New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

New York State Archives

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. To Appear in Albany

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The State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust have organized an evening honoring Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. with the Empire State Archives and History Award on October 26th at the Egg in the Empire State Plaza. The event promises an “engaging evening of conversation between nationally renowned scholar of African American studies,” who along with nationally prominent Lincoln Scholar Harold Holzer, will discuss Dr. Gates’ life, work and passion for history.

A literary critic, educator, scholar, writer, editor, and public intellectual, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was the first African American to receive the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship. Gates hosted the 2006 and 2008 PBS television miniseries African American Lives, which explored the genealogy of prominent African Americans. He is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University, where he is also Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.

The event will be held Monday, October 26, 2009 at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $10 per person; for reservations call The Egg Box Office at (518) 473-1845.

In advance of the program, a reception to honor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will be held at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts, from 5:30-7:00 pm.

Members of the Trust ………………………..$50.00 a person
Become a Member and attend reception…..$65.00 a person
Non-Members…………………………………..$75.00 a person

All reception attendees will also receive a complimentary ticket to the 7:30 pm program in The Egg. If attending the reception you do not need to make a separate reservation at The Egg Box Office.

To learn more about the reception please contact Grazia Yaeger, manager of membership & special initiatives, Archives Partnership Trust at (518) 474-1228 with questions. Reservations are not confirmed until payment is received.

RVSP by October 20, 2009.

Proceeds from this event will go to support the projects of the New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust.

Managing Your Historical Photographs Workshops

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The New York State Archives is offering two new workshops on managing historical photographs. The first, offered at three locations around the state in October is intended to present strategies for taking physical and intellectual control of photographs to ensure their long-term access and use. Participants will hear methods of organizing and making accessible photographic material, and preservation guidelines for photographs, along with reference, exhibition, and outreach strategies will be outlined. The workshops are free and open to the public. The second workshop in the two part series, “Digitizing Your Historical Photographs,” will be available next year.

Schedule and Registration

October 13, 2009, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Hanford Mills, East Meredith, NY
Presenter Ray LeFever, Coordinator of Archival Advisory Services, NYS Archives Register by downloading a registration form from Upstate History Alliance

October 20, 2009, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
New City Library, New City, NY (Rockland County)
Presenter Ray LeFever, Coordinator of Archival Advisory Services, NYS Archives
Register by emailing Dianne Macpherson at Greater Hudson Heritage Network.

October 20, 2009 9:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Schenectady County Library Schenectady, NY
Presenter Denis Meadows, Regional Advisory Officer, NYS Archives Region 4
Register online with the State Archives.

For more information e-mail ARCHTRAIN@mail.nysed.gov.

Photo: Bart Warren and helper in his blacksmith shop, West Sand Lake, NY c. 1900
@greaterhudson.org>

Research Grants Available at the NYS Archives

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The Larry J. Hackman Research Residency Program supports applicants from a variety of backgrounds with awards for advanced research in New York State history, government, or public policy. Previous residents have included academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers and writers, and primary and secondary school teachers. The project must draw on the holdings of the New York State Archives. Projects may involve alternative uses of the Archives, such as research for multimedia projects, exhibits, documentary films, and historical novels.

The Quinn-Archives Research Residency provides financial support for an individual to spend up to a year in Albany, New York, working in the rich collections of the New Netherland Institute and the New York State Archives. The program is offered because of the generous support of the Doris Quinn Foundation, the New Netherland Institute at the New York State Library and the New York State Archives.

Endowment earnings and private contributions to the Archives Partnership Trust provide the financial basis for the Hackman Research Program. Contributors have included The Susan and Elihu Rose Foundation, Inc., Henry Luce Foundation, Inc., The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and The Lucius N. Littaur Foundation. Contributions and endowment earnings enable the Trust to maintain prior years’ award levels, as well as to continue with invitational fellowships to complete priority projects.

New York State Archives Launches RSS Feed

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The New York State Archives has launched a news feed using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology. Subscribers will be among the first to find out about Archives events, new records brought into the Archives, press releases, resources for state agencies and local governments, and any major changes to the website – such as new guides to records, new educational sites for teachers and students, and award and grant opportunities.

RSS technology enables users to view updates from organizations through an RSS Reader such as an Internet Browser, e-mail, or a third-party reader. RSS Readers provide a brief summary of news updates from an organization and then link to the full article on the organization’s website. Users will be able to stay up-to-date with news from the State Archives once they have subscribed to the RSS feed. To sign up for the
RSS feed, go to http://www.archives.nysed.gov/rss/news.xml.

