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Books: A History of the High Peaks and The 46ers

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A remarkable book of Adirondack history has been published. Heaven Up-h’isted-ness! The History of the Adirondack Forty-Sixers and the High Peaks of the Adirondacks is a collection of well researched essays on the highest Adirondack peaks, written by 18 members of the storied Adirondack 46ers, along with a short history of the club.

Part meticulously footnoted history of the mountains, trails, and the club itself, and part trail guide, this new volume is a landmark in Adirondack history. Heaven Up-h’isted-ness! is a long-awaited update of Russell Carson’s Peaks and Peoples of the Adirondacks, first published in 1927.

The book is a bit of an homage to the popularity of Carson’s earlier work and the three subsequent 46er volumes that followed, as much as it is to the 46er legends who grace it’s pages. Jim Goodwin’s son Tony Goodwin offers an Introduction that provides insight into why this book is so important. With a hat tip to Carson, who was instrumental in spreading the 46er gospel and &#8220who research gave life to the peaks we all climb&#8221, Goodwin points out that new research opportunities and the rich history since the 1920s &#8220has allowed authors to provide the reader with the most comprehensive histories of the peaks ever written.&#8221 I agree.

In a series of in-depth profiles of each of the 46 High Peaks, each author draws on a range of sources from reports, journals, and diaries of the explorers, scientists, philosophers, writers, and other anecdotes describe the geology, history, flora, and fauna. The book is illustrated with a remarkable collection of over 150 photos and illustrations.

It’s not all high peaks. In a substantial first section Suzanne Lance surveys the history of the Adirondack 46ers beginning in 1918 with Bob and George Marshall and their guide Herb Clark, who was recognized with the first spot in 1939 when &#8220the list&#8221 was created. The full roster of 46ers now includes more than 7,000.

The strength of this section is in illuminating the contributions of folks like Ed Hudowalski (#6), Grace Hudowalski (#9), and the Troy minister Ernest Ryder (#7), but also the recognition and response of the club to the impacts of the many Adirondack peak-baggers they helped inspire.

By the 1970s, as visitors began to flood into the High Peaks, Glenn Fish (#536) and Edwin &#8220Ketch&#8221 Ketchledge (#507) helped shepherd the club away from its strictly social approach toward a stewardship role. Summit ecology and alpine environments, wilderness conservation education, trail maintenance and management, and search and rescue have all benefited from the subsequent efforts of dedicated Adirondack 46ers.

Copies of Heaven Up-h’isted-ness! are available online.

Until you get your copy, you’ll have to settle with this short excerpt on the formation of the Forty-Sixers of Troy:

During the early 1930s Bob Marshall’s booklet, “The High Peaks of the Adirondacks,” and Russell Carson’s Peaks and People of the Adirondacks captured the attention of a small group of outdoor enthusiasts from Grace Methodist Church in Troy, in particular the church’s pastor, the Rev. Ernest Ryder (#7), and two parishioners, Grace Hudowalski (#9) and Edward Hudowalski (#6)…. Ed and the Rev. Ryder had not, originally, intended to climb all 46. According to Ed, their goal was 25 peaks, but when they hit 27 “by accident,” they decided to climb 30. After reaching 30 they decided to climb all of them. The two finished arm-in-arm on Dix in the pouring rain on September 13, 1936. They shared a prayer of praise and thanks for their accomplishment.

Less than six months after the Rev. Ryder and Ed finished their 46, the duo organized a club, comprised mainly of Ed Hudowalski’s Sunday School class, known as the Forty-Sixers of Troy. It was Ryder who coined the name “Forty-Sixer.” The term first appeared in print in an article in the Troy Record newspaper in 1937 announcing the formation of the hiking club: “Troy has its first mountain climbing club, all officers of which have climbed more than thirty of the major peaks in the Adirondacks. The club recently organized will be known as the Forty-sixers&#8230-

This Weeks New York History Web Highlights

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Each Friday afternoon New York History compiles for our readers a collection of the week’s top weblinks about New York’s state and local history. You can find all our weekly round-ups here.

