Westchester County

Students Write About Place, Win Class Trips

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Teaching the Hudson Valley (THV) has announced the winners of its first student writing contest. Three winning writers and their classmates will visit the places they wrote about with costs covered by a THV Explore Award.

Aayushi Jha, a fifth grader at Main Street School in Irvington, is the elementary school winner. Her essay, Tug of War, describes an experience aboard the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Aayushi’s teacher, Susan Wallace, responded to the announcement with this note, “WOW! We are so THRILLED! Thank you so much for offering this opportunity to the future
environmentalists and writers of the world!” You can read Aayushi’s essay online.

“Climbing up Bonticou Crag, I split open the wilderness,” is the provocative opening line of Looking Topside Down, a poem about the Mohonk Preserve by high school winner Nicole Yang. The middle school winner is seventh grader Emilie Hostetter who wrote a poem about Minnewaska State Park called I Did Not Know. Nicole and Emilie are students of Janine Guadagno at Tabernacle Christian Academy in Poughkeepsie. You can read both poems here.

“We received many wonderful and inspiring pieces of writing,” said THV coordinator Debi Duke. “Although we could have only three winners, we’re looking forward to publishing more student writers throughout the winter and spring. Essays about Eleanor Roosevelt’s Val kill in Hyde Park, the replica of Henry Hudson’s Half Moon, and Muscoot Farm in Westchester County
are among those readers can watch for.”

The 1902 Park Avenue Tunnel Collision Online

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This Sunday marks the anniversary of a largely forgotten piece of New York history. On January 8, 1902, there was a train collision in the train tunnels of New York City. As a result of this disaster, laws were passed in NY which banned steam engines from entering Manhattan and forced the train companies to look into designing electric rails for their commuter trains. To accommodate electric rails, the old Grand Central Depot was torn down and the new and larger Grand Central Station was built, which changed the landscape of NYC forever.

Researcher Cathy Horn has been building an online memorial to the event which includes lists of those involved (including some short biographies), photos, documents, and newspaper clippings from the event.

Peter Feinman: County Historical Societies

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This is the third in a series of posts on the New York State History infrastructure. The previous ones were on County Historians and Municipal Historians. These posts draw on my experiences in initiating a series of county history conferences in the Hudson Valley this year and on Teacherhostels/Historyhostels I have conducted such as the one to the Mohawk Valley this past summer prior to Irene. Read more →

Squandering the Opportunity of Crisis:Long Island Sound History

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When I was growing up in New Rochelle, more years ago than I care to remember, one required trip in the new suburban world which was being created was to Rye Playland. It was a standard family and summer camp trip from a more innocent time. I wasn’t even able to enjoy all the rides since I wasn’t tall enough to reach the red line that marked the difference between childhood and adulthood. Of course, soon after crossing that threshold, the summer camp trip ended and there were other places to go. Read more →

John Jays Rye Home Draws Over 1,200 for Fall Fest

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Growing exponentially in membership support from Westchester and Fairfield counties, the Jay Heritage Center (JHC) recently hosted its annual Fall Family Festival, celebrating American culture and traditions. Highlights included costumed tours of JHC’s Sesquicentennial Civil War Exhibit &#8220The Jays and the Abolition of Slavery&#8221 along with traditional music and activities for all ages.

The event was organized by JHC’s Young Preservationists, a group of parents committed to the adaptive reuse of John Jay’s landmark home as a community learning center for children and adults, a place furnished with lively ideas and people, not just furniture. The fresh vision of co-presidents, Emma Hanratty and Caroline Wallach had great resonance as over 1200 people showed up to applaud their efforts while munching on crisp autumn apples and sipping cider. The weather held as parents and kids painted pumpkins and ran 3 legged races in the old Jay meadow- the property thrummed with traditional folk tunes like Oh Susannah provided by the duo Cracked Walnuts. Nate the jackstock donkey was back courtesy of Tilly Foster Farm and reminded visitors that the Jay estate was once itself a working farm with plentiful crops and gardens. Farmer’s market offerings of pumpkin muffins and homemade jams were on hand thanks to Meredith’s Bread from Kingston while Cocoa out of neighboring Larchmont satisfied sweet cravings with artisanal chocolates and brownies. The place was filled with butterflies &#8211 both the winged wildlife that naturally adorns the landscape as well as vivid butterfly painted faces and balloon animals to take home courtesy of James Daniels.

