A new exhibit “Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson” opened Saturday at the Museum of the City of New York and will run through September 27, 2009. Presented in collaboration with the New Netherland Institute, Albany, and the National Maritime Museum Amsterdam / Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum Amsterdam, the exhibit will employ rare 16th- and 17th-century objects, images, and documents from major American and Dutch collections to bring the transatlantic world to life and reveal how Henry Hudson’s epic third voyage of exploration planted the seeds of a modern society that took root and flourished in the New World. Focusing on the economic, cultural, and ideological connections that ultimately linked two global cities, Amsterdam and New York, “Amsterdam / New Amsterdam” will illuminate not only the global significance of Hudson’s voyage, but also the creative context out of which the exploration and settlement of New York itself arose, highlighting the Dutch role in creating the very character of New York as a place of opportunity, tolerance, and perpetual transformation.
New Netherland
Half Moon Update – Flitsbericht Halve Maen 2009
Captain William T. (Chip) Reynolds of the Replica Ship Half Moon (and Director of the New Netherland Museum) forwarded the following notes on the Half Moon’s progress and events this 400th year:
1. Half Moon in the News/Major Winter Work Projects
Recent articles in the Albany Times Union and the Troy Record provide a good summary of work on the Half Moon over this past winter. This past season major efforts have followed two paths: first, to expand and improve our programming (with new artifacts, educational curricula, interpretive brochures, and programming)- and second, to make physical improvements to the Half Moon (renew the rig, rebuild the forecastle, improve the engine room, and rebuild the reduction gear).
See the video links at:
http://tinyurl.com/d2lxmc Times Union Fred LeBrun video in shipyard
http://tinyurl.com/cy9xjt Troy Record Mike McMahon video Half Moon in travel
See the stories and photos at:
http://tinyurl.com/cdgbnr Times Union Fred LeBrun story and Paul Bukowski Photos
http://tinyurl.com/cpb29b Times Union Paul Grondahl story
Both the program developments and the ship improvements are major efforts, and are nearing completion as we approach the start of our operating season. Special thanks are due to key donors whose contributions have made this possible: Dr. Andrew and Mary Hendricks, and the Hendricks Family Foundation John and Amy Peckham, Peckham Family Foundation, and Peckham Industries New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Robert E. and Lori S. Liebert Van Vranken
2. Volunteers Needed to Help Finish Work on Half Moon
The Half Moon will soon move from the Port of Albany to Peckham Materials, Athens, NY. Volunteers are needed to help move the ship from Albany to Athens. Once in Athens volunteers are needed to help finish the work aboard. We have a tight timeline, but expect to complete work at Scarano Boatbuilders in the Port of Albany about April 2, and depart there the weekend of April 4 and 5. Crew should board the ship on Saturday, April 4, stay overnight, and arrive in Athens mid-day on April 5. If you are interested in helping move the ship this weekend, please contact Karen
Preston, [email protected]
3. Crew Opportunity for Move from Port of Albany to Athens, NY
The Half Moon will remain dockside at Peckham Materials through mid May. While there, volunteers of all skill levels are needed to help with work on the ship. This work will continue weekdays and most weekends. If you can help, please contact Karen Preston, [email protected]. It is not possible to just walk up, as entry must be arranged ahead of time.
4. Schedule in 2009.
Our schedule for 2009 is developing well, with major program stops set. Additional inquiries arrive frequently, and some parts of the 2009 schedule will be refined as plans mature. The programs listed below are set:
VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY – Re-Creation of 1609 Voyage, Follow daily with postings on internet Sept. 14-Sept. 23, Sail with middle school students from New York Harbor to
Albany, NY Sept. 27-Oct. 8, Sail with middle school students from Albany to New York
Harbor
PROGRAM STOPS
* May 23,24,25 Memorial Day, Poughkeepsie, NY, Festival and Half Moon for tours
* June 6-13, River Day sail from New York Harbor to Albany, NY, and intermediate stops
* July (date to be determined) Goodwin College, East Hartford, CT, dockside programming and open for tours
* July 24,25,26,27, Hudson, NY Festival and Half Moon open for tours
* August 29,30, Staten Island, NY Festival and Half Moon open for tours
* Sept. 11,12,13, New York Harbor, Harbor Day festivities
* Sept. 26, Albany, NY Festival and Half Moon open for tours
* Oct. 16-31, Yonkers, NY Half Moon open for tours
You can keep in touch with the Half Moon’s doings through their website.
Mohican Seminar April 4th in Albany
Native American Institute of The Hudson River Valley will host ten scholars who will present papers on all aspects of Mohican culture on April 4, 2009 at the New York State Museum in Albany.