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This Weeks Top New York History News

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Each Friday morning New York History compiles for our readers the previous week’s top stories about New York’s state and local history. You can find all our weekly news round-ups here.

Subscribe! More than 1,200 people get New York History each day via E-Mail, RSS, or Twitter or Facebook updates.

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Stony Point Battlefield 2011 Programs and Events

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The Battle of Stony Point, one of the last Revolutionary War battles in the northeastern colonies was where Brigadier General Anthony Wayne led his corps of Continental Light Infantry in a daring midnight attack on the British, seizing the site’s fortifications and taking the soldiers and camp followers at the British garrison as prisoners on July 16, 1779.

The site features a museum, which offers exhibits on the battle and the Stony Point Lighthouse, as well as interpretive programs, such as reenactments highlighting 18th century military life, cannon and musket firings, cooking demonstrations, and children’s activities and blacksmith demonstrations.

The Stony Point Battlefield State Historic site is located at 44 Battlefield Road, accessed from Park Road, off Route 9W in Stony Point. For more information and directions and to reserve your spot, call the site office at 845-786-2521.

Saturday, April 23rd at 7:45 AM: Spring Bird Walk
Spring Bird Walk with Della and Alan Wells of the Rockland Audubon Society. These experts will lead a walk through the diverse bird habitats found at the Stony Point Battlefield. First time birders welcome, and experienced birders will enjoy exploring the location of a wonderfully accessible birders paradise. Bring binoculars, or borrow an extra pair from the group. This program is free to the public. Site entrance gate will be open from 7:45 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. only to admit Birding Ramblers, so please be on time. No parking fee for this early bird special!

Evening Lighthouse Lantern Tours
Friends of the Stony Point Battlefield & Lighthouse present an evening lecture and slide show on the history of lighthouses along the Hudson River, followed by a lantern tour of the oldest lighthouse on the Hudson River. Reservations required for this program, due to space considerations, call the museum. Please bring a flashlight and bug spray. Admission $4.00 adults, $3.00 seniors and children 10 to 18 years. Program not appropriate for children younger than age 10.
This program will be offered on a TBD Saturday in June, July, and August.

Friday, July 15th at 7 PM: Tavern Night at the Battlefield
Join the Friends of the Stony Point Battlefield & Lighthouse, the site staff and visiting reenactors to celebrate the site’s anniversary weekend at the first annual Tavern Night. Get ready to travel into the convivial world of an 18th century tavern as performers Tom Hanford and Nancy Finlay lead the night with music and story-telling. There will be 18th century games to learn and play and light refreshments will be served, including delicious beverages from 18th century recipes created by Tavern Keeper, John Muller. This program offers entertainment for the whole family. NOTE: No alcohol will be served. Admission to this fundraising event is $15.00 for adults and $12.00 for seniors and children. Rain or shine – the event will be held in the picnic pavilion if inclement weather.

Saturday, July 16th and Sunday, July 17th (11 AM &#8211 4 PM): Celebrate the 231st Anniversary of the Storming of Stony Point
Visit our 18th century military encampment as we commemorate American Brigadier General Anthony Wayne’s daring nighttime assault on the British fortifications at Stony Point. Battle scenarios will be re-enacted each day at 3:00 and a special
Saturday evening presentation on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Watch as American troops advance on the British camp and experience what the soldiers might have felt in a midnight raid. There will be musket, rifle and artillery demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, blacksmithing, along with colonial games and wooden musket drills for children. $5.00 daytime parking fee. Rain or shine. Evening battle program is free.

Saturday, August 13 at 8 PM: Evening Battlefield Lantern Tour
Presented by the Friends of the Stony Point Battlefield & Lighthouse. Experience the story of the Storming of Stony Point as you follow in the footsteps of the American Light Infantry soldiers who captured the British fort. Tour the historic grounds with a guide by lantern light as the battle unfolds around you. Reservations required for this program, call the museum. Please bring a flashlight and bug spray. Admission $4.00 adults, $3.00 seniors and children 10 and older. Program not appropriate for children younger than age 10.

