New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Albany County

Hudson Valley History Day This Saturday

by Leave a Comment

Representatives from 15 historic sites and cultural institutions will engage visitors in fun, educational activities January 16 during Hudson Valley History Day at the New York State Museum. The free event will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is the highlight of Family Fun Weekend, January 16-17. The snow date will be Saturday, January 23. Activities will be held throughout the Museum’s first floor.

Participants include the State Museum, New York State Library, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt-Springwood, Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, Olana State Historic Site, Hudson River Heritage Organization/Montgomery Place, Albany Heritage Area Visitor Center and Henry Hudson Planetarium, Thomas Cole National Historic Site/Cedar Grove, Clermont State Historic Site, Shaker Heritage Society, Albany County Historical Society/Ten Broeck Mansion, Albany Institute of History and Art, Historic Cherry Hill and Crailo State Historic Site.

Visitors will be able to play the Hudson River Valley Trading Game on a 32-foot long game board at the Historic Cherry Hill table; sketch, write poetry and add to a community landscape at the Thomas Cole table; try weaving and grinding peppermint at the Shaker Society table; design their own stained glass at the Museum table; meet the life-sized Henry Hudson puppet at the Albany Heritage Area Visitor Center table and see historic documents, photographs and other objects at the other locations.

Jeffrey Urbin from the Roosevelt site will offer a lecture at 1:30 p.m. in the Huxley Theater on “How to Prepare Family Archives and a Time Capsule.” At 11 a.m. and noon, he also will provide tours of the This Great Nation Will Endure, an exhibition designed and curated by staff from the FDR site. The exhibition showcases the works of a legendary group of photographers who documented the lives and struggles of Americans enduring the Great Depression.

Tours will also be offered at 1 and 2:30 p.m. of the 1609 exhibition. Michelle Stefanik, a senior exhibition planner at the State Museum, will share information about Henry Hudson and his crew’s exploration of the Hudson River 400 years ago. She also will discuss the Mohican and Native Peoples who were living along the shores, as well as their relationships with the Dutch settlers.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 to 4 p.m., visitors will also be able to touch bear fur, try on a cradleboard and learn more about the Haudenosaunee at the hands-on Native Peoples cart, presented by Nancy Berns, a member of the State Museum’s Visitors Services staff.

On Sunday from 1-4 p.m., as part of Family Fun Weekend, the Museum will offer the same stained glass activity as the one on Saturday.

Family Fun Weekends offer theme-based family activities on the third weekend of the month.

The New York State Museum is a cultural program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Started in 1836, the Museum has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the United States. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admission is free. Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Museum website at .

NYS Museum Chocolate Expo, Holiday Gift Market

by Leave a Comment

Shoppers can sample chocolate treats, listen to holiday carolers and purchase hand-crafted gifts from more than 40 vendors at the New York State Museum’s fourth annual Chocolate Expo & Holiday Gift Market on Sunday, December 6.

The Expo, from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will offer samples and sales of chocolates, desserts, wines and specialty foods. Vendors from New York State and New England will also sell a variety of hand-crafted jewelry, glassware, ornaments, handmade bath and skincare products, clothing and accessories.

There also will be two chocolate fountains stations, free to all visitors, compliments of Price Chopper, presenting sponsor, and We Do Fondue. From 1:15 until 2:30 p.m., Vocal Point, South Glens Falls High School’s premier choral ensemble, will perform a wide variety of holiday music, representing various traditions, beliefs and cultures from around the world. The school’s flute choir will also perform from 2:30-3 p.m.

As a special promotion, visitors who purchase a State Museum membership will be eligible to win a gift basket full of products from Expo vendors. Many products offered at the Chocolate Expo are made using fresh, locally produced ingredients. Products will include organic and hand-dipped chocolates, chocolate fudge, candy, and several varieties of truffles, including vegan. Specialty foods and beverages will include homemade gourmet sauces, pesto, and wines “with an attitude.”

Other gift items will include chemical-free soaps, hand creams and bath products; handmade jewelry and Italian glass beads; hand-swirled glassware; hand-painted Christmas ornaments and children’s clothing; hand-knit sweaters and accessories, including scarves, hats and mittens made from hand-spun llama yarn.

Researching New York 2009: 400 Years of Exploration

by Leave a Comment

The annual Researching New York Conference, entitled 400 Years of Exploration: The Hudson – Champlain Corridor and Beyond, will take place today and tomorrow (November 19th and 20th). What follows is the conferences free and open to the public featured events, and even those who cannot attend the conference will find the Thursday evening sessions at the State Museum, as well as the Friday plenary session, interesting. Both those events are free and open to the public.