The Native American Institute of the Hudson River Valley (NAIHRV) specializes in the study of the native Algonquian people, or Mohicans, who were long settled along the river. Described by Hudson’s crew as “loving people,” they greeted the explorer in a friendly manner and later played an important role in the survival of the new colony.
The NAIHRV is a nonprofit organization of interested volunteers, educators, archaeologists, historians, and researchers devoted to promoting an awareness of Native Americans in general and the Mohican Nation in particular.
Novel By Bill Greer Set in 17th C. New Amsterdam
Here a note I received from the New York State Museum’s Marilyn Douglas, who is coordinator of the New Netherland Institute:
Bill Greer’s novel, set in 17th-century New Amsterdam, is now available from the New Netherland Institute online shop @ $10.95 plus $5.00 for S&H. (The S&H will be added at check-out.) You can access this new addition in the shop (scroll down on home page to broad horizontal band and click on online shop) at “latest products” or click on the books tab. Click “more” to read a description.
While you’re there, browse a bit! The shop, with its number and variety of products, is becoming an important aspect of the website and a good place to search for special gifts. While a work of fiction, The Mevrouw Who Saved Manhattan
Bill Greer is Treasurer and Trustee of the New Netherland Institute.
SUNY Stony Brook: The Worlds of Lion Gardiner
The State University of New York at Stony Brook, in cooperation with the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, will hold a conference at Stony Brook on The Worlds of Lion Gardiner, c. 1599-1663: Crossings and Boundaries on March 20-21, 2009. Military man and engineer, chronicler and diplomat, lord of a New English manor married to a Dutch woman, Gardiner led a life replete with crossings: of the English Channel to engage in Continental wars, of the Atlantic, of the lesser waters of Long Island Sound, of national, imperial, and colonial borders, of racial divides, and of the very bounds of colonial law. The many crossings in which he and his contemporaries were involved did much to create boundaries between things previously less clearly separated.
Early American Ethnohistory 1st Book Prize Announced
SUNY Press is proud to announce a new competition for the best single-authored dissertation or first book manuscript in the field of early American Ethnohistory – The Francis Jennings First Book Manuscript Prize in Early American Ethnohistory. They welcome unpublished, nonfiction manuscripts that illuminate American Indian history or the history of Indian-European relations in what is now the United States and Canada from the time of initial contacts between American Indians and Europeans through the era of the early republic United States, ca. 1800. The competition is open to scholars who have not published a peer-reviewed book and whose work is grounded in cultural and/or cross-cultural analysis using ethnohistorical research methodology.
If a winner of the competition is selected, he or she will receive a publication contract with SUNY Press and a $3,000 advance. Non-winning manuscripts may also be considered for publication in the Ethnohistories of Early America series published by SUNY Press. All submissions must be postmarked by July 1, 2008, and should include a cover letter, C.V., proposal, including a 4-5 page overview of the scope of the project and analysis of competing titles, and a complete manuscript, at least 150 double spaced pages, Courier font.
Submissions should mention the competition in the cover letter, and also indicate if any material from the manuscript has been previously published. All submissions must be exclusive submissions to SUNY Press for the duration of the contest, and finalists will be notified by September 1, 2008.
Please send all submissions to:
Dr. Gary Dunham
Executive Director, SUNY Press
194 Washington Ave., Suite 305
Albany, NY 12210
Direct all questions to:
Dr. James T. Carson
Department of History
Queen’s University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Canada
Dr. Greg O’Brien
Department of History
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
PO Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
Reading 17th Century Dutch Workshop
With funding from the Nederlandse Taalunie, Wijne de Groot, lecturer of Dutch at Columbia University is holding a weekly workshop on Reading 17th Century Dutch Texts in Spring 2009. The workshop will be held each Thursday at during the Spring Semester.
The workshop is open to all graduate students and researchers who have reading knowledge of Dutch or German. In past years there has been an eclectic mix of students interested in Dutch, early American and Art history.
Email Wijnie de Groot at wed23-AT-columbia-DOT-edu for details of the schedule and to register for the course.
SUNY Press Announces Indigenous Studies Series
State University of New York Press has announced a new series in Indigenous Studies, the SUNY series in Ethnohistories of Early America (Edited by James Carson, Queen’s University and Greg O’Brien, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro). This series showcases cutting-edge research in the field of ethnohistory, focusing on what is now the United States and Canada from the time of initial contacts between American Indians and Europeans through the era of the early republic United States, ca. 1800.
“Ethnohistory” is defined broadly to be more than American Indian history or the history of Indian-European relations-though that is expected to be the primary area of focus. We will also consider works in the time period on any subset(s) of the North American population that is examined and written about through cultural and/or cross-cultural analysis using ethnohistorical research methodology. To encourage a diverse readership, particularly students, all books in the series will be available simultaneously in hardcover, paperback, and electronic DirectText editions.
