History, Natural History & the Arts
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
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
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
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
Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York (Cornell University Press, 2021) by Dr. Andrea Mosterman explores the history of slavery and resistance in Dutch New York. [Read more…] about Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York
The Hudson Area Library History Room has announced “Reconsidering Slavery in 17th century New Netherland – What do We Know? What Can We Learn?,” a talk by Dennis J. Maika on Thursday, April 28th.
This talk will take a look at the enslaved, slavery’s institutional origins and development, the slave trade, and how slavery impacted New Netherland society. [Read more…] about Reconsidering Slavery in New Netherland (A Virtual Talk)
The Hudson Area Library, in partnership with Columbia Friends of the Electric Trail, have announced an exhibit on the interpretative panels along the Electric Trail in Columbia and Rensselaer counties, set to open on Saturday, May 7th. The exhibition runs through June 30th. [Read more…] about Albany-Hudson Electric Trail Exhibit & Lecture in Hudson
The Hudson Area Library will host “The City of Hudson & Its River: Discussion & Excerpts from the Hudson Area Library’s Oral History Collection,” a virtual presentation set for Thursday, March 24th. [Read more…] about City of Hudson & Its River: Oral History Excerpts, Discussion
The Hudson Area Library will host “History of the Black Community in Hudson: A Discussion of the Black Legacy Association of Columbia County (BLACC) Collection,” an introduction to the library’s website dedicated to the Black Legacy Association of Columbia County (BLACC) Oral History Project Collection set for Thursday, March 3rd. [Read more…] about Hudson, NY Black History Online Archive Launching with Panel Discussion
On May 16, 1691, Jacob Leisler, de facto governor of the Province of New York, was hung til half-dead then beheaded before the largest gathering in the city of New York up to that date. Leisler’s administration had created a bitter division in New York.
Leisler aroused deep emotions that reveal much about the milieu in which he lived and continued to echo in historical evaluations. Moreover, Leisler’s immediate family and their households of servants and enslaved persons, their trade and marital connections, and their actions provide insights into the broader social, ideological, economic, artistic, and political events of colonial New York and its place in the larger world at a time of tremendous change. [Read more…] about Jacob Leisler: Fanatic or Martyr? (Virtual Program)