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Material Culture

Military Material Culture,1609-1815: Fort Ti Conference Call for Papers

February 28, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

fort ticonderogaFort Ticonderoga has issued a call for papers for “Material Matters: It’s In the Details, a Material Culture Conference” set for January, 2022. [Read more…] about Military Material Culture,1609-1815: Fort Ti Conference Call for Papers

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Events, History Tagged With: Conferences, Fort Ticonderoga, Material Culture, Military History

New Publication Focuses on American Folk Art and Americana

January 13, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Americana InsightsAmericana Insights, a new nonprofit e-journal and multi-faceted resource center, has been launched by Jane Katcher, Americana and American folk art collector, in collaboration with David A. Schorsch, an authority on American antiques and folk art.

The digital publication is supported by an advisory board of museum and art-world professionals and edited by independent scholar, author, and curator Robert Shaw. [Read more…] about New Publication Focuses on American Folk Art and Americana

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Academia, art, Folk Art, Folklore, Material Culture, Recent Publications

Concrete, Plywood and Soviet Spies

November 15, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Walter Gropius Bauhaus building in DessauIn fiction, poetry or song, houses are treated as living organisms. They are noble, respectable, or infamous. There are houses of high rank and those of low repute – houses have human characteristics and their individual biographies.

The Isokon Building in Hampstead tells a striking tale of recent historical events. At the time of completion, it was one of the few modernist dwellings in London’s cityscape; the block of flats housed a number of notable refugees from Nazi Germany; almost simultaneously it served as a recruitment office for Soviet spies. Crucial aspects of post-war American cultural and political developments originated in a few flats in this leafy corner of North West London. [Read more…] about Concrete, Plywood and Soviet Spies

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Architecture, Cultural History, Material Culture, Political History

Annual East Hampton Antiques & Design Show Goes Virtual

July 14, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Signed Fleurs Cowles donated by Charlotte MossThe East Hampton Historical Society on Long Island has announced their signature summer event, the East Hampton Antiques & Design Show, will be held in a virtual format this year. [Read more…] about Annual East Hampton Antiques & Design Show Goes Virtual

Filed Under: Arts, Events, History, New York City Tagged With: antiques, East Hampton Historical Society, Material Culture

NYS Pandemic Documentation Initiative Underway

June 26, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

banner at 9 Madison Place in Albany made by Meagan FitzgeraldThe Office of Cultural Education (OCE), made up of the New York State Archives, Library and Museum, has been working to support New York State’s cultural community throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. [Read more…] about NYS Pandemic Documentation Initiative Underway

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Cultural History, Material Culture, Medical History, New York State Archives, New York State Museum, Office of Cultural Education, Public Health, Social History

A Modernist Merry-Go-Round

May 26, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Cresset Library logoSaid to be born somewhere in “America” on September 11, 1905, Kathryn Hamill is an intriguing figure whose presence has been strangely ignored.

Typically mentioned in the context of her fling with novelist Patricia Highsmith, little else is known about her. Even photographic images appear to be missing. A one-time Ziegfeld dancer, she married a British publisher, studied medicine in Cambridge, lived in one of London’s iconic modernist houses, and committed suicide. A biographer’s challenge. Surely. [Read more…] about A Modernist Merry-Go-Round

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Architecture, Cultural History, Material Culture, Publishing, Writing

Warrensburgh Local History Museum Goes Online

May 15, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Warrensburg Museum 8x10Virtually the entire collection of the Warrensburgh Museum of Local History in Warren County, NY, is now available online.

[Read more…] about Warrensburgh Local History Museum Goes Online

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Material Culture, Warren County, Warrensburg, Warrensburg Historical Society

Fresh Kills: A History of Consuming and Discarding

March 6, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

fresh kills bookMartin V. Melosi’s new book Fresh Kills: A History of Consuming and Discarding in New York City (Columbia University Press, 2020) tells the story of Fresh Kills ― a monumental 2,200-acre site on Staten Island ― that was once the world’s largest landfill.

From 1948 to 2001, it was the main receptacle for New York City’s refuse. [Read more…] about Fresh Kills: A History of Consuming and Discarding

Filed Under: Books, History, New York City Tagged With: Books, Environmental History, Material Culture, New York City, Staten Island

Artifacts: History’s Primary Sources

November 19, 2019 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

A conference on using artifacts to interpret history by Ryann WiktorkoGeorge Washington’s brown Inauguration suit may have been plain for the times, but it was tailored from American-made broad cloth. The majority of cloth used in the United States in 1789 was imported from Britain, said Eliza West, an expert on 18th century textiles.

Wearing a suit of British-made fabric would have been a faux pas in the young nation that won its independence from Britain, so Washington asked cabinet member Henry Knox, of Fort Ticonderoga fame, to locate a suit of American-made cloth. The irony, West said, is that the cloth was of such quality that many people would not believe it was American made, and accused Washington of political incorrectness any way. [Read more…] about Artifacts: History’s Primary Sources

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Fiber Arts - Textiles, Fort Ticonderoga, Historic Preservation, Lake George, Material Culture, Military History

Fort Ticonderoga Receives NEH Collections Planning Grant

November 11, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Fort Ticonderoga courtesy Carl Heilman IIFort Ticonderoga has been named a recipient of a grant from the National Endowment for Humanities Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections program in the amount of $40,000.

The funds are expected to be utilized to develop a Master Preservation and Storage Needs Plan for the collections of historical artifacts housed in the Thompson-Pell Research Center on Fort Ticonderoga’s 2,000-acre museum campus and historic site. [Read more…] about Fort Ticonderoga Receives NEH Collections Planning Grant

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Archives, Fort Ticonderoga, Grants, Historic Preservation, Material Culture, Museums, NEH, Ticonderoga

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