The New York State Museum, State Library, State Archives, and the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, in collaboration with the Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist University and the Cooperstown Graduate Program at SUNY Oneonta, are excited to announce the second annual New York History Conference. The goal of the conference is to provide an inclusive and engaging forum in which historians, educators, museum professionals, archivists, and librarians can share research and resources on the practice, research, preservation, and teaching of New York State history.
When: June 5-6, 2025
Where: New York State Cultural Education Center, 222 Madison Avenue, Albany NY 12230
Registration and Hotel Information:
Hotel Information: Four Points by Sheraton: book the event rate for the New York History Conference here. Or call 518-949-2220 use the group code HIS.
Registration is open! Register here.
Contact: If you have questions, please contact statehistory@nysed.gov.
Conference Scholarships: For the 2025 New York State History Conference, a limited number of registration/travel scholarships are available for educators and graduate students. To apply, please write a brief paragraph about why you want to attend the conference and send to aptrust@nysed.gov. Scholarships will be awarded on a rolling basis to eligible applicants.
Marketing and Exhibitor Opportunities
Complete the attached form to exhibit at or become a sponsor of the 2025 New York History Conference!
ny_history_conference_sponsorship_opportunities_2025_a.pdf
Opening Reception Keynote Speaker
Innovating the Party of Lincoln: Nelson Rockefeller in the Modern Civil Rights Era
Marsha Barrett is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her research examines the political and social history of the United States during the twentieth century. Barrett’s book, Nelson Rockefeller’s Dilemma: The Fight to Save Moderate Republicanism, examines Rockefeller's career as a means for understanding the fate of moderate Republicanism and the broader transformation of the political landscape after the passage of 1960s federal civil rights legislation. Her research has appeared in publications including New York History, the Journal of Policy History, Politico, and Time.
Lunchtime Keynote Speakers
Land of the Great Rivers – From Paxsayek to Noyack: From Reciprocity to Extraction to Recognition
This multidisciplinary panel will present the narrative of land and people across the extraordinarily rich waterways stretching from Lenapehoking in New Jersey to the eastern shores of Menungeteksuk, home to many nations, including Mohegan, Nihantic, Pequot, Montauket, Shinnecock, and their neighbors. Native systems of reciprocity among people and land were replaced by extreme exploitation under global colonialism. From the long and rich unwritten past of Turtle Island, through colonization and enslavement, through co-resistance and co-survival of Indigenous, African, and Afro-Indigenous communities, into exploitation and removal under assimilation and industrialization, the legacy of Our Mother and the People survives, informing our present and educating our future.
Panelists:
James Amemasor, PhD is the Research Specialist at the New Jersey Historical Society. He is also a Political Science lecturer at Rutgers University-Newark. James previously served as education officer at Cape Coast Castle slave-dungeons (a UNESCO World Heritage site in Ghana), a key site to understanding the Trans-Atlantic trade in Africans. His research interests include the discovery and documentation of unknown and overlooked archival materials referencing experiences of New Jerseyans of African descent, dating back to the 1600s.
Nohham Cachat-Schilling (Kanien’keha:ka/Nashaue, two-spirit), is Medicine Elder for Bridge in the Sky Medicine Circle, Advisor for Oso:ah Foundation, Chair of Massachusetts Ethical Archaeology Society, and author (Our Hidden Landscapes, 2023, Indigenous Cultural and Environmental Heritage, in production 2025).
Kerry Hardy is a historical ecologist, and has served since 2017 as the lead researcher, analyst, and cartographer for the Public History Project. His work draws from many disciplines--ecology, linguistics, archaeology, indigenous histories, natural resources, and colonial trade, technics, and politics. He is the author of Notes On A Lost Flute: A Field Guide to the Wabanaki, and is currently at work on a forthcoming book, Gaynefull Pilladge: A Public History.
Jack (John Kuo Wei) Tchen is a historian, curator, organizer, and "dumpster diver." He is currently the Clement A. Price Professor of Public History and Humanities and Director of the Price Institute, Rutgers-Newark.
