New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

‘Grace Coolidge Musicale’ To Feature 1920s, 1930s

by Leave a Comment

The music of the era in which Vermont’s native son, Calvin Coolidge, served as president will be featured at a free recital at his birthplace. Pianist Abigail Charbeneau and soprano Jane Berlin Pauley will perform at the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site on Sunday, August 8 at 3:00 p.m.

Their 45-minute program, “Tunes of the 1920s & 1930s,” will feature music by American composers George Gershwin and Cole Porter, as well as Russian composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff. An afternoon tea follows at the site’s restaurant, the Wilder House. [Read more…] about ‘Grace Coolidge Musicale’ To Feature 1920s, 1930s

Fenimore’s Art by the Lake Set for Saturday

by Leave a Comment

The Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown announces its third annual juried art event celebrating the relationship between artists and the landscape – Art by the Lake, taking place Saturday, August 7 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on the Museum’s expansive back lawn. The event offers plein-air painting demonstrations, exhibits of works by contemporary landscape artists, music, educational programs, and samplings of New York State foods and beverages – all in a lavish setting overlooking Otsego Lake.

Art by the Lake is a juried art competition featuring 12 selected artists. These artists, chosen this past May, include Jessica Dalrymple (oil), Evelyn Dankovich (Oil, Watercolor, Acrylic), Denise Dolge (Pastel), Grant Dolge (Pastel), Lois Holz (Watercolor), Tom Hussey (oil), Bill Mowson (Watercolor), Marilyn A. Roveland (watercolor), Elaine Wentworth (watercolor, acrylic), Meg Anderson Argo (Soft Pastels), Andrea House (Oil), and Susan Jones Kenyon (Oil). A panel of judges will determine awards for categories such as “Best Interpretation of a New York Landscape,” Most Outstanding Use of Color,” and others. There will be spectator voting for the “Audience Favorite” until 2:30 p.m. The award ceremony takes place at 3:00 p.m.

The Museum will provide tours of current exhibitions including Empire Waists, Bustles & Lace: A Century of New York Fashion with curator Chris Rossi (11:00 a.m.); Watermark with artist Michele Harvey (12:00 p.m.); In Our Time: The World as Seen by Magnum Photographers with curator Michelle Murdock (1:00 p.m.); and John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women with chief curator Paul D’Ambrosio (2:00 p.m.). The Mohawk Bark House and Interpretive Trail will also be open in the afternoon.

Author Marian Mullet will be signing copies of her book, Richard Andrew: Called to Paint, throughout the day and Cynthia Marsh will have information available on the Oneonta Mural Project.

In addition to the art, there will be children’s activities from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. including lawn games such as bocce and croquet. Kids can also create their own postcard and partake in an afternoon tea (1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.).

Art by the Lake provides delectable culinary experiences including wine and beer tastings from Cooperstown Brewing Company and Four Chimneys Organic Winery (11:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.). The Museum’s food staff will create dishes incorporating ingredients from local sources – available for purchase from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 pm. Cabot/McCadam Cheese will offer samples and the Fenimore Art Museum Café will be open throughout the day.

Admission to the event is free with paid admission to the Fenimore Art Museum. Adults (13-64): $12.00 and seniors (65+): $10.50. Members of NYSHA, children 12 and under, as well as active and retired career military (must present card at admissions) are free.

Visit their website for more information at FenimoreArtMuseum.org/lake.

30,000 Rensselaer County Marriage Records Online

by 2 Comments

The Renssealer County Clerk’s office and the Troy Irish Genealogical Society (TIGS) have joined forces to put more than 30,000 early 20th century marriage records online. The Marriage Index Automation took five years to complete. The online records include a 10-volume set of indexes to marriages in Rensselaer County between 1908 and 1935. The records, which cover every person married in Rensselaer County, not just those with Irish surnames, are available online through the TIGS website.

Rennselaer County Clerk Frank J. Merola lauded the efforts of TIGS members in bringing the project to fruition, including former TIGS president Donna Vaughn, current president Kristin Cooney Ayotte, project coordinator Bill McGrath and webmaster and librarian Jeanne Keefe.

“I am very pleased to have been involved in this partnership with TIGS, and I commend them on taking the time and effort to open our historical records to the widest audience possible,” Merola told the Troy Record newspaper.

“We have made tremendous progress in restoring county naturalization records with the help of organizations like TIGS, and I am thrilled about our future projects and the future of genealogy in Rensselaer County,” he was reported to have said.

Whiteface Memorial Highway Turns 75

by Leave a Comment

The Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway, in Wilmington, N.Y., celebrated its 75th birthday on July 20th. At a cost of $1.2 million, construction of the winding roadway began in 1929 and was a part of the Depression Era public works projects. The highway opened to automobile traffic July 20, 1935 and the official opening ceremony took place later that year, in September.

During the opening ceremony celebration, then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was New York’s Governor when ground was broken for the eight-mile long stretch of roadway, dedicated it to the veterans of World War I. In 1985, then-New York Governor Mario Cuomo re-dedicated the highway to all veterans.

Today, from mid-May to early-October, visitors to the area can take a drive or cycle up the five-mile long scenic highway, from the toll booth to the top. Along the way there are scenic lookout points and picnic areas where visitors can stop and enjoy views of the Adirondack region.

Once at the top of the 4,867-foot high Whiteface Mountain, guests can enjoy a 360-degree, panoramic view of the region, spanning hundreds of square miles of wild land reaching out to Vermont and Canada. Guests can also visit the castle, built from native stone, where they will find a gift shop and restaurant. For those who are unable to reach the summit on foot, an elevator is available that will take guests the final 26-stories to the summit’s observation deck.