The New York State Archives, a part of the State Education Department, preserves and makes accessible the essential recorded evidence – past and present – of New York’s governments, organizations, peoples, and events. At its Albany facility, the State Archives cares for more than 200 million archival records of New York State government dating from the 1630s to the present. The State Archives also offers technical assistance, financial support, and other services to local governments and community organizations in every region of the state.

La Escuela Electrónica / The Electronic Schoolhouse

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The New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust have announced La Escuela Electrónica/The Electronic Schoolhouse, a bilingual website for teachers focusing on the Latino experience in New York. Using historical records such as photographs, letters, flyers, broadsides and more dating from 1861 to the present, the website combines historical records and technology to promote the development of critical thinking skills, reading and writing skills, understanding historical content and context. [Read more…] about La Escuela Electrónica / The Electronic Schoolhouse

Governor Hugh Carey Photos Go Online

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In an ongoing effort to make records more accessible, the New York State Archives collaborated with former New York Governor Hugh L. Carey’s director of communications, William F. Snyder, and the Carey family to create an online digital collection from the Archives’ gubernatorial records of Hugh Carey in celebration of the governor’s 90th birthday in April 2009.

Archives staff worked with Snyder and the Carey family to select and identify approximately 400 photographs from Carey’s two terms as state governor, his family pictures, and his congressional career. Governor Carey’s legacy was firmly established in the early years of his administration when he provided the strong leadership needed to rescue New York City from bankruptcy. A lifelong Democrat, Governor Carey is also remembered for his fierce advocacy on behalf of the disabled and for the I Love New York campaign that energized tourism in New York.

The photos can be found at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/d/.

Photo: Governor Carey with Frank Sinatra.

Adirondack Museum To Process Petty Collection

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The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake has announced the appointment of Melissa Tacke as Project Archivist to describe and arrange the collections of personal papers belonging to two of the founding fathers of the Adirondack Park Agency: Clarence Petty and Richard Lawrence.

The Clarence Petty Papers consist of correspondence, subject files, memoranda, aviation and weather records, newspaper clippings, government documents, books and other publications, audio recordings, memorabilia, awards, photographs, and 62 maps. These records document Clarence Petty’s long career with the Conservation Department and the Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as his influential role in the creation of the Adirondack Park Agency and the Adirondack Park Land Use Master Plan.

The papers also reflect Petty’s relationship with contemporary environmentalists, environmental organizations and government agencies, and his position as an authority and spokesman on environmental issues throughout the country. The collection dates from circa 1939 through 2006. Clarence Petty donated the papers to the Adirondack Museum in November 2006.

The Richard Lawrence Papers consist of correspondence, subject files, memoranda, notes, publications, books, government documents, memorabilia, awards, and photographs. They document Richard Lawrence’s work as a member of the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks and as the founding Chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency. The records date from the mid 1960s to the 1990s and were donated to the museum by the Lawrence family in 2006.

Tacke’s position has been funded by a grant in the amount of $9,669 from the New York State Archive’s Documentary Heritage Program. The Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) is a statewide program established by law in 1988 to ensure the identification, sound administration, and accessibility of New York’s historical records. The DHP provides grants to not-for-profit organizations in New York State that collect, hold, and make available historical records. Tacke will work in the Adirondack Museum’s research library from April 6 through June 30, 2009 under the terms of the grant.

Melissa Tacke holds three degrees from SUNY Albany. Her Bachelor’s degree was awarded for a double major in Women’s Studies and Africana. She holds one Master’s degree in Women’s Studies and a second in Information Studies. She is a native of Lawrence, Kansas. Tacke comes to the Adirondack Museum following nearly a year of work at Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont as a Project Archivist, funded by a Getty Campus Heritage Grant. She also served as a Digital Images Archivist.

Photo Caption: Project Archivist Melissa Tacke at left with Adirondack Museum Librarian Jerry Pepper. Adirondack Museum Photo.

Presidential Historian Wins Archives and History Award

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Best selling author and historian Michael Beschloss, a scholar named by Newsweek magazine as “the nation’s leading Presidential historian,” will be in Albany, Wednesday, Oct. 22 to receive the New York State Archives Partnership Trust’s 2008 Empire State Archives and History Award. The hour-long conversation on the upcoming Presidential election and awards ceremony will be held at The Egg, Center for the Performing Arts at the Empire State Plaza at 7:30 p.m.

