New Netherland

Historian Russell Shorto Events In Albany Friday

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Russell Shorto Jennifer MayRussell Shorto, bestselling historian of the Dutch colonial experience in America, will give a preview of his new book (to be published this coming October), Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City, Friday, May 3, 2013 at 7 p.m. in the Clark Auditorium, New York State Museum, Cultural Education Center, Madison Avenue in downtown Albany.

Earlier that same day at 3:15 p.m., the author will deliver the Fossieck Lecture of the UAlbany History Department, “The Dutch Influence on American Colonial History,” in the Assembly Hall, Campus Center, on the University at Albany’s uptown campus. Read more →

CFP: 17th Century Identity and the Middle Colonies

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New-France_2_6_Map-of-New-Belgium-or-New-NetherlandPaper and panel proposals are invited for a conference on “From Conquest to Identity: New Jersey and the Middle Colonies in the Seventeenth Century,” to be co-sponsored by the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the New Jersey
Historical Commission, and Kean University and to be held in Trenton, New Jersey, on March 27–29, 2014.

Confirmed participants include Charles Gehring, Evan Haefeli, Ned C. Landsman, Robert C. Ritchie, and the members of the program committee: Wayne Bodle, Stanley N. Katz, Christian Koot, Maxine N. Lurie, Jonathan Mercantini, Daniel K. Richter, and Cynthia Van Zandt. Read more →

Mohican, Algonquin Peoples Seminar Seeks Presentations

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algonquin peoplesThe Native American Institute of the Hudson River Valley and the New York State Museum invite you to submit a paper or other presentation to be given at the 13th Mohican/Algonquian Peoples Seminar held at the New York State Museum in Albany on Saturday, September 28, 2013.

Topics can involve any aspect of Northeastern Native American culture from prehistory to the present. The seminar attracts attendees from Native American enthusiasts, local historians, as well as from academia. In general presentations are allotted 20 minutes speaking time followed by a brief Q &amp- A period. Sessions will be held in the morning and afternoon (between 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM, with a break for lunch). Read more →

Happy Birthday Washington Irving!

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Erastus Dow Palmer, Washington Irving (1783-1859), 1865. Gift of Mrs. Anna T. E. Kirtland, as a memorial to Mr. Jared T. Kirtland, 1865.4On April 3, 1783 Writer and satirist Washington Irving was born in New York City. He best known for his short stories &#8220The Legend of Sleepy Hollow&#8221 and &#8220Rip Van Winkle,&#8221 but I will always love him best for coining the name of New York’s basketball team!

In 1809, Irving published his first major book, A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker. Through the Knickerbocker pseudonym, Irving poked fun at the city’s self-important Dutch elite, in which Knickerbocker was a fairly common last name. He also pulled an elaborate prank in anticipation of the book’s release, posting &#8220missing person&#8221 adverts in city newspapers, claiming Knickerbocker, a Dutch historian, had gone missing from his hotel room. Read more →

What Was New York City Like in 1670?

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Daniel Denton, A Brief Description of NEW-YORK: Formerly Called New-Netherlands, 1670. Book. New-York Historical Society Library, LIB.Y.1670.DenIn 1670, New York had been New York for just six years—the name changed to honor the Duke of York when English forces seized control of the Dutch colony.  But the city was open for business, and many back in Europe were curious about this center of trade across the Atlantic, open in the midst of the Age of Exploration.

Daniel Denton was a town clerk in Jamaica, Long Island, and from 1665-1666 served as justice of the peace for New York. He returned to England briefly in 1670, where he composed this pamphlet, &#8220A Brief Description of New-York,&#8221 aimed at encouraging English settlers to come to the New World. Read more →

Chip Reynolds: Jupiter, Galileo and the Half Moon

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What follows is a guest essay by Chip Reynolds, Half Moon Captain and Director of the New Netherland Museum.

Don’t miss a great opportunity that presents itself over the next two months &#8212- and not on the ship, the Half Moon is in for the winter! Just step outside on a clear night and take a look overhead.

Jupiter is clear and distinct in the constellation Taurus, which can be seen in the east early in the evening, overhead about midnight and in the west before dawn. It is the brightest object in the sky (except when the Moon is around), flanked by Orion below and Gemini above. Read more →

Mabee Farm: Len Tantillo Lecture, Book Signing

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On November 10th at 2 pm historic artist Len F. Tantillo will speak about his new book, The Edge of New Netherland, at the Mabee Farm Historic Site’s George E. Franchere Education Center. The book, a uniquely illustrated history of New Netherland, New Sweden, early North American fortification design, and the construction of Fort Cashmir (New Castle, Delaware) has been published for the New Netherland Institute.

The book explores life in the Dutch colony and competition between European powers by focusing on the construction of regional forts, and the trade they engendered. Tantillo’s work has appeared in books, periodicals, and television documentaries in the US and abroad and exhibited in numerous galleries across the country. Read more →

Exploring A Dutch Colony Under English Rule

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Dr. David William Voorhees will give a presentation on how the Jacob Leisler Papers Project at New York University is transforming our understanding of the transition from Dutch New Netherland to English New York in the period from 1660 to 1700.

Jacob Leisler (1640-1691) was intimately bound to the economic, social, and political development of New Netherland and New York from his arrival in New Amsterdam in July 1660 in the employ of the Dutch West India Company until his beheading in New York City by the English governor in May 1691. Read more →

New Washington Irving Treasury Box Set Published

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Three time-honored stories by Washington Irving, classic tales told again and again, have been released together in the cloth-bound box set A Washington Irving Treasury (Universe Publishing, 2012). The high-spirited stories of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow present memorable folk characters that have become part of America’s literary lexicon, while Old Christmas preserves the nostalgia, warmth, and joy of English Christmas traditions. Read more →

New Guide: Exploring Historic Dutch New York

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Exploring Historic Dutch New York has been co-published by the Museum of the City of New York and Dover Publications (2012). The easy-to-read guide is filled with hundreds of historic facts and anecdotes about the greater New York area. Exploring Historic Dutch New York is the only travel guide and reference book currently in print that encompasses the historic Dutch elements of the former New Netherland colony in present-day New York, New Jersey and Delaware.

Edited by Gajus Scheltema and Heleen Westerhuijs with an introduction by Russell Shorto, this guide tours important sites and also serves as a cultural and historical reference. Seventeen international scholars explore topics such as Dutch art and architecture, Dutch cooking, immigration during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, furniture and antiques, and more. Color photographs and maps are included throughout the guide. Read more →