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CFP: Staten Island, Am. History, 21st Cent. Education

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A Call for Papers has been issued for a conference entitled Staten Island, New York in American History and 21st Century Education, to be held at the College of Staten Island (City University of New York) on March 19-20, 2011.

An understanding of the role of place and the attachment to community in America has never been more critical than in our rapidly changing global environment. This conference seeks to explore major turning points and issues in American history as experienced by the residents of Staten Island past and present. Located at the entrance to New York harbor, Staten Island is one of the five boroughs that comprise New York City.

Since 1661, Staten Island has been the home of settlers and migrants from around the globe. Staten Island’s cultural diversity and its regional and global interconnections are reflected in its institutions, cuisine, art and architecture, businesses, social movements, recreational tourism, transportation heritage, and in the service of its military veterans. The organizers’ goal is to rethink the significance of Staten Island and its important historic sites, as part of New York City, the region, the nation, and the world through the interdisciplinary lenses of history and Place-based
Education.

In celebration of Staten Island’s 350th Anniversary in 2011, the organizers invite
innovative proposals from scholars, curators, teachers and public historians related to community history and education. Proposals must be relevant to and illustrate the conference theme, including but not limited to the following topics:

*History of ethnicity and immigration
*History of race, gender, sexual orientation, and disabilities
*Staten Island in the transatlantic world, e.g. Huguenot refugees, the Loyalist Diaspora, the Free Trade Zone
*Staten Island in the history of New York City, e.g. Civil War Draft Riots, Consolidation, 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
*History of the arts, architecture, health, business, military, sports, transportation, religion, food and drink, education, childhood, or of the environment
*Geography, politics, and economics in the study of local history
*The historical interconnectedness of Staten Island to the New York/New Jersey region
*The role of the museum in public history and preservation
*Pedagogy, including Place-based Education, civic engagement and community-based research
*Memory and oral history

Proposals for complete panels and/or individual papers for this peer-reviewed conference are welcome. Proposals for panels must include the following: 1) a cover sheet with the panel title, paper titles, and the name, address, affiliation, and email addresses of the chair/commentator and of the panelists; 2) a 350-word abstract of the panel as a whole; and 3) a 350-word abstract for each paper included on the panel. Individual paper proposals for twenty-minute papers should include the following: 1) a cover sheet with the paper’s title, and the name, address, affiliation,
and email address of the participant and 2) a 350-word abstract of the paper.

All materials should be e-mailed to Dr. Phillip Papas, Associate Professor of History and co-chair of the SI 350 Academic Conference/Education Symposium at papas@ucc.edu. Proposals for panels and/or individual papers must be received no later than October 15, 2010. Successful applicants will be required to send a completed paper no later than February 7, 2011. E-mail Dr. Margaret Berci, Associate Professor of Education and co- chair of the SI 350 Academic Conference/Education Symposium at berci@mail.csi.cuny.edu with questions.

For more information and resources please refer to their website at www.si350.org.

The event is co-sponsored with Wagner College, St. John’s University and SI350, Inc, with major support from the Staten Island Foundation.

Saratoga Battlefield Celebrates July 4th, Immigration

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Independence Day on Sunday, July 4 will be celebrated at Saratoga National Historical Park on Routes 4 and 32 in Stillwater, with a 10:00am Citizenship Ceremony and traditional readings of the Declaration of Independence with free lemonade toasts at 1 and 3pm.

10:00am – On the anniversary of our nation and upon the grounds where independence was won, 20 immigrants from countries all over the world will become new citizens of the United States of America. Fife and drums, color guard, musket and cannon firings frame this special event organized by Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution, Friends of Saratoga Battlefield and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

1:00 and 3:00pm – As a messenger from 1776, park ranger Joe Craig reads from the Declaration of Independence with authentic 18th century toasts reflecting the insightful wit of the document signers. Enjoy free lemonade to share in the toasts, followed by celebratory musket and cannon firings.

Saratoga Monument in Victory and the General Philip Schuyler House in Schuylerville, both located 8 miles north of Saratoga Battlefield, will also be open from 9:00am to 5:00pm. The Battlefield is open daily from 9am to 5pm.

Saratoga National Historical Park, located on Routes 4 and 32 in Stillwater, offers a variety of special events throughout the season. For further information, please call (518) 664-9821 ext. 224, or visit www.nps.gov/sara.

Wild, Wild East: NY’s Westward Expansion Lecture

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New York’s early frontier was America’s first “Wild West” with Westward Expansion, blocked by two “obstacles”: Native Americans and Nature. Combining dramatic images and fresh research, Robert Spiegelman details this forgotten New York, where settler dreams encounter native lifeways during a free lecture on Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 7 pm at the Fort Montgomery Historic Site.

Spiegelman will explore a “magical crossroads” where immigrants change into nomad farmers, neighbors into rivals, colonists into fighters, soldiers into settlers, land speculators into “second creators,” Indian Country into military tracts named for Roman conquerors, and untamed forests into real estate grids.

