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Presidential Historian Wins Archives and History Award

October 15, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Best selling author and historian Michael Beschloss, a scholar named by Newsweek magazine as “the nation’s leading Presidential historian,” will be in Albany, Wednesday, Oct. 22 to receive the New York State Archives Partnership Trust’s 2008 Empire State Archives and History Award. The hour-long conversation on the upcoming Presidential election and awards ceremony will be held at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts at the Empire State Plaza at 7:30 p.m.

According to New York State Archivist and Trust CEO Christine W. Ward, Mr. Beschlosswas selected to receive the award based upon his rich and distinguished career as one of this nation’s leading interpreters of the American Presidency. “We are honored to, once again, have Mr. Beschloss return to Albany as we honor him for his decades of extraordinary scholarship on many of the nation’s most recent presidents, as well as the components of Presidential character,” she said.

A native of Chicago, Mr. Beschloss has an extraordinary academic pedigree, having attended Andover, Williams (where he studied under the legendary Williams’ College professorJames McGregor Burns) and Harvard. In recognition of his accomplishments to the world of academe, he has received three honorary doctorates.

A prolific contributor to the national dialogue on the American Presidency, Mr. Beschloss has written nine books on American Presidents. His most recent two books, Presidential Courage (2007) and The Conquerors (2002), were each on the New York Times bestseller list for months. Presidential Courage was #1 on the Washington Post bestseller list. The Conquerors was Amazon.com’s top bestselling history book of the year.

Mr. Beschloss’s previous books include two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s secret tapes, which a New York Times editorial called “an important event,” and The Crisis Years, which the New Yorker called the “definitive” history of John Kennedy and the Cold War.

A regular commentator of national prestige, Mr. Beschloss serves as the NBC NewsPresidential Historian, the first time a major television network created such a position. He appears on all NBC News programs, hosting a regular segment on NBC’s Today show called “American Minute with Michael Beschloss.” He is also a commentator on PBS’s “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” and writes a regular column for Newsweek called “Traveling through History with Michael Beschloss.”

The Empire State Archives and History Award was inaugurated in 2005 to honor national figures who, through their achievements, have advanced the understanding and uses of history within our society. Previous winners have included: C-SPAN founder and CEO Brian Lamb, actor Sam Waterston for his efforts to bring Abraham Lincoln and other characters from U.S. history to life on stage and screen, and Pulitzer Prize winning writer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Title sponsors for the New York State Archives Partnership Trust’s signature event are Time Warner Cable and History. Premier sponsors include: Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture and Engineering P.C., Greenberg Traurig, Key Private Bank, New York State United Teachers, Times Union, and New York Council for the Humanities. Supporting sponsors include: 2K Design; 74 State; Berkshire Bank; Chateau LaFayette Reneau; Edward Ryan; Janney Montgomery Scott LLC; McCadam Cheese; WAMC Northeast Public Radio; Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, Attorneys at Law; and Wojeski & Co., CPAs, P.C.

Tickets for the Empire State Archives and History Award are $10 and are available at The Egg Box Office. Invitations to a private fund-raising reception with Mr. Beschloss may be obtained by calling (518) 474-1228.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Cultural History, Media, New York State Archives, NYS Archives Trust

Essex Co. Historical Society Wins Archives Award

October 14, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Board of Regents and the New York State Archives have selected the Essex County Historical Society | Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown to receive the 2008 Annual Archives Award for Program Excellence in a Historical Records Repository. The award will be presented to Essex County Historical Society Director Margaret Gibbs, Assistant Director Jenifer Kuba, and Museum Educator Lindsay Pontius at a luncheon ceremony at the State Education Building in Albany on October 20, 2008.

The award commends Essex County Historical Society for its outstanding archival program that contributes significantly to understanding the region’s history. The award recognizes the historical society for its well organized and managed archives and for its efforts to provide access to the county’s documentary heritage through interesting exhibitions and excellent educational programs for school children.

Previous award winners include Schenectady County Historical Society (2007), Huguenot Historical Society in New Paltz (2006), M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives at the University at Albany (2005), Onondaga Historical Association (2004), Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery (2003), and Hofstra University (2002)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Adirondacks, Essex County, Essex County History Society, Museums-Archives-Historic Sites, New York State Archives

Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Grants Announced

October 13, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

More than 250 schools, grassroots organizations and local governments in the Hudson and Champlain valleys have been awarded “mini grants” to help bring supplemental funds to their preparation and planning for celebrating the 400th anniversary of the historic voyages of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain, according to the the New York State Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Office (HFCQ).