Grownups had plenty to see too as veteran JHC archaeologist, Dr. Eugene Boesch, displayed the Paleo Indian and archaic woodland artifacts he has recovered from the grounds of this national treasure including a 4000 year old projectile point. Bruce Macdonald of Ashwood Restoration opened up his preservation workshop and explained the challenges involved in recreating mahogany spindles for the mansion’s 19th century staircase. At the 1907 Carriage House, families saw a sustainable dollhouse and learned that their footprints matter in a power point presentation on invasive trees and plants threatening New York State habitats. But many parents and grandparents were content to just sit in wicker rockers on the veranda to watch their children play and drink in the unequalled view of New York State’s oldest man-managed meadow a vista famously dubbed &#8220a time funnel&#8221 to the past.

The event was part of the Hudson River Valley Ramble weekend which celebrates American heritage in New York State. It also coincided with President Obama’s call to service for National Public Lands, encouraging volunteers all over America to get more involved in the parks they love like the Jay Property.

For more information on future Jay Heritage Center and Young Preservationist events and volunteer opportunities go to www.jaycenter.org or friend them on Facebook.

Photo: Jack Lundin sports Union blue like many of John Jay’s descendants did during the Civil War.

John Jays Manhattan Historic Walking Tour

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John Jay’s Manhattan, an historic walking tour sponsored by John Jay Homestead State Historic Site, will take place Saturday, October 15. Participants will meet in lower Manhattan, and step off promptly at 10:00 a.m., rain or shine. The cost of participation is $20.00 per person- members of the Friends of John Jay Homestead can participate for $15.00.

Founding Father John Jay, America’s first Chief Justice, was born and educated in New York City, and spent much of his life there. The walking tour will trace his haunts, visiting the locations of the places where he lived and worked as one of New York’s leading lawyers and politicians, as well as U.S. Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Chief Justice of the United States, and Governor of New York. The tour will recall the time when New York was the capitol city of a young republic, and present a reminder of how the geography and architecture of Manhattan Island have changed since the arrival of the first European settlers in the 17th century.

The walk will cover approximately 1? miles and take about two hours, proceeding at a leisurely pace over mostly level terrain. Comfortable footwear is highly recommended. The tour will both begin and end in lower Manhattan, convenient to several subway lines. Attendance is limited, and advance registration is required- payment is due in advance, and is non-refundable. To reserve your place and learn the tour’s initial gathering place, call John Jay Homestead at (914) 232-5651, extension 100.

John Jay Homestead State Historic Site is located at 400 Route 22, Katonah, N.Y. It is regularly open for guided tours Sunday through Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and at other times by appointment.

Curators Finds Focus of John Jay Talk

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Curator’s Fabulous Finds, a series of artifact talks at John Jay Homestead, will continue on Sunday, October 2 at 2:00 p.m., and will be repeated on Thursday, October 6 at 7:00 p.m. This fall’s lecture will examine and discuss portraits of members of the Jay family from the Homestead’s historic collection. The cost of admission will be $10.00 per person- members of the Friends of John Jay Homestead may attend at no charge.

The functions of portraiture and the differing ways people were portrayed over history will be explored, discussing pictures by such famous painters in the Homestead’s collection as John Trumbull and John Singer Sargent. The techniques of oil painting and watercolor will also be covered. Participants will get a close look at several paintings, and details of the lives of the people in them will round out the talk.

Space at the lecture is limited, and reservations are strongly suggested. To reserve seats, call John Jay Homestead at (914) 232-5651, extension 105.

John Jay was a President of the Continental Congress, the second U.S. Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and the second Governor of New York State. He retired to Bedford in 1801 to live the life of a gentleman farmer. His home is now a beautiful sixty-two acre historic site that includes lovely walks, several gardens, farm buildings, and a richly-decorated main residence restored to the 1820s, the last decade of Jay’s life.

John Jay Homestead State Historic Site is located at 400 Route 22, Katonah, N.Y. John Jay Homestead is regularly open for guided tours Sunday through Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and at other times by appointment. The site is one of six historic sites and 15 parks administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation – Taconic Region. For additional information about John Jay Homestead, please visit www.johnjayhomestead.org.

July 4th Jamboree at John Hay Homestead

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On Monday, July 4, John Jay Homestead State Historic Site in Katonah, N.Y. will hold special programs in celebration of America’s 235th birthday.

The festivities will begin at 11:00 a.m. with The American Colonials Fife and Drum Band playing Yankee Doodle and other patriotic songs, followed by a reading of the Declaration of Independence from the front porch of the Jay home. This part of the program will conclude with visitors, young and old, getting an opportunity to sign a copy of the Declaration themselves. The fife and drum concert and reading will be given free of charge.

