From the New York Public Library comes an update to this “comprehensive listing of close to 2,700 maps showing buildings, old streets, farm lines, streetcar routes historical shorelines and more” in New York City.
Here is a link to the complete list.
The Adirondack Museum has announced that it will offer a series of online exhibitions created especially for people who are unable to visit Blue Mountain Lake. Web exhibits can be found on the Adirondack Museum’s web site at www.adirondackmuseum.org.
December marks the launch of “Adirondack Rustic: Nature’s Art, 1876-1950,” the first web exhibit. The new online feature offers artifacts, text, and historic photographs from the special exhibition that shared the multi-faceted story of Adirondack rustic traditions and charmed museum visitors throughout the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
The web exhibit examines the rich history of Adirondack rustic in three units that examine furniture and designs inspired by wilderness, share stories of local men who hand crafted rustic furniture, and explore the lives and influence of wealthy Gilded Age railroad magnates who designed and built elaborate Great Camps.
The virtual exhibition is lavishly illustrated with images of rustic furniture and historic photographs from the museum’s extensive collections. The museum’s Chief Curator Laura Rice and Web Coordinator Erin Barton developed the content of the online exhibit.
In 2009 the museum will introduce “Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters” as a companion piece to the special exhibition of the same name that will open at the museum on May 22, 2009.
As a holiday historical treat (of sorts) I’d like to point readers to two recent posts over at Varnam, which describes itself as “a blog about history, archaeology and current affairs with focus on India.” The author recently reviewed the archeological / historical evidence for the bible following the two-hour NOVA documentary, The Bible’s Buried Secrets
It’s an interesting read for the holiday season: Part One, Part Two.
The Northeast Region’s New York City office announces the receipt of over 1,400 volumes of Civil War records previously held in Washington, DC. These volumes document arrested deserters, men enrolled for the draft, enlisted volunteers, and compiled statistics on the physical condition of recruits and military casualties for New York and New Jersey.
Record Group 110: Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War) will provide significant insight into the Civil War era for historians and for genealogists alike. The records cover New York (1861-1868) and New Jersey (1861-1868) and are arranged by draft board. The New York volumes consist of records from 31 districts, records for several state mustering points, and records of the Park and Broome Barracks of lower Manhattan. The New Jersey volumes consist of records from 5 districts, staff offices, and the Draft Rendezvous Station at Trenton.
While the detail within the records varies from district to district, they can be simply described as lists, reports, ledgers, and correspondence. Specifically, these records may include Registers of Enlistments, Substitutes, and Deserters- Descriptive Lists of Men Ordered To Report for Duty- Registers of Exemptions- Letters Regarding Medical Examinations of Draftees- and Letters Regarding Service. These series will include both those that served and those that didn’t serve in the military. Information about the individuals may include names, ages, occupations, physical and mental characteristics, birthplaces, and family relationships. Additionally, essential information concerning freedmen and the New York Draft Riots are included in several series.
The National Archives welcomes the general public, historians, genealogists, Civil War enthusiasts, and students to research these essential documents of our past. While the microfilm and online resources are available at all times, researchers are requested to make an appointment to use the original documents of Record Group 110.
The National Archives is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 4:30 pm, and the first Saturday of each month 8:30 to 4 pm (computer and microfilm research only). The National Archives and Records Administration – New York office is located at 201 Varick Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY, 10014.
More from the National Archives:
Record Group 110: Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War) from The National Archives Guide to Federal Records
Military Resources at the National Archives: Civil War
Civil War Draft Records: Exemptions and Enrollments by Michael T. Meier, from the National Archives magazine Prologue
National Archives Reference Information Paper: Draft Records (Civil War and after)
To mark this December month of Cattaraugus County’s Bicentennial, the website of the New York Correction History Society (NYCHS) is unveiling a multi-page timeline presentation on the executions of 12 men convicted of murder in that “Enchanted Mountains County” of southwestern New York.
Besides detailing the 12 murder cases individually, the timeline presentation also serves as a vehicle to explore interesting historical developments that provide wider context to the cases. These include looking at the histories of the county jails, sheriffs, and courts as well as at execution methods and at other Cattaraugus-related murder case convictions not resulting in executions.
The timing of the presentation’s unveiling is appropriate because the first and the last Cattaraugus murders resulting in executions took place during Decembers 70 years apart. The first happened Dec. 18, 1869- the last, Dec 9, 1939.
