History, Natural History & the Arts
How much do we really know about the food systems and agricultural knowledge of the Indigenous peoples of North America?
In what ways were the Wampanoag people able to contribute to the “First Thanksgiving” harvest celebration—and what have we gotten wrong about their story? [Read more…] about Indigenous Agriculture and Native Foodways Science
The rule at a wedding is don’t show up the bride. The rule at Thanksgiving dinner is don’t show up the bird.
“The Thanksgiving Dinner should always be plain and plentiful,” The Granville Sentinel suggested on Nov. 30, 1894. “The turkey is so grand a dish that it should not be obscured by its surroundings.”
In other Thanksgiving dinner news collected from historic newspapers in Northern New York: [Read more…] about Thanksgiving Dinner News Collected from Historic Newspapers
It was 1924. America was in the midst of a roaring economic boom, and so was R.H. Macy & Co.
It had gone public in 1922 and, flush with capital, had bought out competitors, opened a network of regional stores, and transformed its flagship New York City emporium. [Read more…] about Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: Some History
“Let us talk about turkey,” proclaimed a New York Tribune humor column republished Nov.23, 1888 in The Granville Sentinel. Not Turkey in Europe, nor yet Turkey in Asia. But turkey in America – the esteemed bird that goes so well with cranberry sauce.”
The bald eagle, national bird of the United States, gets prominent attention for months at a time once every four years, when there is a presidential election, but the turkey is heralded every year, the columnist quipped. [Read more…] about Talkin’ Turkey: 19th Century Thanksgiving Newspaper Reports
Nearly everyone has enjoyed the several products derived from the fruit of the cranberry, but few people are familiar with the ecology of this interesting plant or the role it has played in many local economies and histories.
Today the cranberry industry is an important. part of the agricultural economy only in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. But many other parts of the country were at one time involved in cranberry production. [Read more…] about Cranberry Bogs of Long Island: Some History & Natural History
In the 1800s, most of the commerce at Halfmoon in Saratoga County, NY, was located close to the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. Joshua Anthony however, developed his spice factory in a remote part of northern Halfmoon on his grandfather’s farm on Farm to Market and Anthony Roads.
The three-story tower in the center of the factory once boasted a windmill that provided power for the machinery. Anthony heated the farmhouse and buildings in the winter with steam from the factory. [Read more…] about Joshua Anthony: The Baking Powder King
America’s first national Thanksgiving holiday was declared by the Continental Congress to commemorate the victory of the American army of General Horatio Gates over British forces commanded by General John Burgoyne in Saratoga, New York on October 17, 1777.
The triumph at Saratoga, America’s turning point in the eight-year War of Independence was the first time in world history an entire British army had been captured. What’s more, the victory reversed a long string of humiliating defeats for the 13 rebellious colonies, including the loss of the revolutionary capital in Philadelphia. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Thanks: America’s First National Thanksgiving Holiday
In 1621, the Pilgrims of Plimoth (or Plymouth) Colony and their Wampanoag neighbors came together to celebrate their first harvest. Today we remember this event as the first Thanksgiving.
But what do we really know about this holiday and the people who celebrated it? [Read more…] about The Pilgrims of Plimoth & The First Thanksgiving
The fabled 1621 “First Thanksgiving” celebrated in elementary school plays across the country was reported on by Edward Winslow in Mourt’s Relation (A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Settled at Plimoth in New England, 1622) and William Bradford in Of Plymouth Plantation. [Read more…] about Abraham Lincoln’s First Thanksgivings
During the autumn months, many birds migrate from their summer breeding grounds in the Northeast to warmer wintering areas south of our region. Migratory birds include many species of raptors and waterfowl, which we often notice because of the birds’ large size and their tendency to travel in groups.
Sometimes, as is the case with geese, these migratory groups are also quite vocal. Variations in their physiology relate directly to how different bird species migrate. [Read more…] about Muscling Through Migration: A Thanksgiving Story
For about a week in 1871, New Yorkers were in a quandary about Thanksgiving. On October 25, New York Governor John T. Hoffman designated Thursday, November 23 as Thanksgiving Day for the state.
In his Thanksgiving Day proclamation, the Tammany Hall Democrat urged New Yorkers to spend time on that day to declare “their gratitude to God for all his mercies” and to “remember especially the poor.” [Read more…] about Turkey Day History: The Two Thanksgivings of 1871
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