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American Revolution 250th: What’s Going On?

August 11, 2023
by Peter Feinman
Graphic by America 250.

What is going on in the world of the American Revolution 250th? What follows is by no means a comprehensive report. It is a review of items that happen to cross my email by being a member of various lists. I present them in terms of scope starting at the national level

NATIONAL

Hi Peter,

As one of the original supporters of America250, I wanted you to be one of the first people to know – starting on the 4th of July this year, we’re officially kicking off the countdown to the 250th commemoration with America’s Invitation. This campaign will touch Americans from all across the country and expand our community planning the commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 – and I’m hoping that you can be a part of this historic moment. 

America’s Invitation is a chance for Americans to share their pride in their communities, culture, and experiences to capture and pass down to future generations. We’ll share these reflections as part of our mission to tell the full American story and to create the most inclusive commemoration in our history.

We are in the process of collecting submissions ahead of the launch of America’s Invitation on July 4, 2023, and I want to personally invite you to share your story. Whether it’s a photo of a meaningful local landmark, reflections on how you want to mark this historic milestone, or even a family recipe passed down through generations, we want you to share anything that is unique to you. This will give Americans the chance to learn about each other and preserve a portrait of America at 250.

Your story is the American story. Share a photo, video, poem, or other reflection with us today!

In anticipation of launching America’s Invitation, stay tuned for our next email in the coming days, where we’ll have more information on the road to the 250th commemoration in 2026 and other ways that you can get involved.

Thank you again for being a part of America250. With your help, we’ll make sure this is a commemoration that will make every American proud.

Warm regards,

The Honorable Rosie Rios
Chair, United States Semiquincentennial Commission

A few weeks later there was a followup email along the same lines. These emails show the national organization is alive and starting to reach out the American public. This is a welcome step forwards. Of course it is still bound by 2026.

National: Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture

Hosted by Maria DiBenigno, Hilary Miller, and Amy Speckart
Revolutionary Narratives: Reconsidering Commemorations at the U.S. 250th
Wednesdays at 4 pm ET (7/26, 8/2, 8/9, 8/16, 8/23)

What will 2026 look like at historic sites, museums, in libraries and archives, at schools and universities, in community organizations and local cultural institutions, at art museums and on historic battlefields? We already know that U.S. Semiquincentennial commemorations will be diffuse, decentralized, and debated. At national conferences and with regional planning committees, the facilitators, members of the working group Revolutionary Narratives, are exploring the possibilities of 2026 while acknowledging the long and problematic history of commemorations in the United States.

In our Coffeehouse, we will explore seven questions that have come up in conversation over the last two years.

1. How do we learn from past national commemorations?
2. How does popular culture influence and is influenced by public commemorations?
3. How do we encourage social responsibility during the 250th, especially when confronting gun culture, gender and race relations, climate crises, disinformation campaigns, etc.?
4. How do we produce historical knowledge, and what are we overlooking or undervaluing?
5. How can we think inclusively about the American Revolution and the 250th?
6. How can we think expansively about the American Revolution and the 250th?
7. How do we use this moment to bring the public together and respond to community interest, and who is the U.S. Semiquincentennial for?

We welcome anyone interested in the U.S. 250th to join the conversation—graduate students, public history practitioners, independent scholars, etc. Ultimately, our Coffeehouse will develop a short reflection piece, like a blog post, to reconsider the real-world implications of doing the 250th.

REGISTER HERE for “Revolutionary Narratives: Reconsidering Commemorations at the 250th”

Here we have a national history organization stepping in to provide informal coffee house discussions on the 250th. Although I have not been able to attend any of these online sessions so far, I will try in the future. I don’t know if they are recorded or not. In any event, good questions are being asked and discussed by people like you so it is worth a try.

NATIONAL: NCHE (National Council for History Education)

Educate and Commemorate: America’s 250th Anniversary in America’s Classrooms
September 19, 2023 ~ 7:30pm ET
Madeleine Rosenberg, American Association for State and Local History
LeRae Umfleet, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Stephanie Hartman, Colorado Department of Education, America 250 – Colorado 150 Commission
Katie Roach, American 250 – Colorado 150 Commission

In 2026, the Declaration of Independence turns 250 years old. Americans continue to grapple with the impact of that document and how we have, and haven’t, lived up to its ideals. Students need to be included in these conversations, whether they live in one of the original 13 colonies or anywhere else in the United States. Join the American Association for State and Local History and two state organizations – from North Carolina and Colorado – to learn about commemoration efforts across the nation and how education initiatives are gearing up for America’s 250th.

https://ncheteach.org/conversation-post/Educate-and-Commemorate

Here is another national organization, this time a little more teacher oriented than museum, with a national program.

REGIONAL: CANADA, NEW ENGLAND, NEW YORK

Fort Ticonderoga has announced the creation of the 250th Northern Department, as part of its plans for the national 250th commemoration of the American War for Independence. This initiative will promote and market regional historic sites during the commemorative period from 2024-2027 and beyond through print and digital content and social media platforms.

The announcement came at a recent regional 250th commemoration meeting, held in Fort Ticonderoga’s Mars Education Center. Representatives from over 50 partnering organizations, museums and historic sites from across New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Canada were in attendance to discuss 250th commemorative plans.