Of the 12 men executed, two were hanged at the Little Valley Jail (both involved December murders, 14 years apart), four were electrocuted at Auburn Prison, and six were electrocuted at Sing Sing.
Next to each date on the timeline appears a very brief entry outlining the case. Under each entry appears a link line “For more details.” Clicking that link line accesses a page providing an in-depth account of the case.
In addition to the case narration and explorations of historical contexts, the individual case pages include notes discussing source materials used. The source notes sections are provided so that others interested in pursuing further research can have starting points for beginning their quests.
The NYCHS project was undertaken with the encouragement, support and assistance of Cattaraugus County administrator Jack Searles and County Historian Sharon Fellows. Thomas McCarthy is the NY Correction History Society’s general secretary and webmaster.
The Military Academy at West Point has launched an ambitious Center for Oral History to serve as a living archive on the experiences of American soldiers in war and peace. The Center aims to be a powerful learning tool for West Point cadets and an important research center for historians, as well as a destination for the public to gain greater understanding of the essential and unique calling of the U.S. soldier. The Center for Oral History will exist largely online, with high definition video and digital audio files, easing access for everyone from campus cadets to scholars, journalists and interested students half a world away. The New York History blog recently reported on the demise of the New York State Veterans Oral History Project at the New York State Military History Museum and Veterans Research Center in Saratoga Springs.
One of the Center’s first projects has been to interview members of West Point’s Class of 1967, who, upon graduation, were sent almost immediately to the war in Vietnam. Another has been to interview soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a comprehensive, anecdotal account of those current campaigns. Researchers are also gathering material from veterans of World War II, Vietnam and the so-called “forgotten war” in Korea. By definition, the Center will be a work in perpetual progress, continuously updated as history unfolds.
The objective is to assemble an unrivaled video, audio and text record of military life – in the field, as well as in the classroom and also the “war room,” since the Center hopes to include interviews with senior Pentagon strategists and former Secretaries of Defense and State who have helped shape military and foreign policy. But its core mission is to capture the personal narratives of those who have lived the military life.
The Center has the benefit of a Board of Advisers composed of military scholars, journalists, government officials and filmmakers to help set its agenda, develop new projects and content, and assist with fund-raising.
In addition to a number of military historians from around the country, board members include Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Brent Scowcroft, a 1947 West Point graduate whose long government career included serving as National Security Advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush- Rick Atkinson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Washington Post and author of several major accounts of American wars, including The Long Gray Line and An Army at Dawn- Martha Raddatz, longtime correspondent for ABC News, who covered the Pentagon for National Public Radio and authored The Long Road Home (2007), the account of a surprise attack on the Army’s First Calvary Division in Iraq- and Ken Burns, whose opus The Civil War heralded a new standard for multi-part documentaries, which he followed with Baseball, Jazz and The War.
Much of the credit for creating the Center goes to Col. Lance Betros, who took over as head of West Point’s history department in 2005 and marshaled resources to secure initial funding and recruited senior faculty to help develop some of the early content.
The Center will develop projects devoted to different aspects of soldiers’ lives – as well as different eras in soldiering. One of the highlights is that compilation of interviews with members of the West Point Class of 1967, young officers who entered active duty at a pivotal time in the Vietnam War and later returned to steer the Army’s course on behalf of a nation reeling from social unrest and political scandal. Other subjects expected to be tackled through the Center’s oral histories:
Wartime decisions of former Secretaries of Defense, State, and
the Army, along with key members of Congress- The place of religious faith in soldiers’ lives- Case studies on insurgency, bioterrorism, the surge in Iraq and other topical subjects of warfare based on cross-section- interviews with returning troops, military leaders and policy makers- the historic role of athletics among West Point cadets, through interviews with soldier-athletes and former coaches of the legendary Army football team and other sports teams, many of whose players went on to illustrious professional sports careers- retrospective views on World War I, the Civil War and other major American conflicts offered by visiting historians and West Point’s faculty- contemporary social changes as experienced at West
Point itself, through oral histories with the Academy’s former superintendents, deans, commandants, cadets, and others.
Also in the works are publishing and broadcasting projects based on the rich lode of content the Center gathers. Discussions are underway with the renowned Fred Friendly
Seminars, whose charged situational debates have been broadcast on PBS. Mr. Brewster is working to develop a Fred Friendly program at West Point to take on the subject of fighting insurgencies, bringing together a hypothetical cast of players ranging from the President and Secretary of Defense to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a policy maven and even a White House press officer.