Teresa Vega, with almost two decades dedicated to family history and genealogy, merged traditional and genetic genealogy research in 2010. Her efforts traced maternal mixed-race lines to Colonial New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia. She found direct ancestral ties to early First Africans, Afro-Dutch, and Malagasy arrivals, as well as the Munsee (Ramapough) Lenape.
PROGRAM FOR THE 2025 NEW YORK HISTORY CONFERENCE
All times and locations are subject to change
New York State Cultural Education Center, Albany, N.Y.
June 5-6, 2025
Thursday, June 5, 2025, 1:00pm-8:00pm, Cultural Education Center
1:00pm, Registration opens
1:30pm – 3:30pm, Erie Canal documents/records from the New York State Archives and New York State Library on display on the 11th floor CEC.
3:30-4:45pm – Session 1
Huxley Theater- “Erie Canal’s Pathway” (Educator Workshop)
-Marisa Gitto, Office of Cultural Education, New York State Library
-Jacqueline Stapleton, Office of Cultural Education, Public Broadcasting
Meeting Room A/B- “History and Tourism: Perfect Together” (Roundtable)
-Moderator: Devin Lander, New York State Historian
-Lauren Roberts, Saratoga County Historian and Saratoga 250
-Bob Provost, Executive Director of the NYS Tourism Industry Association
-Natasha Caputo, Director of Tourism and Film, Westchester County
Librarian’s Room- “Craft, Community, and Enterprise in the Empire State” (Panel)
-Moderator: Jennifer Lemak, New York State Museum
-Moira Fitzgibbons and Max Moughan, Marist University, “Comics and Community at Western Printing in Poughkeepsie”
-Christian Vischi, Chenango County Historical Society, “Stitched Together: A History of the Norwich Knitting Company and Walt Disney”
Members Lounge- “Fire History in the Empire State” (Panel & Tour)
-Moderator: Brad Utter, New York State Museum
-David Rocco, The Fireboat McKean Preservation Project, “Historic Fireboats in New York State and the United States”
-Jacob McElroy, University of Maryland, “The NFPA Committee on Safety to Life: Another Legacy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911”
-Tour of Fire Engine Hall by Brad Utter, New York State Museum
Librarian’s Classroom- “Consider the ‘Why’: Historic Sites Practices for Civic Engagement” (Educator Workshop)
Myriah Martin, SUNY Empire State University
5:00pm—5:30pm, Lightning Round, Huxley Theater
- Connor Hu-Jae Mulvaney, Syracuse University, “The Fabric of Time: Chinese Immigrant Labor in New York’s Garment District”
- Clanci Jo Conover, SPIRITS Museum, “Dr. Santomee Pieters, America’s First Black Physician”
- Jery Huntley, OurStoryBridge, “OurStoryBridge: An Oral History Methodology and Collection NYS Historians Should Know About”
- Mary Liz Steward & Paul Stewart, Underground Railroad Education Center, “Looking Forward: Building on New York State’s Support of Innovation, Environment, and Imagination”
- Patricia Salmon, Friends of Olmsted-Beil House, “An Enduring Advancement in Transportation: The Staten Island Ferry”
5:30pm – 6:00pm, Information Sharing with History Community, Huxley Theater
The recent cuts and attacks on the humanities have left many cultural organizations and historians facing losses in staff and projects. Conference organizers would like to use this time as an open forum to discuss how we are coping with these changes and to explore possible avenues for collaboration. Please be mindful of time so that everyone who wishes to participate has an opportunity to do so. This conversation can continue during the reception.
6:00pm – 7:00pm, Reception
7:00pm – 8:00pm, Keynote: “Innovating the Party of Lincoln: Nelson Rockefeller in the Modern Civil Rights Era,” by Marsha Barrett, Assistant Professor of History at University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign.