The announcement coincides with last week’s launch of the new Quadricentennial website. The new site focuses on a listing of the dozens of events being planned by all of the communities in the Hudson and Champlain Valleys and New York City. Also included is a wealth of statewide images, historical information, countless project plans, and opportunities for partnership with the state wide preparations for New York’s 400th.

Over the last ten months, HFCQ has been rallying all communities in the two valleys to become “Quad communities” (including schools, libraries and colleges) and valley businesses and corporations to become “Quad ambassadors,” cultivating organizations, clubs, and cultural institutions to become “Quad partners” and assisting them in initiating Quad events and programs for their memberships, and promoting New York State’s legacy projects in the Champlain Valley, the Hudson Valley and the New York Harbor.

These efforts will help local governments in their preparations for the commemorative year; provide funding for 400th anniversary projects, exhibits and events, and help fund state “signature” events. These include the Walkway over the Hudson project in the Hudson Valley, events on Governor’s Island in the New York Harbor, and the Crown Point lighthouse project on Lake Champlain (co-sponsored with the State Parks Department).

Stretching from Staten Island to the Town of Champlain on the Canadian border, the grant winners represent a wide variety of initiatives, from theatrical productions to research and writing projects to local festivals. Each award is approximately $1,000, funded through a combination of state funds and a generous donation from the Dyson Foundation.

Some examples of the more than 250 projects funded include:

Adirondack Rowers & Scullers (Albany County) for the Albany Rowing Center to build five park benches, outdoor display case and new boat rack at riverside for Quadricentennial events in Albany.

The Field Library (Westchester County) for author Tom Boyle of World’s End to participate in the library’s literacy project, a community wide ‘read’ of the book with Q&A and a film as well as part of the Quadricentennial.

Saugerties Pro Musica 975 (Ulster County) to contract with a musician to present a concert of HR/HV folksongs commemorating the New York 400th.

American Museum of Natural History (New York County) to present a public program series that will include the Quadricentennial theme, “Explore 400 Years of Progress in the Environment” which will focus on the impact of climate change on the HR Valley.

Cornell Cooperative Extension (of Warren County) to create a Quadricentennial display for the countywide events.

A full list of the more than 250 projects funded is available [PDF].

Filed Under: History Tagged With: 400th, Grants, Hudson River, Lake Champlain, New York County, Public History, Ulster County, Warren County

This Week’s Top New York History News

October 10, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

  • » Quebecois Accent has Royal Roots?
  • » Museum Draws Line at Live Nudes
  • » Interview With Saratoga Author
  • » Coney Island Rezoning Forges Ahead
  • » Blog: NYC’s Hoovervilles
  • » Library to Keep Historic Windows
  • » East Village Cemeteries Open Gates
  • » Along the Ausable: A & W Root Beer
  • » Aaron Burr: Most Dangerous Vice President?
  • » WWII Pilot Remembers B-17

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: nyhistorywire

Civil War Fort Montgomery Needs Preservation

October 10, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

According to an editorial in the Plattsburgh Press Republican this week, Fort Montgomery – not the Hudson River American Revolution fort, but the Lake Champlain (mostly) American Civil War one in Rouses Point – is in ruins, the victim of nothing less then neglect.


According to the Press Republican:

In April 1980, a huge portion of the northwest bastion collapsed into the moat, and cracks in the rest of the structure have raised concerns that a similar fate awaits the rest of the fort.


And there are other obstacles. Liability is an acute concern, as the unstable structure has long been used as a party spot for teens. Also, the location is surrounded by environmentally sensitive wetlands.


But the potential as a historic landmark and tourist destination — accessible by car, bus or boat — is undeniable. In fact, it can be seen by the preservation of a similar landmark, Fort Lennox, just a 20-minute drive upriver in Isle aux Noir, Quebec.

It took hundreds of stonemasons thirty years to build (1844 and 1871), according to the great Wiki:

Named for Revolutionary War hero General Richard Montgomery who was killed at Quebec City during the 1775 invasion of Canada, construction began on Fort Montgomery two years later in 1844. Fort Montgomery was one of a very few “Permanent” or “Third System” forts built along the Northern Frontier, most being constructed along the Atlantic Coast. Work on the fort remained almost continuous through 1870, with the peak of construction taking a frenzied pace during the American Civil War, amidst rumors of possible British intervention against the Union from Canada. These fears were actually proven to be not that far fetched when the Confederate led St. Albans Raid, the northernmost action of the Civil War, took place in nearby Vermont in 1864 involving an incursion by the enemy from Canada.