According to New York State Archivist and Trust CEO Christine W. Ward, Mr. Beschlosswas selected to receive the award based upon his rich and distinguished career as one of this nation’s leading interpreters of the American Presidency. “We are honored to, once again, have Mr. Beschloss return to Albany as we honor him for his decades of extraordinary scholarship on many of the nation’s most recent presidents, as well as the components of Presidential character,” she said.

A native of Chicago, Mr. Beschloss has an extraordinary academic pedigree, having attended Andover, Williams (where he studied under the legendary Williams’ College professorJames McGregor Burns) and Harvard. In recognition of his accomplishments to the world of academe, he has received three honorary doctorates.

A prolific contributor to the national dialogue on the American Presidency, Mr. Beschloss has written nine books on American Presidents. His most recent two books, Presidential Courage (2007) and The Conquerors (2002), were each on the New York Times bestseller list for months. Presidential Courage was #1 on the Washington Post bestseller list. The Conquerors was Amazon.com’s top bestselling history book of the year.

Mr. Beschloss’s previous books include two volumes on Lyndon Johnson’s secret tapes, which a New York Times editorial called “an important event,” and The Crisis Years, which the New Yorker called the “definitive” history of John Kennedy and the Cold War.

A regular commentator of national prestige, Mr. Beschloss serves as the NBC NewsPresidential Historian, the first time a major television network created such a position. He appears on all NBC News programs, hosting a regular segment on NBC’s Today show called “American Minute with Michael Beschloss.” He is also a commentator on PBS’s “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” and writes a regular column for Newsweek called “Traveling through History with Michael Beschloss.”

The Empire State Archives and History Award was inaugurated in 2005 to honor national figures who, through their achievements, have advanced the understanding and uses of history within our society. Previous winners have included: C-SPAN founder and CEO Brian Lamb, actor Sam Waterston for his efforts to bring Abraham Lincoln and other characters from U.S. history to life on stage and screen, and Pulitzer Prize winning writer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Title sponsors for the New York State Archives Partnership Trust’s signature event are Time Warner Cable and History. Premier sponsors include: Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture and Engineering P.C., Greenberg Traurig, Key Private Bank, New York State United Teachers, Times Union, and New York Council for the Humanities. Supporting sponsors include: 2K Design; 74 State; Berkshire Bank; Chateau LaFayette Reneau; Edward Ryan; Janney Montgomery Scott LLC; McCadam Cheese; WAMC Northeast Public Radio; Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP, Attorneys at Law; and Wojeski & Co., CPAs, P.C.

Tickets for the Empire State Archives and History Award are $10 and are available at The Egg Box Office. Invitations to a private fund-raising reception with Mr. Beschloss may be obtained by calling (518) 474-1228.

Essex Co. Historical Society Wins Archives Award

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The Board of Regents and the New York State Archives have selected the Essex County Historical Society | Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown to receive the 2008 Annual Archives Award for Program Excellence in a Historical Records Repository. The award will be presented to Essex County Historical Society Director Margaret Gibbs, Assistant Director Jenifer Kuba, and Museum Educator Lindsay Pontius at a luncheon ceremony at the State Education Building in Albany on October 20, 2008.

The award commends Essex County Historical Society for its outstanding archival program that contributes significantly to understanding the region’s history. The award recognizes the historical society for its well organized and managed archives and for its efforts to provide access to the county’s documentary heritage through interesting exhibitions and excellent educational programs for school children.

Previous award winners include Schenectady County Historical Society (2007), Huguenot Historical Society in New Paltz (2006), M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives at the University at Albany (2005), Onondaga Historical Association (2004), Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery (2003), and Hofstra University (2002)

NYS Archives Research Residency Program

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The Archives Partnership Trust and the New York State Archives announce the availability of awards to support research using state government records held by the Archives. The Larry J. Hackman Research Residency program is intended to encourage product-related research in such areas as history, law, public policy, geography, and culture by covering research-related expenses such as travel, lodging, meals, and copying of records. Award amounts have ranged from $100 to $4,500.

Academic and public historians, graduate students, independent researchers and writers, and primary and secondary school teachers are encouraged to apply. Projects involving alternative uses of the State Archives, such as background research for multimedia projects, exhibits, documentary films, and historical novels, are eligible. The topic or area of study must draw, at least in part, on the holdings of the New York State Archives.

Information on the 2009 Larry J. Hackman Research Residency Program and application forms are available online at www.nysarchivestrust.org For further information contact the Archives Partnership Trust, Cultural Education Center, Suite 9C49, Albany, New York 12230; (518) 473 7091. Applications must be postmarked by January 15, 2009.