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Graphic Design Expert to Discuss 1939 Worlds Fair

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On Sunday, February 27, at 2:00 pm, the Albany Institute of History & Art will host a free lecture by renowned graphic design expert Steven Heller on the topic, Designing the World of Tomorrow: Did the 1939 New York World’s Fair Change the World?

Steven Heller is an American art director, journalist, critic, author, and editor who specializes in topics related to graphic design. Heller will offer expert insight into how the 1939 World’s Fair—the second largest American world’s fair and the first to focus on the concept of futurism—affected powerful change in the world of graphic design.

The lecture is being held in conjunction with the Albany Institute’s current exhibition, Graphic Design—Get the Message!, which uses posters, broadsides, package designs, paintings, decorative arts, historical photographs, and computer interactives from local designers and companies to examine broader issues of national and international significance. The exhibition and public programs are funded by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Exhibition planning was funded by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities.

For 33 years, Heller was an art director at The New York Times, for both the Op-Ed Page and The New York Times Book Review. He is the co-founder and co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he lectures on the history of graphic design. The author, co-author, and/or editor of more than 100 books on design and popular culture, Heller has curated numerous exhibitions on the subject of graphic design.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Museum admission is not included. Call (518) 463-4478 or visit www.albanyinstitute.org for more information.

March: Upcoming Events in Old Saratoga

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The following events and items of interest are scheduled for the public in the Old Saratoga region (Schuylerville, Saratoga, Victory and nearby) for the month of March.

Old Saratoga Happening presents a book discussion for Farmer Boy on Thursday, March 10 at 7:30 pm in the Schuylerville Public Library. Join the Old Saratoga Historical Association’s winter historical reading group as they discuss Laura Ingalls Wilder’s story which recounts the boyhood adventures growing up on a farm in upstate New York in the 1860s. A second discussion will take place on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30 pm.

Glorous Art by and of Women in the 18th Century on Sunday, March 13 at 1:30 in the Saratoga NHP Battlefield Visitors Center in Stillwater. Park Ranger Eric Schnitzer brings to life these magnificent paintings that will take your breath away. Superb feminine artistic talent that was rarely publicized since being created over 200 years ago.

The Genealogy Group meets on Tuesday, March 15 at 10 am in the Schuylerville Public Library

A photo scanning session will be held on Saturday, March 19 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
at the Saratoga Town Hall in Schuylerville. Get your old photos of the Schuylerville area scanned, archived with the town, and receive a photo CD.

The Heritage Hunters of Saratoga County has their meeting on Saratoga County Genealogy: US Grant’s Last Days on Saturday, March 19 starts at 1 pm. at the Saratoga Town Hall. The meeting features Dave Hubbard, a former site manager at Grant Cottage on Mt. McGregor in Wilton. Hubbard shares a virtual tour of Grant Cottage as he talks about General Ulysses S. Grant’s last days and weeks which he spent at the Cottage in June and July, 1885.

Archive Scanning Working Session is planned for Thursday, March 24 at 4:30 pm at Saratoga Town Hall. Volunteers are needed to help the Historian’s Office to continue scanning documents and photos in the historical archive.

Saratoga Area Postcards is the topic of the Old Saratoga Historical Association meeting on Thursday, March 24 at 7:30 pm at the Saratoga Town Hall. Learn about old postcards from the Schuylerville area from historian, author and Town Supervisor Tom Wood.

All events are open to the public, wheelchair accessible and free of charge.

For more information about these events contact [email protected], follow them on twitter @OldSaraHappenin, on facebook Old Saratoga Happenings or on the web.

Old Saratoga Happenings is a collation to promote cultural and heritage programs in the Old Saratoga region. The collation includes Hudson Crossing Park, Old Saratoga Historical Association, Saratoga National Historical Park, Schuylerville Area Chamber of Commerce, Schuylerville Public Library and the Town of Saratoga and Village of
Victory Historian’s Office.