In 1926 the United States Government sold Fort Montgomery along with its adjacent Military Reservation at public auction. During the period of disuse which followed, as had also happened with the abandoned 1816 fortification, many locals visited the fort, carting off untold amounts of lumber, bricks, windows, and doors for use in their homes and other buildings. Ultimately the majority of the fort, aside from the gutted westward facing officer’s quarters, a small portion of the southern wall and 3 bastions, (2 of which remain today) was demolished in 1936-1937. Its massive stones were crushed and dumped into the lake for fill to construct a nearby bridge between Rouses Point, New York and Alburg, Vermont. After a number of private owners, the property was sold to Victor Podd, Sr. who constructed the headquarters of the Powertex Corporation on the adjacent “Commons” to the west of the fort. Island Point, the actual fort site, was left untouched. During the mid-1980s Podd worked with local historical societies to have the State of New York purchase the property with a view toward possible restoration of the site. Despite being offered the fort at no cost, negotiations were unsuccessful and the State declined to accept the property. Since May 2006 Podds’ heirs have attempted to sell the fort on eBay. The first auction ended on June 5, 2006, with a winning bid of $5,000,310. However, the sale was not completed, and the fort and lands surrounding it remain for sale.

There are current concerns among local preservationists that what remains of the fort today is in danger of a catastrophic structural collapse. This is in part due to the removal of iron reinforcing rods, emplaced around 1886, which were likely cut out for their scrap value during the wartime scrap metal drives of World War 2. These rods were originally devised to brace up and support the massive weight of the fort’s detached outer wall face, a defensive element of the fort’s construction which later proved over time to be a structural flaw. Previously a third remaining bastion on the northern side of the fort suffered a similar collapse and was completely destroyed in 1980, mostly falling into the moat.

Thanks in part to a National Register of Historic Places listing in 1977, the fort is often confused with “Fort Blunder,” for which construction began in 1816. Thanks to a surveyor error, it was discovered that this first fort had been accidentally built on the Canadian side of the border and the site was abandoned. Materials from the fort were taken by locals for local building projects. It was never officially named.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Canada, Civil War, Clinton County, Historic Preservation, Lake Champlain, Military History, War of 1812

Upstate History Alliance Online Courses

October 9, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Upstate History Alliance has announced a spring series of Collections Care & Preservation online courses:

Conservation and Preservation of Photographs and Albums (with Gary Albright)
October 27, 2008- November 21, 2008
This course will first provide an overview of factors effecting the preservation and care of photographs. The various photographic processes will be reviewed and techniques for identifying each photographic process will be supplied. Appropriate handling and storage materials, as well as sources for supplies will be covered. The course will also address the issue of when the original format or album format can be maintained or when re-housing should be considered.

Basic Preservation, Care & Handling of Paper Based Materials (with Michele Phillips)
November 24, 2008-December 19, 2008
This course will provide an introduction to the factors effecting the preservation and care of paper-based materials. Participants will then learn about appropriate techniques for handling and storing collection materials and recomment sources for supplies. Instruction in basic conservation techniques for surface cleaning and mending paper-based materials will be provided

Climate Control for Small Institutions
(with Michele Phillips)
January 5, 2009-January 30, 2009
This course will allow participants to explore the issues that need to be considered when planning for climate controls including monitoring, testing, environmental analysis assessments, long-range planning, systems design, construction support, and operations training. Low cost-low tech solutions will be offered and discussed, providing participants with the background knowledge to assist them in making informed decisions that can be implemented at their own institutions

Introduction to Reformatting (with Toya Dubin)
February 2, 2009-February 27, 2009
This course will provide participants with current, essential information for those who are responsible for the management of paper-based, photographic, audio, and video collections that are seeking to create, manage, and preserve digital assets. Participants completing this course will be better equipped to make informed choices regarding management of their digital projects/programs.

The cost to participate in a 4-week online course is $45 for UHA members, $60 for non-members. Or you can sign up to participate in a series of all four, beginning with Conservation & Preservation of Photographs on October 27, 2008 and ending with Introduction to Reformatting which begins on Feburary 2, 2009. The cost to participate in the complete series is $150 for UHA members, $200 for non-members.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Museums-Archives-Historic Sites, Public History, Upstate History Alliance

NY Historian Discusses Climate Change

October 8, 2008 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Steven Leibo, Ph.D., Professor of International History and Politics at the Sage Colleges in Albany offered an interesting piece last week on his experience with Al Gore’s climate change initiative at the History News Network. “Historians & the Climate Crisis” considers how and why historians should interact with the issue of climate change:

In my own case, once I had become comfortable with the science of contemporary climate change, I began to reflect not just on humanity’s future as climate change becomes more and more obvious but on how it has played out in the past. And even more importantly in what specific ways we professional historians can contribute to this newest and historically profound challenge that faces humanity.

