Whales were always part of Hudson River life (they were spotted at Albany in 1647), and whaling was a major industry in New York, especially on the Hudson River, for over 60 years. It helped to shape the region’s economy and culture, and it left a lasting legacy. Today, there are several historical markers and museums in the Hudson Valley that commemorate the region’s whaling past and the Great Seal of the City of Hudson still includes a whale. [Read more…] about Hudson River Whaling Industry History
Hudson Area Library
The Role of Women in Leisler’s Rebellion
The Hudson Area Library will host a program on the role of women in Leisler’s Rebellion, the 1689-1691 New York uprising against King James II’s government, on Thursday, June 29th. Women played a prominent role in the uprising, as attested to the numerous references to female political activism found in the records of the rebellion. [Read more…] about The Role of Women in Leisler’s Rebellion
Hudson, NY During Urban Renewal: Exhibit Opens May 11th
The Hudson Area Library has announced an exhibition from its Arthur Koweek Urban Renewal collection, set to open on Thursday, May 11th, and be on display through June. [Read more…] about Hudson, NY During Urban Renewal: Exhibit Opens May 11th
Draining Swamps in Colonial New York
After the English took over control of what is now New York State from the Dutch in the late seventeenth-century they sought to bring political order to their empire through projects of environmental improvement. Orders for draining swamps and wetlands were often among the first projects they initiated. By ordering swamp and marshland drainage, officials sought to remake places they worried were unhealthy, unruly, and unproductive. At the same time, they expected to transform the Indigenous residents of those places. [Read more…] about Draining Swamps in Colonial New York
A Hudson Area Local Historical Maps & Atlases Exhibition
The Hudson Area Library is hosting an exhibition from its Local Historical Maps & Atlases collection, on view March – April 2023.
The opening reception for this in house curated exhibition is Thursday, March 2nd, at 6 pm in the Community Room. The reception will include a discussion with Library’s History Room staff on the importance of these resources in Hudson and Columbia County, NY, history. [Read more…] about A Hudson Area Local Historical Maps & Atlases Exhibition
Hudson Area Library Launches Online Oral History Collections
The Hudson Area Library has announced two newly-launched online oral history archives: the Hudson Area Library Oral History Project (HAL OHP), an open collection of interviews collected locally over the past decade, and the Black Legacy Association of Columbia County Oral History Project (BLACC) collection from the 1980s. [Read more…] about Hudson Area Library Launches Online Oral History Collections
Colonial New York As A Model For The Nation
Colonial New York contributed vitally to the formation of the United States, as did New England or the colonial South, although historians have been slow to acknowledge those contributions.
[Read more…] about Colonial New York As A Model For The Nation
Tales from Hudson’s Crypts Tour on Sunday
Long-touted as “a virtual treasure trove for historians and enthusiasts of American funerary art,” the Hudson Cemetery includes over 10,000 grave sites for a wide range of interesting and notable individuals, including European settlers and their ancestors, war heroes, famous artists, paragons of industry, disaster survivors and much more. [Read more…] about Tales from Hudson’s Crypts Tour on Sunday
Hudson’s Urban Renewal 50 Years Later
Urban renewal transformed the city of Hudson. Front Street and the blocks between Columbia and State Street, west of Second Street. Franklin Square, Chapel Street, Fleet Street and Market Place were erased from the network of city streets.
Approximately 176 buildings in all were demolished, requiring the relocation of about 850 people. Demolition and the subsequent new construction took place between 1970 and 1972. [Read more…] about Hudson’s Urban Renewal 50 Years Later
Hudson Area Library Acquires Urban Renewal Papers
The 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