New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Association of Public Historians of NYS

Municipal Historians Annual Meeting Goes Virtual

by Leave a Comment

Association of Public HistoriansApril 11, 1919, New York Governor Al Smith signed the “Historians Law.” The first law of its kind in the United States, the Historians Law allowed for every village, town, and city in the state to have a municipal historian to gather and preserve historical records.

The Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS), the organization for the state’s municipal historians, is set to host its first virtual annual meeting and conference on Monday and Tuesday, September 21-22, 2020. [Read more…] about Municipal Historians Annual Meeting Goes Virtual

Municipal Historians: Start Documenting COVID-19 Crisis

by 1 Comment

Association of Public HistoriansThe Association of Public Historians of New York State is asking local government-appointed historians, to document the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, including the impact on their communities and how citizens respond.

Government-appointed historians have a duty under New York State Law to document these sorts of episodes and may wish to partner with local historical societies. “The key here is to document, collect, and preserve as much data and information on the local reaction to COVID-19 as you can,” an announcement from APHNYS said. [Read more…] about Municipal Historians: Start Documenting COVID-19 Crisis

New York State Family History Conference Planned

by 1 Comment

New York State Family History ConferenceThe third annual New York State Family History Conference (NYSFHC) will be held September 15–17, 2016 in Syracuse. This event will bring together hundreds of genealogists from across the United States to learn about their New York ancestry.

This year, the event will run concurrently with the annual conference of the Association for Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS). As part of the concurrent conferences, attendees of the NYSFHC Conference will be welcome to attend APHNYS lectures and field trips, and APHNYS registrants will be welcomed to attend NYSFHC lectures. [Read more…] about New York State Family History Conference Planned

Recent Lower Hudson Valley History Meeting Highlights

by 1 Comment

hudson valleyIn recent weeks I have had the opportunity to attend and participate in three regional and county history community meetings. These included the annual meeting of the Greater Hudson Heritage Network; a meeting of Region 3 (mainly the Hudson Valley) of the Association of Public Historians in New York State (APHNYS); and the Sullivan County History Conference

These three meetings provided opportunities to meet with colleagues, discuss important issues, and learn what’s happening. What follows are some highlights from those meetings. [Read more…] about Recent Lower Hudson Valley History Meeting Highlights

A Call For Municipal Historian Reform In NYS

by 17 Comments

NYS MapThis question of what municipal historians should be doing came up at the recent annual conference of the Association of Public Historians of New York (APNYS). The setting was a session at the conference for first-time municipal historians and was chaired by Christine Ridarsky, the City of Rochester Historian who works at the Central Library in Rochester and serves on the APHNYS board.

The stories told during the session did not reflect well on the state of the municipal historian position in New York State. Some had stumbled into the job based on very local circumstances. They didn’t know what the job entailed, nor did the municipal leaders who appointed them. [Read more…] about A Call For Municipal Historian Reform In NYS

Peter Feinman: The State of the Municipal Historian

by 18 Comments

NYS MapNew York prides itself as being the only state in the country to require each municipality to have an historian. Unfortunately, besides taking pride in this action, the State does little or nothing to support those historians.

In previous posts, I have reported the following based on an analysis of a download of the municipal listings from the Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS): [Read more…] about Peter Feinman: The State of the Municipal Historian

Economic Development Councils And Path Through History

by 6 Comments

REDC RegionsThe Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC) awards for 2014 were recently announced. These councils were created by Governor Andrew Cuomo as a conduit for the disbursement of state funds among 10 designated regions. Each region holds meetings to discuss the economic development proposals which have been submitted for their region. The approved proposals are then submitted for statewide consideration and the results were announced in December. Now that the 2014 awards have been announced, it’s time to consider what it all means for the history community. [Read more…] about Economic Development Councils And Path Through History

Bruce Dearsyne: Strengthening Public History in NYS

by 2 Comments

New-York-State-Map1Over the past few years, there has been a lot of discussion here on The New York History Blog about the status and role of local government historians, including, for instance, a summary of a special issue of the journal Public Historian three years ago on the status of history in New York State, and, most recently, Peter Feinman’s post “The State of Municipal Historians,” which resulted in many comments.

Local government historians are unique to New York State. They give us an edge over other states in the local history arena. Their potential is immense. But their status and role need to be strengthened. [Read more…] about Bruce Dearsyne: Strengthening Public History in NYS

The State of Municipal Historians in New York

by 24 Comments

new-york-county-mapNew York State requires every municipality to have a historian. This means every village, every town, every city, every county, and, of course, at the state level. Hamlets can ponder “should we or should we not have an historian, that is the question” but they are not legally obligated to have one. Nor are neighborhoods. That might seem self-evident outside New York City, but one should realize that the neighborhoods in the city can be substantially larger than even some cities.

Naturally, even when you are required to have a historian by state law there is no assistance from the state in support of that position. It is an unfunded mandate.

Let’s examine the state of these municipal historians. [Read more…] about The State of Municipal Historians in New York

Lower Hudson Valley Public Historians Meeting

by Leave a Comment

APHNYS-Regions-Map1The Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS), Region 3, will hold its 2014 meeting on Saturday, September 20, 2014 from 9:45 am to 2:00 pm at the Westchester County historical Society, 2199 Saw Mill River Road, Elmsford, NY. Region 3 includes Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, and Orange counties.

Registration for the 2014 APHNYS Region 3 Meeting should be mailed to: Suzanne Isaksen, APHNYS Region 3 Coordinator, 10 Windrift Lane, Walden, NY 12586-1524. Include the names and titles (e.g. “Town of Montgomery Historian”) of attendees, along with telephone and e-mail contact information. A fee of $10.00 per person is being charged to help defray costs of lunch and refreshments. Make checks payable to APHNYS. [Read more…] about Lower Hudson Valley Public Historians Meeting