“The Northern Department shouldered the assault of British forces from the Canada in 1776 and 1777, culminating in the surrender of John Burgoyne’s army in October of 1777, forever altering the course of American history,” said Devin R. Lander, New York State Historian. “Today, as we build plans to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the War for the American Independence, we are thrilled to see Fort Ticonderoga initiate the recreation of the Northern Department. This project, connecting key partners in New York, Vermont and Canada, will promote Northern Department historic sites and draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the region during the commemorative period.”

“It might be said that Washington’s tour of the forts and battlefields of the Northern Department in 1783 made this region collectively the site of the first Revolutionary War tourism,” said Beth L. Hill, Fort Ticonderoga President and CEO. “The Northern Department was critical to American victory in the Revolution and was recognized early on as the site of remarkable human achievements combined with some of America’s most dramatic scenery. Today we are energized to build off this legacy, encourage travel and catapult our region into the forefront of 250th commemoration in New York, the United States, North America, and beyond!”

Fort Ticonderoga will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution as the conflict that shaped our nation. To serve our mission of preservation and education, Fort Ticonderoga will explore the individuals, alliances, triumphs, and challenges of the long war to achieve American independence and their lasting impact on the United States and the world.  To learn more about 250th programs, events and other commemorative plans, visit https://www.fortticonderoga.org/learn-and-explore/ticonderoga-250th-real-time-revolution/

This level of international and multistate cooperation is a welcome development. Not all events in the American Revolution were restricted by our boundary lines to day. I look forward to trips for teachers and the general public to these multiple locations over the course of the 2024-2027 period. Back when I was doing teacherhostels/historyhostels, Fort Ticonderoga was one of the regular stops and I got to watch the Mars Education Center being build. I predict some very specific events and activities as a result of this collaboration and hope to be able to participate in them.

This model also can be used for other geographic areas even if confined to one state. I hope there will be presentations at history and museum conferences about the ongoing developments of this initiative.

STATE: CONNECTICUT

Preparing for the 250th in Connecticut

When: Wednesday, August 09, 2023 11:00 AM, EDT

Join us to learn more about Connecticut’s Semiquincentennial Commission, resources that they have released, and resources that are in development. Share your current plans and receive resources to help with planning for Connecticut’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This program is run in collaboration with CT Humanities. 

Connecticut has an up and running state commission which includes the Connecticut League of Historic Organizations (CLHO). I am a member and attended this online session without about 135 other people. Some of what happened in Connecticut does overlap with New York State such as Sybil Ludington who a couple of the participants mentioned. There was even mention of the Lafayette Bicentennial in 1824 and 1825. This was of interest me as I am working with the American Friends of Lafayette to celebrate that event in New York.

REGIONAL: HUDSON VALLEY

Revolutionary Hudson Valley is a newly formed not-for-profit organization, supported by the Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN), to assist with planning and coordinating the 250th anniversary in the Hudson Valley region. Spearheaded by Dutchess County historian Dr. William Tatum III, representatives from the region will actively assist, support, and publicize local 250th riverside events in Dutchess, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Green and Columbia Counties, reaching out to key stakeholders including historians, historical societies, tourism professionals and elected officials and potential funders.

The story of the American Revolution in the Hudson Valley cannot be told by county. Think of Benedict Arnold and John André for example. Here we have an example of a regional history organization within a state taking the lead in creating a non-profit to serve the same areas it does in its museum work. I am sure we will hear more about it at upcoming annual conference, now live again, to be held at Boscobel this fall.

REGIONAL: LONG ISLAND

As the country looks ahead to the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War, leaders on Long Island have announced plans for a commemoration of the region’s local ties to the American War for Independence. 

A bi-county planning commission will design a series of events to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the role that Long Island played during the Revolutionary War period.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced the formation of the commission this week at Sagtikos Manor — a former headquarters for the British Army. “This is something we will be commemorating as a nation but it’s important that we commemorate it here on Long Island because of the pivotal role that Long Island played during this founding of our nation and during this revolutionary period,” Bellone said.

Local historians, educators and representatives from the five Native American nations on Long Island will participate in the planning to focus on local battles, the political division of loyalists versus revolutionaries and the impact on local residents.

Sandi Brewster-Walker, a historian and a member of the Montaukett Indian Nation, said she was happy to be involved in the planning and hoped the commission would take a realistic view of the region’s Revolutionary War history. “This is a time period that we, the Montaukett, we the Native Americans on Long Island, we lost our land,” she said. “And usually people don’t talk about that. But we also had numerous people from Long Island that were Native American that fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War.”

https://www.wshu.org/long-island-news/2023-06-15/long-island-prepares-for-250th-anniversary-of-the-revolutionary-war

The combination of the two counties is a natural one. There will, of course, be connections with Connecticut. Nathan Hale and the Culper spy ring come to mind. The inclusion of the Montaukett Indian Nation in the commission and the planning indicates that the story of the American Revolution will be more inclusive than it has been in the past.

COUNTY: MONTGOMERY

As the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Montgomery County, NY is making its own preparations by establishing a commission to create educational programming, events and messaging to promote the county’s significant connections to the Revolutionary War.

