IHARE – Teacherhostels, History and Archaeology Programs
New York has not always been the Empire State. When the United States was first constituted, the nation’s first capital was New York City (meaning Manhattan). During the American Revolution, Washington spent more time in this state than in any other. New York, the city that he had abandoned, remained an elusive target even though […]
Triangular Trade New York has experienced demographic change. There is a difference between between being the descendants of people who left Ghana centuries ago against their will to become slaves in New York and elsewhere in what became the middle passage and those who left Ghana recently by jet plane of their own free will […]
In White Plains, near where I live, there is annual Juneteenth parade and festival to commemorate the legal end of slavery in the United States. It is a community effort in recognition of June 19th, 1865, when Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had […]
The investigation into the hiring of Devin Lander, former executive director of MANY and legislative aide to Assemblyman Engelbright continues by drilling down the state bureaucracy. In the previous post, the position of the Commissioner of Education was reviewed. Mary Ellen Elia had received an open letter from two prominent state historians about the state […]
Casper the Friendly Ghost After my post on the abysmal state of the state Underground Railroad effort, I received comments from around the state about the situation. Below are the highlights of some of what is going on at the grassroots level. Buffalo (Erie County) – The Director of Library and Archives reported that […]
In January, Colorado hired a new state historian. When I saw the notice, it prompted me to examine what being a state historian in Colorado meant and what that might mean for New York. As it turns out, although the title is the same, there are significant differences in […]
An older version of the Village seal “We have literate people, we have educated people. But very few of them are really equipped with a democratic mind-set. Civic education was the missing link.” Azizullah Royesh, school champion in Afghanistan (NYT 1/23/16) It’s not often that a small community in upstate New York becomes fodder for […]
Robert Moses and Brooklyn Bridge Model The Erie Canal to the man on the moon was an extraordinary period of achievement for humanity, America, and New York. However, symbolically, even as Kennedy was pledging that we would have a man on the moon before the end of the decade, the tide had turned. In 1963, […]
Former State Historian Bob Weible/New Year/The Next State Historian? Once again the calendar has turned and a new year has commenced. As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that means it is time for New Year’s resolutions which we won’t keep. Instead, I would like to submit a […]
We are a species of belonging, of being part of place, of having a sense of identity based on that place. The place most closely associated with that sense of belonging is home. Be it ever so humble there is no place like it. Click your heels three times and you are there. Can it […]
by Peter Feinman
by Peter Feinman
by Peter Feinman