Schoharie Creek, Mohawk River Ice Jam History

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Every spring the Mohawk Valley and Schoharie Creek rise to flood level, mainly due to the snow melt and ice jams. Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 23, at 7:00 pm Schoharie Crossing State historic Site (129 Schoharie Street, Fort Hunter, five miles west of Amsterdam) will host John Quinlan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who will offer a unique look at the area’s water history. Fee $3.00 for adults, $2.00 seniors, $1.00 for children under age 16. Call 829- 7516 or email [email protected] for more information.

Photo: Flooded canal lock on Mohawk River near Rotterdam Junction (January 25-26, 2010). Photo courtesy Schenectady County Emergency Management.

Wife of Abolitionist John Brown Subject of Performance

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Author-historian Sandra Weber and musician David Hodges will present a dramatic performance of the life of Mary Day Brown, wife of radical abolitionist John Brown.

The Adirondack Museum&#8216-s Cabin Fever Sunday series will return to Saranac Lake, New York on February 27, 2011. &#8220Times of Trouble&#8221 with Weber and Hodges will be held at Saranac Village at Will Rogers. The time will be 2:00 p.m. The presentation will offered at no charge to museum members, residents of Saranac Village, and children of elementary school age or younger. The fee for non-members is $5.00.

Dressed in period costume, Weber and Hodges will weave narrative and song to share the little known life of Mary Brown. The poignant piece illustrates the significant role this plain woman played as wife of the radical abolitionist John Brown.

The program will present Mary’s early life and marriage as well as later tragedies involving bankruptcy, accidents, and death. The presentation closes with Mrs. Brown’s most difficult &#8220times of trouble&#8221 in the aftermath of the raid on Harper’s Ferry. Sandra Weber has spent ten years researching the life of Mary Day Brown.

Weber is an author, storyteller, and independent scholar with special interest in the Adirondacks, Mary and John Brown, as well as women’s history. Her publishing credits include eight books and numerous articles in periodicals such as Civil War Times, Adirondack Life, Pennsylvania Magazine, and Highlights for Children.

In 2004 and 2005, Sandra Weber toured with folksinger Peggy Lynn performing stories from their book, Breaking Trail: Remarkable Women of the Adirondacks.

David Hodges has played guitar and bass for more than twenty years. He has performed with bands throughout New York, Texas and Pennsylvania and recorded CDs with &#8220Mad Factory&#8221 and &#8220Evil Twin.&#8221 Hodges currently plays with &#8220Mr. Freeze,&#8221 a blues-rock band, and accompanies Sandra Weber in folk music performances.

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 550 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 550 people get New York History each day via E-Mail, RSS, or Twitter or Facebook updates.

New Genealogy Tools at NY State Archives

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The New York State Archives recently announced the creation of two tools, called “pathfinders,” to help genealogists and researchers locate naturalization and probate records created throughout New York, from the colonial period to the present.

Naturalizations grant the full legal rights and privileges held by native-born individuals to someone born in another country. Legal jurisdiction over naturalization has changed repeatedly since the colonial period, so the records can be found in various locations. They may be in the county clerk’s office, the New York State Archives, the National Archives branch in New York City, or U.S. District Court clerk’s office. The pathfinder highlights books, links to indexes, and directories where researchers can find more information about an ancestor and the places that may hold these naturalization records.

Probate records include wills, estate inventories, letters of administration, and other documents relating to the administration and settlement of a deceased person’s estate. The State Archives holds probate records created or compiled by predecessor courts that had legal jurisdiction over probate matters prior to 1787. A limited number of probate records after 1787 are held by the Archives because they are filed and retained by the Surrogate’s Court in each county. For that reason, the probate pathfinder is divided into two chronological sections: before 1787 and after 1787. This pathfinder identifies collections within the State Archives as well as books and links to guides and locations that may help researchers.

The pathfinders can be found on the State Archives’ website.

Being Green in the 1700s at Fort Montgomery

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“Green” in the 1700s at Fort Montgomery: Eco-lutionary: Unintentionally will be a free program presented on Saturday, February 26th, at 1:30 PM at Fort Montgomery State Historic Site, 690 Route 9W in Fort Montgomery, NY (Orange County).

