Public History

At Olana, The End of a Season and an Era

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On Sunday, October 30, 2011, Olana State Historic Site ended its 43rd visitor season, and changed over to its winter schedule (Friday through Sunday). Over 132,000 guests visited Olana in the past year, one beset with an abundance of rain, gasoline prices that threatened to hit $5 during peak travel season, two hurricanes and an October nor’easter. In December of this year Olana will mark another milestone as Linda E. McLean closes her last year as director at Olana State Historic Site, ending an almost 40-year museum career with New York State.

McLean completed a master’s thesis on the photograph collection at Olana, working with then director Richard Slavin, and her abiding interest in Olana and American art developed from that point on. She joined the staff at Olana as Director of Education, stepping up to acting director when Slavin left to accept a post in Cooperstown. In 1980 McLean was offered and accepted a position of Director in her own right at the John Jay Homestead State Historic Site in Westchester County, and remained there until 2000, when she returned as Director at Olana State Historic Site, filling the position vacated by the late James Ryan.

When asked why she was retiring at this point she answered without hesitation. “We have completed all the major parts of the comprehensive plan that was adopted when I first arrived. We have restored the full exterior of the building from the brilliant stencils around the cornices to the bricks and stone of the walls- the roof will be completed this coming summer. We have opened the second floor for touring, restored wall papers, opened a very successful gallery space, restored carpets, textiles, making rooms come alive with the color and beauty that until now had only been known to Olana’s first residents. There are now six restored buildings in use on the property with plans for the restoration of the rest of the barn complex. Overall we have leveraged several millions of dollars in the restoration of the site, the WHOLE site- collections, buildings, and the landscape. And if the years and work at John Jay Homestead are included, the list gets richer, better and longer. It has been a wonderful journey and I have met and had the privilege of working with some amazing people. With the completion of the comprehensive plan, a new Commissioner in Albany and new plans for the whole system of parks and historic sites, it is time to turn the page and turn the site over to a new director, someone who can harness the technology of the 21st century to take Olana through its next round of planning and beyond.&#8221

“And,” McLean added,“it is now time for me to explore the world much as Church did as he gathered ideas for his great works. This is my time to “follow the road less traveled” and see where this next journey takes me. I have been very lucky to have been part of two spectacular historic sites and worked with the people who made them what they are. I have been most fortunate to complete my career at Olana, working to restore it to the grandeur that it knew as the home of artist Frederic Edwin Church. But more important to do this work in the community where I grew up, for the people of a community that nurtured me in my youth and gave me the foundation that allowed me to experience a 40-year career in a field I have loved from the beginning. Now it is time to move on, Church once said, about an hour south of Albany is the center of the world, and I own it, well, I can say, about an hour south of Albany is the center of the world and, for a while, I too, could call it my own.”

Linda is the fourth director for Olana State Historic Site. A successor has yet to be named. At this time all efforts in her office and at the historic site are focused on wrapping up the 2011 season and preparing for what will be a new chapter at Olana State Historic Site. “On behalf of the board and staff of The Olana Partnership, I want to thank Linda for her dedicated service to Olana,” stated Sara Griffen, president of The Olana Partnership. “She has been a true partner these last several years, a trusted colleague and supportive collaborator. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”

Photo: Main house at Olana. Courtesy Linda McLean.

Peter Feinman: County Historical Societies

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This is the third in a series of posts on the New York State History infrastructure. The previous ones were on County Historians and Municipal Historians. These posts draw on my experiences in initiating a series of county history conferences in the Hudson Valley this year and on Teacherhostels/Historyhostels I have conducted such as the one to the Mohawk Valley this past summer prior to Irene. Read more →

Fort Ticonderoga, Champlain College Collaborate

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Fort Ticonderoga and Champlain College are entering the second year of a growing collaboration, utilizing the needs of a non-profit institution while providing students at the Vermont institution with real-world experience as they prepare to enter the workforce.

“Talk about an effective engagement for student success! By employing a real-world competitive agency model, students are truly motivated to succeed,” said Nancy Kerr, Media Communication Program Director at Champlain College. Kerr’s senior-level students are currently working on a public relations project for Fort Ticonderoga.

The students are working with Lauren Grimaldi, from Brawn Media, on developing a viral social media campaign for the Fort. “With the increasing use of online campaigns as an effective marketing strategy,” Grimaldi said, “we gave them the challenge to create a viral campaign for the Fort. Working with the students at Champlain College has been a great learning experience on both ends.”

Champlain College senior Alisha Durgin, speaking of the project this semester, said “Overall, the research we did was very informative and even surprising. Just actually doing the research and collecting the results on our own was a great learning experience.” A final product from the group of students is due in December.

