Matilda Joslyn Gage Celebration at Gage Center

The Gage Foundation will celebrate the 185th birthday of Fayetteville, New York’s most famous women’s rights activist Matilda Joslyn Gage on Thurs., March 24, from 4-7 p.m. with an open house at the newly restored Gage Center, 210 E. Genesee Street, Fayetteville.

The event is free and open to the public. It will feature music and poetry written in honor of Gage. Winners of the annual Matilda Joslyn Gage essay contest will be announced at 4:15. Musical entertainment will follow, with local activist-artist Colleen Kattau performing a song she composed about Gage. The Eagle Hill Middle School girls’ chorus will perform music from Gage’s time, and Ed Nizalowski will play period flute music. Martin Willitts will read from his new poetry chapbook, &#8220Protest, Petition, Write, Speak: Matilda Joslyn Gage Poems&#8221 and sign copies of the book at 6 p.m.

Visitors will be invited to &#8220Write on Our Walls&#8221: to share their ideas for programs and exhibits by writing on whiteboard walls in each room. All will be treated to birthday cake provided by Connie Decker of the Chocolate Truffle.

A place of ideas, the Gage Center relies on dialogue to explore the social justice issues that Gage found most important and that still challenge us today.

Beginning March 26, the Gage Center will be open to the public Saturdays and Mondays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at other times by appointment. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors. Group rates are available. Watch their website to learn about upcoming events at the Gage Center. For more information contact (315) 637-9511 or [email protected].

State Capitol Fire of 1911 Commemoration

In the early morning hours of March 29, 1911, a fire broke out in the New York State Capitol at Albany. By sunset, the vast collection of the New York State Library, then housed in the Capitol, had been reduced to ashes.

To commemorate the centennial of the fire, coauthors Paul Mercer and Vicki Weiss, both of the New York State Library, have published The New York State Capitol and the Great Fire of 1911 (Arcadia Press, 2011) including rare images and documents from the special collections of the modern library, which arose from the ruins of the 1911 fire.

The public is invited join Executive Deputy Chief Warren Abriel of the Albany Fire Department to mark the 100th Anniversary of this historic event on Tuesday, March 29, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the University Club of Albany. The reception will feature light fare and cash bar, and authors Mercer and Weiss will discuss and sign the book. Royalties from book sales benefit the Friends of the New York State Library.

The event will also feature a preview of a documentary set to air on March 31 on WMHT, The New York Capitol Fire. Robert Altman, President and CEO of WMHT Educational Communications, will introduce a clip of the video, which draws on interviews, archival materials and reenactments. This WMHT documentary was created in collaboration with the New York State Museum, the New York State Archives, the Albany Institute, the New York State Library, the City of Albany and the Commission on the Restoration of the Capitol.

The cost for the reception, book signing and video preview is $20 per person. Reservations are required and may be made by calling the University Club at (518) 463-1151.

A portion of the proceeds from this event benefit the University Club Foundation, formed to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the University Club building and property, its historic neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901.

Support for educational programming presented by the University Club of Albany Foundation, Inc. is provided by AT&T.

Photo: Fire-destroyed reading room in State Capitol, Albany, NY, 1911. Courtesy New York State Archives.

Women and Conservation History at Adirondack Museum

March 2011 marks the centennial celebration of International Women’s Day. Although women have long been dedicated and progressive history makers, their actions were slow to receive international attention. Adirondack Museum Educator Jessica Rubin will offer a presentation entitled &#8220Women and the Conservation Movement&#8221 as part of the museum’s popular Cabin Fever Sunday series on Sunday, March 27, 2011.

Rubin will discuss the role of women and female-centered organizations in the early conservation movement, excellent examples of historic female activism. Groups such as the National Federation of Women’s Clubs and individuals like journalist Kate Field and botanist Lucy Bishop Millington will be highlighted in the presentation to illustrate the unique ways women interacted with and advocated for the American wilderness at a time when most were confined to the &#8220private sphere.&#8221

Rubin will show that women were instrumental in the creation of state and federal conservation legislation and protections long before they had the right to vote. From the Adirondacks to California women were outspoken players in the national conservation crusade.

