Three groups filed amicus briefs in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit backing the American Historical Association (AHA), American Oversight, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in their fight to stop the Trump administration from evading the Presidential Records Act (PRA). [Read more…] about New Amicus Briefs Back Fight to Protect Presidential Records
Public History
Historian Carol Kammen: Smut & The Human Condition
Everyone laughed when I said I was writing a book called Smut. “You,” they would say, pointing fingers at me, “you writing about obscenity?” Nonetheless, I did write about an obscenity trial in Ithaca, NY in 1883 and laughed as I transcribed the trial testimony to the page.
I found writing Smut fun, and I hope that readers might also find it informative, and interesting, curious, and fun too. [Read more…] about Historian Carol Kammen: Smut & The Human Condition
A Complicated Birthday: 10 Years of Stonewall National Monument
New York City’s Stonewall National Monument, the only site in the federal park system focused on LGBTQ history, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
In a nod to the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 250 rainbow flags were installed on the fence that surrounds Christopher Park, a tiny parcel at the heart of the monument in Greenwich Village. [Read more…] about A Complicated Birthday: 10 Years of Stonewall National Monument
New York State History Educational Resource Center Launched
The Archives Partnership Trust will launch the Educational Resource Center for New York State History, made possible through a $1 million donation from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. [Read more…] about New York State History Educational Resource Center Launched
Federal Judge Restores NEH Grants; NY History Community Legal Fights Continue
On May 7, 2026, Judge Colleen McMahon, a senior judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled that the mass termination by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) of more than 1,400 grants to support scholars, research institutions, and humanities organizations was “unlawful, unconstitutional, ultra vires [a Latin term meaning “beyond the powers”], and without legal effect.”
The decision is one of several issued recently in important lawsuits brought by members of the history and humanities communities of New York State. [Read more…] about Federal Judge Restores NEH Grants; NY History Community Legal Fights Continue
State Parks Outlines New Investments Hoped for 2026
In support of the goals outlined in Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State and executive budget, New York State Parks has announced support for several initiatives they say are designed to create jobs, enhance state park experiences, improve access to outdoor recreation and preserve state history. [Read more…] about State Parks Outlines New Investments Hoped for 2026
Staff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Vote to Unionize
Staff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan have voted by a 76% margin in a National Labor Relations Board election to unionize with UAW Local 2110. The ballot tally was 542 yes votes for the union with 172 votes against.
The ballots of an additional 100 people remain sealed because they were challenged by the Museum which objected to inclusion of these staff in the union. [Read more…] about Staff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Vote to Unionize
National Park Service Cancels Free Admission on MLK Day, Juneteenth, Adds Trump’s Birthday
The National Park Service announced last week that our national parks will no longer provide free admission on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.
The park service removed the two official federal holidays that honor Black American history from its 2026 list of free entrance days — and added Donald Trump’s birthday. [Read more…] about National Park Service Cancels Free Admission on MLK Day, Juneteenth, Adds Trump’s Birthday
A Revolutionary New York: 250 Years of Social Change
Longtime New York Almanack contributor Bruce Dearstyne has edited a collection of essays exploring how New York State understanding of freedom and liberty has evolved, and its relevance in American and world history.
Revolutionary New York: 250 Years of Social Change (SUNY Press Excelsior Editions, 2025) collects essays from several experts focusing on the struggle to fulfill the American Revolution‘s ideals of freedom and equality for all people over the history of New York. The State has often led the nation toward expanding its peoples’ rights. [Read more…] about A Revolutionary New York: 250 Years of Social Change
New York and the United States 1926 Sesquicentennial
We are beginning the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It may be interesting to recall how New York celebrated in the past, including the Bicentennial (reviewed in a previous post) and the Sesquicentennial a century ago. [Read more…] about New York and the United States 1926 Sesquicentennial
Fenimore Art Museum’s Leader, Paul D’Ambrosio Retiring
Paul S. D’Ambrosio, the President & CEO of the Fenimore Art Museum and Fenimore Farm & Country Village is retiring after more than 40 years at the organization.
