Historical News and Views from the Empire State
The 2020 New York State Canal Conference will be held October 4-6, 2020 at the Rivers Casino Event Center in Schenectady.
This year’s conference will explore the trends and opportunities in the regional and international waterway systems. [Read more…] about 2020 NYS Canal Conference Being Held In Schenectady
Westchester Community College has announced a new four-class certificate program in Historic Preservation, based at its Center for the Digital Arts, Peekskill Extension Center in the Peekskill Historic District
The program is geared towards providing a specialization for tradesmen who work in historic communities, for students in history or related fields that want to have an add-on to their traditional degree or for anybody who wants to be more effective in engaging local politicians as preservation advocates. [Read more…] about Historic Preservation Certificate Program Set for Peekskill
Humanities New York (HNY) has announced $150,000 in awards to 31 grantees for innovative public humanities offerings. Awards were made in every region of the state, from the North Country to Long Island.
These grants are made possible entirely through the National Endowment for the Humanities, a Federal agency funded through legislation by the United States Congress. Previous years have included New York State funding. [Read more…] about 31 Grants Awarded To Public Humanities Projects
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has announced a call for nominations for the Erie Canalway Heritage Award of Excellence. The Heritage Award of Excellence celebrates outstanding places within the National Heritage Corridor where people have come together to make the Corridor a more vibrant place to live, work, and visit. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Heritage Award Nominations Sought
The American Alliance of Museums is set to host Museums Advocacy Day on February 24-25, 2020 in Washington, DC. Museums Advocacy Day is an opportunity to join with fellow museum professionals and supporters to make the case for museums. The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is set to lead a New York delegation. [Read more…] about NYS Museum Advocates Headed to DC
Imagine growing up during the early 1960s and traveling to a New York City destination for an all-day, fun-filled history lesson. By car, bus, or train, all roads led to the northeastern section of The Bronx.
Freedomland U.S.A. was an American history theme park where guests experienced Old Chicago as it burned to the ground, dodged cannon fire during a wagon ride through a Civil War battlefield and explored the Northwest Passage, as did Lewis and Clark, on a bull boat. Hundreds of thousands of kids entered this time machine into America’s past with their mothers and fathers, cousins and friends, aunts and uncles, and with their grandmothers and grandfathers. [Read more…] about 1960s Bronx Theme Park Freedomland U.S.A. Celebrated History
Two record collections available online offer a different approach to surrogate court records in New York State.
Between 1786 and 1829 the Supreme Court and the county courts of common pleas shared with the Surrogate’s Courts the power to prove and record wills devising real property, and also wills whose witnesses were unable to appear in court. In addition, between 1801 and 1829 the Supreme Court had the exclusive power to prove and record wills devising real property located in several counties. [Read more…] about Featured Records: A Surrogate Records Back Door (1648-1848)
A substantial fire has closed the 1920s Palisades Interstate Park New Jersey Park Headquarters building in Alpine, N.J., across the Hudson River from Yonkers. No one was hurt in the blaze, but one Park Commissioner has said some of the Commission’s on-site records have been destroyed. The building was significantly damaged.
“All the historic things in the building are lost forever – the chief’s records and the records are gone,” Palisades Park Commissioner Sophie Haymann said, standing outside the smoldering 100-year old building. The Commission’s archival holdings are a largely untapped Hudson Valley treasure, but most are stored off-site. [Read more…] about Fire Damages Palisades Park Commission Building, Archives
The City of New Rochelle, the last home of Thomas Paine, is beginning to undergo something of an economic renaissance. A number of the City’s tremendous historical resources however, remain neglected.
The Thomas Paine Museum on North Avenue — once the centerpiece of an international effort to recognize and promote the importance of Thomas Paine – has been vacant for years and is headed for sale and destruction. [Read more…] about Crisis: Forgetting Thomas Paine in New Rochelle
The Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor has announced a call for Heritage Award of Excellence nominations in January 2020. This award honors and celebrates significant places within the Corridor and recognizes excellence in advancing the goals of the Preservation and Management Plan. Municipalities, community groups, private entities, and non-profit organizations are encouraged to submit a nomination. [Read more…] about Canalway Heritage Award Nominations Sought