Held in the museum’s auditorium, the program will begin promptly at 1:30 p.m. Cabin Fever Sundays are offered at no charge to museum members or children of elementary
school age and younger. The fee for non-members is $5.00. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, please call the Education Department at (518) 352-7311, ext. 128 or visit the museum’s website.

Jessica Rubin holds a B.A. in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and will receive a M.A. in Public History from SUNY Albany in the spring of 2011. She joined the staff of the Adirondack Museum in 2008. She previously taught at the Conserve School, a college-preparatory school with an environmental and outdoor focus in northern Wisconsin. Her love for and interest in the environment was greatly influenced by four summers of work in Yosemite National Park.

Photo: Photo by female photographer Katherine Elizabeth McClellan, 1898. Collection of Adirondack Museum.

CANCELLED: Burgoyne’s Gold, A Murder Mystery Event

On Saturday, April 9 from 7pm to 9pm in Saratoga Town Hall on Spring Street (Rte 29) in Schuylerville, “Burgoyne’s Gold – A Murder Mystery” set in an 18th-century candle-lit “tavern,” with light refreshments, merriment, mystery, and murder. Tickets cost $17.77 with all proceeds benefiting the Friends of Saratoga Battlefield.

Shortly after the American victory in the Battles of Saratoga people are searching for the rumored fortune in gold that British General John Burgoyne buried before his surrender in 1777. Participants will be asked to put on their detective caps for an evening of unique entertainment by blending the lore of British General John Burgoyne’s hidden gold with portrayals of local historical figures, stirring in fictional characters and adding a dash of “homicide.”

Written by O’Connor’s Murder by Design, Diane and Steven O’Connor have produced interactive murder mystery fundraisers since 1989, raising over $200,000 for local non-profits.

Light refreshments using 18th-century recipes include meat and vegetable pasties made by BOCES Culinary School and cookies made by Doris Olszewski, plus tea, coffee and apple cider. For more information about the event call 664.9821 ext. 227.

Reservations must be made in advance by emailing megan [email protected] or calling 518.664.9821 ext 219. Sorry, no walk-ins allowed.

Saratoga National Historical Park and the Friends of Saratoga Battlefield work together to foster awareness, enjoyment and preservation of Saratoga Battlefield.

This Weeks New York History Web Highlights

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

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 600 people get New York History each day via E-Mail, RSS, or Twitter or Facebook updates.

Labor Event: 1911 Triangle Factory Fire

FIRE! PLEASE HELP US WE ARE TRAPPED! These were the words screamed on Saturday afternoon on March 25, 1911. It was the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York’s Greenwich Village that took the lives of 146 mostly young immigrant women and changed the course of history.

To mark the centennial anniversary and recognize the significance of the Triangle tragedy, members of the public are invited to a special free program, which will be presented at the New York State Museum Friday, March 25, at 4 p.m. to coincide with the date and time of the fire. Sponsored by the Capital District Triangle Fire Centennial Coalition, the event will honor those who lost their lives and focus on the wide range of labor, health and safety laws that required better worksites in the aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.

State Assemblyman John McEneny will emcee the event. U.S. Representative Paul Tonko, WCNY &#8211 Syracuse News Director Susan Arbetter and Dr. Christopher Breiseth, a Frances Perkins scholar and former president of Wilkes University, and Paul Cole, Executive Director of the American Labor Studies Center will all be part of the program.

Albany Roman Catholic Diocese Bishop Howard J. Hubbard is also scheduled to participate and help close the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition annual 40-hour fast for social justice, as part of the Triangle Commemoration.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was the greatest work place tragedy New York has seen, prior to the World Trade Center attacks in 2001. This tragedy changed the course of history by shining a bright light on the injustices that occur in the work place. It paved the way for the unyielding efforts to protect workers on the job and reminds us that we must not take work place safety for granted.

Frances Perkins was the first woman to hold a U.S. cabinet post when she served as secretary of labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. Perkins witnessed the Triangle fire, which galvanized her commitment to reforming labor laws. She later served on the New York State Factory Investigating Commission, which recommended reforms in the aftermath of the Triangle fire.