Participants will revisit Syracuse and Buffalo’s emergence from the ashes of attempted Indian removal and controversial land treaties that have shaped today’s Empire State. Then grasp Manhattan’s rise to prominence via the Erie Canal, which in turn, inflames a religious upheaval across Central New York that America calls “The Burnt Over District.” The lecture will end with an appreciation of how – against all odds – indigenous New Yorkers retain a toehold in their deforested ancestral homelands.

The Fort Montgomery Visitor Center is located at 690 Route 9W,1/4 mile north of the Bear Mountain Traffic Circle in Fort Montgomery, Orange County, NY 10922. For more information call (845) 446-2134.

Folklore Society Sponsoring Events for Latino Artists

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The New York Folklore Society will be sponsoring three gatherings for Latino artists in New York State. Supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the gatherings will take place on three locations on three separate dates over this fall and next spring.

Designed for musicians, dancers, craftspersons, and others who are practicing a traditional artform with its origin in any of the Spanish-speaking communities of North and South America, the gatherings will assist artists in sharing resources and experiences. They will provide an opportunity for future collaborations and technical assistance. For additional information, or to find out how to become a “delegate” for the gatherings, contact Lisa Overholser at the New York Folklore Society.

The gatherings will be held as follows:

October 24, 2010 at Long Island Traditins, Port Washington
March 19, 2011 at Go Art!, Batavia
May 14, 2011 at Centro Civico, Amsterdam

2010 Scholars Conference on American Jewish History

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The 2010 Biennial Scholars’ Conference on American Jewish History will examine the notion of American Jewish “exceptionalism,” or uniqueness that has shaped conceptions of American Jewish history from its beginning. The conference, to be held in New York City on June 15-17, 2010 is sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society and hosted by the Center for Jewish History.

According to many historical accounts, American Jews have enjoyed an unparalleled degree of freedom, acceptance, and prosperity throughout their history in the United States. This has enabled Jews to blend their ethnic identities with the demands of American citizenship far more easily than other diasporic Jews. At the same time, the notion of American Jewish exceptionalism holds that Jews have differed from other ethnic groups in the United States by virtue of their educational and economic attainment and, often, by virtue of Jewish “values,” including a devotion to educational and social/political liberalism.

Yet to what extent are these notions about American uniqueness, on the one hand, and Jewish uniqueness, on the other, accurate? Does the concept of exceptionalism continue to provide a useful framework for understanding American Jewish history? Should it be qualified for greater nuance or discarded altogether?

Papers will be given by a range of prominent academics and doctoral candidates from around the U.S., Canada, and Israel. The keynote will be offered by Professor David Sorkin and an evening roundtable will feature the esteemed U.S. historians Jon Butler and Ira Katznelson in dialogue with Beth Wenger and Rebecca Kobrin, outstanding scholars in the field of American Jewish history. A pre-conference tour of Harlem will be led by Professor Jeffrey Gurock. A tour of the Tenement Museum led by Annie Polland is optional at the conclusion of the conference.

Full conference details are available online at http://www.ajhs.org/scholarship/conference.cfm. For more information contact Rachel Lobovsky, Director of Development at 212.294.6164 or rlobovsky@ajhs.org

Illustration: “East Side Soap Box” Shahn, Ben (1898-1969) © VAGA, NY. East Side Soap Box, 1936. Gouache on paper, 18 1/2 x 12 1/4 in. (47 x 31.1 cm). Purchase: Deana Bezark Fund in memory of Leslie Bezark; Mrs. Jack N. Berkman, Susan and Arthur Fleischer, Dr. Jack Allen and Shirley Kapland, Hanni and Peter Kaufmann, Hyman L. and Joan C. Sall Funds, and Margaret Goldstein Bequest, 1995-61. Photo by John Parnell. The Jewish Museum, New York, NY, U.S.A. © The Jewish Museum, NY / Art Resource, NY

Lecture: Law, Justice, And The Holocaust

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The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York in partnership with US Holocaust Memorial Museum will hold an event on May 11th, 6:00 PM, at The New York City Bar (42 West 44th Street, NYC). The program, Law, Justice, and the Holocaust: Lessons for the Courts Today, will include a presentation by a US Holocaust Memorial Museum historian, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman.

The panelists are: Albert M. Rosenblatt, Former Associate Judge, New York Court of Appeals, John Q. Barrett, Professor of Law, St. John’s University and Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow; Robert H. Jackson Center; and William F. Meinecke, Jr., PH.D., Historian, National Institute for Holocaust Education, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The program will conclude with a reading of remarks by the late Matthew Jasen, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1968-1985) who was formerly a judge of the United States Military government Court at Heidelberg, Germany.

The program is free of charge and open to the public but an RSVP is essential. Information about the program and online registration can be found at http://www.courts.state.ny.us/history/

Discovering NY Harbor: The Gateway to America

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Celebrating the historic and cultural significance of New York Harbor, the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy (Harbor Conservancy) and National Park Service kick-off their summer harbor tours aboard New York Waterway ferries with their Gateway to America cruise, an audio tour that is narrated by actress Kathleen Turner and brings 400 years of New York Harbor’s extraordinary past to life. The boat tour runs five times daily leaving from Slip 5 at the Battery Maritime Building.

