New York Almanack

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Archives Magazine To Expand Reach To Young Readers

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New York Archives Jr!The award-winning New York Archives Magazine is expanding to include a new Jr! educational insert and other related enhancements thanks to a $150,000 grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

The Jr! insert is expected to expand access to young New Yorkers and offer educators another tool for bringing primary sources into the classroom. Each issue will contain learning activities specific to a local history story published in the quarterly magazine and geared to building historical thinking and civic literacy skills that meet 4th-7th grade curriculum standards. [Read more…] about Archives Magazine To Expand Reach To Young Readers

US Archivist Appointment Still On Hold

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national archives building on pennsylvania avenue in Washington DC (courtesy National Archives)In September, the President’s nominee for Archivist of the United States (AOTUS), Dr. Colleen Shogan, appeared before the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs (HSGAC) in accordance with the Senate’s advice and consent capacity for presidential appointments. [Read more…] about US Archivist Appointment Still On Hold

Universal Newsreels In The National Archives

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universal international newsThe Universal Newsreel Collection is the largest donated newsreel collection in the Moving Image and Sound Branch at the National Archives. The popular collection includes nearly 4,000 edited releases which were originally shown in movie theaters, as well as 8,500 reels of unedited outtakes. [Read more…] about Universal Newsreels In The National Archives

Hudson Area Library Acquires Urban Renewal Papers

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Koweek family in the History RoomThe Hudson Area Library has announced that the Koweek family has donated the Arthur Koweek Urban Renewal Papers to the library’s History Room. Arthur Koweek chaired the Hudson City Planning Commission during the urban renewal project of 1971-1973.

With Hudson again in a debate about housing and business development, much can be learned from the Koweek Papers about the history of urban renewal in the city. The collection is an invaluable resource for Hudson and its residents as they seek to create a city that meets the needs of all the diverse people who live and work in its environs. [Read more…] about Hudson Area Library Acquires Urban Renewal Papers

Ulster County Exhibit Celebrates 20 Years of County’s Archive Program

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Archives-in-Action-Exhibit“Archives in Action,” a new exhibit celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Ulster County Archives Program, is now on display in the 2nd floor Archives Gallery located in the Ulster County Office Building, located at 244 Fair Street, Kingston.

The exhibit will be available for viewing through the end of the year. [Read more…] about Ulster County Exhibit Celebrates 20 Years of County’s Archive Program

Heritage Spotlight: FDR Presidential Library and Museum, Dutchess County

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Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and MuseumThe Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and is located near FDR’s home in Hyde Park, Dutchess County, NY.

The first presidential library — and the only one used by its namesake while in office — was planned and designed by Roosevelt in the Dutch Colonial style and houses his official papers, books, and other memorabilia, as well as the papers of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. [Read more…] about Heritage Spotlight: FDR Presidential Library and Museum, Dutchess County

A First Ever National Census of History Organizations

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AASLH logoThe American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has announced the results of the first ever National Census of History Organizations, an effort to research the size and scope of the history community in the United States. [Read more…] about A First Ever National Census of History Organizations

New York City Vital Records Now Online for Free

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nyc birth certificateThe largest collection of publicly available New York City birth, marriage, and death records is now online and free to access.

The New York City Municipal Archives has been working to digitize the millions of birth, marriage, and death records it holds since 2013. With the project now 70% complete, 9,318,625 digitized records from the 1860s to the early 1900s are already available online.

The completely digitized collection will include records of birth (1866–1909), death (1862–1948), and marriage (1866–1949). The new vital records was released following legal efforts by Reclaim The Records, and is based on an index created by the Genealogical Federation of Long Island (GFLI) who used the microfilmed card file to create the indexes.  [Read more…] about New York City Vital Records Now Online for Free

Documents Reveal Sojourner Truth’s Battle to Free Her Son from Slavery

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Sojourner TruthIn February 2022, the New York State Archives announced that archivists had uncovered court records detailing the 1828 legal battle by Sojourner Truth to secure her enslaved son Peter’s freedom. According to archivist Jim Folts, this case was the first time in United States history that a Black woman successfully sued a White man for a family member’s freedom.

After passage of the New York State Gradual Emancipation Act in 1799, some slaveholders illegally sold enslaved Africans to Southern planters for the expanding cotton industry. When Sojourner Truth, then known as Isabella Van Wagenen, escaped from enslavement in 1826, her former “owner,” John J. Dumont of New Paltz, Ulster County, NY, sold her five-year old son Peter to Eleazer Gedney who planned to take the boy with him to England.

When this plan fell through, Eleazer Gedney sold Peter to his brother, Solomon Gedney, who resold Peter to their sister’s husband, a man named Fowler, who was a wealthy Alabama planter. [Read more…] about Documents Reveal Sojourner Truth’s Battle to Free Her Son from Slavery