The Capital District Centennial Coalition includes the NYS Department of Labor, NYS Department of Education (NYS Museum, NYS Library, NYS Archives), NYS Archives Partnership Trust, American Labor Studies Center, Catherwood Library-Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, University at Albany, Capital District NY National Association of Women in Construction Chapter, Coalition of Labor Union Women-Kate Mullany Chapter Capital District, NYS Labor-Religion Coalition, Occupational and Environmental Health Center of Eastern NY, OSHA-Albany Office, NYS AFL-CIO, New York State United Teachers, Public Employees Federation, and CSEA.

NYSUT, PEF, CSEA, the New York State Department of Labor and the American Labor Studies Center provided support for the program.

Headquarters Pays Tribute to Martha Washington

What better way to commemorate the culmination of Women’s History Month than with a celebration honoring Martha Washington on Saturday, March 26, at 1:00 PM at Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site. The program will feature a presentation entitled “From Petticoats to Breeches: Unveiling 18th Century Clothing.”

Following the lecture and a &#8220First Ladies&#8221 Trivia game, the eighth annual &#8220Woman of History Award&#8221 will be presented to Ms. Mara Farrell, owner of Mara Farrell Communications, a Beacon-based public relations and marketing firm who was the co-founder of the historic preservation advocacy group, Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot.

The non-profit advocacy organization is committed to the permanent preservation, stringent archeological review, and protection of the historic lands comprising the Fishkill Supply Depot, which is listed on the National Register. At present, she is a Senior Advisory Board Member of the same organization, actively involved in the major preservation initiatives of those lands, located within the Hudson Highlands ecosystem. Ms. Farrell is working on a master site plan entitled “Fishkill Living Historic Park” that would honor the Hudson Valley and its strategic importance during the Revolutionary War, while also paying homage to the heritage of Native Americans in the area.

This program is FREE- donations are accepted.

Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site is a registered national landmark. It is located at the corner of Liberty and Washington Streets, within the city of Newburgh’s East End Historical District.

For event information or directions, please call: (845) 562-1195.

Hyde Collection to Present Still Life Talk

The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls has announced that on Thursday, March 17, 2011, the Museum will hold a lecture on still life by David F. Setford, the Museum’s executive director.

Titled &#8220Fish, Fowl, and Flowers: 20th Century Still Life from the Norton Museum,&#8221 the talk will be held in conjunction with the current exhibition at Hyde &#8211 Objects of Wonder: Four Centuries of Still Life from the Norton Museum of Art.

The exhibition brings together fifty-one works of painting, watercolor, collage, sculpture, and ceramics as well as glass pieces and textiles, spanning four centuries. The show features such famous artists as Gustave Courbet, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Steichen, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Andy Warhol. Setford, who was chief curator at the Norton throughout the 1990s, brings his specific expertise to this presentation as he was responsible for major shows at the Norton which featured 20th century artists, including Picasso, Man Ray, Dufy, and Bellows.

Setford’s lecture will highlight the different way that 20th century artists used still life as a way to grapple with the new styles of the century and will be held in The Hyde’s Froehlich Auditorium at 6 pm.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Suggested non-member donation to view the exhibition, which will be open to visitors until the start of the lecture, is $8. Seating is limited and is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Those wishing to make reservations area asked to call 518-792-1761 ext. 17.

Illustration: Pomegranates and Fruit on Silver with Baluch Rug by James Whitbeck.

39 Sites Recommended for State, National Registers

The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended the addition of 39 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including the nation’s first fish hatchery, the neighborhood that grew up near the Brooklyn Naval Yard, and a roadside souvenir stand modeled after a tepee.

Listing these properties on the State and National Registers can assist their owners in revitalizing the structures, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.


The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archeology and culture of New York State and the nation. There are 90,000 historic buildings, structures and sites throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.

Once the recommendations are approved by the state historic preservation officer, the properties are listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed and, once approved, entered on the National Register.

STATE REVIEW BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS

Albany County

Potter Hollow District #19 School, Potter Hollow – constructed in 1853 in response to the educational reform movements of the mid-nineteenth century, the rural vernacular one-room schoolhouse retains an exceptionally high degree of architectural integrity.

University Club, Albany – the front portion of the Colonial Revival structure, designed by prominent Albany architect Robert Fuller, was built in 1924-25 for the club established earlier in the century to &#8220promote social discourse among its members and to cultivate and maintain university spirit in Albany.&#8221

Bronx County

Dollar Savings Bank, Bronx – today the Bronx Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church, the 1919 bank is a distinguished example of Classical Revival design that reflects the commercial history of one of the most important banking institutions in the Bronx.