The full conference program is available in the History Department and at http://nystatehistory.org/researchny/rsny.html. Questions may be directed to resrchny@albany.edu. UAlbany student/faculty registration for the entire conference and the lunch is $20.00.

Thursday, November 19 (at the State Museum)

4:00-5:00 pm:

Library Manuscripts and Special Collections/Archives Open House, 11th Floor

The New York State Archives, www.archives.nysed.gov, and the New York State Library Manuscripts and Special Collections, http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssdesc.htm, share the 11th floor of the Cultural Education Center. Examples from both collections will be on
display; staff from both institutions will be available to give overviews of their collections and answer questions. Limited to 30 people, registration requested. Call (518) 408-1916 to reserve a spot. Walk-ins are welcome if space is available.

State Library Workshop, 7th Floor Computer Classroom

Library staff will demonstrate navigating the Library’s website, http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/research.htm, including the services and electronic resources available to researchers. Sheldon Wein and Cara Janowsky will also demonstrate how to find and access items in the Library’s digital collections. Limited to 19 people, registration requested. Call (518) 474-2274 to reserve a spot. Walk-ins are welcome if space is available.

5:00-6:00 – Gallery Talks

The scholars and museum professionals who were integral in the creation of these exhibits will lead talks in the respective galleries.

“1609” – Charles Gehring, The New Netherland Project, New York State Library

“Through the Eyes of Others”: African Americans & Identity in American Art – Gretchen Sullivan Sorin, Cooperstown Graduate Program

“This Great Nation Will Endure:” Photographs of the Great Depression – Herman R. Eberhardt, Supervisory Museum Curator, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

7:00 PM – LECTURE

The Future of History in the Empire State – Kenneth T. Jackson, Columbia University

Kenneth T. Jackson is one of the country’s leading scholars in American history. Currently the Jacques Barzun Professor of History and the Social Sciences and Director of the Herbert Lehman Center at Columbia University, Jackson has for years championed the importance and excitement of New York State history. His influential 2006 essay “But It Was in New York: The Empire State and the Making of America” challenged historians to convince their “fellow citizens that today’s America took shape in yesterday’s New York.” Expanding on that theme, Professor Jackson will examine subsequent events–including the Hudson-Champlain Quadricentennial, planning for the New York State Museum’s proposed permanent exhibition on state history, the creation of
the New York Academy of History, new public school curricula, and more-as he challenges us to look to the future of New York’s history.

The discussion will be moderated by Jeffrey Cannell, Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education, New York State Department of Education.

Friday, November 20

12:00 LUNCH/KEYNOTE, Campus Center Ballroom **

“Seeing with Explorers’ Eyes and Finding the Wild in the Hudson Valley” – David Stradling, University of Cincinnati

(** NOTE: For those who would like to hear Stradling, but not registering for lunch, seating available at 12:30 PM.)

For 400 years European and American explorers – from Henry Hudson to modern urban tourists – have traveled through the Hudson Valley. Stradling examines how the perceptions of these explorers have influenced public policy, especially preservation and conservation, in an attempt to explain why this heavily populated region still appears to be so wild. His publications include Making Mountains: New York City and the Catskills and Smokestacks and Progressives: Environmentalists, Engineers, and Air Quality in America, 1881-1951.

3:30 PM CLOSING PLENARY

The Tappan Zee Bridge: Transforming Rockland County

The Tappan Zee Bridge: Transforming Rockland County chronicles the dramatic changes that the Tappan Zee Bridge brought to Rockland County, transforming a quiet, rural farming community to a sophisticated New York City suburb. It tells the story of the bridge, through rare photographs, drawings, blueprints, and oral histories from workers- those who were relocated, or otherwise affected by the construction of
the bridge and the NYS Thruway extension. Funded in part with a “Preserve America” grant from the Federal Parks Service in partnership with the County of Rockland, and Rockland County Tourism, the film is a part of the larger Tappan Zee Project of the Historical Society of Rockland County, which also includes teacher’s guide, museum exhibition, and companion book.