The core question of course is what our current climate challenge has to do with the profession of historian. Human-made climate change is after all a problem more of the present and future rather than the historical material we so often focus on. But from the perspective of at least this historian such an attitude could not be more incorrect. Historians have an enormous role to play in this great challenge.

I am of course, one of those historians who thinks that a good knowledge of the past does an excellent job in helping one understand the present and even to make reasonably educated guesses about the future. But that is not the core issue. Our relationship with the natural environment has been one of the most important factors in human history. True, for a time professional historians rejected the sort of environmental determinism which once so intrigued scholars. But to suggest climate is not profoundly important is to misrepresent much of the historical record.

Check out the full piece here.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Environmental History, Public History

SAGE Publications Offers Free Access to Journals

October 7, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

SAGE Publications is offering free trial access to their online journals through October 31 by going to this page and registering. The free trail include, among a lot of others, the following titles which historians in and of New York might find interesting:

Accounting History
Crime, Media, Culture
Critique of Anthropology
Cultural Geographies
Feminist Criminology
Feminist Theory
Games and Culture
History of Psychiatry
History of the Human Sciences
Journal of Consumer Culture
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
Journal of Contemporary History
Journal of Family History
Journal of Material Culture
Journal of Peace Research
Journal of Planning History
Journal of Social Archaeology
Journal of Urban History
Labor Studies Journal
Law, Culture and the Humanities
Media, Culture & Society
Media, War & Conflict
New Media & Society
Race & Class
Studies in History
Television & New Media
Theory, Culture & Society
War in History

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Media, Publishing

Aircraft Carrier Intrepid Returns to Pier 86

October 6, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The aircraft carrier USS Intrepid returned home to Manhattan last week. The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum’s grand re-opening celebration will be held on Veterans Day, November 11, 2008. Intrepid left her berth at Staten Island’s Homeport Pier on October 2, and was moved north to the brand new Pier 86 following a 22-month overhaul (NYT).

According to Newsday:

Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, said the museum has paid $10 million to dredge more Hudson River mud – more than 90,000 cubic yards – than was done for the first unsuccessful attempt to move the 900-foot-long ship to a New Jersey dry dock. And for good measure, the ship’s four 16-ton, bronze, 22-foot-diameter propellers have been permanently removed so they can no longer serve as unwanted anchors. “I am 100 percent confident she will come back in with no problems,” White said.

The ship reopens to the general the public after a private event Nov. 8 at Pier 86, at 12th Avenue and West 46th Street. After an expenditure of almost $120 million since the carrier was finally relocated in December 2006, visitors will see new exhibits, areas of the 29,000-ton ship launched in 1943 that were formerly off limits during its first 23 years on display and additional historic aircraft and they have access from a newly built pier topped by a free park.

The 2008 Veterans Day Parade has been rerouted west across 42nd Street, and north up 12th Avenue, with the parade passing the Intrepid Museum. 5,000 of the parade’s veterans will take part in the Museum’s grand re-opening celebration.

While in Staten Island, Intrepid will undergo the next phase of her refurbishment, and receive an $8 million interior renovation. Of that, $4.5 million has been privately raised – $3.5 million is yet to be procured. Never-before-seen areas of the ship including to the focasle (commonly known as the anchor chain room), general berthing quarters and the ship’s machine shop will be opened to the public for the first time. The hangar deck will feature a new layout and design including new interactive exhibits.

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum, Maritime History, Military History, Museums-Archives-Historic Sites, New York City, World War Two

This Week’s Top New York History News

October 3, 2008 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

  • » Dutch Officials Honor New York’s history
  • » NYT Makes Historians’ Work Harder
  • » Obit: Preservation Pioneer Margo Gayle
  • » State Archives Thief Sentenced
  • » Cannon Returns to Saratoga
  • » New York Sun Ends Publication
  • » Fort Ticonderoga Appeals to Public Again
  • » Polish Heritage, General Celebrated
  • » Hot Wheels Collection Gaining Attention
  • » NYS Military Museum Reopens

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: nyhistorywire

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