Broome County

Harlow E. Bundy House, Binghamton – the Queen Anne-style home was built in 1893 by Harlow Bundy, a founder of the Bundy Manufacturing Company, a leading producer of mechanical time clocks, which was the precursor of IBM.

Chemung County

Riverside Cemetery, Lowman – one of the earliest surviving cemeteries in Chemung County, it is the final resting place of many of the area’s earliest settlers, including several veterans of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, most of whose homes and farms have vanished.

Clinton County
Heyworth-Mason Industrial Building, Peru – the 1836 structure is an example of an early stone industrial building that housed A. Mason and Sons Lumber Company, a firm that operated for 90 years and greatly impacted the building industry in Clinton and Essex Counties.

Cortland County

William J. Greenman House, Cortland – the 1896 Queen Anne-style house is based on a design of George Franklin Barber, an early and successful proponent of &#8220house by mail&#8221 plans, for local manufacturer William Greenman.

Delaware County

Schoolhouse No. 5, Hamden – a mid-19th century rural one-room schoolhouse built in the winter of 1857-1858, sometimes known as Upper Dunk Hill School, which includes a schoolyard defined by a stone wall and mature trees planted by students to mark Arbor Day.

Erie County

Buffalo Seminary, Buffalo – an excellent example of the Collegiate Gothic-style, the 1909 building houses a significant educational institution which has served the Buffalo community for over 150 years and has produced numerous graduates who have made significant contributions to Buffalo and the nation.

University Park Historic District, Buffalo – a remarkably intact example of an early-20th century planned residential subdivision, reflecting the importance of the streetcar and the rise of automobile use in determining the city’s expansion.

Twentieth Century Club, Buffalo – built in 1896, the elegant Classical Revival clubhouse reflects the growth of the national women’s club movement and the increased influence of women generally in American life.

Engine House #2 and Hook & Ladder #9, Buffalo – originally constructed in 1875 to serve the needs of the rapidly growing city and its Allentown neighborhood, the Second Empire-style firehouse was expanded in 1896 to provide additional space for the Hook & Ladder #9.

Essex County

Crandall Marine Railway, Ticonderoga – the rare and remarkably intact 1927 railway dry dock facility was, and still is, used by the Lake George Steamboat Company to haul its excursion boats in and out of Lake George for maintenance and storage.

Fulton County

Hotel Broadalbin, Broadalbin – originally built in 1854 as a specialty store selling gloves manufactured at the local Northrup & Richards glove factory, it was greatly enlarged in 1881 for use as a hotel for the growing numbers of tourists visiting the Adirondacks.

Greene County

Oak Hill Cemetery, Oak Hill – the small, 5.6-acre cemetery originated as the burial place of early settlers Lucas and Deborah DeWitt on their family farm in the early 1820s, and evolved quickly into a community cemetery for residents of the hamlet.

Herkimer County

Frankfort Hill District #10 School, Frankfort Hill – constructed in 1846, the vernacular building retains a high degree of architectural integrity and remarkably served as an active public school for 110 years until 1956.

Kings County

Wallabout Historic District, Brooklyn – primarily residential buildings built between 1830 and 1930 – and especially rich in pre-Civil War wood houses – the district developed as Brooklyn’s residential development moved eastward and laborers came to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Lewis County

Stoddard-O’Connor House, Lowville – built in 1898, the Queen Anne/Colonial Revival-inspired home is adjacent to the commercial heart of Lowville, which was experiencing ample growth during the turn of the last century.

Mary Lyon Fisher Memorial Chapel, Lyonsdale – the late Gothic Revival masonry chapel in Wildwood Cemetery was built in 1921 by the children of Mary Lyon Fisher in honor of their mother, and is an important reminder of the philanthropy of the Lyon family, a preeminent family of the region.

Livingston County

Caledonia Fish Hatchery, Caledonia – the property is nationally historically significant for its association with Seth Green, who established the first fish hatchery in the western hemisphere in 1864, creating what has been acclaimed nationally and internationally as the world’s largest and most productive fish plant in continuous use.