Gateway to America is in its sixth season. The boat tour experience offers visitors the opportunity to see the city from a new vantage point – from the water while learning about the role New York Harbor played and continues to play as the gateway to America for millions of people.

Gateway to America is the only official tour of the National Park Service that ties together all five interpretative themes of the national parks that ring New York Harbor- commerce, military defense, immigration, birth of the nation and harbor ecology. “The tour itinerary weaves together the rich tapestry of New York harbor’s history – from its first settlement by Native Americans through the tragic events of 9/11, and it offers new insights about the unique geographical and environmental features that made the harbor our nation’s most valuable commercial asset throughout four centuries,” according to Harbor Conservancy President, Marie Salerno.

Produced by Antenna Audio in the style of a public radio broadcast, Gateway to America is introduced by David Rockefeller, Jr. a co-founder of the Harbor Conservancy and whose family was instrumental in preserving open space through the National Park Service. The Gateway to America tour was the first harbor boat tour to present recorded audio commentary by National Park Service Rangers. Prominent experts like Columbia University professor, historian and editor of the Encyclopedia of New York, Kenneth T. Jackson; Daniel Libeskind, who emigrated to New York from communist Poland as a teenager and became one of the world’s leading architects; Pulitzer-Prize winning author David McCullough; and world-class swimmer Nancy Steadman Martin, (who battled the currents to swim the 28-mile circuit around Manhattan) also provide engaging remarks and insights.

Gateway to America tells stories of the five military forts, now historic icons that protected the city from invasion. The tour illuminates the harbor’s role as the portal to the American dream for generations of immigrants – including those newcomers who are still shaping the city’s future. Passengers hear sounds, special effects and original music that bring to life the drama of the thriving commercial port.

This 60-minute tour is offered daily beginning Apr. 4 – May 31 at 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm, and Jun. 1 – Sep. 30 at 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, departing from the Slip 5 in the Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan, located next to the Staten Island Ferry. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Harbor Conservancy’s new ticket booth at Castle Clinton in Battery Park. Prices are: Adults: $18, Seniors (62+): $16, Children: $14, Children under 3: Free.

For more information about other affordable boat and walking tours created by the National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy visit: www.nyharborparks.org.

New-York Historical Society Celebrates Immigrant Heritage

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On Tuesday, April 20 from 4:30-6:30 pm, the New-York Historical Society will participate in the citywide Immigrant Heritage Week observance with a panel discussion about the upcoming exhibition, Nueva York. During the first half of the program, curators will discuss highlights of the exhibition, which explores how Spanish-speaking people have affected virtually every aspect of the City’s development from commerce, manufacturing and transportation to communications, entertainment and the arts from as early as the 17th century through today.

The second half (45 minutes) of the program will be a workshop for teachers and others interested in exploring how this dynamic history can be brought to life for learners of all ages through a rich collection of documents, manuscripts, photographs, and multimedia resources, including film and music.

All attendees must enter the New-York Historical Society through the loading dock at 5 W 76th Street. RSVPs are welcome to schoolprograms@nyhistory.org. Admission is free.

This event will serve as a preview to Nueva York, an exhibition exploring New York’s long connection with Spain and Latin America. Organized by the New-York Historical Society and El Museo del Barrio, Nueva York will be on view from September 17, 2010, through January 9, 2011.

This year, Immigrant Heritage Week is celebrated from April 15 to April 21. Throughout the week, a collection of family friendly events, film screenings, art exhibits and walking tours will promote and reflect the diversity of the immigrant communities in our City.

Photo: Ellis Island Immigrants by National Photo Co., ca. 1909-1932. Library of Congress Photo.

Local Radio Rewarded For Polish Legacy Piece

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Buffalo radio station WBFO (88.7) has received a regional Edward R. Murrow Award by the Radio-Television News Directors Association for a story about the Polish Legacy Project (PLP), a group of people whose aim is to capture the stories of Polish survivors of World War Two while they are still alive.

The piece aired last year just before the PLP’s Untold Stories Conference. [Read more…] about Local Radio Rewarded For Polish Legacy Piece

New York And The American Jewish Experience

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The Milstein Conference on New York And The American Jewish Experience is a one day public conference celebrating history of Jewish life in New York, achievements of Jewish communal organizations, treasures of Jewish archives. Morning Sessions feature presentation on Jewish organizational archives and a roundtable discussion by Jewish agency leaders. Afternoon focuses on papers by scholars on a wide range of political, social and cultural issues and the evening session features a discussion by New York area archivists to discuss the rich resources found in New York and how to preserve them for the future.

Funded by the Milstein Family Foundation and the Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation. Organized by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in partnership with the 92nd Street Y, the Educational Alliance, F·E·G·S Health and Human Service System, NYANA and Surprise Lake Camp. Archival repositories participating: Archives of American Jewish Committee, Hadassah, HIAS, JDC, Yeshiva University and YIVO. DATE: Monday, November 2, 2009. 9:30 to 7:30 pm. Place: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 15 West 16th Street, NY.

Full details about the conference are available at www.yivo.org

ADVANCE REGISTRATON REQUIRED: RSVP: milsteinconference@yivo.cjh.org or call 212-294-6157.