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Horses

Labor History: Saratoga, Belmont, Aqueduct & the 1961 Track Workers Strike

July 23, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Horse Transports at the Saratoga Race Course in 2019 (Matt Bonk photo)There were only 14 horses at Saratoga Race Course in late July of 1961. By that time, it was expected that at least 200 would have arrived for the racing season. Strikes led by Jimmy Hoffa and a branch of the Teamsters Union, Local 917, halted the transportation of horses from New York City to Saratoga Springs. [Read more…] about Labor History: Saratoga, Belmont, Aqueduct & the 1961 Track Workers Strike

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, Black History, Delaware & Hudson Railroad, Hispanic History, Horses, Labor History, Long Island, New York City, NYRA, Queens, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, Teamsters, Transportation History

A Remarkable Saratoga Race Track Souvenir

July 13, 2023 by Bill Orzell 3 Comments

Photogravure reproduction of the William Dowling painting produced by the FA Ringler Company for the Saratoga Association in 1928 (Author’s collection)The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has four “giveaway” days planned for the 2023 Saratoga Racing season, which kicked-off today. This tradition, while the supply lasts, has been a standard at the Spa for decades. This year’s red and white swag includes a cooler jug, a T-shirt, a bucket hat and a tote bag.

Souvenirs date back to the earliest visitors at Saratoga Springs, wanting to return home with a tangible memento of their visit to the Spa, in the foothills of the Adirondacks. The Saratoga Association for the Improvement of the Breed of Horses early on recognized this desire of visitors, and devised of a plan for a valuable keepsake early in the twentieth century. [Read more…] about A Remarkable Saratoga Race Track Souvenir

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Gambling, Horses, illustrators, Material Culture, NYRA, painting, Saratoga County, Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, Social History, Sports History, Vice

Edwin Forbes: Civil War Artist & Starting Gate Inventor

June 13, 2023 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

Edwin Forbes Civil War sketch considered the earliest-known illustrations of the use of cigar-box fiddle (colorized for Smithsonian Magazine)American artists and illustrators have documented events through the nation’s history, producing a vital visual record of collective experiences. One illustrator, who can still be called upon to look back through time, is Edwin Forbes, who lived in the Long Island village of Flatbush, before it was annexed into Brooklyn, and eventually New York City. He was a noted illustrator of the Civil War and also an inventor of the horse racing starting gate. [Read more…] about Edwin Forbes: Civil War Artist & Starting Gate Inventor

Filed Under: Arts, History, Nature, New York City Tagged With: Brooklyn, Civil War, Coney Island, Flatbush, Horses, illustrators, Journalism, Library of Congress, Long Island, New York City, Newspapers, Spirit of the Times, Sports History

Horse Racing Hall of Fame Names 2023 Inductees

May 2, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

national museum of racingEight new members have been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. The class of 2023 is comprised of jockey Corey Nakatani and the racehorses Arrogate (KY), California Chrome (CA), and Songbird (KY) in the contemporary category; jockey Fernando Toro via the Historic Review Committee; and Pillars of the Turf selections John W. Hanes II, Leonard W. Jerome, and Stella F. Thayer. Arrogate, California Chrome, and Songbird were all elected in their first year of eligibility. [Read more…] about Horse Racing Hall of Fame Names 2023 Inductees

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, Events, History Tagged With: Horses, Leonard Jerome, National Museum of Racing, NYRA

William O. Stillman: Leader of Humane Societies, Friend of Animals & Children

April 3, 2023 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

The Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society's building on Fourth Street inin Troy, NYWilliam O. Stillman was born on September 9th, 1856 in Normansville, now known as Elsmere in the town of the Bethlehem, Albany County, NY. His parents were Rev. Stephen Lewis Stillman and Lucretia (Miller) Stillman.