In this slide presentation and hands-on show and tell, Fort Montgomery State Historic Site Interpreter Peter Cutul will present some of the numerous and innovative ways our colonial ancestors reduced, re-used, and recycled. Cutul will demonstrate how the colonials were on the cutting edge or even ahead of the curve of many of today’s green practices. The program will conclude with practical tidbits we can start at home, as well as those practices perhaps better left in the past!

For more information, please call the site at (845) 446-2134.

Dorsky Museum to Feature Historic Textile Expert

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Rabbit Goody, a leading expert in the study and manufacture of 18th and 19th century textiles, will be featured at a panel discussion at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art in New Paltz on Sunday, February 20th at 3pm.

The panel discussion is coincides with the exhibit currently on view at the Dorsky: Binary Visions: 19th Century Woven Coverlets from the Collection of Historic Huguenot Street. This exhibit features more than 20 coverlets woven from cotton and wool on water-powered looms in small factories across the mid-Hudson Valley during the first half of the 19th century. The exhibition is a particularly important opportunity for historians and scholars to conceive new ways of thinking about the visual power of these coverlets.

Rabbit Goody is owner of Thistle Hill Weavers in Cherry Valley, New York. For more than 20 years, Thistle Hill Weavers has been weaving luxurious custom fabrics, carpet, and trim for designers, home owners, museums, and the film industry. Goody specializes in creating accurate historic reproductions, working from surviving examples, documented patterns, and period weavers’ drafts. Goody was a consultant for the Binary Visions exhibit.

Joining Goody on the panel will be Leslie LeFevre-Stratton, Curator of Collections at Historic Huguenot Street and Jessica Poser, Assistant Professor of Art Education at SUNY New Paltz. Poser has used the textile collections at Historic Huguenot Street as the inspiration for some of her most recent works of art. The panel will be moderated by Brian Wallace, Curator at the Dorsky Museum.

The panel discussion will be held in the Student Union Building closest to the campus entrance off South Manheim Boulevard and is free and open to the public.

For more information about the exhibit and the panel discussion, visit www.huguenotstreet.org or www.newpaltz.edu/museum.

More New Netherland Documents Now Online

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Out of print for many years and inaccessible to researchers, the first volume of the Register of the Provincial Secretary of New Netherland is now available on the web courtesy of the New Netherland Research Center. This archive, originally comprising 49 books, contained copies of correspondence, land conveyances, court proceedings, resolutions of council,regulations, contracts, leases,and more. The Provincial Secretary was responsible for recording the proceedings of the High Council and maintaining these archives for future reference.

In the 19th century, E. B. O’Callaghan decided that the Dutch records could be organized more logically. His “improvement” was to tear the books apart and rearrange the documents according to genre. The original 49 books became 23 volumes, each containing a specific type of document.

The first volume in his scheme,Register of the Provincial Secretary 1638-41, consists of wills, inventories of estates, depositions, and other documents. O’Callaghan produced translations of the three volumes of “Registers” and the first volume of “Council Minutes.”

Some years later another translator, A. J. F. van Laer, judged O’Callaghan’s work to be unreliable and undertook a new translation. By 1911 he had completed a translation of the first volume- this and the original records were lying on his desk when a disastrous fire broke out in the State Library. Van Laer’s work was destroyed, together with the Dutch originals.

Although all the Dutch records suffered varying degrees of damage, only this volume, volume one of the colonial Dutch records, was completely destroyed. All that remains of its Dutch original is a transcription of documents 95-143, which Van Laer happened to have at his house.

To continue his projected new translation, Van Laer had to use the surviving O’Callaghan translation. However, as the Dutch originals were still fresh in his mind, he was able to correct O’Callaghan’s translation in extensive footnotes. Van Laer eventually also translated the next three volumes (“Registers” for 1642-47 and 1648-57,and “Council Minutes” for 1638-49) as arranged by O’Callaghan.

These were not published until 1973, several years after his death in 1955. Minor changes only have been made to the text and to Van Laer’s notes, and corrections are incorporated according to Van Laer’s notations.

Offensive language or situations have been put back in the text, as have several pages that had inadvertently been left out. Future volumes in this series will consist of a scan of the original document, a transcription of the Dutch, and a translation with annotations. To browse or download volume one of the register, go to:
http://www.nnp.org/nnrc/Documents/vanLaer/index.html.