Sunday, September 17, 8 AM- 1030 AM: Hudson River Birding Ramble
Hudson River Birding Ramble with Della and Alan Wells of the Rockland Audubon Society. These experts will lead a walk through the diverse bird habitats found at the Stony Point Battlefield. First time birders welcome, and experienced birders will enjoy exploring the location of a wonderfully accessible birders paradise. Bring binoculars, or borrow an extra pair from the group. This program is free to the public. Site entrance gate will be open from 7:45 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. only to admit Birding Ramblers, so please be on time. No parking fee for this early bird special!

Saturday, September 17th & Sunday, September 18th, 1 PM and 2 PM: Hudson River Ramble Walking Tours
Enjoy a guided walk to the Lighthouse at 1 PM or a guided tour through the Battlefield at 2 PM- followed by the site’s artillery demonstration at 3 PM. This program is free to the public.

Saturday, September 17th at 11 AM: Historical Gardening Talk
Michael Hagen, Horticulturalist and 18th century reenactor, will give a tour of the new soldier’s scratch garden at the Battlefield’s living history camp area. Come and learn about planning, planting and growing food in an 18th century military camp. The garden is brimming with plants and our camp cook will prepare recipes from the period. This program is free to the public.

Saturday, September 24th, 12 Noon- 4 PM: Lighthouse Day
Celebrate the history of lighthouses on the Hudson River and their important connection to the maritime economy of New York State in the 19th century. Tours of the lighthouse will be given throughout the day along with talks on the history of lighthouses, the history of the economic importance of the maritime trade on the river, artists interpretation of Hudson River lights. 19th century maritime music and storytelling will be performed by Balladeer, Linda Russell and Storyteller Jonathan Kruk throughout the afternoon. A family arts and crafts area featuring lighthouse projects will be available.

TBA Saturday in October, 5-7 PM: Lighthouse Cruise
Spend an evening aboard the historic vessel Commander enjoying a two hour Cruise along the Hudson. While on-board, discover the fascinating history surrounding Haverstraw Bay, the Lower Highlands, Lighthouses along the Hudson and the Stony Point Lighthouse as told by local history narrator, Scott Craven. Enjoy spectacular views of the illuminated Stony Point Lighthouse as we sail along the river. The cruise departs Haverstraw Marina at approximately 5:00 p.m. Presented by Friends of Stony Point Battlefield and Lighthouse and Hudson Highlands Cruises, Inc. By advanced reservation, please contact the museum. Admission: $30 Adults, $25 Seniors (62+), and $15 Children (5-12).

Heritage Organization Announces Scholarships

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Historic Huguenot Street, the museum and National Historic Landmark District in New Paltz, New York, announced today the availability of scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The Hudson Valley organization administers four scholarship funds in collaboration with the Hasbrouck Family Association. Brothers Abraham and Jean Hasbrouck were among the Huguenot founders of New Paltz.

To be eligible, a student must be a sophomore, junior or senior in good academic standing as of September 2011. Applicants must be of documented Huguenot descent or be working toward a degree in historic preservation, art history or architecture at Columbia University, the State University of New York at New Paltz or Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Some funding may also be available for either graduate or undergraduate students studying the impact of American Huguenot immigrants and descendants on American culture and/or language, or on the history of Ulster County, New York, during the period 1600 to 1800.

The Huguenots that founded New Paltz were part of the Huguenot Diaspora, a movement that forced French Protestants out of their homeland to settle in America and throughout the globe. Of prior recipients that were Huguenot descendants, many descended from Huguenots that founded New Paltz. Others have been descendants of Huguenots whose ancestors immigrated to places as far away as South Africa.

Awards are generally between $1,000 and $2,000. Applications must be received by August 31st. For more information about scholarships at Historic Huguenot Street, visit www.huguenotstreet.org and click on “learn” or call (845) 255-1660.

