Upstate History Alliance

Museumwise Recognizes Museum Community

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Museumwise (formerly Upstate History Alliance) in Oneonta, NY presented this year’s Awards of Merit to winners at a special reception in Albany on April 22nd to recognize outstanding work in the museum community, reward staff and volunteers, and provide encouragement for development of new and innovative projects. A total of seventeen projects from around the State, ranging from exhibitions to educational programs, received recognition with six receiving Awards of Merit and eleven projects received Certificates of Commendation.

Projects receiving Awards of Merit include the Essex County Historical Society’s Worked/Wild exhibit at the Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown- The Farmers’ Museum, Plowline: Images of Rural New York- Historic Cherry Hill and Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, Got Class? Status and Power in Early America program series- Historic House Trust of New York City, Historic House Festival- Erie Canal Museum, Erie Canal Museum ArtsWeek Outdoor Projects- Tara Fracalossi, Individual Achievement- and The Teaching Gallery at Hudson Valley Community College. A full list of this year’s Award winners and project descriptions is available on the Museumwise website.

Museumwise is a non-profit organization which provides resources, training and expertise to New York’s heritage organizations and museums, in hopes of strengthening their capacity to better serve their communities and meet their institutional missions. Each year its Award of Merit program recognizes exceptional and innovative projects in the museum and history community such as exhibitions, collections care projects, heritage tourism, history publications, and websites. For more information on the Museumwise Awards program, contact Museumwise at (800)-895-1648- [email protected].

Museumwise Meet-Up at the Adirondack Museum

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Adirondack area museum professionals and those involved with local historical societies will have a chance to network with colleagues at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York on Monday, September 20, 2010.

Museumwise (formerly Upstate History Alliance) will hold a meet-up, an informal after work reception, in the museum’s Visitor Center from 5:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. This is a great chance to get together with professional peers! The Museum Store will also be open until 6:30 p.m.

The reception is free, but pre-registration is requested. Please call 1-800-895-1648 or email [email protected] with your name, organizational affiliation, and full contact information including address, phone number, and email.

Museums, historical sites, and heritage societies are a vibrant and essential element of New York’s cultural life. Museumwise is a statewide membership organization dedicated to providing resources, training, and expertise to help New York’s museums and historical societies strengthen their capacity to better serve their communities and institutional missions.

Low-Cost Courses on Collections Care Offered

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Upstate History Alliance (UHA) is offering a low-cost series of four-week online courses in collections care and preservation which provide basic, practical training. The courses are designed for staff, volunteers, board members, or interns at small to mid-sized museums. Each can be taken at the student’s own pace. The courses also offer interaction with qualified instructors and assignments are based on your own collections.

The cost to participate in one of the online courses is $45 for UHA members, $60 for non-members. The cost to participate in the complete series is $150 for UHA members, $200 for non-members. For more information or to register for this course, visit
www.upstatehistory.org.

Here are the course descriptions from UHA:

Introduction to Reformatting with Toya Dubin
February 1, 2010 &#8211 February 26, 2010

This course should help you determine the best way to approach a digitization project for varying collections and is intended to take the mystery out of digitization vocabulary, while shedding light on technical issues.

Climate Control for Small Institutions with Michele Phillips
March 1, 2010 &#8211 March 26, 2010

This course will allow participants to explore the issues that need to be considered when planning for climate controls including monitoring, testing, environmental analysis assessments, long-range planning, systems design, construction support, and operations training. Low cost-low tech solutions will be offered and discussed, providing participants with the background knowledge to assist them in making informed decisions that can be implemented at their own institutions.

Basic Preservation, Care & Handling of Paper Based Materials with Michele Phillips
April 5, 2010 &#8211 April 30, 2010

Learn the mechanics behind the degradation of paper materials and how through passive activities and techniques you can slow down the march of time and safeguard your collections.

Conservation & Preservation of Photographs and Albums with Gary Albright
May 3, 2010 &#8211 May 28, 2010

Students will learn about photographs and their many formats &#8211 black & white, color, negative, prints, and albums. We will review the major processes, how to identify and date them, how to recognize their deterioration, and what can be done to preserve them.

