684-3262

NY Wine History: Finger Lakes Museum Doc Premier

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The Finger Lakes Museum is hosting the premier showing of its documentary film series, Vine to Wine; Savor our Finger Lakes, at Bristol Harbour Resort in Canandaigua on Friday, September 21st. The 6:30 p.m. event includes an assortment of tapas and wine tastings from regional wineries as well as presentations by the wine professionals who created the program series. Attendees can also bid on “Finger Lakes Experience” silent auction packages and participate in a raffle.
Part One of the Vine to Wine series, which highlights the history of grape growing and winemaking in the Finger Lakes Region, will be presented at four different venues across the region in October and November. Through film, live presentations, and wine and juice tastings, people can learn how the region developed into the wine destination that it is today.

For additional information and program schedule, or to purchase tickets for the premier, log on to www.FingerLakesMuseum.org or call 315-595-2200. Reserved ticket prices are $15 per person or $20 per person at the door.

The Finger Lakes Museum is being planned to be the premier cultural and natural history resource dedicated to the enjoyment, education and stewardship of the Finger Lakes Region, and to freshwater conservation.

The Finger Lakes Museum is chartered by the New York State Education Department and is incorporated as a not-for-profit tax-exempt organization. For more information or to make contact, log on to www.FingerLakesMuseum.org.

New Leadership for Great Lakes Seaway Trail

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Seaway Trail, Inc. has named Michael “Mike” Bristol as its new President and CEO. The Great Lakes Seaway Trail is a 518-mile, two-state National Scenic Byway, a New York State Scenic Byway, and a state-designated Bicycle Route in New York and Pennsylvania. Bristol becomes only the second President and CEO in the Great Lakes Seaway Trail’s 34-year history. [Read more…] about New Leadership for Great Lakes Seaway Trail

Signage Plans Focus on Local Historians

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Is resurgence in the interest in history a sign of the time?  It seems so as two initiatives to promote the importance of history and heritage of New York both use signs as a means to the end.

At the 2012 conference of the Association of Public Historians of New York State on Long Island, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation used that opportunity to announce that their organization was taking their interest in historical markers statewide. [Read more…] about Signage Plans Focus on Local Historians