The sudden retirement of Bob Weible, the New York State Historian, provides an opportunity to reassess the position. What does the history community want from the state historian – assuming there even should be one in the first place?
Sweden and Diversity in New York: All Caucasians Are Not White
Courtesy Andrew Hanna, BowShot The Swedes are coming! The Swedes are coming! In fact by the time you read this they already will have been here. On June 3, I received an email from Jim Williams, a volunteer at the Riverfront Marina in Newburgh. He had worked for nearly a year to have the Kalmar […]
Andrew Cuomo On The State of New York Tourism
Just before the July 4th weekend, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a press release on the state of tourism. The release covered tourism in its totality and did not address specific sectors like adventure tourism, winery tourism, historic tourism, and LGBT tourism, the four pillars of I Love NY promotions. It also did […]
Hamilton: The Broadway Musical Debuts
Last Monday I attended the Broadway opening of Hamilton, the musical. I was really looking forward to the event. The Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society was out in force. The opening was particularly auspicious coming one day after the anniversary of Hamilton’s death in 1804.
Schumer and Gibson on New York State History
Senator Chuck Schumer, Congressman Chris Gibson, and Governor Andrew Cuomo have all been in the news recently on the subject of history tourism. It is instructive to compare and contrast their involvement in the subject. On July 1, Senator Schumer visited the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, Greene County. The site is a […]
The Dannemora Prison Break and Extreme Tourism
The hunt by law enforcement officials for two escaped convicts from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora became a nonstop reality show in the media. For several weeks, each and every movement of the convict hunters was chronicled. When one was killed and the other wounded and captures, the show was over. So was the […]
5 Ways NYS Can Promote Its American Revolution Stories
New York has a great story to tell about its role in the American Revolution. In fact it has many great stories to tell, and many people are telling and struggling to tell those stories. Given the plethora of sites in the state relating to the American Revolution and to the significance of the events […]
Heritage Tourism Lessons from Jurassic World
Jurassic World, the latest tourism movie, has broken box office records. It showcases the plight of executive directors of destination tourist sites in continually developing newer and more exciting exhibits to attract an increasingly bored public with limited attention span and which wants to be stimulated. The exhibits at Jurassic World are even more dangerous […]
NYS History Fail: A Better Connecticut Example
June 6th and June 20th weekends offer two contrasting perceptions of how to celebrate the history of New York State. These two weekends highlight fundamental problems with New York State’s approach to state heritage and makes clear that the state of Connecticut demonstrates greater leadership and a more profound understanding of its history community.
Funding A History Passport Program
Passports are an underutilized resource for promoting tourism and community identity. While I have been a strong advocate for the creation and use of passports at the local, county, and regional basis for schools and tourism, I only now have realized the potential funding opportunity with the latest round of funding through the Regional Economic […]