The sound of musket fire and cannon blasts once echoed across Tryon County and the Mohawk Valley. During the late 1770s and early 1780s, the founding of America and the struggle for freedom was playing out in part across Montgomery County, New York.

Visit Montgomery County, the county’s tourism initiative, has already prioritized local historic assets as part of its broader messaging, because of the interest generated by residents and visitors from outside of the region.

Publicly accessible sites in Montgomery County connected to the Revolutionary War include the Stone Arabia Battlefield and the Stone Arabia churches (including the cemetery where Col. John Brown is buried); The Fort Plain Museum; Fort Klock Historic Restoration; Old Fort Johnson National Historic Landmark; Van Alstyne Homestead; Fort Lewis and the Currytown Massacre site; Isaac Paris House; and Palatine Church.

Members of the County Legislature passed a resolution officially establishing the Commission during their meeting on June 27th.

Members of the Revolutionary War 250th Commemoration Commission are expected to be tasked with developing public programming, events and marketing materials that commemorate and honor the Revolutionary War, including the Battle of Stone Arabia and other activities that occurred in the county at that time. Commission members will create a logo and messaging that showcases the county’s connections to the war, with an eye toward promoting long-term heritage tourism.

The commission is expected to consist of 13 members, representing local historic sites, county government, and other relevant stakeholders.

This county initiative is welcome news to me. I have attended multiple conferences on the American Revolution there hosted by the Fort Plain Museum. Indeed at the last conference, speakers from Saratoga and Westchester counties presented on what they are doing. The former has a government commission led by the county historian while the latter has a non-profit 501(c)3 and has been very active this past year giving lectures throughout the county and holding family events.

I hope Montgomery County will take the lead in reaching to nearby counties to create a Mohawk Valley American Revolution Commission which will include some of the Haudenosaunee nations (not all of them are located in the Mohawk Valley).

This overview shows that people at the ground level are starting to do things. They are organizing at the county and multiple county regional level to tell the story of the American Revolution. Even in New York with its unstaffed and unfunded state commission people are working through their local county governments to prepare for the 250th and the years beyond. I suspect at some point the pace will pick up.

I apologize to people who are working on the 250th who were not included in this blog but as I said it is based on various email notices I receive and not from researching the communities.

 

 

 

Experimenting with History: The Greater Hudson Heritage Network Conference

December 2, 2019
by Peter Feinman

I am back from some non-history conferences in San Diego and Thanksgiving is over so it is time to resume the reporting on history-related conferences.

The next conference chronologically in this series of blogs is the Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) conference “Experimenting with History: A Field Guide to Connecting Science and Your Heritage Organization” at Bear Mountain Inn on September 24, 2019. The welcome message touts the conference as a field guide in this area. Specifically, the areas of concern are STEM, visitations, and understanding collections better through conservation, forensics, and imaging technology.

The format of the conference differs from most conferences. The normal concurrent session format was not followed. Nor were presentations in 30-60 minutes increments. Instead presentations were of 8 minute duration. After four such 8-minute presentations, each presenter moved to a table in a larger room. Attendees were invited to join a presenter for follow-up and in-person discussion with the individual presenters. Attendees also had the opportunity to rotate among the presenters during this part of the session. The goal is to maximize the direct contact. In this one-day conference, there were three such speaker blocs and opportunities to follow the speaker.

As always, I am not going to list all the sessions and duplicate the information in the conference booklet. Instead, I will highlight some of the presentations that seem directly relevant to me based on my own interests.

Actually, the first one was totally unexpected and unlike a typical presentation.

Mystery of the Murdered Monarch: Identifying the Remains of Tsar Nicholas II
Michael Perekrestov, Russian History Museum

Nicholas II, Russia’s last tsar, was killed in July 1918 along with his wife, five children, and four loyal attendants. Since that time, the fate of their remains has generated myths, speculation, and controversy. This presentation will shed light on new information on the identification of the imperial family’s remains that was presented in the 2018-2019 “Last Days of the Last Tsar” exhibition at the Russian History Museum in Jordanville, NY. Specifically, it will highlight the results of a recent DNA analysis conducted by the FBI involving locks of hair found in objects belonging to Russia’s last imperial family.  

I venture to say that this presentation addresses issues not typically associated with the local museums and historical organizations. I confess that I did not know there is a Russian History Museum in upstate New York. It is a 20th century museum connected to the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary located there. I have noticed from time to time at these history conferences the presence of museums dedicated to what happened in the old country, so to speak, and not to what happened here. I have no idea how many such museums there are. They would seem to form a subset within the history community in that they are devoted to telling the story of people and events from outside the United States. Not that Russia is not in the news a lot these days for its involvement in American history…

Habitats and Health: STEAM Institute at the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
Robert Katz, Dyckman Farmhouse Museum

The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum’s STEAM Institute, now in its fourth year, has hosted over 70 children and their families from as near as the neighboring apartment complex in upper Manhattan to as far away as Brooklyn, and is a popular offering for long-time patrons and new visitors. STEAM Institute is a great way for kids to get their hands dirty engage in fun, educational activities that connect the history of the past with our present day community, as well as to learn about healthy living choices, foodways, and urban nature. STEAM Institute is a community-oriented, collaborative education opportunity that continues to be a success for visitors and the museum alike.

