History, Natural History & the Arts
The 2026 Lake Champlain Research Conference will be held from January 26–27, 2026, at the University of Vermont’s Davis Center in Burlington, Vermont.
The 2026 conference theme, “Research to Action,” will bring together lake and watershed stakeholders, including researchers, management practitioners, and the public, to learn about the current state of research on Lake Champlain. [Read more…] about 2026 Lake Champlain Research Conference
Maple syrup production is a cornerstone of Vermont’s agricultural economy and cultural heritage. The success and continued growth of Vermont maple syrup in the global marketplace relies on the industry’s ability to consistently deliver a top-quality product.
Over the past four years, the University of Vermont Extension has identified that some of the maple syrup in retail doesn’t meet Vermont Grade A standards. [Read more…] about New Maple Syrup Lab Established
Researching and sharing the stories of remarkable people is rewarding with the recognition that it often takes a book to be truthful and fair to the many interesting journeys their lives took. Such a remarkable person is Jehudi Ashman, a Clinton County, NY man instrumental in the development of the African nation of Liberia. [Read more…] about The Extraordinary Life of Jehudi Ashmun (1794–1828)
“Vermont for the Vermonters”: A History of Eugenics in the Green Mountain State (Vermont Historical Society, 2023), written by Mercedes de Guardiola, is a new examination of one of Vermont‘s darker chapters, and sheds new light on the factors that helped bring it about.
Eugenics is a pseudo- scientific field of selective human breeding that rose to prominence in the early 1900s and was the foundation of Nazi Germany. [Read more…] about ‘Vermont for the Vermonters’: A History of Eugenics in the Green Mountain State
Born and raised in the town of Champlain, Clinton County, NY, Jehudi Ashmun (1794 – 1828) was a religious leader and social reformer who helped lead efforts by the American Colonization Society to “repatriate” African Americans to a colony in West Africa.
The organization, formed in 1816 by Quakers and slaveholders, founded the colony of Liberia as a place to resettle free people of color from the United States, believing in part that Black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. [Read more…] about Jehudi Ashmun: A Founder & Historian of Liberia
Farrand Benedict, surveyor and professor of mathematics and engineering at the University of Vermont in Burlington, wrote a proposal for a canal across the Adirondacks in 1846.
His plan was to use the Black River Canal with its connection to the Erie Canal at Rome and build a railroad from Boonville, on the Black River Canal, to Old Forge. He was then going to utilize the Fulton Chain of Lakes, Raquette Lake, Long Lake, the Raquette River and the Saranac Lakes with various lock systems, dams, and inclines to the Saranac River for canal boat traffic. [Read more…] about An Abandoned Canal Hides Deep In The Adirondack Woods
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