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World War Two

A World War II Bomber Pilot’s Canine Companion

January 20, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Lieutenant Robert Payne and ThunderboltSeason two of The Object of History podcast by the Massachusetts Historical Society continues with “A World War II Bomber Pilot’s Canine Companion,” the  story of Thunderbolt, a dog who served as a companion to an American bomber pilot and POW Lt. Robert Payne during World War II. [Read more…] about A World War II Bomber Pilot’s Canine Companion

Filed Under: History Tagged With: dogs, Massachusetts Historical Society, Military History, Podcasts, World War Two

Remembering The Christmas of 1945 in Northern NY

December 25, 2022 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

1945 Ad Welcome Home VetsAmong the finest Christmas seasons in America’s long history took place in 1945. We’re constantly bombarded with how special the holidays are, so it’s tough for any one year to stand out as extra special, but 1945 makes the list.

Events across the Adirondacks that year epitomized the nation’s attitude. Surprisingly, it wasn’t all about celebrating, even though the most destructive war in history had just ended a few months earlier. We often mumble mindlessly that we’re proud to be Americans. But the first post-World War II Christmas was the real deal, worthy of the word “pride.” [Read more…] about Remembering The Christmas of 1945 in Northern NY

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Christmas, Clinton County, Essex County, Franklin County, Holidays, Military History, World War Two

Former Saratoga and North Creek Railway Purchased

December 22, 2022 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

Tahawus Railway Map Dec 2022Revolution Rail Company (RevRail) has announced its purchase of the Saratoga and North Creek Railway, which stretches from the hamlet of North Creek in Johnsburg, Warren County, north to the Tahawus mining works in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County. [Read more…] about Former Saratoga and North Creek Railway Purchased

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, Delaware & Hudson Railroad, Essex County, High Peaks, Hudson Gorge Wilderness, Hudson River, Johnsburg, Mining, Newcomb, North Creek, Opalescent River, Open Space Institute, railroads, Tahawus, Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest, Warren County, World War Two

Verdelle Louis Payne: Ithaca’s Tuskegee Airman

December 2, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

a new york minute in history podcastIn the latest episode of A New York Minute In History, Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts tell the story of Verdelle Louis Payne from Ithaca in Tompkins County, who joined the Army Air Forces during the Second World War and became a pilot.

During the war, Payne served in the 99th Fighter Squadron, which became part of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, an all-Black group of pilots serving in the then still-segregated U.S. Army. [Read more…] about Verdelle Louis Payne: Ithaca’s Tuskegee Airman

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Air Force History, Black History, Ithaca, Military History, Podcasts, Tompkins County, World War Two

Japanese Americans Helped Defeat Japan in World War II

November 18, 2022 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, Bruce Henderson, author of Bridge to the Sun: the Secret Role of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in the Pacific in World War II (A. A. Knopf, 2022).

The book relates the tale of courage and adventure of sons and soldiers who fought in the Pacific theater in Burma, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, while their families back home in America were held behind barbed wire in government internment camps. [Read more…] about Japanese Americans Helped Defeat Japan in World War II

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Military History, Podcasts, World War Two

Never Before Seen Kristallnacht Photos Shine Light On Fascism

November 11, 2022 by Editorial Staff 3 Comments

page from a rare album featuring photos taken by Nazi photographers during the November PogromA recently discovered photo album donated to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, includes rare, never-before-seen photos of “Kristallnacht,” on the night of November 9, 1938.

During that night Nazis and their supporters ransacked and demolished Jewish homes, hospitals and schools; destroyed 267 synagogues; damaged or destroyed more than 7,000 Jewish businesses; and arrested and sent to concentration camps some 30,000 Jewish men. [Read more…] about Never Before Seen Kristallnacht Photos Shine Light On Fascism

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Crime and Justice, Documentary, German-American History, Jewish History, Photography, World War Two

Documentary: The Great American Novel, Truman Capote & Che Guevara

October 26, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Great American NovelIn 1868, just a few years after the end of the Civil War, novelist John William De Forest published an essay in The Nation, a political magazine that had been founded in July 1865 in Nassau Street, Manhattan. His contribution was titled “The Great American Novel.” [Read more…] about Documentary: The Great American Novel, Truman Capote & Che Guevara

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Documentary, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Literature, Oral History, Photography, Publishing, World War Two, Writing

Bayreuth & New York; Wagner & Bernstein

October 10, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

Richard Wagner’s villa in BayreuthIn 1943 Henry Alexander Murray, a psychologist at Harvard University, was commissioned by William Joseph Donovan (“Wild Bill Donovan”) – founding father of the CIA – to prepare an investigative report on behalf of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

Designated as the “Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler,” it became a ground-breaking study in the fields of offender profiling and political psychology. The inquiry into the malignant and narcissistic personality of the Führer was an effort to understand the “charismatic” nature of his leadership and an attempt to “predict” patterns of his behavior and actions. [Read more…] about Bayreuth & New York; Wagner & Bernstein

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: German-American History, Jewish History, LGBTQ, Military History, Music, Musical History, Performing Arts, Psychology, Theatre, World War Two

Amsterdam’s Polish Cowboy and Other Tales

September 2, 2022 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, Bob Cudmore’s history columns from Daily Gazette and Amsterdam Recorder provide information for this chit chat podcast with producer Dave Greene.

Hear stories about Amsterdam’s connections with Ukraine, World War II, Amsterdam’s link with singer Jeff Buckley’s popular version of “Hallelujah” by songwriter Leonard Cohen and the story of Jack Patton, the Polish cowboy from Amsterdam. [Read more…] about Amsterdam’s Polish Cowboy and Other Tales

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Amsterdam, Cultural History, Immigration, Montgomery County, Podcasts, Polish History, World War Two

A World War Two Bomber’s Final Flight

August 31, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Franklin L Darrell Jr photo provided by his familyResidents of an alpine valley in Northern Italy still hail as heroes two American pilots of a crippled U.S. plane who crashed into the side of a mountain rather than release their bombs onto the villages below during a World War II mission.

Both pilots died, but they bought enough time for the five other crew members aboard their crippled B-25 Mitchell bomber to bail out. One of them, 1st Lt. Franklin Lloyd Darrell Jr., the bombardier-navigator, lived for a time during and after the war in Saratoga County, as did his parents. [Read more…] about A World War Two Bomber’s Final Flight

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Air Force History, Aviation History, Corinth, International Paper, Italian History, Military History, Saratoga County, World War Two

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