Completed in 1955, this three-mile link between New York’s Westchester and Rockland Counties was a response to the post-war housing shortage, our national love affair with the automobile, and the power of the American dream. A replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridges in the planning stage, making it imperative that we preserve the tumultuous
story of this historic bridge and how it brought both immigration and heritage tourism to Rockland County-and is part of the larger story of suburbanization in America. The Project also offers a window into the value of local historical collections, innovative public history projects, and ways to tell stories from the archives.

Annmarie Lanesey, MZA Multimedia, Troy, NY Gretchen Weerheim, The
Historical Society of Rockland County

Comment: Sheila Curran Bernard, University at Albany, SUNY

NYS Library Awards 2009 Residencies, Invites Applications

by Leave a Comment

The New York State Library has announced the recipients of the 2009 Research Residency grants for research in New York State history. In addition, researchers interested in conducting original research at the New York State Library may now apply for the 2010 program, which will include four Cunningham residencies of $1,000 and at least one Quinn fellowship of $2,500.

The New York State Library has awarded six grants for research in New York State history in 2009 through the Anna K. and Mary E. Cunningham Research Residency Program in New York State History and Culture.

Four grants were awarded through funds provided by a trust fund endowment created by a bequest from the estate of Anna K. Cunningham. The Cunningham fund was established in 1997 to benefit scholars using the unique collections of the New York State Library to study the history of New York. The funds celebrate the sisters’ lifelong interest in the study of New York State history.

Anna Cunningham (1906-1996) was Supervisor of Historic Sites of New York State, as well as serving on the boards and councils of many state and national historic preservation organizations.

Mary Cunningham (1917-1986), whose personal papers are among the collections of the State Library, held various executive positions in the New York State Historical Association, was a founder and the first editor of American Heritage magazine, and was a founder of the Yorkers program for teaching and involving young New Yorkers in the State’s history.

Through generous support from the Doris Quinn Foundation, the New Netherland Institute and the New York State Library made two additional special Cunningham grants of $2500 each for specialized research in Dutch-related documents and printed materials at the New York State Library.

2009 Recipients

Grant recipients in the 2009 Anna K. and Mary E. Cunningham Research Residency Program in New York State History and Culture are:

Nancy Siegel
Associate Professor of Art History
Towson University
Carlisle, PA
Project title: To elevate the mind: female instruction, women artists and the Hudson River School.

Margaret Lasch Carroll
Asst. Professor of English
Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
Project title: Influence of 19th century Bishop John McCloskey and 20th century Gov. Martin Glynn on the Irish ethnicity and Attitudes of Albany, NY.

Robert Chiles
University of Maryland
Project title: The gubernatorial administration of Alfred E. Smith and its importance to U.S. political development In the years preceding the New Deal.

Susan Ingalls Lewis
SUNY New Paltz
Project title: Research for a college text book on the history of New York State.

The 2009 Cunningham-Quinn fellows are:

Kim Todt
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14850
Project title: Transformation of the Mercantilist system from 1630 through 1790 in New Netherland and Colonial New York.

Andrea Mosterman
Boston University
Project title: Sharing Spaces in a new world environment: African-Dutch contributions to North American Culture.

Four Cunningham residencies and one Cunningham-Quinn residency are awarded annually by the New York State Library. A second Cunningham-Quinn residency was awarded for 2009 to mark the 400th anniversary of the Dutch era in American colonial history.
2010 Applications

Academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers, writers, and primary and secondary school teachers are invited to submit applications for the 2010 Cunningham and Cunningham-Quinn residencies. Applicants must conduct original research at the New York State Library.

Four Cunningham residencies of $1,000—and at least one Quinn fellowship—will be awarded in 2010. Applications must be postmarked by January 29, 2010. A panel of scholars and library staff will review proposals. The panel’s decisions will be announced by April 2, 2010.

Applications and information on how to apply for the 2010 Cunningham and Cunningham-Quinn research residencies can be found here: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/library/researchres.htm

Mastodon Tusk May Be Largest Ever Uncovered in NYS

by Leave a Comment

Research under way at the New York State Museum indicates that a huge mastodon tusk, recently excavated by Museum scientists in Orange County, may be the largest tusk ever found in New York State. The nearly complete but fragmented tusk, measuring more than nine feet long, was one of two excavated this past summer in the Black Dirt area of Orange County at the confluence of Tunkamoose Creek and the Wallkill River, on the property of Lester Lain of Westtown. Museum scientists believe that the other less complete tusk, about 5-6 feet long, came from the same mastodon, which has been named the Tunkamoose mastodon.

