One hundred years ago, on April 11, 1919, New York Governor Al Smith signed the “Historians Law.” The first law of its kind in the United States, the Historians Law allowed for every village, town, and city in the state to have an official historian to gather and preserve historical records. On...
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Historian Notes
Monday, July 8, 2019
by Office of State History
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
by Office of State History
The following are some examples of LGTBQ+ Pride Month Events and LGBTQ+ History Events taking place at museums and historical societies across New York State.
Capital - Saratoga
Capital Pride Parade
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Pride Center of the...
Thursday, May 2, 2019
by Office of State History
A reservoir system capacity of 570 billion gallons. A watershed area that covers 1.2 million acres. And a supply that is 90 percent unfiltered. The parameters of New York City’s drinking water infrastructure are astounding, but the story behind the system is much more fascinating. It’s a tale...
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
by Office of State History
Responses Needed: What visitation trends have you seen at your site over the last few years? The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is conducting a national visitation survey and wants your feedback! Please take five minutes to complete the survey...
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
by Office of State History
The following are some examples of Women's History Month Events taking place at museums and historical societies across New York State. Check back often for updates.
Adirondacks
Fort Fever Series: Remembering the Ladies: Anglo-American Women in...
Thursday, February 28, 2019
by Office of State History
On this episode of A New York Minute In History, co-hosts Devin Lander and Don Wildman examine how two New Yorkers – Al Smith and Franklin Delano Roosevelt – influenced the Progressive Era of the early 20th century. The episode also explores how the administrations of Smith and Roosevelt shaped...
Friday, February 1, 2019
by Office of State History
The following are some examples of Black History Month Events taking place at museums and historical societies across New York State. Check back often for updates.
New-York Historical Society
Manhattan/NYC
Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim...
Monday, January 7, 2019
by Devin R. Lander
On April 11, 1919, Governor Al Smith signed into law Assembly Bill #160, which added new sections to the Education Law and created the "office of local historian for each city, town, or village except in New York City." The bill had been introduced by Assemblyman Louis M. Martin of Oneida County...
Monday, December 10, 2018
by Office of State History
On the fourth episode of A New York Minute In History, we detail Henry Hudson’s exploration of what would become the Empire State and how his journey up the aptly named Hudson River led to the Dutch settlement of New Netherland. Join us as we explore how the Dutch colony differed from its...
Monday, November 19, 2018
by Office of State History
The journal of record for the history of the Empire State will continue in collaboration with the New York State Museum
Ithaca, New York, November 15, 2018—Cornell University Press announces that, beginning in 2019, the Press will publish the century-...
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
by Office of State History
On the third episode of A New York Minute In History we explore the Empire State’s most ambitious engineering feat…the Erie Canal. Completed in 1825, it transformed New York and the nation by compressing time and distance, providing the fuel for an explosion of commerce, communication and social...
Episode Two of A New York Minute in History: The Women’s Rights Movement: From Seneca Falls To Today
Thursday, August 2, 2018
by Office of State History
The second episode of A New York Minute In History explores the Women’s Rights Movement from the Seneca Falls Convention in Central New York in 1848 to equality matters being debated today. We explore the Movement’s progress through the lineage of Coline Jenkins, the great-great granddaughter of...
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
by Office of State History
County and Borough Historians’ Institute
August 24th, 2018
9:00am-4:30pm
New York State Museum
Huxley Theater
222 Madison Avenue
...
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
by Office of State History
The New York State Museum, WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and Archivist Media are excited to announce the launch of a new podcast, “A New York Minute In History,” which explores the story of New York State and the unique tales of...
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
by Albany Times Union Staff, May 15, 2018
ALBANY — The New York National Guard on Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of Henry Johnson's defeat of nearly two dozen German soldiers, an act that won him the Medal of Honor 97 years later.
Johnson was one of the first American heroes of World War I and he was among the last to be...
Thursday, May 10, 2018
by Devin R. Lander
Congraulations to all of the participants and winners of the 2018 New York State History Day contests! After a series of exciting regional contests throughout the spring, nearly 500 student winners gathered in Cooperstown along with their parents and teachers to take part in the statewide...
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
by Office of State History
Students and their families and teachers from every region of the state will gather in Cooperstown on April 23rd to take part in New York State History Day. This annual competition allows students to work individually or in groups on a historical project of their choosing in the following...
Thursday, March 1, 2018
by Office of State History
New York’s capital city is as rich in cultural institutions as it is history! Join us during Women’s History Month 2018 as several of Albany’s partners in history host talks and tours to tell the complex story of the Empire State’s leading role in the fight for (and in some cases, against!)...
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
by Richard L. Williams, Town of Kirkland and Village of Clinton Historian
This article originally appeared in the Waterville Times
Prior to the Civil War fugitive slave laws sought to capture runaway slaves from the south and return them to their owners. The famous “Jerry” rescue in Syracuse occurred in 1851, but Utica had a similar rescue in December...