Call for Nominations:2009 Upstate History Alliance Awards of Merit

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Have you seen an exceptional exhibit at a New York institution this past year? Has your organization created an innovative educational program or publication? Would you like to recognize a volunteer or employee who have done exceptional work? If so, Upstate History Alliance encourages you to submit a nomination for their 2009 Awards of Merit. Each year the organizations gives annual Awards of Merit to recognize outstanding work in the regional history and museum community, reward staff and volunteers, and provide encouragement for development of new and innovative projects.

These awards will presented to recipients on Sunday April 11 at the opening reception of the 2010 Museums in Conversation Conference in Albany, sponsored by the Upstate History Alliance and the Museum Association of New York.

Any organization or individual is invited to nominate an organization, person(s) or project that was completed in 2009 in New York State for an Award of Merit. Nomination of oneself or one’s organization is permissible and encouraged.

The postmark deadline for submitting a nomination is December 11, 2009. Visit www.upstatehistory.org for nomination procedures and to download the nomination form.

If you have further questions contact UHA Program Coordinator, Stephanie Lehner, at 800.895.1648 or [email protected]

Regional History Awards of Merit Call For Nominations

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Each year the Upstate History Alliance gives annual Awards of Merit to recognize outstanding work in the regional history and museum community, reward staff and volunteers, and provide encouragement for development of new and innovative projects. These awards will presented to recipients on Sunday April 11 at the opening reception of the 2010 Museums in Conversation Conference in Albany, sponsored by the Upstate History Alliance and the Museum Association of New York. Any organization or individual is invited to nominate an organization, person(s) or project that was completed in 2009 in New York State for an Award of Merit. Nomination of oneself or one’s organization is permissible and encouraged.

The postmark deadline for submitting a proposal is December 11, 2009. Visit www.upstatehistory.org for nomination procedures and to download the nomination form.

Questions should be directed to UHA Program Coordinator, Stephanie Lehner, at 800.895.1648 [email protected]

NYSs Museums in Conversation: What Inspires You?

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The Upstate History Alliance and the Museum Association of New York are sponsoring &#8220New York State’s Museums in Conversation: What Inspires You?&#8221 a three-day conference April 11-13, 2010 at the Albany Marriott, Wolf Road, in Albany. The event organizers seeks discussion proposals that focus on what inspires you about the work of others, be they museums, libraries, nature centers or parks, small or big businesses. What have you seen that’s been so great, so innovative, so enterprising, so adaptable, and so fun that you want to talk about it with your colleagues?

Proposals are welcome from a wide range of institutions and practitioners, within and outside the museum community, to encourage lively discussions that offer new perspectives on museum work and create new connections to each other.

Submitting a Proposal

The deadline for submitting a proposal is November 2, 2009. Proposals must be submitted electronically, as an email attachment to [email protected]

Visit www.upstatehistory.org to download the proposal form and for more information. The program committee will review proposals and decisions will be made by mid-November.

If you have any questions or are looking for assistance with developing a proposal, contact UHA Program Coordinator, Stephanie Lehner, at 800.895.1648 [email protected] or MANY Director Anne Ackerson at 518.273.3400 [email protected]

Museum Institute at Sagamore Application Available

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The 2009 Museum Institute at Sagamore, sponsored by the Upstate History Alliance, will focus on Understanding Audiences. The Institute is a reflective, intensive, four day retreat at Great Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks that gives New York State museum professionals the opportunity to learn, reflect, and work with their colleagues from across the state.

The 2009 institute will take place September 22 &#8211 25th. Acceptance to the institute is by application, the postmark deadline is July 17, 2009. To download an application, please click here. For more information on the Museum Institute at Sagamore, please visit our website www.upstatehistory.org and click on What’s New.

Upstate History Alliance Online Courses

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The Upstate History Alliance has announced a spring series of Collections Care & Preservation online courses:

Conservation and Preservation of Photographs and Albums (with Gary Albright)
October 27, 2008- November 21, 2008
This course will first provide an overview of factors effecting the preservation and care of photographs. The various photographic processes will be reviewed and techniques for identifying each photographic process will be supplied. Appropriate handling and storage materials, as well as sources for supplies will be covered. The course will also address the issue of when the original format or album format can be maintained or when re-housing should be considered.