Monroe County
Brockport Central Rural High School, Brockport – completed in 1934, today’s A.D. Oliver School is notable for its distinctive English Tudor Revival design, as well as its interior details, especially the auditorium’s stained-glass windows, which illustrate American historic figures.

Oatka Cemetery, Oak Hill – a late 19th century rural cemetery, which was attached to and merged with an earlie
r burying ground, known as Scottsville Cemetery, and contains markers of the area’s citizens from the early 19th century to the present.

Montgomery County

Van Wie Farmstead, (Valley View Farm) McKinley – the 1873 farmhouse based on Italianate-inspired pattern book architecture and associated farm buildings and acreage tell the story of changes in Mohawk Valley agricultural production, from the earliest 18th century wheat farmers to mechanized dairy production in the mid-20th century.

Nassau County
The Stephen Harding House and Studio, Sea Cliff – built in 1878 by photographer Stephen Harding as one of the original homes during the period when Methodist Camp Meetings were held in Sea Cliff.

Niagara County

Hazard H. Sheldon House, Niagara Falls – the 1857 ‘Italian Villa’ was the home Hazard H. Sheldon, a lawyer who played an important role in the civic affairs of the then-burgeoning Village of Niagara Falls.

Allan Herchell Carousel Factory, North Tonawanda – the existing State and National Register listing is expanded to include 39 Geneva Street, which served as the main office for the Allan Herschell Company from 1915 until 1945, when owner John Wendler developed the Kiddieland amusement park concept

Onondaga County
Huntley Apartments, Syracuse – constructed in 1928, and originally known as the Asaranaba, it reflects a trend in the city that saw the acceptance of apartment living on the part of the middle class in a city previously dominated by the single-family or two-family house.

Otsego County

Gilbertsville Water Works, Gilbertsville – in response to a series of large fires, the village of Gilbertsville was incorporated in 1896 with the specific purpose of establishing the water supply system, which it enlarged in 1914-18, and continues in use today.

The Tepee, Cherry Valley – an example of popular roadside architecture, the Tepee was built in 1954 by Ken and Iris Gurney, natives of Nebraska, where tepees were especially popular, who moved to upstate New York and decided to take advantage of growing automobile traffic along Route 20 to open a souvenir stand.

Rensselaer County

Dickinson Hill Fire Tower, Grafton – erected in 1924 by the New York State Conservation Commission in what is now Grafton Lakes State Park, it was one of more than 100 built after 1908 to identify fires and put them out before causing extensive loss of forest, open land, buildings, and wildlife.

Rockland County

Rockland Road Bridge Historic District, Piermont – the district includes a masonry arch bridge erected in 1874 to span the Sparkill Creek along with several nearby properties portraying various periods in the hamlet’s development.

Gurnee-Sherwood House, Wesley Hills – built in the 1790s and subsequently enlarged around 1830 during its ownership by Reverend James Sherwood, a Methodist clergyman who played a central role in the development of the area.Christ Church, Sparkill – built in 1864, the church remains a largely intact and noteworthy example of Gothic Revival-style religious design.

St. Lawrence County

Young Memorial Church, Brier Hill – built 1907-1908, the church is an intact example of the Shingle style, featuring a two-story square Gothic bell tower and decorative windows of opaque glass and stained glass medallions and portraits made by a local artisan.

Saratoga County

Smith’s Grain and Feed Store, Elnora – constructed in 1892, the store served the local farm community for generations by selling feed, grain, coal, fertilizers and other goods that were transported to the store by the railroad, which unloaded at the store’s own siding.

Steuben County

Cottages at Central Point, Hammondsport – built in the 1880s, the four cottages are a remarkably intact collection of picturesque seasonal vacation houses in the Finger Lakes, reflecting the beginnings of the residential development patterns that have come to dominate the region.

Sullivan County

Forestburgh Town Hall, Forestburgh – unaltered since its construction in 1927, the structure’s specifications exactly match the original town hall that burned to the ground the year before.

Warren County

Fort George, Lake George – archaeological investigations at the French and Indian War site have provided rare insights into New York’s colonial wars and it reflects early and successful public initiatives in land conservation and commemoration.

Wyoming County

Perry Downtown Historic District, Perry – the village district of commercial, civic and mixed use buildings reflects the growth and development of Perry as a regional commercial hub and the center of a booming textile industry from roughly 1830 to 1930.