History, Natural History & the Arts
The final six sculptures in the Lock Tenders Tribute Monument in Lockport, Niagara County, NY were installed and a formal dedication took place in September.
Lewiston sculptor Susan Geissler created the cast bronze figures to recreate an original photograph taken on the same steps in 1897 by Frank Bernard Clench (F.B. Clench). [Read more…] about Lock Tenders Tribute Monument Dedicated
Mary Mildred Botts Williams (1847–1921) was a light-skinned Black child born into enslavement in Virginia. She became identified in the popular imagination with the character Ida May, the fictional kidnapped white child in Mary Hayden Pike’s novel, Ida May: A Story of Things Actual and Possible (1854). Mary was used as an example of a “white slave” in the years before the Civil War. [Read more…] about Slavery & Race: Mary Mildred Botts Williams, 1847–1921
The Capital District Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is located in the towns of Berlin and Stephentown in Rensselaer County, NY. Winter, spring, summer, or fall, if you are craving some Adirondack-like scenery, this 4,000-acre (soon to be 10,000-acre) parcel of woods is the place to go. While touring the many interior access roads (they are not plowed in winter), you may see deer, fisher, or even a moose. [Read more…] about Exploring The Capital District Wildlife Management Area
Adirondack Land Trust has purchased 187 acres in the town of North Elba, Essex County, NY, to protect one of the most iconic views in the Adirondacks. The tract is bordered by State Route 73, the Adirondack Loj Road, New York State Forest Preserve and private lands and features forest and grassland habitats. From the property, there are stunning views of the High Peaks Wilderness, the Olympic ski jumps, and Whiteface Mountain. [Read more…] about Iconic Adirondack High Peaks Vista Conserved
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has announced a call for entries for its 18th annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest. Images should convey people enjoying activities on the waterway and Canalway Trail or show the unique character of New York’s canals and canal communities. Winning photos will be featured in the 2024 Erie Canalway calendar. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Photo Contest Call for Entries
The new book Seneca Ray Stoddard; and Intimate Portrait of an Adirondack Legend (Warren County Historical Society, 2023) by Daniel Way, MD is a complete biography of Seneca Ray Stoddard, including unique photographs and a virtual tour of Stoddard’s house, which no longer exists. [Read more…] about New Book On Seneca Ray Stoddard Published
Theodore Roosevelt gave this signed photograph to his close friend and confidant Senator Henry Cabot Lodge in May 1902. The two men first met at the Porcellian Club at Harvard University and then again in 1884 when Republican Party politics brought them together in their support of presidential candidate James G. Blaine. [Read more…] about Theodore Roosevelt on Horseback
Eugene De Selignac (1861–1943) was born in Boston into an eccentric family of exiled French nobility, de Salignac had no formal training in photography. In 1903, at the age of 42, his brother-in-law found him a job as an assistant to the photographer for the Department of Bridges in New York City, Joseph Palmer. After three years of apprenticeship, Palmer suddenly died, and in October 1906, de Salignac assumed his duties. [Read more…] about The Early NYC Automobile Accident Photos of Eugene De Selignac
In this episode of the Becoming Barnum podcast, P.T. Barnum was worried about his employees at the American Museum in New York City. He wanted museum taxidermist Emile Guillaudeu to create a pose for a pony’s skin that suggested motion with dignity and speed, but it is uncertain if he was successful. [Read more…] about Becoming Barnum: Taxidermy & The Physioscope
The term paparazzo and its plural form paparazzi were first used in English in a Time magazine article dated April 14th, 1961, entitled “Paparazzi on the Prowl.” The piece put the spotlight on a new type of photographer that was giving Rome’s elegant district around Via Veneto an unpleasant reputation. [Read more…] about Weegee the Famous: Paparazzo of the Nameless