Legal History

Dr. John Swinburne’s Life in Crime, War & Politics

March 26, 2023 by Peter Hess 1 Comment

John Swinburne was born May 30, 1820 in Denmark, Lewis County, New York. He attended school in the communities of Lowville and Denmark, and in Fairfield, Herkimer County, all in New York. He was an excellent student and upon completion of his studies, he took a job as a teacher.

In 1841, at the age of 21, he began the study of medicine and in 1843 entered Albany Medical College where he was a student under the tutelage of Dr. James H. Armsby, a founder of the college. He eventually went to work for Dr. Armsby and upon his graduation in 1846, started his own practice. [Read more…] about Dr. John Swinburne’s Life in Crime, War & Politics

Sojourner Truth: How An Enslaved Dutch Speaker Became A Black Liberation Icon

March 20, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

On March 31st, 1817 the New York State Legislature decided that enslavement within its borders had to come to an end. Final emancipation would occur on July 4th, 1827. Coincidentally, the date of choice was almost exactly two centuries after the Dutch West India Company’s yacht Bruynvisch arrived at Manhattan on August 29th, 1627. [Read more…] about Sojourner Truth: How An Enslaved Dutch Speaker Became A Black Liberation Icon

Hudson River Towing: Austin’s Albany & Canal Line

March 16, 2023 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

Jeremiah J. Austin, Jr. was born in 1819, just 12 years after the first commercial steamboat trip on the Hudson River and two years after construction of the Erie Canal began at Rome, New York. His father Jeremiah J. Austin Sr. was a prominent Albany businessman involved in Hudson River commerce.

After the Erie Canal opened, freight could be transported all the way across the Great Lakes to the entrance to the canal at Buffalo and then along the canal to Albany where it was shipped down the Hudson River to New York Harbor. From there freight could be fairly easily transported to any port on the East Coast, Europe or the Caribbean. [Read more…] about Hudson River Towing: Austin’s Albany & Canal Line

The African Burial Ground, Columbia University & Manhattan’s Grave-Robbers

March 13, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

On July 26, 1788, the Convention of the State of New York, meeting in Poughkeepsie, ratified the Constitution of the United States and, in doing so, was admitted to the new union as the eleventh of the original thirteen colonies joining together as the United States of America.

For New Yorkers, it had been an eventful year. [Read more…] about The African Burial Ground, Columbia University & Manhattan’s Grave-Robbers

Incompetence? Adk Park Agency Loses 2nd Lawsuit Within A Week

March 12, 2023 by David Gibson Leave a Comment

Last April, Adirondack organizations wrote to the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) asking to rediscover their discretionary power to hold adjudicatory public hearings on particularly complex, controversial Adirondack land use projects.

There was no response to our joint letter, but a rather resounding response has just come from a member of our state’s judicial branch. [Read more…] about Incompetence? Adk Park Agency Loses 2nd Lawsuit Within A Week

Madison’s Militia: The Hidden History of the Second Amendment

March 9, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The new book Madison’s Militia: The Hidden History of the Second Amendment (Oxford Univ. Press, 2023) by Carl Bogus is an engaging history overturning the conventional wisdom about the Second Amendment – showing that the right to bear arms was not about protecting liberty but about preserving slavery. [Read more…] about Madison’s Militia: The Hidden History of the Second Amendment

Thurgood Marshall & Rockland County School Desegregation

February 23, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

On the February 2023 Crossroads, host Clare Sheridan revisited the 2011 interview with Dr. Travis Jackson (1934–2021) about his personal memories and his extensive research related to the desegregation of the Hillburn schools and the role that Thurgood Marshall played in this important piece of Rockland County history.

Dr. Travis Jackson was born and raised in Hillburn. He was entering the fourth grade in 1943 when Hillburn families of color and the NAACP worked together to desegregate the Hillburn schools. [Read more…] about Thurgood Marshall & Rockland County School Desegregation

The Judge and the Anarchist

February 12, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

A fiery anarchist and an ambitious political boss with judicial aspirations never actually met, but their lives collided twice in the first decade of the twentieth century, with national repercussions amid changes in law, politics, and culture that heralded the new American century. [Read more…] about The Judge and the Anarchist

The Adirondack Park Agency At 50: State Leaders Are Missing The Point

February 7, 2023 by David Gibson 6 Comments

Well, it’s happened again. Another state budget is proposed by the Executive, wherein the Adirondack Park Agency’s legislated job is mischaracterized by this Governor’s (and former governors’) budget divisions as working “to achieve a balance between strong environmental protection and sustainable economic development opportunities for the residents of the Adirondack Park” (2023 Executive Budget Briefing Book).

Balance is an important goal to strive for in our individual lives. However, nothing in the Adirondack Park Agency law, now reaching 50 years old in May, calls for “a balance between strong environmental protection and sustainable economic development.” [Read more…] about The Adirondack Park Agency At 50: State Leaders Are Missing The Point

State Rebuilding of High Peaks Wilderness Roads Challenged in Court

January 30, 2023 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

On January 20, 2023, Protect the Adirondacks filed a lawsuit challenging the reconstruction by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) of a previously closed and reclaimed road in the High Peaks Wilderness Complex. Protect argues that DEC’s road construction activity in the High Peaks violates the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (Master Plan) which prohibits roads in Wilderness Areas. [Read more…] about State Rebuilding of High Peaks Wilderness Roads Challenged in Court