The presenter is a science consultant hired by Historic House Trust, the private New York City entity that operates 23 historic sites owned by the city. In this instance, the scientific expertise is gardens and foodways. Many historic sites once were part of farms and certainly had gardens. To separate a site from its agricultural heritage is to separate it from part of its history. Plus gardens provide an excellent way to connect the neighborhood people in the present to a site that otherwise might seem remote and irrelevant to them. In this case a Dutch, Lenape, Dominican garden was created. It pays homage to the peoples who were here in colonial times and those who are here today.

In my own local historical society, I have proposed an English, Lenape, Africa garden. As with the Historic House Trust site, the land and the colonial homestead are owned by the village but in our case the site is part of an active park. How much land we would be able to get for a garden is still to be determined even assuming the historical society approves my vision.

A handout for the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum project included an article by Myra Young, Armistead, Bard College. I know her from her work involving a free black gardener at Mount Gulian in Beacon, NY. The article was about another freed black gardener further north along the Hudson at Montgomery Place in Red Hook. One of the conference Awards for Excellence was for work done in his honor including a quilt commissioned about it. Together, these garden activities reveal as aspect of life not always visible in visits limited to the big house. I recall a Teacherhostel/Historyhostel to Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie. Besides visiting all the Samuel Morse “stuff,” we also walked the grounds with current gardener responsible for maintaining the grounds. He was not a regular tour guide and his enthusiasm for “his” plants made for a different tour then of objects other people made or owned.

Speaking of dirt, I could not resist the next presentation.

Digging Up History: A Youth Archaeology Camp in South Troy, New York
Christopher Hopkins, The Children’s Museum of Science and Technology

The summer archaeological camp held by The Children’s Museum of Science and Technology (CMOST) allows students a unique hands-on experience with the rich cultural history of Troy, NY. Students learn about archaeological field techniques, data collection, laboratory analysis, and artifact conservation while working on an 18th-century site located in South Troy. The students participate in the creation of a historical narrative through the interpretation of their findings during the camp.

The opening talk in our archaeology society this season was about a dig conducted on the grounds of a high school by the high school students. As with gardens, an archaeology dig on site provides another way to connect people to a site. No, you will not uncover the Rosetta Stone but you will find small links to life in the past.

I recall bringing teachers to the dig at the Jay Heritage Center in Rye near where is live. One fourth-grade teacher had a great time finding nails and bits of pottery. On the other hand, when he tried to communicate his enthusiasm to his students about these little links to the past, they gave him that look that kids give when adults start talking with great excitement about “So what, what’s the big deal” topics. In any event, digs like gardens are a great way to connect with the community. If you are able to do one of both at your own site, I strongly recommend it…and I know many of you do so already.

So what are the takeaways from this conference?

Archaeology digs.
Gardens.
Murder mysteries.

And maybe try a different conference format as an experiment.

Historians Who Have Historians Are the Luckiest People in the World: The Need for Meetings and Meetups

September 23, 2019
by Peter Feinman

To paraphrase Barbra Streisand, historians often exist in an isolated vacuum but need fellow historians to thrive. Consider this situation: you spend years in graduate school and then working on your dissertation. Finally you are done and you get a job at a college. How many colleagues will you have who share the same interest? Yes, there may be other history professors there but not necessarily with the same expertise or interest you have. So what do you do?

Once upon a time scholars believed that if you build it, they will come. As it turns back in the before time, first we gathered, then we built it. We are a social species and storytellers so we periodically need to gather with other people. That is human nature.

Last summer (is it really over!), I attended the annual conference of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR). The conference provides an opportunity for scholars of similar interest to gather together and present papers (I will get around to writing about the conference itself). But it also provides an opportunity for people to see each other and break bread together. Finally after months of being trapped alone on a college campus with no adult who has the same interest, you are among your own kind, people who speak your language, who share your concerns.

Actually, this annual get-together at SHEAR is supplemented by a range of opportunities during the school year to be united with your fellow historians. Already emails have started about early American history seminars being held this semester up and down the east coast. There are programs in Boston, Providence, New York, Binghamton, Philadelphia and points south and west just to name a few. I get some of the notices and sometimes they include the possibility of downloading a paper if one cannot attend in person. Such presentations draw from scholars within a reasonable travel distance of the host site and generally include a meal. They exist because we are people who typically do not want to be limited to our silos but want to get together, catch up, share knowledge, and eat.

Earlier this month, I attended the annual conference of the Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS). The conference location rotates around the state (never in New York City!). The attendance varies depending on the location and who is in close driving distance to the site so they can avoid lodging charges. Again it provides an opportunity for the municipal historians of the state who typically work with no contact with any other historian to do exactly what the history professors and grad students at the SHEAR conference are doing.

In this case, there are no monthly seminars. The state is divided into 12 regions. Each region is encouraged to have a spring conference to provide a second chance to meet-up. As a one day event, the regional conference draws people who cannot attend the more distant statewide conference with travel and lodging costs that usually are not reimbursed by the municipality. They would be if the mayor, police chief, or town clerk attended a state conference but not so much for historians. With 12 regions, as you might expect, the success of the spring conference varies, but still there is a recognition and attempt to bring people together.

