On this episode of The Historians Podcast, Ashley Hopkins-Benton recounts the life of sculptor and stone worker Henry DiSpirito, who became artist in residence at Utica College. Hopkins-Benton is author of Breathing Life Into Stone: The Sculpture of Henry DiSpirito. She is also a senior historian and curator of social history at the New York State Museum in Albany. [Read more…] about Utica Sculptor Henry DiSpirito
Utica
Canal Archaeology Virtual Lecture Set For Oct 27th
The Oneida County History Center is set to host a virtual lecture with archaeologist David Staley, who will look at two sites along the former Erie and Chenango canals, on Wednesday, October 28th.
Staley will look at the limestone masonry, concrete, and iron remains found at these sites, and share how archaeological discoveries can contradict historic narratives and reveal shady political cronyism in Utica during the 1880s. [Read more…] about Canal Archaeology Virtual Lecture Set For Oct 27th
19th Century Oneida County Records Return Home
Oneida County History Center (OCHC) Trustee and Volunteer Barbara Granato recently acquired 19 boxes of records from county archives that the clerk’s office was removing from storage to be returned to their rightful homes in the town or village where they originated.
The records date from the 1840s, 1850s, and early 1900s and include birth, marriage, deaths, orders of filiation, indentures, and commitments to orphanages. Granato spent 10 months organizing, photographing, and transcribing each record. [Read more…] about 19th Century Oneida County Records Return Home
Oneida History Center Names New Director, 1st Woman To Hold Position
The Oneida County History Center (OCHC) has named Rebecca M. McLain as the new Executive Director.
McLain is the first woman to hold the position of Executive Director of the Center, which was founded in 1876. [Read more…] about Oneida History Center Names New Director, 1st Woman To Hold Position
A Visit To The Deansboro, Oneida Co, CCC Camp
During the Great Depression of the 1930s the federal government started numerous programs to provide jobs. One, based on an earlier New York State program established by then Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
The CCC employed about 3.5 million young men nationwide, with about 210,00 of them at 116 camps across New York State. The camps, for men only, were supervised by the U.S. Army and the Soil Conservation Commission. [Read more…] about A Visit To The Deansboro, Oneida Co, CCC Camp
Utica Slave Rescues And Slavers
Before the Civil War fugitive slave laws were passed (notably in 1787, 1793, and 1850) to encourage the capture and re-enslavement of people who had run away from slavery.
In New York, abolitionist sentiment was particularly strong, though not universal. Many New Yorkers believed that only the federal government could regulate slavery, and they had spoken on the matter to give wide support for the recapture of escaped enslaved people. [Read more…] about Utica Slave Rescues And Slavers
The Cholera Pandemic of 1832 in New York State
History shows that several pandemics have struck in New York State – one of the less remembered is known as the Second Cholera Pandemic of 1832.
New York was among the most thoroughly scourged among the states.
[Read more…] about The Cholera Pandemic of 1832 in New York State
‘Prince Hal’ Schumacher: A North Country Baseball Legend
A celebrity sports delegation attended the Saint Lawrence University commencement on June 12, 1933.
“It was the first occasion that a major league ball team had ever came here to see one of their number receive his degree,” the Ogdensburg Journal reported. “In fact, it was the first time that such a ball team ever came to the village.”
Twenty-two members of the New York Giants were at the university campus at Canton to see standout pitcher Harold Henry “Prince Hal” Schumacher graduate. [Read more…] about ‘Prince Hal’ Schumacher: A North Country Baseball Legend
Frank Johnson’s Story: An Enslaved Man’s Experiences
Sometime around 1797, a baby boy of African descent was born in Oneida County. He didn’t live a very long life, yet his experiences reveal much about the institution of slavery in New York State.
All we know for certain about Frank Johnson’s birthdate is that it preceded the passage of the 1799 Gradual Emancipation Act, thereby making him a “slave for life,” as he was called by the man who owned him according to the law. That man, Alexander Bryan Johnson, born in England in 1786, followed his father to Utica, New York arriving in 1801. There he became an important man, involved with the merchandising business, banking, writing, and gaining recognition as a public intellectual. There is still a park named after him in Utica. [Read more…] about Frank Johnson’s Story: An Enslaved Man’s Experiences
‘Christmas Truce’ Peace Carol in Utica
The Christmas Truce was a ceasefire between German, French, and British troop on the western-front on Christmas Eve in December 1914. Both sides informally agreed to stop fighting for a few hours and joined together for food, carols, and companionship.
The 5th Annual Peace Carol, an evening honoring the Christmas Truce of World War One, on Tuesday, December 10th, at 4:30 pm. This celebration features carol sing-alongs led by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Utica choir, a performance by members of the Proctor Senior Choir, the Procter JNROTC Color Guard, a presentation on the truce by Joe Schmidt, light refreshments, and more. [Read more…] about ‘Christmas Truce’ Peace Carol in Utica