Author Archives: Editorial Staff

NYS Traditional Music Webcast Concert Wednesday

By Editorial Staff on January 21, 2014

Performer and Teaching Artist Dave Ruch will be doing a special live webcast concert of New York State traditional music at 8pm EST on Wednesday, January 22. Wherever you are in the world, you can tune in.

Ruch specializes in uncovering and performing the music of everyday people from earlier days in New York State – singing woodsmen, African-American fiddlers, War of 1812 soldiers and sailors, square dance musicians, back-porch ballad singers, farmers, canallers, domestics, Iroquois peoples, and more. Continue reading →

Submission For Annual Hendricks Award Sought

By Editorial Staff on January 20, 2014

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The Annual Hendricks Award is given to the best book or book-length manuscript relating to any aspect of New Netherland and its legacy. The Award carries a prize of $5,000 as well as a framed print of a painting by L. F. Tantillo.

In 2014, recently completed dissertations and unpublished book-length manuscripts, will be considered. If there is no suitable winner in this category, submissions in the published book category will be considered. In addition, submissions from previous years will be reconsidered for the Award. Continue reading →

Lake Placid Winter Lecture Series Begins Jan 29

By Editorial Staff on January 20, 2014

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The Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society is has announced the first program of its 2014 “Odds and Ends” Winter Lecture Series on Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in Lake Placid.

The lecture will begin at 7:00 pm with attendees encouraged to come for dinner at 6:00 pm. This opening program in the four-part series is titled “The Ghosts of Clinton County” presented by Gordie Little. Continue reading →

Follow The New York History Blog on Facebook

By Editorial Staff on January 19, 2014

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The New York History Blog has a tough time being seen on Facebook, a major driver of traffic. Take a minute to like our Facebook page and share one of our posts (like this one). Help us boost our presence on Facebook, and help boost awareness of New York State’s history at the same time!

Make a Contribution! The New York History Blog is supported by you. If you think this site provides a valuable service, please become a recurring contributor – or just make a one-time contribution at our Rally.org page. Continue reading →

Reprint of ‘A Stripe of Tammany’s Tiger’ Issued

By Editorial Staff on January 19, 2014

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In A Stripe of Tammany’s Tiger (Cornell University Press, 1966, 2013 Reprint), Louis Eisenstein, a Tammany precinct captain from Manhattan’s Lower East Side, sets out with his coauthor Elliot Rosenberg to chronicle the evolution—or rather devolution—of New York City politics through the first seven decades of the twentieth century.

Eisenstein imbues his lively narrative with an overarching theme: that personal interactions and good faith between those at all levels of power are of paramount importance both for sustained political success and for competent municipal administration. Continue reading →

The Battle of Oriskany and General Nicholas Herkimer

By Editorial Staff on January 18, 2014

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During the critical Battle of Oriskany in August 1777, Continental forces led by General Nicholas Herkimer defeated the British army under St. Leger in the heart of New York’s Mohawk Valley. It was a hard-won victory, but he and his troops prevented the British from splitting the colonies in two.

In The Battle of Oriskany and General Nicholas Herkimer: Revolution in the Mohawk Valley (History Press, 2013), Paul Boehlert presents a gripping account of the events before, during and after this critical battle. Continue reading →

This Week’s New York History Web Highlights

By Editorial Staff on January 17, 2014

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Saratoga Battlefield’s 19th Annual Frost Faire Jan 25

By Editorial Staff on January 17, 2014

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Saratoga Battlefield’s 19th Annual Frost Faire is a free event being held Saturday, January 25th, 2014 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the Battlefield (located on Routes 4 and 32 in Stillwater).

Inspired by Frost Faires in 1700s England, this event offers opportunities to beat cabin fever with activities like horse-drawn carriage rides, snow tubing the “Big Hill” (weather permitting), a 12pm winter nature trek and scavenger hunt, on-going contra-dancing, children’s crafts and games, a warming tent with light refreshments, historic handwriting demonstrations, and musket and cannon firings. Continue reading →

This Week’s Top New York History News

By Editorial Staff on January 17, 2014

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Questions about contributions should be directed to editor John Warren.

Hudson River Valley Area Heritage Development Grants

By Editorial Staff on January 16, 2014

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Applications are now available for the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Heritage Development Grant Program.

The due date for these applications is February 14, 2014. There is a total of $50,000 available for these 1:1 matching grants. Awards will range from $1,000 to $5,000. The program offers funding for projects that further the goals and mission of the HRVNHA: to recognize, preserve, protect and interpret the nationally significant cultural and natural resources of the Hudson River Valley for the benefit of the Nation. Continue reading →

The New School To Celebrate The University in Exile

By Editorial Staff on January 16, 2014

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The Center for Public Scholarship at The New School in New York City is hosting a free public event celebrating the University in Exile, on Thursday, January 30, 2014.

The University in Exile was created by The New School’s first president, Alvin Johnson, as a haven for scholars whose careers and lives were threatened in Germany in 1933, when the Nazi Party came to power and acted to expel all Jews and political opponents from German universities. Continue reading →

Judge Rules Against NYU Expansion Plan

By Editorial Staff on January 15, 2014

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In an important legal ruling, NYS Supreme Court Judge Donna Mills found that elements of the proposed New York University expansion plan would build on land which has long been used as public parkland, although not officially designated as such. The NYU project proposed between West Houston and West Third Streets, has, according to Sam Roberts of the New York Times “arguably generated more rancor than any other project in the neighborhood since the proposed expressway in the 1960s.”