One of the reasons why I advocate for county history conferences including both municipal historians and history organizations is to bring such meetings as close as possible. People who live only miles apart and do the same type of work may have no contact with each other, a major problem of the job along with the lack of reimbursement for state conferences. Do mayors never talk to other mayors? Police chiefs to other police chiefs.

One organization that has fully embraced the concept of meetups is the Museum Association of New York (MANY). Like SHEAR, APHNYS, and the New England Museum Association (NEMA), it has an annual conference that geographically rotates around the region served. In addition it has a very robust series of regional meetings throughout the state. Part of the reason it can do this is it has fulltime staff. Executive Director Erika Sanger then has the good fortune of being able to travel around the state to the ten regions (versus the APHNYS 12).

These meetings provide an opportunity to meet and perhaps get a behind the scenes tour of the host site. But they also accomplish another goal. MANY has a lobbyist. It has someone who advocates with the State Legislature on certain bills that are relevant to museums. It also is able to learn about legislation originating outside the history community that may affect the history community. Either way, by having these statewide meetings, Erika is able to bring the members of the organization up-to-date on what is going on at the state capital. MANY also had had conference calls on the legislative status. But MANY is not yet at a point where it can arrange its own advocacy day at the state capital the way so many other interest groups do.

In addition, in five of the 10 scheduled meet-ups for the fall, there is day program prior to the afternoon/evening program. That day program does have a registration fee.

There are other organizations which also promote such get together. For example, tomorrow or for you today when you are receive this blog, the Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) will be holding its annual meeting at Bear Mountain. Even in a region like Hudson Valley, it is sufficiently large to warrant rotating the location to draw people. GHHN too offers programs during the year. Some are technical in nature and require a fee; others are late afternoon/early evening get togethers and include a behind-the-scene tour of the host site.

This survey is not complete. It is meant to highlight the importance of people getting together with colleagues, with people who share similar interests and problems. My favorite session at the APHNYS session is the new historian session. You are the new historian. Now what? I love hearing the stories of people new to the position tell of the challenges to figure out just what exactly they are supposed to do (another area of weakness in the municipal historian position in New York State).

This year the sessions was doubly gratifying. I was able to prevail on the mayor of the village and town supervisor of the village and town where I live to appoint a municipal historian. It happens to be the same person but that’s fine since you really cannot tell the story of the former founded in 1868 without telling the story of the latter founded in 1660 and vice-versa. The new historian was also able to attend the conference (possibly even to be reimbursed!). And I know he greatly appreciated the chance to meet his fellow new historians and to learn about what other historians are doing.

If you can attend an annual meeting do so.
If you can attend a regional meeting in your state do so.
If you can attend a county meeting do so.
If you do not have a county meeting, create one.
You should never feel that you are in this alone and you should never be in the position alone.

Two P.S.’s.
1. When organizing a meeting keep in mind the National Park Service and state historic sites. Frequently these people are left outside the invited list. True they often are not allowed to attend such conferences unless on their own time, but the information at least should be sent to them to give them the chance.

2. I have omitted specialized conferences on specific topics. For example, following the GHHN conference at Bear Mountain there will be a James Fenimore Cooper conference including a field trip to Cooperstown. Maybe there are too many conferences! That is why I cannot keep up with reporting on them in these blogs.

History Storytelling: Examples from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network Conference

October 20, 2018
by Peter Feinman
Kathy Wright and some guy at the GHHN Conference, Bear Mountain

The last month has been a busy time for conferences. In this post and subsequent ones, I wish to present information from these conferences to people who were unable to attend them but may be interested in the sessions. My particular focus will be on examples of storytelling. I am interested in how history organizations are reaching out into their communities including sectors of the community which may not have a longstanding record of involvement in such organizations.

The Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) conference Flipping the Narrative: Voices Unheard, Stories Untold  (9/25/18) consisted of two major components. One part was “Awards for Excellence” while the other was presentations. I apologize in advance for not including everybody in this blog. The full slate of information can be found at the GHHN website.

Some awards and presentations involved active storytelling or performances.

“In Her Words: A Women’s History Lecture and Performance”
Historic Huguenot Street
New Paltz (Ulster)

This education award is in recognition of “In Her Words: A Women’s History Lecture and Performance” at Historic Huguenot Street. On March 10, 2018, Historic Huguenot Street held a performance telling the stories of eight influential women who helped shape local history over the last four centuries. Through monologues and music derived from historical research and in collaboration with local historians and scholars, the audience was given a glimpse these women’s dreams, fears, flaws, and challenges during momentous times in the region’s history.

According to the program brochure I picked up from the display table, the figures ranged from the 1600s to the 1900s. Combined, they covered much of the history of the community until recent times. The research into the individual figures in the performance included contacting the Stockbridge-Munsee Historical Committee and Library/Museum. When I wrote about the Stockbridge-Munsee conference earlier this year, I noted the dramatic presentation of the words of the Stockbridge Indians by the actual descendants or the original authors. In many communities there always is the possibility that descendants of the people portrayed still live there.