Friday, February 2, 2018
by Devin R. Lander
2018 marks the Bicentennial of Frederick Douglass' birthday and Rochester, NY is taking the lead in celebrating this momentous occasion. Though Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland, he lived for several years with his family in Rochester, where he published is abolitionis newspaper ...
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
by Carol Kammen, Tompkins County Historian
There are some obvious truths that emerge from the survey of New York State county and borough historians, submitted by the State Historian to all county and borough historians in September 2017 to which approximately thirty individuals responded. What follows is apparent from the surveys and is...
Friday, January 5, 2018
by Michael Miscione, Manhattan Borough Historian
A couple of weeks ago Keith Williams, the author of the "F.Y.I." column that runs in The Sunday New York Times, reached out to me (and others) for his end-of-year article. He asked us: If you could go back in time and attend any party in New York City history, which one would you choose,...
Friday, December 15, 2017
by Lauren Lyons, University at Albany
A survey created by New York State Historian Devin Lander in partnership with Tompkins County Historian Carol Kammen was recently sent to all 62 County and 5 Borough Historians. The survey questions ranged in topics from the amount of time spent on activities, salary and...
Thursday, August 31, 2017
by Office of State History
On August 25th, 2017, the Office of State History and Office of Cultural Education hosted the 2017 County and Borough Historians' Institute, a day-long facilitated workshop. The day was a success and allowed for an interesting and informative exchange of ideas between historians from across the...
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
by Devin R. Lander
On Saturday, July 22, 2017, I had the honor of being asked to give the keynote address at the 238th Anniversary of the Battle of Minisink Commemoration. I was asked to attend and speak at the event by Sullivan County Historian John...
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
by Devin Lander
WHAT
County and Borough Historians’ Institute
WHEN
August 25th, 2017 9:00am-5:00pm
WHERE
New York State Museum
Huxley Theater
222 Madison Avenue
Albany, NY
Goal—The County and Borough...
Monday, May 1, 2017
by Aaron Noble, Senior Historian, New York State Museum, Office of State History
Thursday, March 30, 2017
by Michael J. McGandy, Cornell University Press
This is the first article in an ongoing series from professional publishers on current trends in the field of New York State History.
Trends in the History of Early New York
Big history is making a comeback in the subfield of early American history. Or...
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
by Tyler Stovall, PhD--President, American Historical Association
(This article was originally published in the March issue of Perspectives on History by the American Historical Association)
As part of a 2013 AHA Roundtable in Perspectives about the Supreme Court ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, which upheld affirmative action in...
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
by Devin Lander
COMMEMORATING WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE 100TH ANNIVERSARY
Honoring the Fight for Women's Rights
From the inception of the women’s rights movement in Seneca Falls in 1848, New York has been a leader in advancing women’s equality.
To honor the centennial of women's...
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
by Devin Lander
Greetings and Happy (Belated) New Year!
2017 is a huge year for History in New York State. Throughout the year we are celebrating several important and exciting anniversaries including the 200th anniversary of the beginning of construction of the Erie Canal, the 100th...
Monday, February 6, 2017
by Sarah Scott
Several months ago, New York State Historian Devin Lander sent out a survey to the various municipalities in New York about their local government historian. This survey included questions such as: salary, time spent at the post, college degree and type, the facilities offered to them as the...
Thursday, January 19, 2017
by Matthew Urtz, Madison County Historian
The Madison County World War I project was an offshoot of a project we undertook in 2013. Each year in October we host Archives Day, usually displaying documents from our archives. In 2013 we decided to “create new archives.” Partnering with local libraries, we created a list of all WWII...
While researching for the 2013 Archives Day we found a box that housed the book Madison County’s Welcome Home for her Sons and Daughters who served in the World War from 1917 to 1919, published in 1919 by the Oneida Dispatch Press and Madison County’s WWI register. Each source has its...
With assistance from the County Clerk’s Office, Madison County Veterans Office and a number of local libraries, I compiled as much information as I could from the above sources and more, and continue to update the list as more information becomes available. Our goal is to have as comprehensive...
Thursday, December 15, 2016
by Carol Kammen, Tompkins County Historian
“We fall forward,” said women in New York in November 1915 when the suffrage bill failed by 80,000 votes. After that initial stumble, two years later New York voters passed the 1917 Suffrage Amendment. President Wilson then changed his position on the issue of women voting and in August 1919...
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
by Jason K. Duncan, Ph.D. — Professor of History, Aquinas College
Article originally appeared in America: The National Catholic Review. Access article HERE.
Monday, October 24, 2016
by Dr. Bruce W. Dearstyne
2017 is New York State's 240th birthday! The first State Constitution was finished and approved in Kingston on April 20, 1777, and promulgated two days later by being read from the courthouse steps in that city. The document had been written on the fly by a hastily elected Provincial Congress,...
Friday, September 9, 2016
by Devin R. Lander, New York State Historian
Find statewide history at your fingertips.
The idea for this website is to provide an online conduit for information exchange between the New York’s historical field and the work of the NYS Museum Office of State History. The website includes links to various history...
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Madison County Historian
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