Albany

Amy & Enid Go To Archeology Camp in Albany

August 30, 2022 by Enid Mastrianni Leave a Comment

During the pandemic, I watched every episode of the BBC reality archeology program, Time Team, which ran for twenty years. The show condenses three days of archaeological exploration of a site into a one hour episode. Not only did I watch every episode, it is fair to say that I became obsessed with archaeology in general.

About halfway into the pandemic, I discovered that my friend Amy had become similarly obsessed. So when I found out that the Underground Railroad Education Center in Albany, New York was offering an opportunity to volunteer to participate in a five day dig they had planned for August, I called Amy and said, “Wanna do it?” She replied, “Hell yeah!” [Read more…] about Amy & Enid Go To Archeology Camp in Albany

Stephen Myers of Albany: Abolitionist Writer, Advocate & Underground Railroad Activist

August 30, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Stephen Myers was a Black activist in connection with the Underground Railroad and African American rights in general. He was born and enslaved in Hoosick, Rensselaer County, New York State and raised when it was a slave state working on progressive abolition. He was the principal agent and a key writer for the Northern Star and Freeman’s Advocate, he was also the editor of The Elevator and The Telegraph and Temperance Journal.

As early as 1831 he was assisting fugitives from enslavement making their way to Canada. He was also active in 1827 with a group of little-known significance called the Clarkson Anti-slavery Society. As time went on he was involved in organizing and serving as a delegate to many of the Colored Men’s Conventions of the 1830s to the 1860s, to secure African American rights. He was involved in voting rights campaigns through the NYS Suffrage Association, was involved in organizing a school, and sued Albany Schools over segregation. [Read more…] about Stephen Myers of Albany: Abolitionist Writer, Advocate & Underground Railroad Activist

The 19th Century Hunt for New York’s Dutch History

August 23, 2022 by Jaap Jacobs Leave a Comment

Over the centuries, numerous American visitors to the Netherlands produced travel accounts, filled with their fresh insights and observations as they viewed the familiar from a foreigner’s perspective. John Romeyn Brodhead is no exception, but he was not a regular tourist. He was, or rather became, a man with a mission, hunting for American history in Dutch archives. [Read more…] about The 19th Century Hunt for New York’s Dutch History

Ralph Waldo Emerson in the Capital District in 1852

August 21, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Throughout the 1840s, members of the commercial and professional classes of New York’s Capital Region cities established “Young Men’s Associations,” loosely based upon the Young Men’s Christian Association recently founded in England. In Schenectady, ten prominent men formed their own Young Men’s Association in an attempt to bring culture to their growing city of 10,000.

Although the Association required an annual fee of $2, members and ladies were allowed to attend the lectures for free. The entrance fee for men who were not members was 25 cents. “The association is the only place in our city, aside from the pulpits, where you are able to find any discoursing,” announced its founders in the Schenectady Reflector. “It is the only place where an amusement of a miscellaneous nature is to be found…It is the only place where the clerk, the mechanic, or lawyer, can spend an hour (profitably) out of his store, workshop, or office.” [Read more…] about Ralph Waldo Emerson in the Capital District in 1852

Bradstreet’s Raid: A 1758 Riverine Operation

August 15, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Major General John Bradstreet, born Jean-Baptiste Bradstreet (1714 – 1774), was a British Army officer during King George’s War, the French and Indian War, and Pontiac’s War.

In 1756 he led a column to supply the greatly weakened Fort Oswego and issued ignored warnings to his superiors before Oswego was captured and burned later that year. In the spring of 1757 he helped assemble supplies and transports at Boston for the abortive attack on Louisbourg.

That December he was appointed Lt. Colonel and in 1758 he participated in the attack on Fort Carillon (now Fort Ticonderoga), where he led the advance guard following the death of General George Howe. When the Battle ended in disaster, Bradstreet attempted to organize a retreat. [Read more…] about Bradstreet’s Raid: A 1758 Riverine Operation

Upstate Cities Turn To Canal Heritage For Economic Development

August 12, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Upstate New York’s largest urban centers are pursuing economic development strategies that include a major focus on their canal heritage. [Read more…] about Upstate Cities Turn To Canal Heritage For Economic Development

Alfred Billings Street: Albany’s 19th Century State Poet

August 7, 2022 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

Alfred Billings Street was born in Poughkeepsie on December 18th, 1811. He was descended from an Englishman, the Reverend Nicholas Smith, who immigrated to Connecticut around 1659.

His father, Randall Sandal Street, was a general in the New York Militia and served in the War of 1812. A practicing lawyer, Randall Street was also active in politics; he was a two-term district attorney and a Democratic congressman from 1819 until 1821. His wife, Cornelia, was the daughter of Revolutionary War veteran, Andrew Billings. [Read more…] about Alfred Billings Street: Albany’s 19th Century State Poet

Kayaker Alan Jay Paddles From Buffalo to Manhattan in 31 Days

August 5, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In June, the Hudson River Valley Greenway fielded a call from Alan Jay, who just completed paddling the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Waterford with his brother-in-law Michael.

The next day Jay would start his solo adventure paddling the Hudson River toward New York City – he needed a Hudson River Water Trail Guide. [Read more…] about Kayaker Alan Jay Paddles From Buffalo to Manhattan in 31 Days

A Photographer Visits Utica, Saratoga & Albany in 1878

August 3, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

This essay by John Nicol, PhD, first appeared on July 12, 1878 in The British Journal of Photography.

Utica, intersected by the Erie and Hudson Canal, is really a beautiful place. Free from the geometric regularity of most of the American cities, its tree-lined streets impart to it the truly American sylvan character, while the size and elegance of its suburban residences show that its people are prosperous to a degree unknown in similar cities in the old country.

But their commercial prosperity is not the only, or even principal, quality on which the Uticans pride themselves, as they rank only second to Boston in their opinion of their culture and appreciation of science and art; and, so far as I have been able to judge, with quite as much, if not more, reason. [Read more…] about A Photographer Visits Utica, Saratoga & Albany in 1878

Aboard the Hudson River Steamer Drew to Saratoga in 1878

August 1, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

This article was originally published in Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper on September 21, 1878.

I was awfully glad when a friend proposed a trip to Saratoga. I had been awfully jolly in New York, but New York had gone out of town, leaving nothing but its streets and its tram-cars behind it. In London we have such a perpetual flow of visitors — over one hundred thousand daily — that a fellow doesn’t so much miss the “big crowd” as here, consequently when Saratoga was decided upon I felt extremely pleased indeed. I had heard much of the palatial river steamers, and expected much. [Read more…] about Aboard the Hudson River Steamer Drew to Saratoga in 1878