On Saturday, August 8, from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm the Senate House State Historic Site in Kingston will hold a free encampment and activities event. Soldiers of the 150th New York State Volunteer Infantry Regiment will be encamped, performing drills and musket demonstrations, and ready to speak to visitors about camp life and battle. Performances of period music, and the opportunity to learn and participate in period dances, accompanied by live music, will be offered by the 77th Regimental Balladeers and dance instructor Eric Hollman. Quilter Dolly Wodin will demonstrate quilt designs from the period for visitors to make, and kids can enjoy a hands-on, historic craft activity and the chance to engage in wooden musket drills with the soldiers of the 150th. Senate House State Historic Site is located at 296 Fair Street, Kingston, NY 12401.
Senate House State Historic Site is open through October 31, 2009, Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and Sundays 1:00 to 5pm. Senate House State Historic Site is part of a system of parks, recreation areas and historic sites operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and the site is one of 25 facilities administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission in New York and New Jersey. For further information about this and other upcoming events please call the site at (845) 338-2786 or visit the State Parks website at www.nysparks.com.
Military History
Fort Ontario: Cannibalism, Battles & Sieges, and Rum
Cannibalism? Daring battles and sieges? Rum becoming river water? All a part of Fort Ontario history? Yes, says author Rev. George A. Reed, who will share his enthusiasm for the history of Fort Ontario at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY, this Thursday, August 6, at 6pm. Reed is the author of Fort Ontario: 250 Years of History. His program is part of the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series.
“My research includes an overview of all the eras at Fort Ontario from the French and Indian War through World War II. There are tales of cannibalism that always make 4th graders eyes get big. Descriptions of daring battles and sieges at the fort, and stories of how rum turned into river water,” Reed says. According to the author cannibalism is indeed part of the Fort’s history, but he has debunked a bit of other folklore associated with the historic, star-shaped fort that overlooks Oswego Harbor and Lake Ontario.
A lifelong historian, Reed worked with the National Park Service at the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials in Washington, DC. He managed the North Creek Depot historic site near Gore Mountain where Vice-President Teddy Roosevelt learned that U.S. President McKinley had been shot, and served as executive director of the Pratt House Museum in Fulton, NY.
While volunteering with the Fort Ontario Guard at the State Historic Site in Oswego, NY, Reed realized that no one had ever written a comprehensive text on the history of the fort. Reed will sign copies of his new book Fort Ontario: 250 Years of History as part of the August 6 program at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center. Program admission benefits the nonprofit Great Lakes Seaway Trail Foundation. Discount applies to active and retired members of the military.
Saratoga County Celebrates Historical Week
The Town of Saratoga and Villages of Schuylerville and Victory are planning an exciting “historical week” celebration starting August 1 and ending August 9 as part of the “Explore! Saratoga County” efforts. Historical Week is an over 100-year tradition which commemorates the rich history of the villages of Schuylerville, Victory and the Town of Saratoga.
“We plan a whole week of events to commemorate America’s Most Historic Village,” Schuylerville Village Historian Kristina Saddlemire said, “We have a great partnership made up of the various levels of government including the Town of Saratoga, Villages of Schuylerville and Victory, Saratoga County, Hudson River Valley Greenway, Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission, Saratoga National Historical Park and non-governmental partners including the Turning Point Parade, Old Saratoga Historical Association, Hudson Crossing Park, Schuylerville Area Chamber of Commerce, Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club, and the Schuylerville Public Library.”
The schedule includes:
Quadricentennial Bike Tour of the Hudson
Saturday, August 1, (10 am)
As part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s sail, join us for a casually-paced 30-mile tour of the historic roads from the Village of Victory to Stillwater and back, with occasional stops at points of historical significance. There will be lots of fine views of the river. The terrain is mostly rolling with two steep hills (one up, one down). Park along Cemetery Avenue just south of the Saratoga Monument, near the intersection of Burgoyne Road. Bike Helmets Are Required! For information, contact 587-7801 or kathy@jjctech.com. Gather along Cemetery Avenue just south of the Saratoga Monument, near the intersection of Burgoyne Road, Victory Mills
TURNING POINT PARADE FESTIVAL – “Echoes on the Hudson”
Saturday, August 1, (Noon)
Kid’s rides, food, bonfire, and block dance on Saturday. Fort Hardy Park.