Manuscripts and proposals should be sent to:
Dr. Gary Dunham
Executive Director, SUNY Press
194 Washington Ave., Suite 305
Albany, NY 12210
Phone: 518-472-5000 / Fax: 518-472-5038
Direct all questions to:
Professor James Carson
Department of History
Queen’s University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Canada
Professor Greg O’Brien
Department of History
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
PO Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
New Netherland Exhibit Opens at NYS Museum
A traveling exhibition about New Netherland —- the 17th century Dutch province that stretched from modern-day Albany to parts of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut – opens at the New York State Museum on December 12.
“Light on New Netherland,” open through February 8 in the Museum’s Terrace Gallery, provides insight into the role the Dutch played in the settlement and development of colonial America. Based on original Dutch documents in the collections of the New York State Library and State Archives, the exhibition traces the history of the Dutch in New Netherland, beginning with Henry Hudson’s exploration in 1609.
It is curated by Robert E. Mulligan, retired history curator at the State Museum, and produced by the New Netherland Institute to celebrate the 2009 quadricentennial of the Hudson voyage. The Institute works to enhance awareness of the Dutch history of colonial America by supporting the translation and publication of early Dutch documents through the New Netherland Project, located in the State Library and also supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The New Netherland Project has been working since 1974 to translate and publish the official 17th-century Dutch colonial documents of one of America’s earliest and longest-settled region.
The exhibition presents information about the fur trade that initially brought settlers to New Netherland, as well as the growth of farming and communities as families relocated there. It discusses the establishment of government, the practice of religion, and the interactions between settlers and native peoples, among other aspects of life in the colony.
Although New Netherland existed only from 1609 to 1664, when the colony was conquered by the English in a time of peace, the Dutch language, religion and culture could still be found in various pockets of the province well into the 19th century. The Dutch influence is still apparent in present-day American institutions and culture. Santa Claus and American Christmas traditions trace back to Sinterklaas or St. Nicholas, the patron saint of Holland and New Netherland. Former Presidents Martin Van Buren and Franklin Roosevelt, and modern-day celebrities Tom Brokaw, Bruce Springsteen and Meryl Streep, all share a Dutch heritage. The exhibition also notes that the tolerance the Dutch showed to neighbors and new settlers set the stage for the ethnic and cultural diversity for which New York and America have long been recognized.
Many of the illustrations in the exhibition are the work of Len Tantillo, the foremost artist in recreating historical images of New Netherland. He was the subject of a public television documentary entitled “Hudson River Journeys” in March 2004. In 2005, the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art commissioned him to create a painting for a permanent exhibition of Dutch architecture in colonial America.
“Illuminating New York’s Dutch Past,” a short video about the New Netherland Project, will be shown in the exhibition gallery. Nineteen volumes, or about 60 percent of the 12,000 volumes that survive, have been published to date under the direction of Dr. Charles Gehring, project director, and Dr. Janny Venema, associate director.
At the conclusion of the Museum exhibition, “Light on Netherland” is scheduled for various sites in New York State, as well as some in Connecticut, Delaware and Michigan.
NY State Library Research Grants Announced
The New York State Library has announced the availability of grants for research in New York State history. The Cunningham Research Residency Program was established to benefit scholars using the unique collections of the New York State Library to study the history and culture of New York. The New Netherland Institute and the Library will also make a Quinn-Library grant for specialized research in Dutch-related documents and printed materials at the New York State Library. Four Cunningham residencies ($1,000) and at least one Quinn fellowship ($2,500) will be awarded in 2009.
The Anna K. and Mary E. Cunningham Trust Fund
Funds for the research residencies are provided by a trust fund endowment created by a bequest from the estate of Anna K. Cunningham on behalf of her sister, Mary, and herself. It is a fitting celebration of the sisters’ lifelong interest in the study of New York State history. Anna Cunningham (1906-1996) was Supervisor of Historic Sites of New York State, as well as serving on the boards and councils of many state and national historic preservation organizations. Mary Cunningham (1917-1986), whose personal papers are among the collections of the State Library, held various executive positions in the New York State Historical Association, was a founder and the first editor of American Heritage magazine, and was a founder of the Yorkers program for teaching and involving young New Yorkers in the State’s history.
Quinn-Library Research Residency For 2009
Through generous support from the Doris Quinn Foundation, the New Netherland Institute (www.nnp.org) and the New York State Library will make a special Cunningham grant of $2500 in 2009 for specialized research in Dutch-related documents and printed materials at the New York State Library. Researchers interested in the history of New Netherland and the Dutch Colonial Atlantic world are encouraged to apply for these funds.
Eligibility requirements and application information are available online here.