Glen Keeton of Mount Hope, N.Y. and Chris Connallon of Hampton, N.J. came across the tusks in November 2008 as they were canoeing down the Wallkill River. Keeton contacted the Orange County chapter of the New York State Archeological Association, which then contacted the State Museum. Weather conditions delayed the excavation until this past
summer.

Since then, Dr. Robert Feranec, the Museum’s curator of vertebrate paleontology, has been researching other mastodon excavations in New York State. Feranec believes that the Warren Mastodon tusk, which is 8 feet, 8 inches long, is the longest one uncovered to date. It was discovered in New York State in the 1800s and is on exhibit at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The tusk of the Cohoes Mastodon, on display at the State Museum, is about 4-5 feet long.

Based on the age of similar fossils, Feranec suspects that the tusks are about 13,000 years old. However, carbon dating results to determine the exact age, will not be available until later this year. In the meantime, the tusks have been taken apart to be cleaned and conserved for their long-term survival. It is hoped that eventually the tusks can be made available for scientific research and exhibits at the State
Museum and at a museum in the area where the tusks were found.

Abundant mastodon fossils have been found in Orange County, especially in the rich Black Dirt area which Keeton calls “a gold mine for these fossils.” Other fossils have also been found including those of giant beavers, stag moose, ground sloths, peccaries and reindeer. Several Museum scientists will be involved in an integrative research
project in the Black Dirt area where they will investigate the ancient environment in which the mastodon lived, as well as how that environment changed over the last 13,000 years.

“From my perspective, this is a significant find,” said Feranec. “These fossils will tell us more about the ancient history of New York. We hope to be able to reconstruct the environment in which the mastodon lived, as well as to try to understand why they went extinct.”

In 2007, Feranec oversaw the relocation of the Cohoes Mastodon from the State Museum lobby window to its new location in the Museum’s Exhibition Hall, where temperature and humidity levels are more stable and more conducive to the skeleton’s long-term preservation. The iconic Museum treasure is now the centerpiece of an expanded exhibition.

Discovered in 1866 near Cohoes Falls, the Mastodon once stood about 8 ½ feet tall, was about 15 feet long, and weighed between 8-10,000 pounds. Its tusk weighs 50 pounds.

Photo: During the excavation process in Orange County, Dr. Robert Feranec, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the New York State Museum, poses next to part of the tusk of a mastodon. (Photo courtesy of NYS Museum)

Lutherans And Albany Public Lecture, Discussion

by Leave a Comment

The public is invited to a public lecture and discussion entitled “Lutherans, Albany, And the Course of History” at 2 pm, Sunday, November 15th, at Wittenburg Hall, First Lutheran Church of Albany (181 Western Avenue in Albany), part of First Lutheran Church of Albany’s 360th Anniversary Celebration. Dating from 1649, First Lutheran is the oldest congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It originated in the Dutch period and its services were originally held in Dutch. Over the centuries, the congregation has worshiped at four different sites in Albany. Its rich history parallels and interacts with that of the city and the State from the colonial period to the present. These presentations will draw on that history to illuminate important trends and developments and also make history “come alive” with stories that connect the church, its people, its city, and its state.

Four experienced historians will make presentations. There will be plenty of time for questions and comments at the end.

● John J. McEneny, Assemblyman, 104th A.D., “Religion and Government in Albany Over 300 Years”

● Peter Christoph, FLC Church Archivist, “Friendly Relations, Occasional Clashes: Christian Churches in Colonial Albany”

● Anthony Opalka, City Historian, City of Albany, “Albany’s Architectural History During First Lutheran’s 360 Years On the Move”

● Edward H. Knoblauch, Adjunct Professor, Schenectady County Community College, “Lutherans in the Atlantic World in the 17th and 18th Centuries”

Free parking is available in the Church’s two parking lots adjacent to its building.

Refreshments will be served after the presentation.

For more information, please contact the church office at 518-463-1326, or the event coordinator, Bruce W. Dearstyne, 518-456-0872, dearstyne@verizon.net

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. To Appear in Albany

by Leave a Comment

The State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust have organized an evening honoring Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. with the Empire State Archives and History Award on October 26th at the Egg in the Empire State Plaza. The event promises an “engaging evening of conversation between nationally renowned scholar of African American studies,” who along with nationally prominent Lincoln Scholar Harold Holzer, will discuss Dr. Gates’ life, work and passion for history.

A literary critic, educator, scholar, writer, editor, and public intellectual, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. Gates hosted the 2006 and 2008 PBS television miniseries African American Lives, which explored the genealogy of prominent African Americans. He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University, where he is also Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.