After receiving his MA in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program, D’Ambrosio joined Fenimore in 1983 as a Folk Art Intern, becoming Assistant Curator the following year, Associate Curator in 1987, and Chief Curator in 1996. [Read more…] about Fenimore Art Museum’s Leader, Paul D’Ambrosio Retiring
Anatomy of an Infographic: BRI’s Visual Information Artists
Before humans had spoken language, they had infographics. The earliest humans communicated information through drawings on cave walls. Over the course of history, people understood that visual representations were invaluable to teach (best hunting practices), create a writing system (hieroglyphs), provide directions (maps), and explain intricate relationships (graphs and charts).
Visual data exploded with the use of social media and the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) in Portland, Maine, has jumped on that bandwagon big time. [Read more…] about Anatomy of an Infographic: BRI’s Visual Information Artists
Historical Society of Rockland County’s Museum Marking 50 Years
2025 marks 50 years since the cornerstone was laid for the Historical Society of Rockland County’s History Center Museum, following years of work led by John Zehner, president of the HSRC from 1954 to 1978.
Zehner is widely recognized as the driving force behind the Historical Society’s success in the mid-twentieth century. On this episode of the Crossroads of Rockland History podcast Russell Woolley shared memories of working with Zehner in the early 1970s in the Society’s historic Anglo-Dutch Barn. [Read more…] about Historical Society of Rockland County’s Museum Marking 50 Years
New York State Parks Has New Native American History Interpreter
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has added Amber Bedard to the Division for Historic Preservation as the Interpreter of Native American History.
A member of the Piikani First Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Alberta and Montana, she is an educator and cultural interpreter dedicated to centering Indigenous voices. [Read more…] about New York State Parks Has New Native American History Interpreter
From the Bicentennial to America 250: The New York Experience
New York’s America 250 Commission is finalizing its plans for the state’s commemoration next year. In the meantime, it might be useful to look back at what the New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission did a half century ago.
The commission carried out a number of activities. As it happens, I joined the Office of State History in 1973 and then moved to the State Archives from 1976 onward, so I recall much of this. The activities I recall best from my experience are summarized below. [Read more…] about From the Bicentennial to America 250: The New York Experience
Trump Regime Works to Hide American Slavery History
The Trump regime has ordered the removal of exhibits related to slavery at several National Park Service (NPS) sites, including Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, which memorializes the famous 1859 raid against Virginia slaveholders led by John Brown, whose home was at that time located in the Adirondacks.
The mandate stems from a March 2025 executive order targeting content that promotes a “corrosive ideology” or “inappropriately disparages Americans.” [Read more…] about Trump Regime Works to Hide American Slavery History
Carol Kammen: Like It Or Not, History Isn’t Rosy
The White House has issued complaints about the history on display in our national museums, complaining that it is too negative, that it portrays the past as a place of hurt.
Yet, I would argue that historians, those in the academic world, museum directors, and local historians have been doing their job — and doing it well. [Read more…] about Carol Kammen: Like It Or Not, History Isn’t Rosy
State Humanities Councils Win First Round In Court
On August 6, a federal judge in Oregon ruled that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) acted unlawfully when it ended operating grants to state humanities councils.
The case, brought by Oregon Humanities and the Federation of State Humanities Councils affirmed that these grants — established by Congress more than 50 years ago — are essential to the public humanities and their lawsuit against the Trump regime can proceed. [Read more…] about State Humanities Councils Win First Round In Court
‘Save Our Signs’ Effort Rushing to Save Banned National Park Service Signs
“The National Park Service is the nation’s largest outdoor history classroom,” echoes a new effort by history advocates hoping to record educational signs being taken down by the Trump regime in the Nation’s national parks, historic sites and other public lands.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, whose first act was to instruct the Department to reduce regulations and expand natural resource extraction efforts, is now asking Americans to report signs in National Parks that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” [Read more…] about ‘Save Our Signs’ Effort Rushing to Save Banned National Park Service Signs
Jennifer Saunders Appointed Director of New York State Museum
The New York State Board of Regents and State Education Department Commissioner Dr. Betty A. Rosa have announced the appointment of Jennifer Saunders as Director of the New York State Museum in Albany, following a competitive national search. Saunders is the first woman to lead the Museum in its nearly 200-year existence.
“A nationally respected museum leader, she brings more than two decades of experience guiding cultural institutions through transformational change to best serve a modern audience, with a distinguished record of institutional transformation, enhancing public engagement, promoting inclusive historical narratives, and advancing institutional sustainability,” the announcement said. [Read more…] about Jennifer Saunders Appointed Director of New York State Museum