Political History

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

February 7, 2023 by David Gibson 1 Comment

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

Black History Historiographic Genealogies: Sources & Resources

February 6, 2023 by Harry Bradshaw Matthews 1 Comment

With the arrival of Black History Month, the 2023 theme, “Black Resistance,” will certainly emphasize the standard bearers of freedom seekers. Most noticeable will be the attention devoted to Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. There will also be discussions about the 1619 Project and the Critical Race Theory. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ attack on the teaching of the AP course in African American History will surely be debated.

Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, were two personalities that Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson honored in 1926 with his launching of Negro History Week. He selected the second week of February as the time of the annual celebration since it coincides with the birthdays of Douglass and Lincoln. [Read more…] about Black History Historiographic Genealogies: Sources & Resources

Active Dissent: 1970s College Protests in New York

January 31, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

On May 8th, 1972, New Paltz students went from dorm to dorm at the state university, pulling fire alarms, their reaction quick and spontaneous. Few students had television sets, but word spread quickly about President Nixon’s broadcast announcing he had ordered the mining of North Vietnam ports.

Just hours after Nixon’s address, around midnight, the college’s assistant director of housing placed a frantic call to campus security. [Read more…] about Active Dissent: 1970s College Protests in New York

The Sugar Act and the American Revolution

January 31, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The initial Sugar Act of 1733 — also known as the Molasses Act — was designed to secure and encourage the trade of British colonies in the West Indies by placing prohibitive duties on the products of competing foreign colonies. The dramatic revision to that act in 1764 imposed duties for both revenue and trade regulation, in addition strengthening the laws of trade so as to tighten the connection between Great Britain and the colonies. [Read more…] about The Sugar Act and the American Revolution

Smugglers & The Law: Prohibition In Northern New York

January 19, 2023 by John Warren 6 Comments

Dennis Warren left his job as a coal shoveler on the New York Central Railroad in Albany to ship out to the First World War. His transport ship had a close call with a German submarine on the way over, but got there in time to take part in what one of the bloodiest military campaigns in American history.

For Americans after the war, the Argonne would mean what Normandy meant just 25 years later – sacrifice. Sadly, that sacrifice in the Argonne Forest was never repaid to Dennis Warren, who met the death of a smuggler – running from an officious and invasive law on a treacherous mountain road near Port Henry on Lake Champlain.

According to the newsman who reported his death at the age of 29, “Canadian Ale was spread across the road.” [Read more…] about Smugglers & The Law: Prohibition In Northern New York

New Book On New York’s Women Legislators 1919-1992

January 19, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The new book Ladies Day at the Capitol: New York’s Women Legislators 1919-1992 (SUNY press, 2022) by Lauren Kozakiewicz integrates for the first time the history of New York’s women lawmakers with the larger story of New York State politics. [Read more…] about New Book On New York’s Women Legislators 1919-1992

Political History & Wit From Northern NY Newspapers

January 13, 2023 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Trivia clue: He had an unusual career path from the ice business to lawyer, with a stopover in Congress.

Correct response: Who is Charles Henry Turner?

On December 27th, 1889, The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported that there were 130 new members of Congress, including this member who felt a bit out of place. [Read more…] about Political History & Wit From Northern NY Newspapers

US, NYS Continues To Honor Slavers, Racists, Traitors and Scoundrels

January 10, 2023 by Alan J. Singer Leave a Comment

In 2023, the United States Military Academy will remove 13 Confederate symbols on its West Point campus. They include a portrait of Robert E. Lee dressed in a Confederate uniform, a stone bust of Lee, who was superintendent of West Point before the Civil War, and a bronze plaque with an image of a hooded figure and the words “Ku Klux Klan.”

Art displayed in the United States Capitol building in Washington, DC, still includes images of 141 enslavers and 13 Confederates who went to war against the country. A study by the Washington Post found that more than one-third of the statues and portraits in the Capitol building honor enslavers or Confederates and at least six more honor possible enslavers where evidence is disputed. [Read more…] about US, NYS Continues To Honor Slavers, Racists, Traitors and Scoundrels

Archibald McIntyre’s Life In Lotteries, Politics & Adirondack Mines

January 8, 2023 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

Archibald McIntyre was born in Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland on the June 1, 1772. His parents were Daniel and Anne Walker McIntyre. Daniel McIntyre taught school in Scotland.

In 1774, Daniel and his family immigrated to the colony of New York and settled with four or five other Scottish families in what is now Broadalbin in Fulton County, NY. [Read more…] about Archibald McIntyre’s Life In Lotteries, Politics & Adirondack Mines

Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era

January 8, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In her book No Right to an Honest Living (Basic Books, 2023), Jacqueline Jones reveals how Boston was the United States writ small: a place where the soaring rhetoric of egalitarianism was easy, but justice in the workplace was elusive.

Before, during, and after the Civil War, white abolitionists and Republicans refused to secure equal employment opportunity for Black Bostonians, condemning many of them to poverty. [Read more…] about Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era