TURNING POINT PARADE – “Echoes on the Hudson”
Sunday, August 2 (1 – 2:30 pm)
Over 100 separate units including marching bands/musical units, fire and rescue, law enforcement, re-enactors and military units past and present. It is a parade with a “small town flavor”. Broad Street.
TURNING POINT PARADE FESTIVAL – “Echoes on the Hudson”
Sunday, August 2, (3 pm)
Kid’s rides, food, music including the Open Bar Band and fireworks (9:30pm) on Sunday. Fort Hardy Park. For more information http://www.turningpointparade.com/
For more information on Turning Point events see http://www.turningpointparade.com/
GREAT CHAMPLAIN-HUDSON SOJOURN
Monday, August 3 (4pm – 8pm)
The Great Champlain-Hudson Sojourn will be stopping at Fort Hardy Park as part of twenty-six day, 325 mile kayaking and camping trip from the Canadian border to Manhattan along beautiful Lakes Champlain and George, the Champlain Canal and the Hudson River. A group of Thru-Paddlers will be camping out at Fort Hardy and visiting heritage and cultural sites in the community. Please join us at 10am to welcome this group of paddlers to Fort Hardy Park. There will be a local kayaking outfitter providing free kayaking lessons, exhibitors, and plenty of activities for the kids! A community dinner, sponsored by the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors will held at Fort Hardy at 6pm.
RESEARCHING YOUR SCHUYLERVILLE AREA ANCESTORS
Tuesday, August 4 (10 am)
Get help with research strategy for finding Schuylerville ancestors from Deputy Town Historian and Genealogist Patricia Peck. Schuylerville Public Library.
MAKING A CARDBOARD BOAT
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 (7 pm)
This is an opportunity to make a boat to compete in the Hudson Crossing cardboard boat race on Saturday, August 8. Bring cardboard and enjoy the creative process. Schuylerville Public Library, Ferry Street, Schuylerville
WALKING TOUR of VICTORY
Wednesday, August 5 (7 pm)
Join Sean Kelleher, Village of Victory Historian, for a walking tour of Victory. Meet at the Village Hall/Community Center
STORY HOUR – 400th anniversary themed
Thursday, August 6 (10 am)
Pre-school age children are welcome (with an adult) to attend the Schuylerville Public Library’s Story Hour for a story and activity with Town Historian, Sean Kelleher. Schuylerville Public Library. 23 Pine Street, Victory Mills
VILLAGE OF SCHUYLERVILLE WALKING TOUR
Friday, August 7 (7 pm)
Join Village of Schuylerville Historian, Kristina Saddlemire, for a walking tour of the North Broad Street Cemetery. Learn about former Schuylerville residents. Meet on Broad Street in front of the cemetery.
HUDSON CROSSING CARDBOARD BOAT RACE
Saturday, August 8 (starts at 8 am races at 1 pm)
Construct a “human-powered” boat made of corrugated cardboard (or 100% recyclable materials) or watch the races and enjoy the day on the Hudson River in Schuylerville. Registration and boat construction begin at the gazebo at 8:00 am. Racing begins at 1:00 pm. For more information contact (518) 859-1462 or www.hudsoncrossingpark.org Fort Hardy Park Beach.
SPIN TIL YOU DYE
Saturday, August 8 (11 am – 3 pm)
Rock Day Spinners demonstrate fiber spinning and natural dyeing over an open fire. Schuyler House, Route 4, Schuylerville.