Life Downstairs at Staatsburgh
Maria Reynolds, PhD, Staatsburgh State Historic Site

Staatsburgh State Historic Site is currently in the process of bringing the story of the mansion’s servants from the margins to the center. New research has uncovered photos and details previously unknown about the lives of many servants working at Staatsburgh for the Mills family. This research has informed existing programming: tours with a focus on the similarities between the mansion and Downton Abbey and a participation tour that includes a table setting activity and a ‘hiring a servant’ exercise. The research is also the impetus for a new exhibit with interactive elements, a new tour and other programming – a continued effort to bring these lives to the forefront, both expanding and enriching interpretation at Staatsburgh.

Staging History
Michelle Mavigliano, Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site

In an effort to narrate historical events from the perspective of the enslaved black population living in 18th century Albany, Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site has developed two programs that give voice and agency to men and women usually denied both. This presentation will explore the research and contrivance behind creating “The Accused” and “To Be So Confin’d,” two programs that use museum theatre and first–person narration as the interpretive tools to tell these stories.

We are a storytelling species so it behooves history organizations to tell stories and not just point to objects (unless there is a story associated with them). Every community has stories to tell. My recommendation is for history organizations to identify the stories that define the community and to perform them. Here is an excellent opportunity to involve the local high school drama club and to connect the students with their own community. There needs to be more than an elementary school field trip to bring local history and students together. On a national level, we have seen the impact of Hamilton, the Musical. What are the stories of your community?

Another area of expression involves people and peoples whose voices have not always been heard or have been heard in a distorted manner.

“When Slavery Died Hard: The Forgotten History of Ulster County and the Shawangunk Mountain Region”
Cragsmoor Historical Society
Cragsmoor (Ulster)

This education award is in recognition of the documentary “Where Slavery Died Hard…” grows from their community’s efforts to reconsider its history and the history of the Shawangunk Region. While researching for The Cragsmoor Historical Journal, archaeologists/historic preservation consultants Wendy E. Harris and Arnold Pickman discovered that in 1820, one of Cragsmoor’s early families contained an enslaved child. The phrase “where slavery died hard,” was bestowed upon Ulster County as a result of its resistance to abolition during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This documentary hopes to contribute to a body of knowledge that will verify the significance of the African-American presence in this region.

According to a handout at the display table, the Cragsmoor Historical Society intends to distribute the video gratis to schools and other cultural and education organizations. It also will be posted to the Society’s website. The public debut of the video is today, October 20.

Serving Their Country: African Americans and America’s Wars
Matthew Thorenz, Moffat Library of Washingtonville

From before the Revolutionary War to World War One, African Americans have played a vital role in serving in our nation’s armed forces. Bringing the service of those who served under extreme prejudice during these conflicts can help us better understand the complex political, social, and cultural worlds in which they lived, while highlighting a group of individuals who have been marginalized to a degree in public programming. Learn how original research contributed to two thought provoking analysis of African American service members in the Hudson Valley at New Windsor Cantonment, 1782-1783, and on the Western Front of World War One in 1918.

Considering Native American Stereotypes in the 21st Century
Colette Lemmon, Iroquois Indian Museum

This presentation will focus on the impetus, development, and elements of the Iroquois Museum’s current exhibition, “Tonto, Teepees, & Totem Poles: Considering Native American Stereotypes in the 21st Century”. The exhibit includes materials from popular culture and the media as well as provocative responses by Indigenous artists around the issue of stereotyping. The presentation will also highlight the participatory activities that were developed to engage our visitors with this topic and their (sometimes surprising) outcomes.

The participating artists were mainly Mohawk and secondarily Haudenosaunee except for the Tuscarora. It is a pity that all the museums of these Indian nations across the center of the state do not collaborate in creating programs. At least the individual artists from the various Indian Nations can work together.

New Voices from Old Schenectady
Michael G. Diana, Schenectady County Historical Society

Built in 1705 and continuously occupied until 2001, the Mabee Farm is uniquely able to provide a broad historical cross-section of the Mohawk River Valley. Until recently, the general tour focused primarily on the architecture of the farm house as well as Jan Mabee, the patriarch who built it. A new narrative is grounded in characters and stories that have long been overlooked. Prominently featured are Mabee women, such as Annetje and Catrina, whose Mohawk and Dutch heritage gave them considerable influence in Schenectady’s colonial society. The stories of Jack and Cato, drawn from original documents, tell how two of the enslaved people who lived at the farm exercised their agency in bold and surprising ways. By restoring and restaging the house, Schenectady County Historical Society seeks to tell the story of everyone who lived there and, by extension, the story of so many generations of farmers and travelers who made the Mohawk Valley their home.

The Dutch legacy in New York was addressed in several of the conferences I attended over the past few weeks. What is important to note is that back then the Dutch were Dutch and the Mohawk were Mohawk – they had not yet lost their individuality and become subsumed into the politically correct designations in vogue today.

A final type of reaching out is directly to the schools themselves.