The event will be held Monday, October 26, 2009 at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $10 per person; for reservations call The Egg Box Office at (518) 473-1845.

In advance of the program, a reception to honor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will be held at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts, from 5:30-7:00 pm.

Members of the Trust ………………………..$50.00 a person
Become a Member and attend reception…..$65.00 a person
Non-Members…………………………………..$75.00 a person

All reception attendees will also receive a complimentary ticket to the 7:30 pm program in The Egg. If attending the reception you do not need to make a separate reservation at The Egg Box Office.

To learn more about the reception please contact Grazia Yaeger, manager of membership & special initiatives, Archives Partnership Trust at (518) 474-1228 with questions. Reservations are not confirmed until payment is received.

RVSP by October 20, 2009.

Proceeds from this event will go to support the projects of the New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust.

Managing Your Historical Photographs Workshops

by Leave a Comment

The New York State Archives is offering two new workshops on managing historical photographs. The first, offered at three locations around the state in October is intended to present strategies for taking physical and intellectual control of photographs to ensure their long-term access and use. Participants will hear methods of organizing and making accessible photographic material, and preservation guidelines for photographs, along with reference, exhibition, and outreach strategies will be outlined. The workshops are free and open to the public. The second workshop in the two part series, “Digitizing Your Historical Photographs,” will be available next year.

Schedule and Registration

October 13, 2009, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Hanford Mills, East Meredith, NY
Presenter Ray LeFever, Coordinator of Archival Advisory Services, NYS Archives Register by downloading a registration form from Upstate History Alliance

October 20, 2009, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
New City Library, New City, NY (Rockland County)
Presenter Ray LeFever, Coordinator of Archival Advisory Services, NYS Archives
Register by emailing Dianne Macpherson at Greater Hudson Heritage Network.

October 20, 2009 9:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Schenectady County Library Schenectady, NY
Presenter Denis Meadows, Regional Advisory Officer, NYS Archives Region 4
Register online with the State Archives.

For more information e-mail ARCHTRAIN@mail.nysed.gov.

Photo: Bart Warren and helper in his blacksmith shop, West Sand Lake, NY c. 1900
@greaterhudson.org>

Shirley Dunn To Speak On Mohicans And Dutch

by 1 Comment

Shirley W. Dunn, who has published two books about the Mohicans (The Mohicans and Their Land 1609-1730 and The Mohican World, 1680-1750) and has one in press, will speak on October 22nd at the Smithsonian Institution’s Heye Museum in Manhattan (a branch of the Museum of the American Indian) beginning at 6:00 pm. Her topic will be the Mohicans and the Dutch, and the she will deal with contributions of the Mohican Indians to Dutch settlement and to the Colony of Rensselaerswijck. The talk is free and open to the public.

Rensselaerswijck Seminar Scheduled For Oct 1-3

by Leave a Comment

The Rensselaerswijck Seminar, this year themed “Kiliaen van Rensselaer’s Colonie: The Beginning of European Settlement of the Upper Hudson,” will be held in the New York State Museum’s Carole Huxley Theatre October 2nd and 3rd. Scholars and historians from this country and the Netherlands will present seminar topics over the two days, giving current information about the origins and history of Rensselaerwijck, a million acres that encompassed what is now Albany, Rensselaer and Columbia counties. Admission to the seminar is $75 for both days, $50 for one day, and $25 for students.

Noted author Russell Shorto will speak on “Oh, Henry: What Has the Hudson Year Wrought?” at the opening reception of the 32nd Annual Rensselaerswijck Seminar, Thursday, Oct. 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the NYS Museum, Albany. Admission to Shorto’s talk is free.

The New Netherland Institute’s conference theme is a return to its roots as a platform for local historians to present their latest research on the only successful patroonship in New Netherland.

The members of the New Netherland Project staff will all take part. Charles T. Gehring, Ph.D., director of the project, Janny Venema, Ph.D., assistant director, and Martha D. Shattuck, Ph.D., editor, will present new information from their research specialty areas.

Shorto will also take part on a panel of authors Friday at 10:30 a.m., with other contributors to the institute’s recent publication, “Explorers, Fortunes & Love Letters: A Window on New Netherland.” Martha D. Shattuck, Ph.D., editor, will be moderator.

More detailed information and registration forms are available at the New Netherland Institute website at www.nnp.org.