Basic Preservation, Care & Handling of Paper Based Materials (with Michele Phillips)
November 24, 2008-December 19, 2008
This course will provide an introduction to the factors effecting the preservation and care of paper-based materials. Participants will then learn about appropriate techniques for handling and storing collection materials and recomment sources for supplies. Instruction in basic conservation techniques for surface cleaning and mending paper-based materials will be provided

Climate Control for Small Institutions (with Michele Phillips)
January 5, 2009-January 30, 2009
This course will allow participants to explore the issues that need to be considered when planning for climate controls including monitoring, testing, environmental analysis assessments, long-range planning, systems design, construction support, and operations training. Low cost-low tech solutions will be offered and discussed, providing participants with the background knowledge to assist them in making informed decisions that can be implemented at their own institutions

Introduction to Reformatting (with Toya Dubin)
February 2, 2009-February 27, 2009
This course will provide participants with current, essential information for those who are responsible for the management of paper-based, photographic, audio, and video collections that are seeking to create, manage, and preserve digital assets. Participants completing this course will be better equipped to make informed choices regarding management of their digital projects/programs.

The cost to participate in a 4-week online course is $45 for UHA members, $60 for non-members. Or you can sign up to participate in a series of all four, beginning with Conservation & Preservation of Photographs on October 27, 2008 and ending with Introduction to Reformatting which begins on Feburary 2, 2009. The cost to participate in the complete series is $150 for UHA members, $200 for non-members.

Underground Railroad Site Travel Grants to AASLH

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If you represent an underground railroad related site or organization, the New York State Underground Railroad Heritage Trail is offering Travel Grants to support attendance at this year’s AASLH Annual Meeting in Rochester.

The Underground Railroad Heritage Trail Travel Grants will provide museum staff members and volunteers, from URHT sites, the opportunity to expand their horizons by participating in the American Association of State and Local History Annual Meeting.

Organizations may apply for travel grants of up to $350. This travel grant can be used towards conference registration fees, travel expenses and accommodation fees associated with attendance at the 2008 AASLH Annual Meeting. For further information on the AASLH Annual Meeting visit: www.aaslh.org/anmeeting.htm

Applications for URHT Travel grants to attend the AASLH Annual Meeting must be postmarked by August 3, 2008. Applicants will be notified within 30 days of receipt. To apply, contact Catherine Gilbert directorATupstatehistoryDOTorg at the Upstate History Alliance for an application form.

According to New York State’s Underground Heritage Trail website:

New York State was at the forefront of the Underground Railroad movement. It was a major destination for freedom-seekers for four main reasons:

Destination & Gateway
New York was a gateway to liberation for freedom-seekers (often referred to as escaped slaves). Its prime location, with access to Canada and major water routes, made it the destination of choice for many Africans fleeing slavery along the eastern seaboard.

Safe Haven
Freedom-seekers knew they would be protected in New York’s many black communities as well as Quaker and other progressive white and mixed race communities. A large and vocal free black population was present after the manumission (freeing) of slaves in New York State in 1827.

Powerful Anti-Slavery Movement
Anti-slavery organizations were abundant in New York State &#8211 more than any other state. The reform politics and the progressive nature of the state gave rise to many active anti-slavery organizations.

Strong Underground Railroad Leaders
Many nationally-known and locally influential black and white abolitionists chose to make their homes in New York. Among them were: Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Gerrit Smith, Henry Ward Beecher, Sojourner Truth and John Brown.

2008 Museum Institute at Sagamore

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Upstate History Alliance has announced their 2008 Institute at Sagamore. According to UHA’s website, this year’s institute &#8220will address the challenges and creative solutions for Interpreting Historic Spaces:&#8221

Interpretation&#8211 the process of bringing about meaning, it’s what museums do best, or is it? What are the best ways to utilize our collections to illustrate connections and evoke thought amongst our visitors?

Participants will explore ways to tell their stories and engage their visitors through creative methods and practical applications. Experts will share their innovative thinking on interpretive planning and incorporating those plans, utilizing reader’s theater, employing interpretive technology, interpreting contentious stories as well as hearing from msueums with exemplary interpretive programs.

The Museum Institute at Sagamore is open &#8220to individuals who are currently employed or serve in a leadership position with a museum or museum service organization.&#8221 Space is limited to 25, and their is a competitive application process.

The 2008 Institute is September 23-26- applications are due postmarked by July 25, 2008.

More information is located here.