18th CENTURY DAY
Sunday, August 9 (12 – 5 pm)
Step back in time at the historic Schuyler House! The grounds abound with 18th century activities, including puppet shows, music, oxen cart rides, basket weaving, chair caning, tinsmithing, and more. Schuyler House, Route 4, Schuylerville. For more information, call (518) 664-9821 ext. 224 or www.nps.gov/sara.
Historical Week is sponsored by the Town of Saratoga, Village of Schuylerville, Village of Victory, Schuylerville Public Library, Turning Point Parade Committee, Schuylerville Visitors Center, Schuylerville Area Chamber of Commerce, Old Saratoga Historical Association, Hudson Crossing – A Bi-County Educational Park, Hudson River Valley Greenway, Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission, Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club, Saratoga County, and the Saratoga National Historical Park. The purpose of Historical Week is to commemorate the important role that the Town of Saratoga and Villages of Schuylerville and Victory played in regional, national and international history. For more information call 695-4159 or visit http://www.villageofschuylerville.org/
Photo: The Saratoga Monument in Victory, NY.
Ogdensburg, Fort La Présentation’s Founder’s Day Weekend
Stepping into the past at Founder’s Day Weekend in Ogdensburg, NY July 18-19 is an opportunity for visitors to witness the crafts and trades of our ancestors beyond the activities of the French and Indian War re-enactment.
To kick off the weekend, there will be a free concert of colonial music Friday evening in Library Park. Linda Russell, an 18th-century balladeer, will perform courtesy of the St. Lawrence County Arts Council. Ms. Russell will also perform Saturday and Sunday on Lighthouse Point. [Read more…] about Ogdensburg, Fort La Présentation’s Founder’s Day Weekend
Experience War of 1812 Sinking of Hamilton & Scourge
Thursday, July 16, 2009, at 6 pm, War of 1812 sailor Ned Myers will be telling his lively tale of the sinking of the Hamilton & the Scourge at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, N.Y. To be completely accurate, an authentically costumed James H. Fischer will relate the story of the famous shipwrecks’ survivor in this presentation for the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series. Fischer’s presentation will also include a series of Jacques Cousteau slides of lake bottom vessels.
Seaman Myers lived to tell his story to noted American author James Fenimore Cooper. Fischer, a marine consultant who has studied the underwater history of Lake Ontario for 22 years, draws on Myers’ narrative as told to Cooper for A Life Before the Mast. Fischer shares fascinating details of the moments before a squall surprised captain and crew.
The wrecks of the two merchant ships – Hamilton, built as Diana in Oswego, NY, and the Scourge, originally Lord Nelson, were discovered in 1973 and are considered to have national historic significance to both the U.S. and Canada.
The $5 program fee benefits educational programming at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center, Ray and West Main Streets, Sackets Harbor, NY. For more information, visit www.seawaytrail.com or call 315-646-1000.
Photo: James H. Fischer in 19th century sailor’s dress is seen below the bust of U.S. merchant ship Diana purchased in Oswego and converted in Sacketts Harbour in 1812 as the US naval warship Hamilton.
French and Indian War Reenactment at Old Fort Niagara
On July 3-5, more than 2,300 historic reenactors will bring the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War to life at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY. Hosts of authentically-costumed 18th century British and French soldiers and American Indian warriors will recreate historic encampments and the “Siege of Fort Niagara” of July 1759. The activities include land battles and drills, ships, historically authentic games for the children, and an artillery bombardment with fireworks. [Read more…] about French and Indian War Reenactment at Old Fort Niagara
CFP: 1763 and All That, The Decade After The Seven Years’ War
1763 and All That: Temptations of Empire in the British World During the Decade After the Seven Years’ War – a call for papers for a conference to be held on February 25th and 26th, 2010, at the University of Texas at Austin, sponsored by the Department of History’s Institute for Historical Studies.
The focus of the conference is the British Empire during its “decade of crisis” between the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763 and the passage of the Tea Act ten years later. Over the course of this decade, Britons drastically transformed the way they viewed themselves and their empire. For the first time, British imperial policy extended to the governance of the French Catholic inhabitants of Canada, the Native people of the trans-Appalachian interior of North America, Africans in the new colony of Senegambia, and the twenty million inhabitants of Bengal subject to the authority of the East India Company.