In hoping to draw maximum traffic and general interest users in addition to scholars, the Center will utilize universal search technology so that anyone searching the web for primary source interviews with veterans and soldiers will see links to the West Point content. Like a true archive, the site will have virtual rooms and chapters dedicated to certain subjects and periods in military history, from the Civil War to Vietnam and Iraq. Links to other web sites offering veterans’ interviews will also be provided. The oral histories will be integrated into West Point’s own curriculum, so that professors can easily draw from interviews as part of their own course materials.
New York Heritage Digital Collections has added fourteen new digital collections to its cooperative site at newyorkheritage.org , including three from Queens College- two each from the Brooklyn Public Library, CUNY Graduate Center, Yeshiva University, and Brooklyn College- and one each from SUNY Maritime College, Lehman College, and Metropolitan New York Library Council. These collections total 3016 items, and represent a broad range of research interests, including Brooklyn Democratic Party Scrapbooks, Fulton Street Trade Cards, Murray Hill Collection, Sailors’ Snug Harbor Archives, Waterways of New York, Breslau Memorial and Prayer Book, and Bronx Business for Everybody collections.
NewYorkHeritage.org is a project of the NY3Rs Association, which uses OCLC’s CONTENTdm Multisite Server to bring previously digitized collections together, allowing researchers to search across all items simultaneously. This project provides free, online access to images of cultural and historical significance in New York State.
Participants in New York Heritage Digital Collections are committed to enhancing the site by adding both content and contributing institutions on a regular basis. The goal of the project is to eventually connect one thousand collections and one million items from throughout New York State. All institutions interested in participating in the project are encouraged to contact the 3Rs organization that serves their region.
The New York 3Rs Association is a partnership among New York’s nine reference and research resource systems. The New York 3Rs was incorporated in 2003 to further the ability of those systems to provide statewide services. The members of the New York 3Rs Association are: the Capital District Library Council, Central New York Library Resources Council, Long Island Library Resources Council, Metropolitan New York Library Council, Northern New York Library Network, Rochester Regional Library Council, Southeastern New York Library Resources Council, South Central Regional Library Council, and Western New York Library Resources Council.
There was an interesting story in USA Today recently by writer Anne Godlasky outlining some of the NYPL’s new media / live web / social marketing initiatives. Here’s a sample:
The New York Public Library quietly rolled out a new video series last month. Titled “Treasures,” it showcases 11 gems of the library’s vast collection of more than 50 million items.
And since then it has joined Facebook, broadening an online reach that already included YouTube and iTunes pages to gain more of an audience — which, for one of the world’s largest public libraries, includes “everybody from preschool toddlers to the greatest writers in the world,” says president Paul LeClerc.Curators and administrators whittled a list of hundreds of ideas to record videos of the most “visually grabbing,” says director David Ferriero.
The library has made the videos available on its site, nypl.org, as well as on YouTube— where its photography piece is by far its most popular with more than 13,000 views. The video, “Knowing What to See” is the only one featuring current events: the drug trade in Afghanistan as photographed by Stephen Dupont.
Google and LIFE Magazine have teamed up to present the magazines photo archive online. Strangely, a search for New York turned up nothing- a search for New York History turns up hundreds of photos, including the shot of men paving a street in Brooklyn in 1890 by George B. Brainerd which was not found in the search results for Brooklyn.
Those problems aside, the archive does include iconic images taken by famous photographers like Margaret Bourke-White, Gordon Parks, and Dorothea Lange. The project is similar to “The Commons” launched by Flickr which now includes photos from the Library of Congress. LIFE has said that as many as 97 percent of the photographs have never been seen by the public before.
The Library and Archives of Canada has just announced a new online resource, Immigrants to Canada (1803-1865). According to the site:
In 1803, the British Parliament enacted legislation to regulate vessels carrying emigrants to North America. The master of the vessel was required to prepare a list of passengers. Unfortunately, few such lists have survived and therefore, there are no comprehensive nominal lists of immigrants arriving in Canada before 1865.
Some lists have been identified and indexed by name in this database. It also includes other types of records such as declarations of aliens and names of some Irish orphans.
Here is the link.