At noon, tours of the first floor period rooms of John Jay’s house will become available for $5.00 for adults, seniors, and students. Children aged twelve and under, and members of the Friends of John Jay Homestead, can tour the house free. Admission tickets will be sold until 1:30- the historic house will close at 2:00 p.m.

A new part of the program will also begin at noon and continue until 4:00, a July 4th Jamboree, sponsored by the Bedford-Armonk Rotary Club. The Jamboree is a charity event that will take place near the Jay Homestead barnyard, and will include colonial games for kids, wagon rides, a patriotic pet parade and contest, a beekeeper, a blacksmith, a SPCA pet adoption station, live music, and food. Wristbands needed for participation in these activities will cost $10 for adults and $5 for children. The proceeds will benefit John Jay Homestead, the SPCA of Westchester County, and other local community organizations. For more information about the Jamboree, log onto www.july4jamboree.com.

John Jay Homestead State Historic Site is located at 400 Route 22 in Katonah, N.Y. It is one of six historic sites and 16 state parks administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation – Taconic Region.

Kids History Adventures at John Jay Homestead

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This summer your kids can become pioneering wilderness explorers with Lewis and Clark, patriotic soldiers during the War of 1812, and investigative naturalists and archeologists during John Jay Homestead’s History Adventure Days, a themed summer camp weeks at John Jay Homestead, organized as three weekly sessions.

Kids entering grades 2-7 can sign up for one session or all three. This year’s themes are “Exploring the Unknown: Lewis & Clark and the Corp of Discovery” (July 25-29), “Broad Stripes and Bright Stars: The War of 1812” (August 1-5), and “Seeing is Believing: Uncovering the Cabinet of Curiosity” (August 8-12).

Each session runs Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. The cost is $250.00 per week. A 10% discount is given to members of Friends of John Jay Homestead. Daily rates are available. More information about the program can be found online or by calling (914) 232-5651 x101. Be sure to register your child soon- spaces are limited and fill up quickly.

John Jay Homestead State Historic Site is located at 400 Route 22 in Katonah, Westchester County, NY. It is one of six state historic sites and 16 parks administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation – Taconic Region.

House Votes to Return Tripoli Vets Bodies

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Last week the United States House of Representatives passed a bill including an amendment authored by U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers, (R-MI), and Frank LoBiondo, (R-NJ), that would require the Department of Defense to repatriate the remains of 13 US Navy commandos buried in two mass graves in Tripoli, Libya since 1804.

The amendment &#8211 which would repatriate, identify and honor the sailors with a military funeral &#8211 was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). After passing the full House, the NDAA now heads to the US Senate for consideration.

&#8220My father, my father’s father, and his father’s father have wanted the remains of Master Commandant Richard Somers returned home, and we’ve worked for it since he and the men of the USS Intrepid were lost in Libya in 1804,&#8221 said Dean Somers of Somers Point, New Jersey. &#8220This is long, long overdue, and it wasn’t until we met recently with Rep. Frank Lobiondo and Chairman Rogers when we thought it was finally possible.&#8221

Somers and his crew were lost on an ill-fated mission to destroy Tripoli’s naval fleet during the Barbary Wars of the early 19th century. When their bodies of America’s first Navy commandos washed up on the beach in Tripoli, the bashaw &#8211 the king of the pirates &#8211 invited a pack of dogs to devour them as American prisoners of war looked on. The 13 remain buried today jumbled together in two Libyan graves. One of those graves is unmarked and underfoot on Green Square, the site of decades of anti-America rallies.

On September 4th 1804, Somers was in command of fire ship Intrepid which had been recently seized from its Tripolean crew, was prepared as a &#8220floating volcano&#8221 and readied to be sailed into Tripoli harbor and blown up in the midst of the enemy fleet under the walls of the city. She exploded prematurely, while entering the harbor killing Somers and his entire crew of volunteers.

Since 1804, there have been six ships of the US Navy that have been named USS Somers in his honor. In 2004, the state assembly in New Jersey passed two resolutions calling for the return of the sailor’s remains. The town of Somers, New York, located in Westchester County is named in his honor.

The City of Somers Point, named after the Master Commandant’s family and still their residence, has worked on repatriation for decades. Additionally, the descendants of American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wish for the return of the remains of his uncle, Lt. Henry Wadsworth, who served as second in command on the fire ship Intrepid when it was lost during the Barbary Wars. Born shortly after the failed mission, the legendary poet was named after his heroic uncle.

Illustration: Engraving, &#8220Blowing Up of the Fire Ship Intrepid commanded by Capt. Somers in the Harbour of Tripoli on the night of 4th Sepr. 1804.&#8221