In Britain itself, the governance of this vastly extended empire engendered an enormous amount of bitter debate and anxious discussion in the halls of power as well as in the popular press. Among historians of each of the different parts of the British World, this decade has long been seen as one of crucial importance.
However, while invaluable work has been done to examine British and indigenous relations and exchanges in specific colonial contexts, as well to examine connections between the metropolis and specific colonial regions, there has been as yet few attempts to interrogate the links across and between the colonial regions and to set developments in particular regions into the context of the transformation of the British Empire as a whole. The organizers aim to address this need by bringing scholars working on various aspects of the British World into dialogue and debate over the causes and character of the imperial transformation of the 1760s and early 1770s.
Submissions are invited for individual papers on these themes. Note that the conference will be organized around the discussion of pre-circulated papers. Accepted papers must be submitted for circulation to participants no later than February 1, 2010. Each proposal should include a brief précis of the paper topic and a clear indication of how the paper will undertake to connect the specific research subject to larger events and processes taking place across the British Empire. The deadline for receiving proposals is September 1, 2009.
Paper proposals (as well a brief C.V.) should be submitted via e-mail to the conference organizers, Robert Olwell and James Vaughn, at: historyinstitute@austin.utexas.edu. Send all queries to the same address.
2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series
A presentation by acclaimed French & Indian War reenactor Major George A. Bray III will present “Struggle for an Empire, The French and Indian War along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, 1755-1760” at 6 pm at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield this Thursday, May 21, 2009. Bray will relate tales of the 250-year-old conflict to open the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series. Bray will appear in period costume, portraying an officer of Rogers’ Rangers, an elite rapid response light infantry unit known for its bold military tactics. Rogers’ Rangers became the chief scouting unit of the British Crown forces during the war fought from 1754 to 1760. [Read more…] about 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series
Rochester Abolitionist John Doy
American Heritage has an interesting article on John Brown associate John Doy of Rochester. Here’s an excerpt:
John Doy, a physician from Rochester, New York, heeded the call from abolitionist societies and moved to Kansas in July 1854. A full-bearded and serious-looking man, Doy helped found the town of Lawrence and built a house on its outskirts, where his wife and nine children joined him. As a bastion of free-soil sympathies, Lawrence became a target of pro-slavers, who sacked it on May 21, 1856. In retaliation, the abolitionist firebrand John Brown and his men murdered five slave owners near Pottawatomie Creek. Three months later Doy fought alongside Brown in a pitched battle at Osawatomie, 60 miles southeast of Lawrence.
Kansas became increasingly dangerous for African Americans, so on January 18, 1859, a group of Lawrence’s citizens raised money to help blacks move to safety. Brown offered to take one group north to Canada and did so without incident. Doy also volunteered to help by taking another group about 60 miles northwest to the town of Holton, the first step on the road to Iowa. His passage proved less fortunate.Among the African Americans on Doy’s expedition were Wilson Hayes and Charles Smith, cooks at a Lawrence hotel. Doy knew that both of them were free men, although they had no papers. All the others had their “free papers,” including William Riley, who had been kidnapped once before from Lawrence but had managed to escape.
The piece offers an interesting look at one of teh many upstate New Yorkers who traveled west during the Kansas-Missouri Border War.
150th Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid Conference / Symposium
John Brown Remembered: 150th Anniversary of John Brown’s Raid is the title of a conference / symposium that will be held October 14 -17, 2009 at the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Speakers will include David Blight, Spencer Crew, and Paul Finkelman.
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, along with other partners, is hosting this multidisciplinary academic symposium on John Brown and his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. The symposium, which will be held at the Stephen T. Mather Training Center in Harpers Ferry, is hoped to stimulate new and diverse academic research, scholarship, and debate.
A schedule and registration details can be found here.