During the Spring 2011 Semester, students from one of Elaine Young’s marketing courses worked with Fort Ticonderoga and staff from Brawn Media developing potential marketing efforts for the Fort’s temporary exhibition “The Art of War: Ticonderoga as Experience through the Eyes of America’s Great Artists.”

Dr. Young, Assistant Dean in Champlain College’s Division of Business, noted that “The opportunity to have students work with an organization provides enhanced learning outcomes through real world application. It’s a hallmark of a Champlain education and wouldn’t be successful without true partnerships with mission-driven organizations such as Fort Ticonderoga.”

Young continued, “Senior marketing majors were able to work closely with Fort Ti to help them plan for a major event. They learned the intricacies of working with a client with specific needs and had the opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way to the success of the event for Fort Ti. You can’t get this kind of experience and learning in a classroom setting by itself. It is an excellent way for students to fully link theory to practice and they were able to make meaningful connections which will stay with them as they enter their careers.”

Nancy Kerr concurs, relating that students “come away with valuable skills and knowledge to make the transition to a work environment. Working with Fort Ticonderoga this semester, the Champlain College students in the Public Relations Campaign Development class are enthusiastically working to help promote Fort Ticonderoga to the public, while gaining valuable professional skills. What could be better?”

The Champlain College collaboration is just an example of a growing role Fort Ticonderoga envisions for college and university partnerships that utilize Fort Ticonderoga as a “learning campus” for both undergraduate and graduate students in multiple disciplines, not just history and historic site administration.

Photo: Nancy Kerr, Media Communications Program Director at Champlain College, has students working the Fort Ticonderoga this semester.

New Contributor: State Historian Robert Weible

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Please welcome our newest contributor here at the online journal New York History, State Historian of New York and Chief Curator of the New York State Museum Robert Weible

Before taking on the role of State Historian Weible served as Director of Public History for the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Acting Director of the Pennsylvania State Archives, Chief of the Division of History for the Pennsylvania Historical &amp- Museum Commission, and Historian of Lowell National Park in Massachusetts. Read more →

NYU Grad Students Partner with Fort Ticonderoga

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Graduate students from New York University’s (NYU) Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sport’s Management are partnering with Fort Ticonderoga as part of their work in a Cultural Heritage Tourism class. The students are developing a concept for the Fort Ticonderoga’s learning campus as part of the Fort’s Comprehensive Plan. The partnership was initiated by Mike Konzen, Principal of PGAV Destinations, and Board member for the Friends of The Tisch Center – Hospitality and Tourism. PGAV Destinations is developing Fort Ticonderoga’s Comprehensive Plan. The first phase of the plan is expected to be complete in December 2011.

As part of the project the students and their professor, Dr. Sharr Prohaska, visited Fort Ticonderoga on October 14 &#8211 15 to learn about the Fort’s history, programs, marketing plan, partnerships, and educational opportunities as a year-round learning campus.

The class project will focus on the opportunities related to learning experiences connected with the Fort’s developing historic trades program, and museum studies, as well as other areas such as land and water management, horticulture, and geology.

Dr. Prohaska said the visit was “A wonderful educational experience in a new world of discovery for the students who are from several countries including Uzbekistan, China, and the United States.” The students expressed that the visit made clear the magnitude of opportunities available at Fort Ticonderoga to develop as major destination and year-round learning campus. Dr. Prohaska concluded &#8220The potential is endless as it is such an American treasure.&#8221

Fort Ticonderoga’s Executive Director, Beth Hill, emphasized that the project is an example of what the multi-disciplined learning campus can include. According to Hill, Fort Ticonderoga in many ways has already begun the development of the concept through its university partnerships, seminars, and workshops. “The learning campus offers us the opportunity to widen our audience and broaden the season to offer year-round experiences at one of North America’s most significant and beautiful historic sites.”

Photo: Graduate Students from New York University and Dr. Prohaska at Fort Ticonderoga.

Peter Feinman: Considering Municipal Historians

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This is the second in a series of posts on the New York State History infrastructure. The previous one was on County Historians. These posts draw on my experiences in initiating a series of county history conferences in the Hudson Valley this year and on Teacherhostels / Historyhostels I have conducted such as the one to the Mohawk Valley this summer prior to Tropical Storm Irene. Read more →

Brooklyn Museum Receives National Honor

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The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has selected the Brooklyn Museum as one of only ten libraries and museums to receive the 2011 National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

The Brooklyn Museum was founded in 1823 as an apprentices’ library and is now one of the largest art museums in the United States, with comprehensive collections that span millennia and encompass almost every culture, enhanced by a distinguished record of exhibitions, scholarship, and service to the public.

From its beginnings the Brooklyn Museum was envisioned as an institution designed to educate the people both of Brooklyn and the world&#8211as a &#8220museum of everything for everyone.&#8221 Today it continues to serve as a vital educational and community resource through programs including its nationally renowned Target First Saturdays program and comprehensive on-site educational activities. The Museum’s exhibitions and arts education programs are specifically designed to develop and extend the cultural and art historical themes of its comprehensive collection.

