Subscribe to the IHARE Blog

Advocacy

Funding A History Passport Program

June 10, 2015
by Peter Feinman

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 Development Councils (REDC).

This epiphany began at the annual conference of the Association of Public Historians in New York State in Corning in April. On the display table there was a pile of Adirondack Coast Cultural Alliance passports. Continue reading “Funding A History Passport Program” →

A Call For Municipal Historian Reform In NYS

June 4, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This question of what municipal historians should be doing came up at the recent annual conference of the Association of Public Historians of New York (APNYS). The setting was a session at the conference for first-time municipal historians and was chaired by Christine Ridarsky, the City of Rochester Historian who works at the Central Library in Rochester and serves on the APHNYS board.

The stories told during the session did not reflect well on the state of the municipal historian position in New York State. Some had stumbled into the job based on very local circumstances. They didn’t know what the job entailed, nor did the municipal leaders who appointed them. Continue reading “A Call For Municipal Historian Reform In NYS” →

The State of the Municipal Historian

May 19, 2015
by Peter Feinman

New York prides itself as being the only state in the country to require each municipality to have an historian. Unfortunately, besides taking pride in this action, the State does little or nothing to support those historians.

In previous posts, I have reported the following based on an analysis of a download of the municipal listings from the Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS): Continue reading “The State of the Municipal Historian” →

Inside New York State’s History Tourism Bubble

April 29, 2015
by Peter Feinman

The Albany-Manhattan bubble is a term I use to describe the alternate reality in which the New York State government operates regarding history tourism.

Recent events in New York, Albany, and Corning (The New York Times Travel Show, Tourism Action Day, a Tourism Advisory Council Meeting, and the Museum Association of New York Annual Conference), and the presentations and comments I heard from by the inhabitants of the Albany-Manhattan bubble, demonstrate a disconnect with the real world and little hope that anything constructive will be done to bridge that gap. Continue reading “Inside New York State’s History Tourism Bubble” →

Applying For History Money From New York State

April 23, 2015
by Peter Feinman

An excellent meeting was held on April 7 at the Wallace Center, Hyde Park with the history community in the Hudson Valley and Meghan Taylor, the new director for the Mid-Hudson Region Economic Development Council (REDC).

The subject of the meeting was MONEY: what funding does New York State have and how can the history community apply for it? A second purpose was to introduce Meghan to the history community and the community to her. Continue reading “Applying For History Money From New York State” →

Create Pathfinders In Your Region

April 7, 2015
by Peter Feinman

I attended The New York Times Travel Show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City in January, as a member of the press for The New York History Blog. The event included a special session, “Focus on New York State Destinations,” moderated by Tim Lewis, of Viator Inc.

The company apparently has been hired by ILoveNY to promote tours in New York State. Its website lists 19 tours in New York at present: 16 in Manhattan and three to Niagara Falls, including one-day trips from the New York City. There is a two-day bus trip to Niagara Falls from New York with a “Bargain shop at one of the large outlet malls on the way back to New York.” New York State history does not appear to be a prominent part of its tour packages at present. Again, it should be noted, the company was hired to promote New York State tourism not history tourism in New York State. Continue reading “Create Pathfinders In Your Region” →

A Report From The Federal Grants Workshop

March 16, 2015
by Peter Feinman

On November 12, 2014, at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, a federal grants workshop for arts and culture organizations was held through the auspices of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

The half-day workshop was held to familiarize organizations with the funding opportunities available through the federal government. Continue reading “A Report From The Federal Grants Workshop” →

Governor’s ‘Opportunity Agenda’ Passes Over History

March 9, 2015
by Peter Feinman

Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued his “2015 Opportunity Agenda”.  While there is no mention of the Path through History nor are history, historic sites, heritage tourism or historic preservation listed as targeted areas, it’s still of interest for those interested in the state of history in New York.

Governor Cuomo is not known for visiting the state’s historic sites and they are not included in what he sees as “opportunities” for 2015.  It would appear that cultural heritage tourism involving historic sites doesn’t really rate high with Governor Cuomo. Continue reading “Governor’s ‘Opportunity Agenda’ Passes Over History” →

REDC Awards Nurture Infrastructure, Ignore History

February 23, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This post is part of a continuing series on discerning the actual policies of New York State regarding promoting history by following the money it awards through the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) process.

The focus in this post is on where the State awards money in support of cooperation and collaboration. In other words, the awards here aren’t for a specific event or site but are more sweeping in scope. They seek to support multiple organizations and entities working together on behalf of a larger goal than any one group could achieve on its own. There are lessons to be learned here for the history community which is not the recipient of any of these awards. Continue reading “REDC Awards Nurture Infrastructure, Ignore History” →

The REDC’s Art Tourism Funding

February 17, 2015
by Peter Feinman

This is the seventh in a series of posts on the awards granted by the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC). The Path through History received short shrift in the awards process, but there were history-related awards nonetheless.

These awards tended to be issued by the New York States Council on the Arts and the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) in accordance with policies created before Path through History was launched. In this post, we focus on the awards for another type of tourism: Art Tourism. Continue reading “The REDC’s Art Tourism Funding” →