History, Natural History & the Arts
Saratoga Springs is a community shaped by ambition, wealth, and strong personalities. Its streets and landmarks bear the names of early settlers, political leaders, and presidents — Bryan, Clark, Clement, Putnam, Walworth, Waterbury, among others.
One name, however, is notably absent despite its once-towering presence in the city’s history: Henry Hilton. [Read more…] about Henry Hilton in Saratoga: Power, Ambition, and a Gilded Age Fall
This week’s “Lake George Battlefield Moments” podcast features Skidmore College Anthropology Department Chair Professor Siobhan Hart discussing with the outcomes of the archaeological survey conducted last month at the Lake George Battlefield Park by her team of students and volunteers. There appear to be some tangible results of the exploration that are now under analysis. [Read more…] about A Lake George Battlefield Archeology Podcast
After an absence of several years, archaeologists returned to Lake George’s Fort George last summer, led by Dr. Siobhan Hart, chair of Skidmore College’s Anthropology Department. Hart and a team of students will resume their work at Battlefield Park this summer, expanding the project to include other important sites within Battlefield Park according to the Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance. [Read more…] about Archaeologists Return to Lake George 18th Century Military Sites
In June 2024, the Chair of Skidmore College’s Anthropology Department, Dr. Siobhan Hart, led the first archaeological exploration of Battle of Lake George archaeology at Lake George Battlefield Park since 2016.
Professor Hart and her team of students, paired with Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance members who contributed 29 volunteer-days to the effort, built on the dedicated fieldwork overseen by the late Dr. David Starbuck in 2000-2016. [Read more…] about A Lake George Battlefield Park Archaeology Update
Dr. Siobhan Hart, Associate Professor at Skidmore College and Chair of its Anthropology Department, will preside at an informal presentation, “Archaeology in Lake George Battlefield Park,” summarizing her team’s initial findings after their first two weeks of investigating the historic site, on Sunday, June 16. The program will begin at 2 pm in the park’s Visitor Center, 75 Fort George Road, Lake George. [Read more…] about Archaeology in Lake George Battlefield Park
For the first time since the summer of 2016, Lake George Battlefield Park will be the site of an archaeological survey, to be conducted under the auspices of the Skidmore College Anthropology Department and its Chair, Associate Professor Siobhan Hart. Professor Hart and her students will begin their work on Monday, June 3 and continue over a three-week period. [Read more…] about Lake George Battlefield Park Archaeology Underway
In this episode of the Long Island History Project podcast Dr. Tammy C. Owens of Skidmore College joins to discuss her 2019 article “Fugitive Literati: Black Girls’ Writing as a Tool of Kinship and Power at the Howard School.” [Read more…] about Long Island History Project: The Howard School in Kings Park
The front page of the December 12, 1963 edition of the Skidmore News published by the students of Skidmore College then located along Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, NY offered stories fit for the upcoming Christmas holiday season.
In the headline article “College Observes Annual Tradition: Choirs Present Christmas Service” Christmas Vespers was to be presented twice that season on December 15 in College Hall. The article noted that the program had been “Under preparation for weeks and begins with a candlelight procession by the College Chorus and the Freshman Chorus, 130 voices in all.” [Read more…] about 1963 Christmas In Saratoga
As noted in the June 30, 1905 Minutes of the Trustees of Skidmore College at the Second Annual Meeting of the Young Women’s Industrial Club, “the first diploma ever given was awarded to Mrs. Mattie G. Lattimore for having completed the two year’s course in Domestic Science.” [Read more…] about Mattie Lattimore: Skidmore College’s First Graduate
In 1903, Lucy Scribner purchased 82 Circular Street in Saratoga Springs to establish the Young Women’s Industrial Club of Saratoga that became Skidmore College.
Over time, the campus expanded to Union Avenue and the surrounding streets. [Read more…] about Skidmore College’s First Home at 82 Circular Street, Saratoga
Time is often referred to as a human construct, but time zones are definitely man-made, and they have a direct connection to Charles Dowd of Saratoga Springs and the month of November, when standard time began in 1883, and 21 years later when time ran out for Charles.
Local time once was set by the noon mark. Noon was defined to be the time at which the sun was directly overhead. This meant, for every approximately 69 miles traveled west, the moment of noon differed by four minutes. For example, the clocks in Boston were set about three minutes ahead of clocks in Worcester, MA. [Read more…] about Saratoga’s Charles Dowd & The Origin of Eastern Standard Time
Visitors from every part of the world have made their way to Saratoga Springs for myriad reasons, but mainly for their health or their hippic interest.
They have been accommodated in fabulous structures, but unfortunately most of these great hotels have been lost. In their time they established a superior level of service, dedicated to sybarite satisfaction which help make Saratoga a resort destination. They mainly stood along Broadway.
The Kensington Hotel however, stood away from the others. Its location was on fashionable Union Avenue, the splendid thoroughfare which reaches from the village to Saratoga Lake, with the race track in between. [Read more…] about Saratoga’s Kensington Hotel: From Sanitarium to Skidmore
The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation is set to host its final Summer Stroll of the season, Queen Annes: Circular Street and Union Avenue, on Sunday, September 1st at 10:30 am.
Debbie Studwell will lead the tour of the area formerly home to the Young Women’s Industrial Club of Saratoga, today known as Skidmore College. [Read more…] about Saratoga Tour of Early Skidmore College Sites Sunday
The 16th annual Solomon Northup Day, an afternoon of activities inspired by a powerful memoir of enslavement and eventual freedom, will take place on Saturday, July 19, from 12:30 to 6 pm in Filene Recital Hall at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.
The story of Solomon Northup, an African-American man abducted into slavery in 1841 and transported to Louisiana, is now known internationally thanks to the acclaimed 2013 film based on Northup’s autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave. But a grassroots effort to raise awareness of this compelling story has been going on for the past 15 years, in particular through Solomon Northup Day, an annual event launched in 1999 by Saratoga Springs resident and Skidmore College alumna Renee Moore. [Read more…] about Solomon Northup Day Planned For Saturday, July 19th
The 29th Conference on New York State History will begin on Thursday, June 5th at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs.
Among the presenters will be the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Oral History folks who will discuss their current exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans. [Read more…] about 2009 Conference on New York State History
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