&#8220We are extremely proud to be recognized by IMLS with its National Medal,&#8221 commented Arnold L. Lehman, Director of the Brooklyn Museum. &#8220To be acknowledged by IMLS from among the many thousands of institutions in the United States is an exceptional tribute to the Museum Trustees, staff, volunteers, and supporters. We are grateful to IMLS for this extraordinary honor.&#8221

The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries for extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social contributions. Recipients must demonstrate innovative approaches to public service and community outreach.

&#8220Congratulations to the Brooklyn Museum on receiving the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The work you have done is an inspiration to libraries and museums throughout the nation,&#8221 said Susan Hildreth, IMLS Director. &#8220With innovation, creativity, and a great deal of heart you have achieved an outstanding level of public service.&#8221

The other institutions that will receive the IMLS medal this year are:

Weippe Public Library & Discovery Center, Weippe, ID
San Jose Public Library, San Jose, CA
Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH

EdVenture Children’s Museum, Columbia, SC
Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA
Madison Children’s Museum, Madison, WI
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, Collegeville, MN

IMLS is the primary source of federal funding for museums and libraries. The National Medal for Museum and Library Service was created to highlight the vital role these institutions play in American society. Recipients are selected by the director of IMLS following an open nomination process and based on the recommendations of the National Museum and Library Services Board.

Museum of the City of NY Reopens Research Access

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The Museum of the City of New York has reopened access to it’s collections to onsite researchers. On November 1, the Museum resumes accepting appointments from outside researchers and began offering a dedicated space for research as part of their newly renovated collection storage facilities.

To learn how to submit an application for conducting onsite research, send a request to [email protected]. In your request indicate the collections of interest and describe your research need. Before contacting the Museum to inquire about a research appointment, visit the Museum’s Collections Portal (collections.mcny.org) which has over 100,000 digital images of photographs, negative, prints, drawings, postcards, and maps from the Museum’s collections.

The following onsite collections will be open to research appointments:

Manuscripts & Ephemera
Manuscript and ephemera holdings augment and complement other elements of the collections and are particularly strong in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century materials. The Manuscripts include papers related to notable New Yorkers, organizations, and events from the 17th century to the present. The ephemera collections include objects such as society dinner menus, trade cards, maps, Valentines, badges, Christmas cards, and material related to public ceremonies, special events, schools, sports, the shipping trade, transportation, statues and monuments, retail trade, and the police and fire departments.

Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
The Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Collection documents the built environment of the city and its changing cultural, political, and social landscape from its earliest days to the present. Photographic holdings include collections on Berenice Abbott, Jacob Riis, and the photographic archives of Gottscho-Scheleisner, LOOK Magazine, Byron Co., and the Wurts Brothers. Drawings range from18th-century pastel portraits and mural studies to political cartoons and architectural renderings. Specific collections include the archives of the Planning Board of the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the Harry T. Peters Collection of hand-colored Currier & Ives prints, and the Martin Wong Graffiti Collection.

Theater
The Theater Collection documents theatrical activity in New York City from the late 18th century to the present day. The heart of the Theater holdings is the John Golden Archive, which consists of approximately 40,000 folders, organized into files on productions, personalities, and performance spaces. The Theater Collection also holds collections on Burlesque, Circus, Minstrelsy, and Vaudeville. Files contain a wide range of material including photographs, contracts, correspondence, playbills, manuscripts, advertising materials, reviews, obituaries, clippings, sheet music, autographs, account records, prompt books, and ephemera.

The Museum also holds collections of Costumes and Textiles, Decorative Arts and Furniture, and Paintings and Sculpture- however, due to the special preparation necessary for handling these objects, access is extremely limited. For specific inquiries into these collections, email [email protected]

Peter Feinman: The County Historian

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Based on the county history conferences which I initiated in the Hudson Valley this year, I would like to take this opportunity to share my experiences and to offer some suggestions on changes which should occur. I am starting with the County Historian position since that position was my point of contact for proposing each conference. I dealt with 8 counties in the Hudson Valley and while they may not be a fair sample of the 62 counties in the state, they are a reasonable number upon which to base my comments. Also it should be noted that I was the constant, meaning I was the same person who interacted with all 8 counties. Read more →

A Flood of History: New Yorks History in Peril

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In recent months New York State has been the victim of horrendous flooding and devastation as the result of both Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. The path of devastation is both wide and long – reaching from Maryland and New Jersey up to Vermont.

Centuries of disaster records have fallen. We have seen the evacuation of major areas of New York City and entire towns cut off from contact with neighboring communities and the outside world. As news crews rush to film the spectacular scenes of water rushing through main streets as buildings rush toward certain destruction, there are other stories that are lost in the immediacy of the event. Read more →