Hydes Rembrandt on Loan to Louvre

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The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls has announced that its prized Christ with Folded Arms by Rembrandt van Rijn is now on display in the Louvre in Paris as part of a landmark exhibition titled &#8220Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus.&#8221

The Hyde masterwork plays a key role in shaping the thesis of the exhibition, which will be seen in three major museum venues. When the exhibition closes at the Louvre, it travels to the Philadelphia Museum of Art where it will be shown from August through October, 2011 and then to the Detroit Institute of Arts for exhibition beginning in February, 2012.

According to David F. Setford, the Hyde’s executive director, “It is seldom that the Museum considers lending this impressive masterwork, but the exhibition being organized by the Louvre offers previously unparalleled opportunities for comparisons with related works from Hygeia4NR.jpgleading museums around the world.” Setford also noted that the exhibition curators specifically requested Christ with Folded Arms because it is “the key image of Christ in Rembrandt’s late work” that “reflects how his idea of Christ had evolved” in a fully realized work.

During the absence of the Rembrandt work, The Hyde will exhibit a painting by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). The work, lent to us by the Detroit Institute of Arts, is entitled Hygeia, Goddess of Health (1615) and depicts the classical goddess of health and the prevention of illness. Hygeia was the daughter of Asclepius, god of medicine and the word hygiene is derived from the goddess’ name. The voluptuous, Baroque figure of a semi-nude female is shown in the glowing, healthy flesh tones synonymous with Rubens and with the subject.

For the duration of the traveling exhibition, Hygeia, Goddess of Health will be on view in the Library of Hyde House where it will allow visitors to compare it with the Museum’s own smaller Rubens Portrait of a Warrior, that also hangs in that room.

Illustration: Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577-1640, Hygeia, Goddess of Health, ca. 1615- Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Reichhold. Image courtesy of The Bridgeman Art Library.

This Weeks New York History Web Highlights

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Each Friday afternoon New York History compiles for our readers a collection of the week’s top weblinks about New York’s state and local history. You can find all our weekly round-ups here.

Subscribe! More than 1,000 people get New York History each day via E-Mail, RSS, or Twitter or Facebook updates.

This Weeks Top New York History News

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Each Friday morning New York History compiles for our readers the previous week’s top stories about New York’s state and local history. You can find all our weekly news round-ups here.

Subscribe! More than 1,000 people get New York History each day via E-Mail, RSS, or Twitter or Facebook updates.

41st Annual Rhinebeck Car Show

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The 41st Annual Car Show, for everyone in the old car hobby Spring officially arrives on the first weekend of May with the Rhinebeck Car Show. Rhinebeck 2011 will be held at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds on May 6, 7 and 8. Gates will open at noon on the 6th for spectators to go through the vendor’s sites. This event is a sure cure for &#8220cabin fever&#8221 and hobbyists from all over the Northeast have been celebrating spring for over forty years by converging at Rhinebeck to participate in this popular event. Rhinebeck is one of the biggest car shows in the Northeast and hundreds of cars and thousands of spectators will be filling the Fairgrounds for this spring celebration of automotive history.

Rhinebeck 2011 will be fun for the whole family. Mom and Dad will be reminded of that first date in one of these special vehicles or that first new car their family had. Many car collectors are fulfilling old dreams in the car that they really wanted but were out of reach when they were younger. The kids and grand kids will enjoy the cars too but should also enjoy the old toys displayed and for sale by vendors. In addition to all of the cars on display, the family can wander through the Swap Meet looking at automotive memorabilia. Plenty of food vendors will be offering an interesting variety of food choices and, as usual, Fosters Coach House will be open at the Fairgrounds for those who prefer to sit down to relax and enjoy their meal.

This year we will be featuring a display by the Saratoga Automobile Museum on our show field. They are planning to bring several cars and motor cycles for your viewing enjoyment following is a bit about the activities they plan this year:

The Saratoga Automobile Museum displays Autos from May to October, there are over 20 lawn shows that feature cars from Alfa and Auburn to Stutz and Volkswagen. In early May, the Saratoga Spring Invitational is a showcase for a select group of breathtaking automobiles from the Brass Era to Classics from the Golden Age of Motoring, to today’s most modern and exotic Supercars. On the same weekend is our traditional Spring Car Show, while later in the summer we are pleased to host Hemming’s Sports & Exotics Show.