Rev. Stephen Lewis Stillman was a Methodist minister at the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Adamsville (now Delmar) and a descendant of a family that had emigrated from London, England. Lucretia (Miller) Stillman was of Dutch descent. Rev. Stephen suddenly died in 1869, when William was 12 years old. After his father’s death, William and his mother moved to Albany. [Read more…] about William O. Stillman: Leader of Humane Societies, Friend of Animals & Children

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany Med, Albany Rural Cemetery, American Humane Association, ASPCA, Bethlehem, cats, Colonie, Crime and Justice, Delmar, dogs, Education, Horses, Housing, Medical History, Menands, Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, New York State Library, pets, poultry, poverty, Saratoga County, Saratoga Springs, William O. Stillman

Secretariat’s Triple Crown at 50

March 9, 2023 by Editorial Staff 3 Comments

Secretariat by Marshall P. Hawkins2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the racehorse Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989) winning the Triple Crown in 1973, a feat that had not been achieved since it was won by Citation in 1948.

Secretariat, also known as Big Red (a nickname shared with Man O’War), was the ninth winner of Triple Crown, setting and still holding record fastest time in all three races – the Kentucky Derby, the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes. He spent much of his career in New York State, and was notably beaten at Saratoga Race Course in 1973, but the only three races he ever lost were in New York State. [Read more…] about Secretariat’s Triple Crown at 50

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, New Exhibits, New York City Tagged With: Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, Gambling, Hempstead, Horses, Long Island, Nassau County, National Museum of Racing, National Sporting Library & Museum, Pop Culture History, Queens, Saratoga County, Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, Sports History, Vice

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Schenectady

January 5, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Buffalo BillOn the evening of January 11, 1917, the Schenectady Daily Union announced the passing of William Frederick “Buffalo Bill” Cody, who died the day before in Denver, Colorado, at age 71.

The Union Star described Cody as a “remarkable man,” a “hero of thousands of exploits,” and published a photograph of Cody with an extensive survey of his life and career as a guide, trapper, Pony Express rider, stagecoach driver, Civil War veteran, Medal of Honor recipient for gallantry, buffalo hunter (thus the nickname “Buffalo Bill”) and master showman. [Read more…] about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Schenectady

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Circus, Cultural History, Horses, Ned Buntline, Performing Arts, Schenectady, Schenectady County, Schenectady County Historical Society, Theatre

The Capitol Region’s Race Course: Island Park

November 24, 2022 by Bill Orzell Leave a Comment

Island Park racing notice published in the Troy Daily TimesThe Hudson River in New York’s Capital Region has always been a vital transportation link, and it also provides a conduit to undertakings of the past. The area presently occupied by Interstate-787 and its connectors to NY-378 were constructed on what had been a cluster of islands in the Hudson River, near Menands, between Albany and Watervliet.

Even in the 1820s, the road here became noted for unofficial, and illegal, horse racing. [Read more…] about The Capitol Region’s Race Course: Island Park

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Erastus Corning, Gambling, Historic Racetracks Series, Horses, Hudson River, Menands, Sports History, Vice, Watervliet

Hempstead Plains Environmental & Cultural History

October 2, 2022 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoThe Hempstead Plains were once a defining feature of Long Island. Covering some 40,000 acres, the Plains stretched from the Queens border in the west to the Suffolk border in the east, creating a sea of waist-high grass in the middle of what is now Nassau County.

Remnants of the Plains still remain, most notably in a 17-acre segment on the campus of Nassau Community College preserved by the Friends of Hempstead Plains. [Read more…] about Hempstead Plains Environmental & Cultural History

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Aviation History, Cultural History, Environmental History, Hempstead Plains, Horses, Long Island, Nassau County, Podcasts, Spanish-American War

Featured Collections: West Point Military Academy Photographs

September 25, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Formation Review at West Point courtesy National Archives CatalogMore than 2,500 photographs taken at the West Point Military Academy in the early 20th century are now available in the National Archives Catalog. [Read more…] about Featured Collections: West Point Military Academy Photographs

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Black History, Featured Collections, Highlands, Horses, Military History, National Archives, Orange County, Photography, West Point, World War One

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