Admission to the Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway is $10 for vehicle and driver, $6 for each additional passenger. Bicycles can enjoy the more than 2,300-foot climb for only $5.

Photo: President Franklin D. Roosevelt attends the official opening of the Whiteface highway, Sept. 1935, and dedicates it to all veterans of World War I. Courtesy 1932 and 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum.

New Board Members for Finger Lakes Museum

by Leave a Comment

Two new members were elected to seats on the Finger Lakes Museum’s board of trustees at its July 21 st meeting. According to board president, John Adamski, New York City attorney William Gaske, who serves as the museum’s legal counsel, and Village of Aurora vice mayor George Farenthold, were both added to the board in unanimous votes.
The board of trustees now has 10 members seated. Former trustee, Don Naetzker, resigned in May to take a paid position as the museum’s Project Director and is now in charge of managing its design and construction.

In other motions, the board elected six members to sit on a newly­created advisory board including Keuka College president Joseph Burke, former Kodak chairman and CEO Daniel Carp, Yates County Historian Frances Dumas, Fox Run Vineyard owner Scott Osborn, and former Rochester Institute of Technology president Dr. Albert Simone. Albany health­care consultant Mary Anne Kowalski was elected to chair the advisory board.

Adamski also announced that the board approved a motion to retain Brakeley Briscoe, a Connecticut consulting firm, to develop strategies for a capital fundraising campaign in an effort to raise up to $40 million. In April, Keuka Lake State Park had been selected as the preferred site to build the museum.

In a parallel move, the board of trustees launched its own fundraising drive, which it calls its 2010 Founders’ Campaign and is intended to raise $1 million in startup funds to hire staff, purchase computers, office equipment, and set up shop at the museum’s operations center in the Branchport Elementary School.

Anyone can become a museum founder for as little as $100 by logging on to the museum’s website at www.fingerlakesmuseum.org. Founders will receive a Founder’s Certificate, vehicle decal, and their names will be permanently inscribed on a Founders’ Wall in the lobby of the museum. The school building was vacant because of district consolidation but has been recently purchased by the Finger Lakes Visitors Association for use by the museum.

The Finger Lakes Museum Project is an initiative to create a world­class educational institution that will showcase the cultural heritage and ecological evolution of the 9,000­square­mile Finger Lakes Region. Plans will call for a freshwater tunnel aquarium, a glacial­geological exhibit of the Finger Lakes, outdoor wildlife habitats, and an auditorium­theater to be built at the Keuka Lake State Park site. Opening is scheduled for spring in 2014.

For more information see www.fingerlakesmuseum.org

Frederick Douglass’s 1843 Lecture to Highlight Tour

by Leave a Comment

One hundred and sixty-six summers ago– one year after fugitive slave Frederick Douglass lectured in Keeseville–Albany Underground Railroad agent Abel Brown “took” the Burlington steamboat on Lake Champlain and reported, “Many a slave has enjoyed the indescribable pleasure of leaping from the liberty-loving Burlington.”

Hundreds of fugitives from slavery escaped every year to New York City. They were forwarded to Albany and onto Champlain Canal packet boats. At Whitehall they boarded the Burlington. From Port Kent, they could make their way to Keeseville and Stephen Keese Smith’s farm in Peru. Smith hid fugitives from slavery in his barns and drove them in his uncle’s wagon to Champlain. Then Noadiah Moore took them across the border to Lacolle, Canada, and helped them find work. They were free, at last.

People opposed the abolitionists. Friends and neighbors turned against them. Brethren left their churches.

On August 14th, North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association’s President, Don Papson, will lead a guided tour, “Villages and Churches Divided.” The tour will begin with a 10 am orientation in Keeseville’s Ausable Valley Grange at 1749 Main Street. Stops will be made at abolition and UGRR sites where participants will read passages from historic documents. The trial of Rev. Andrew Witherspoon and the stirring words of Frederick Douglass will be relived. The last stop at 3 pm will be at a hidden room. Participants must apply early as the tour is limited to 20 people. The cost is $30 for members of NCUGRHA; $40 for non members. Each participant is asked to pack a lunch, wear walking shoes and bring an umbrella. To register, please contact Helen Nerska at 518-643-0938 or email allenhomestead@gmail.com

“Villages and Churches Divided” is a 5th Annual Canal Splash! event. Canal Splash! celebates the history and culture of New York’s Canals.

This Week’s New York History Web Highlights

by Leave a Comment

VT Seeks Candidates For Native American Commission

by Leave a Comment

A new law that sets up a process for state recognition of Native American tribes in Vermont has revised the makeup of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and has that panel seeking nine new members.

The law, also known as S222, increased the number of members on the VCNAA from seven to nine, and also imposes a Vermont residency requirement for the first time. [Read more…] about VT Seeks Candidates For Native American Commission

This Week’s Top New York History News

by Leave a Comment

Haudenosaunee Dancers at Iroquois Museum

by Leave a Comment

The Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave, NY has announced the second in a series of three “Summer Dance Saturdays” featuring Iroquois social dance groups. This Saturday, July 31, will feature the Haudenosaunee Dancers from Onondaga. The group will perform three sets at approximately 11, 1, and 3. Visitors are encouraged and welcomed to join in with the dancers. [Read more…] about Haudenosaunee Dancers at Iroquois Museum