It is only possible to build on parkland in New York State with the approval of the State Legislature. The legal action opposing the expansion which Justice Mills ruled on was brought against the City of New York by a coalition of community groups, neighborhood residents and NYU faculty. Continue reading →

Take The Online Survey:
NYS Historic Preservation Plan Input Sought

By Editorial Staff on January 15, 2014

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The New York State Division for Historic Preservation, including the State Historic Preservation Office, is updating the state’s historic preservation plan, which provides a blueprint for strengthening and expanding preservation efforts across the Empire State.

Public input is an important component of the planning process and they are taking a two-pronged approach. They have developed an online survey (available through the survey link) as well as a more in-depth questionnaire (see below). Those with an interest in New York’s history can take the public survey online here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NYSPreservationSurvey

Groups Oppose Proposed Easing Of Cell Tower Rules

By Editorial Staff on January 14, 2014

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A coalition of 10 New York environmental and historic preservation organizations yesterday urged the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to take away the rights of state and local governments to regulate the size, shape and visibility of communications towers – especially in scenic and historically significant areas.

The groups sent a joint letter to the FCC, urging federal officials to recognize that scenic beauty and historic significance are the backbone of local tourism. They asked the FCC to reject the notion that expansions of 10 percent or more in the height or width of cell towers would have no impact on the environment or historic preservation. Continue reading →

Albany Institute Offers Free Admission On Monday

By Editorial Staff on January 14, 2014

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The Albany Institute of History & Art will offer FREE admission to the museum on Monday, January 20, 2014 from 10AM-5PM. Gallery Tours will take place at 1PM and 3:30PM.

Guests of all ages are invited to spend the day viewing several new exhibitions including The Mystery of the Albany Mummies; Big and Bold: Contemporary Paintings, Collage, and Sculpture from the Albany Institute’s Collection (in the recently renovated Lansing Gallery); and The Hudson River School and the Nineteenth-Century Landscape. Additional exhibitions include, Traders and Culture: Colonial Albany and the Formation of American Identity; Nineteenth-Century American Sculpture: Erastus Dow Palmer and His Protégés Launt Thompson, Charles Calverley, and Richard Park (in the recently renovated Sculpture Court); Robert Hewson Pruyn: An Albanian in Japan, 1862-1865; and A Gather of Glass: Selections from the Museum’s Collection. Gallery Tours, led by museum docents, will start at 1PM and 3:30PM, and are also free. Continue reading →

Lecture: Abductees From The North Sold Into Slavery

By Editorial Staff on January 13, 2014

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In the 1800s, free blacks were sometimes lured from the safety of their hometowns, abducted, and sold into slavery. This happened to Solomon Northup, whose story is told in the film “12 Years a Slave.”

But several other black New Yorkers, from various parts of the state, were also kidnapped. Once they were taken to a slave state, their chances of returning home were small. But some victims, like Northup, were rescued from slavery, and their kidnappers were held accountable for their deeds. This presentation will tell their stories. Continue reading →

Support This New York History Blog Now

By Editorial Staff on January 12, 2014

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The New York History Blog can only operate with the support of the readers like you, members of the history community which it serves.

We have a fundraising page at Rally.org, a very reputable crowd-funding site (used by Senator Elizabeth Warren and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, among others). We also sell advertising.

There are several ways you can help support The New York History Blog, even if you don’t have money to give. Here’s how you can help:

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The War of 1812: America’s First Crisis

By Editorial Staff on January 12, 2014

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The War of 1812, sometimes called “America’s forgotten war,” was a curious affair. At the time, it was dismissed as “Mr. Madison’s War.”

Later it was hailed by some as America’s “Second War for Independence” and ridiculed by others, such as President Harry Truman, as “the silliest damned war we ever had.” The conflict, which produced several great heroes and future presidents, was all this and more.

In America’s First Crisis: The War of 1812 (SUNY Press, 2014) Robert P. Watson tells the stories of the battles and leaders and shares the blunders and victories of the war. What started out as an effort to invade Canada, fueled by anger over the harassment of American merchant ships by the Royal Navy, soon turned into an all-out effort to fend off an invasion by Britain. Continue reading →

The Angola Horror:
The Train Wreck That Shocked the Nation

By Editorial Staff on January 11, 2014

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On December 18, 1867, the Buffalo and Erie Railroad’s eastbound New York Express derailed as it approached the high truss bridge over Big Sister Creek, just east of the small settlement of Angola, New York, on the shores of Lake Erie.

In a dramatic historical narrative, Charity Vogel tells the gripping, true-to-life story of the wreck and the characters involved in the tragic accident in The Angola Horror: The 1867 Train Wreck That Shocked the Nation and Transformed American Railroads (Cornell University Press, 2013). Continue reading →

The History, Sea Life, and Environment of NY Harbor

By Editorial Staff on January 11, 2014

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The award winning book, Heartbeats in the Muck: The History, Sea Life, and Environment of New York Harbor has been updated and reissued in paperback. In Heartbeats, author John Waldman covers the arc of history of New York Harbor from its pristine origins through the ravages of the industrial era to its remarkable comeback today.

First published in 1999, the volume won a New York Society Library Award. The revision includes an epilogue that brings the story of the Harbor to 2012, the 40th Anniversary of the critically important Clean Water Act, and includes the ambitious ongoing oyster restorations; alien species such as Asian shore crabs, zebra mussels, and snakehead fish; the effects of climate change; rehabilitation of the legendarily polluted Gowanus Canal, and even a return of bald eagles to Manhattan. Waldman’s work on New York Harbor also resulted in a Norcross Wildlife Conservation Award and, in 2012, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Conservation Award. Continue reading →