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News Articles

brown baskets

State Museum Acquires Unique Collection of Abenaki Native American Materials

Published June 26, 2015 | Ethnography

The Museum recently acquired a unique collection of 20th century Abenaki Native American materials. The collection was donated by Rodney Johnson of Rochester, NY. Rodney wanted to find a permanent home for the collection that had been handed down through four generations of his family - he chose...

Hicks-Seaman Ceramics

Recent Acquisition: Long Island Archaeology Collection

Published June 26, 2015 | Historical Archaeology

The State Museum recently acquired an archaeological collection from the former Institute for Long Island Archaeology at Stony Brook University. This collection consists of artifacts from 47 significant archaeological sites, including both prehistoric Native American and historic Euro-American...

prehistoric animals display

State Museum Announces Gallery Renovation Project

Published June 26, 2015 | Exhibitions

On June 15, 2015, State Museum Director Mark Schaming presented a renovation master plan for the Museum's galleries to the New York State Board of Regents. The master plan calls for 35,000 square feet of new exhibitions, a changeable wall system and new interactive technology and media. Click ...

Frog lady costume mask

Human Frogs in the History Collections!

Published December 9, 2013 | Cultural History

The New York State Museum’s history collections contain two frog costumes for humans and one frog costume for a dog. These costumes belonged to Harry and Friede DeMarlo, a vaudeville couple that once played circuses and vaudeville houses all over the world, ultimately retiring to a farm in...

Men talking about their memory

Memory Keepers

Published December 9, 2013 | Archaeology

When former Research and Collections Assistant Director and Curator of Ichthyology Dr. Robert Daniels retired in late 2012, he took with him over 30 years of specialist knowledge of the Museum’s fish collection, as well as key information about the Museum’s history and administrative activities...

Lake George

Archaeological Discovery at Lake George

Published December 3, 2013 | Native American Archaeology

New York State Museum archaeologists have identified archaeological remains associated with a small Early Archaic camp dating to approximately 8,000 B.C. along the shore of Lake George in Warren County, New York. The site produced bifurcate and Genesee projectile points that would have been used...

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