When fall and winter come, the Museum is still active with lectures and technical sessions, our unique “Living Legends” interview sessions (this year featuring racers A.B. Shuman, Jack DeWitt and automotive journalist Ken Gross). Add in the young people’s exhibits at SAM’s Garage, our educational programs (last year’s building of a Model A Huckster and this year’s upcoming “Build a Hot Rod”), our onsite school-age programs (for elementary to college level students), the “…fun for kids of all ages…” racecar simulators, and it is apparent that the Saratoga Automobile Museum is your place to be for year round automotive entertainment.

Saturday’s show spotlights the creativity and ingenuity of the owners and builders of some of the finest hot rod, custom cars and sport compacts in the country. 800 Cars are expected to be on the show field for your enjoyment. These vehicles feature amazing paint schemes including fancy flames and cool graphics. They include incredible custom body designs with chopped tops and channeled bodies.

Monster motors built without caring that they get less than 10 miles per gallon- and fine custom interiors you’ll wish you could live in. The Atlantic Coast Old Time Racing Club will take a break from their racing competition to show off their antique racers at Rhinebeck. The Sport Compact cars have special sounds systems, low rider wheels, unique exhaust systems and special paint schemes. The guys who customize these cars are very creative and develop truly unique and fun vehicles. Sunday’s show focus is on restored antique and classic cars.

Over 1100 old cars from all automotive eras up to 1986 are expected. These vehicles are some of the finest restorations to be found anywhere. Owners and restorers pride themselves restoring their vehicles to &#8220showroom&#8221 condition. Actually, many of these vehicles are restored too much better condition than when they left the showroom.

Sunday’s show will include early antique vehicles, cars from the roaring twenties, thirties classics, fabulous forties cars, and plenty of vehicles from the fifties, sixties and seventies. Many of the cars on display disappeared from showrooms years ago. Antique trucks, motorcycles, plenty of sports cars, and other foreign cars will be there too. Many
of last year’s award winning vehicles will be on display in the &#8220Winners’ Circle&#8221 on both Saturday and Sunday.

Anyone looking for a way to get started in this great hobby will find plenty of opportunity in the Rhinebeck Car Corral. A wide variety of over 500 collectable cars will be for sale there.

In the Swap Meet area, about a thousand vendors will be selling plenty of auto hobby related material. There will be lots and lots of old car parts, tools, restoration supplies, and automotive literature. Many of the vendors will be selling both old and new toys.

The Dutchess County Fairgrounds is located on Route 9, just north of the village of Rhinebeck. The gates open at 6:00 AM on Saturday and at 8:00 on Sunday. Admissions are $10.00 but children 12 and under are admitted free. For additional information, call 845-876-3554 from 7 to 9 PM.. This year we also have early birds day Friday with gates open at 12:00. Weekend passes are available at the gate to those who plan on attending more than one day at $17.

Rhinebeck 2011 is sponsored by the Hudson River Valley Antique Automobile Association Inc. which is an association of six local car clubs whose members volunteer hundreds of hours each year to organize and run this event.

Washingtons Headquarters Volunteer Fair

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Looking for an opportunity to be part of the community and help your neighbors? Attend the Newburgh Volunteer Fair at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site on April 30th from 11am – 3pm. Many of Newburgh’s community organizations will be there to share information about volunteer opportunities – opportunities for teens through seniors.

At the same time, music and refreshments will be offered, along with free tours of Washington’s Headquarters. The Volunteer Fair, organized by Washington’s Headquarters, the Newburgh Free Library, and Safe Harbors of the Hudson, is made possible by support from Wells Fargo Bank and the Friends of the State Historic Sites of the Hudson Highlands.

For more information, please call 845-562-1195.