The TAUNY Center has announced the new exhibit “Wool and Water” will open to the public on Wednesday, September 8th. The “Wool and Water” project by scientist Michale Glennon (Ray Brook, NY) is a data art project that blends fiber art with scientific data to create visual representations of changing water quality conditions in the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Fiber Arts ‘Wool and Water’ Exhibit Opens In Canton
250 Acres Added to Forest Preserve at Moxham Mountain
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Adirondack Land Trust have announced the addition of 250 acres to the Forest Preserve on Moxham Mountain between Minerva, Essex County and North Creek, Warren County.
The acquisition will increase public access to the south side of Moxham Mountain for hiking and rock climbing. [Read more…] about 250 Acres Added to Forest Preserve at Moxham Mountain
Majority of NYS School Districts See Enrollment Declines 2010-2020
It’s back to school time in New York State. One of the things that always happens at this time is reports about school district enrollments year-over-year in a particular area. These stories are useful and interesting, but they usually lack context.
With the beginning of the release of 2020 US Census data in August, Protect the Adirondacks is starting an update of its study The Adirondack Park and Rural America: Economic and Population Trends 1970-2010. The 2020 US Census will enable us to look at a 50-year trend line. [Read more…] about Majority of NYS School Districts See Enrollment Declines 2010-2020
Rise and Fall of Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica
In 1719, Étienne [Stephen] De Lancey built his house on a site at 54 Pearl Street on the corner of Broad Street which had been given to him by his father-in-law Stephanus van Cortlandt, New York’s Mayor. The small yellow bricks used in its construction were imported from the Dutch Republic.
In 1762, his heirs sold the property to Samuel Fraunces who converted the home into a tavern, first named the Queen’s Head and later known as Fraunces Tavern. [Read more…] about Rise and Fall of Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica
Frick Announces Major Gift of Drawings and Pastels
The Frick Collection has announced what the museum is calling the largest and most significant gift of drawings and pastels in its history, thanks to the generosity of Elizabeth “Betty” and Jean-Marie Eveillard.
Over the past forty-five years, the Eveillards have assembled an outstanding collection of European works on paper, ranging in date from the end of the fifteenth century to the twentieth century and representing artists working in France, Britain, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. acquisitions. [Read more…] about Frick Announces Major Gift of Drawings and Pastels
Shortnose Sturgeon: New Population Study Underway
The shortnose sturgeon was the first fish listed as endangered with enactment of the 1973 Endangered Species Act.
Soon after, researchers conducted a population estimate for Hudson River shortnose sturgeon in order to develop recommendations for managing the recovery of this fish.
A second population study in the 1990s indicated a substantial increase in the spawning population from the 1970s. [Read more…] about Shortnose Sturgeon: New Population Study Underway
Hudson Valley’s Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Improvements Coming
New York State Parks is partnering with the Open Space Institute and the Town and Village of New Paltz to improve a 3.5-mile section of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, a key link in the Empire State Trail in Ulster County. [Read more…] about Hudson Valley’s Wallkill Valley Rail Trail Improvements Coming
Accessibility Enhanced at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site
Grounds and parking at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site in Newburgh, Orange County, are now more fully accessible to all visitors. [Read more…] about Accessibility Enhanced at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site
Common Grackles: Shifting and Shimmering Feathers
The grackle appeared early last spring, the day before I put the feeder away (so as not to tempt the bears who would soon be awakening from their winter dens). In the dim light of a cloudy day, this avian visitor seemed at first to be just another blackbird, on the larger side, perhaps, and with a longer than usual tail. When I peered at him through the binoculars, however, his head and neck shimmered with iridescent blues and purples, and there seemed to be a greenish tinge to his wings. [Read more…] about Common Grackles: Shifting and Shimmering Feathers
The Last Days of John Brown: The Secret Six
John Brown has often come down to us as a lone nut, bent on an suicidal mission, but this is far from the truth.
Brown was part of a larger movement to free slaves that grew with passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (which required the return of escaped slaves to their masters with all its potential for torture and death at their hands) and the large Underground Railroad movement.
It’s little understood that Brown was intimate with northern politicians, industrialists, ministers, and folks from all walks of life, including the leading intellectuals of the era – the Transcendentalists. [Read more…] about The Last Days of John Brown: The Secret Six