“Museum Studies Partnership for Learning”
Hudson River Museum
Yonkers (Westchester)

This project award is in recognition of the interdisciplinary educational curriculum, “Museum Studies Partnership for Learning” that included workshops, museum visits, and classroom lessons as part of an in-depth collaborative relationship with Yonkers Public Schools’ Museum School 25. The curriculum seeks to exercise students’ creativity while engaging them in projects that would enhance critical thinking skills and help them make connections between art, science, and history.

Since this partnership was an award and not a presentation, the program itself was not described at the conference. According to the brochure, 9 pre-k to 2nd grade classes participated. The curriculum drew on the river itself and concluded with an exhibition at the Museum of the student’s work. Landscape very much is part of human history. Nature sets the stage, human write the stories…and alter the landscape.

A fitting conclusion to the conference would be for all the participants to break bread together. For that, we will have to wait for

Interpreting Reher’s Bakery: Multicultural Rondout Then and Now
Sarah Litvin, Reher Center/Jewish Federation of Ulster County

to be fully operational.

Recent Lower Hudson Valley History Meeting Highlights

December 15, 2015
by Peter Feinman

In recent weeks I have had the opportunity to attend and participate in three regional and county history community meetings:

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October 16: Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHHN) annual meeting
October 24: APHNYS Region 3 also covering mainly the Hudson Valley
November 14: Sullivan County History Conference

These three meetings provided venues to meet with colleagues, discuss issues and topics, and learn what is going on. What follows then are some highlights from those meetings and this post is not intended to be a full report on what transpired.

Greater Hudson Heritage Network

This organization conducts an annual meeting in the Hudson Valley region and draws from people outside the region as well. It is a day-long conference with plenary speaker(s), concurrent sessions and includes lunch. These past two years it has been held at colleges so presumably there is no rent or it is nominal. This year Prof. Lisa Keller of Purchase College was the host. There is a fee to attend.

At the conference, Priscilla Brendler, Executive Director, spoke, among other things, on the Path through History. There were flyers for the June 18-19, 2016 dates and she urged people to participate in this program which helps provide vital statistical information on the state of history tourism in the state.

At the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Conference, Gavin Landry, Executive Director, I Love NY, mentioned that based on my posts on the Path through History, some changes had been made. He didn’t identify them but I suggest two such changes were on view here. One is based on my criticism of the “Simon says” aspect of the date selection leaving history sites and others scrambling to guess when the Path Weekend will occur. The second was organizations not having sufficient lead time to plan or having their June event on the correct date. The decision now is for Fathers Day weekend with plentiful advance notice.

Another change which I did know about was the relationship of GHHN to the Path through History weekend.  The flyer distributed at the meeting lists a GHHN phone number and email address for contact, questions, and updates. It would seem that the work for operating the Path Weekend has been outsourced to GHHN presumably for which GHHN gets paid. GHHN already operates some programs on a statewide basis and this appears to be another example of its expansion beyond the Hudson Valley. The history community would benefit from having a NYHN, a New York History Network although it should be noted that GHHN tends to focus on the backend of  history site operations and less on history itself or outreach. Teaching the Hudson Valley (THV) used to do that before it shifted its focus to the environment. So while there is (or used to be before the 2016 cancellation) a state history conference (NYSHA), regional and/or county ones are hard to find.

The keynote speaker at the conference was Professor Ken Jackson, Mr. New York State History. He was the keynote speaker at the launching of the Path though History in 2012. He had been personally recruited by Governor Cuomo to participate in the now defunct Path through History Taskforce which never really did much and was more for show. His talk addressed the same considerations as his keynote address three years earlier now with some perspective on the Path project he helped launch. Jackson referred to the project as one of “noise” and “not much else.” It was not well run or thought through. Cuomo takes credit for it but doesn’t do much for it. The financial support is down. Nothing Jackson said was new to regular readers of my posts

The contrast between the talks of Priscilla and Ken could not have been greater. Here in the briefest of time spans, one was able to experience the official view from the Albany-Manhattan bubble and the reality outside the bubble. Admittedly, I enjoy moments like this because they make writing posts so easy.

APHNYS Region 3

This was an excellent meeting organized by Suzanne Isaksen, regional coordinator Town of Montgomery historian and hosted by Mary Ellen Matise, Village of Walden Historian. The meeting was held in the historic village hall and public library and we were welcomed by the mayor. This was a day-long program with lunch on our own by walking to nearby places in the historic setting. There was a slight fee.

Three speakers from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP)  presented – Dan McEneny, Jennifer Betsworth, and Matthew Shephard. The program provided an overview of the Division for Historic Preservation and its programs, the process and criteria for National and State Register listings including tax advantages, and the new Cultural Resource Information Database (CRIS). We had the opportunity through CRIS to see maps identifying the cultural resources right in Walden where we were meeting. The database is a remarkable tool and if the history signs or markers could be added, it would be a terrific resource for the history community. You can not only see a site but access detailed information on it. This new website requires some thoughtful thinking and conversations with the history community on how it can best de used and developed. It can be located at https://cris.parks.ny.gov.

This session, which could be repeated throughout the state and at statewide conferences, made me realize a missing ingredient in the public historian training. As the New Historian session at the APHNYS state conference made clear, people become public historians in their communities often with little training or guidance. While there is some information at the APHNYS website (guidelines which need to be updated), municipal historians don’t necessarily know that APHNYS even exists. The challenges of being a municipal historian were the recent subject of Orange County Historian Johanna Yaun’s newsletter and post to New York History Blog

Recommendation – all public historians should receive and be required to receive state-funded training in Albany. Such training should include the NYS Archives, NYS Library, NYS Museum, NYSOPRHP and the NYS Historian. The program should include touring the facilities, meeting the staff, learning the resources available and the related rules, regulations, and requirements. This one-week training program will improve the professionalization of the municipal historian across the state, enhance the status of the position to the local mayors, town supervisors, and country executives, and help counter the isolation of the municipal historian. To establish the program actually is the simple part as each of the state entities in Albany could easily formulate such a program if asked. The challenge would be in funding. That would require a concerted effort by the history community to advocate for it, an activity which is conspicuously absent at present. At some point it would be beneficial to develop an agenda of what the history community wants from the state and then advocate for it.

Sullivan County History Conference

This was an excellent meeting organized by John Conway, Sullivan County historian. It was held at the Sullivan County Community College with the real credit belonging to Debra Conway as her husband repeatedly mentioned. Congratulations on a job well done. The program was funded by the Delaware Council and was free including lunch.

The stated intention is for this to be an annual event and it is an example of what every county should do. The attendance was over 70 people for this day-long event despite the snow flurries in the county and the near freezing weather. As I said in my keynote, when I left home in Westchester it was fall. When I arrived in Sullivan County it was winter.

This particular conference focused not on the history of Sullivan County but on the state of history. It included a video welcome from Congressional Representative Chris Gibson with whom I also shared the program when the Delaware Council was launched. Other speakers included fulltime county historians Johanna Yaun and Will Tatum III from Orange and Dutchess Counties. County history conferences were held there in 2011 before their time and I hope they will have one-day programs of their own soon. Johanna held a mini-conference in the summer which John and I attended and which partially served as a catalyst for this one.

The conference drew from a multitude of areas. Linda Oehler-Marx, a former teacher, spoke on the issue of finding a place for local history in the new social studies framework. This is a vital issue and there needs to be more discussion between the history community and the teachers on how to incorporate local and state history into the classroom even without field trips.

Social media was addressed in general terms by Johanna in her presentation and by Matt Colon, Director of the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands. I commented on when I first got involved in local history, the State Archive Records Administration (SARA) grants were to microfilm records. Times and technology have changed. Here is an area where county-level workshops on how to take advantage of new technologies really would be useful.

The conference ended with a presentation by Kristina Heister, the Superintendent of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, NPS. Much of her talk was on the NPS which will be celebrating its centennial next year. She also mentioned Imperiled Promise: The State of History in the National Park Service, a study commissioned by the NPS. Marla Miller, one of the co-authors, spoke at a pre-conference workshop to the NYSHA conference at Marist in 2014. I spoke with her afterwards and then downloaded the 120-page report. I have read it but not yet written about it. Some of the recommendations are appropriate not only for the NPS sites in New York but for NYSOPHP as well. According to Kristina in terms of implementation the study is still a work-in-progress. I guess I have put off writing about it for long enough.

Of course, no history conference would be complete with noting the comments made about the Path through History. Although there were some perfunctory remarks made about its continued existence, the comments to the audience that it was an “ill-fated debacle” with no history community participation that fizzled out got right to heart of problem. One suggestion was a massive statewide letter-writing campaign addressed to the governor so perhaps he wouldn’t remain clueless.

History conferences are a lot of fun and I recommend more of them at the county and regional level. It also would be nice to have a master calendar for such county, regional, and state conferences. Maybe the new state historian once one is hired could take the lead here.

MANY And Advocacy For The NYS History Community

October 19, 2014
by Peter Feinman

In this post, I wish to focus attention on recent developments involving the Museum Association of New York (MANY) and opportunities for advocacy on behalf of the history community.

MANY has undergone significant changes which are of importance to the history community, though it should be noted that the organization’s membership is not limited to historical museums, but also include art and science museums, zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums. Continue reading “MANY And Advocacy For The NYS History Community” →

A Fork In The Path Through History

February 4, 2013
by Peter Feinman

On January 25, I attended the Mid-Hudson regional meeting of the Path through History project. What follows is my report on the meeting which may, or may not, be the experience and take-away of others who attended (or what is happening in other regions). The Mid-Hudson Valley region includes the Hudson River counties of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, and Rockland, along with Sullivan County in the Catskills. Continue reading “A Fork In The Path Through History” →

The Greater Hudson Heritage Conference

October 4, 2012
by Peter Feinman

The Greater Hudson Heritage Network (GHNN) held its annual conference on September 28 at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor Center, Hyde Park. The theme of the conference was “Mining the Museum: Using Your Existing Resources in New Ways” with Executive Director Priscilla Brendler presiding. The meeting was so-well attended I didn’t even have a chance to speak with the all the people I would like to have talked to. The format has been expanded beyond being primarily an awards ceremony to be more like the Museumwise conference with a plenary speaker followed by concurrent sessions but for one day instead of two. Continue reading “The Greater Hudson Heritage Conference” →