Friday, June 6, 2025, 8:30am—5:15pm, Cultural Education Center
8:30am – Registration opens
9:00-10:15am – Session 2
Huxley Theater- “Deconstructing the Empire's Carceral State: Innovation and Imagination from The Upstate New York Policing Research Consortium” (Panel)
-Moderator: Frankie Bailey, University at Albany
-Laura Warren Hill, Binghamton University, “The Upstate New York Policing Research Consortium”
-Andrew J. Pragacz, State University New York Cortland, “The War on Drugs in Upstate New York (1980-2000)”
-Delaney Painter, Binghamton University, “Creating the UNY-PRC Digital Archive”
-Carissa Bayack, Binghamton University, “Limits of the State Archive: Freddie Peacock and the Critical Role of Primary Sources in Exoneree Research”
-Joshua Fishkin, Binghamton University, “Collective Bargaining and the Rochester Police, 1974-2024”
Meeting Room A/B- “Preparing for the 200 Year Anniversary of the Erie Canal in Upstate New York” (Panel)
-Moderator: Christian Goodwillie, Director and Curator of Special Collections at the Burke Library of Hamilton College
-David Bolingbroke, Associate Historian with the Research and Outreach Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Church History Department
-S.B. Rodríguez-Plate, Hamilton College
-Derrick Pratt, Erie Canal Museum
-Thomas A. Guiler, Director of Museum Affairs, Oneida Community Mansion House
Librarian’s Room- “Flight of the Dodos? The Challenges of Academic History in the Era of Declining Enrollments and the ‘Collapse’ of the Humanities” (Roundtable)
-Devin R. Lander, New York State Historian
-Alexander Dawson, University at Albany
-Maeve Kane, University at Albany
-Christopher Pastore, University at Albany
Members Lounge- “Artifact NY: Women’s History in Objects” (Panel)
-Moderator: Ashley Hopkins-Benton, New York State Museum
-Monica L. Mercado, Colgate University
-Jennifer Lemak, New York State Museum
-Tamar W. Carroll, Rochester Institute of Technology
-Emily Stegner, Oneida Community Mansion House
Librarian’s Classroom- “Innovations in Civics Instruction: New Approaches for New York State” (Educator Workshop)
-Allyson Schettino, The New York Historical Society
10:30-11:45am – Session 3
Huxley Theater- “Commerce, Technology, and Culture in the Nineteenth Century Hudson Valley” (Panel)
-Moderator: Chris Pryslopski, Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist University
-Amanda Berman, J. Paul Getty Museum, “Culture and Commerce: The Artists’ Fund Society Erie Canal Excursion”
-Stephen Mercier, Marist University, “John Burroughs’s ‘Our River’: Natural Beauty, Recreation, and Commerce on The Hudson River in the late Nineteenth Century”
-Bill Merchant, D&H Canal Historical Society, “The D&H Canal and Gravity Railroad, Nineteenth Century Engine of Prosperity”
Meeting Room A/B- “Constructing History from the Archives: New Sources and Black History in New York” (Panel)
-Moderator: Michael Boston, SUNY Brockport
-Michael Monescalchi, Rutgers University, “Teaching the Archive of the 1793 Albany Arson Plot”
-Nicholas Webb, New York Medical College in Valhalla, “The Education of Black Physicians in Greater New York, 1865-1918”
-Shu Wan, University at Buffalo, “Unended Educational Segregation in the Rust Belt: Arthur v. Nyquist”
Librarian’s Room- “Expanding the Narrative of the Erie Canal” (Panel)
-Moderator: Will Pedigo, WMHT
-Catherine Rafferty, WMHT
-Renée Barry, Erie Canal Museum
-Steph Adams, Erie Canal Museum
Members Lounge- “Municipal History in the Digital Age” (Roundtable)
-Moderator: Lauren Roberts, Saratoga County Historian
-Matt Urtz, Madison County Historian
-Amy Kasuga Folk, Southold Town Historian
-Mary Cascone, Babylon Town Historian
Librarian’s Classroom- “Step Into the Past: Uncover the Erie Canal Mystery Through History” (Educator Workshop)
-Doreen Pietrantoni, Monroe One BOCES
11:50am –12:30pm, Lunch, box lunch on 4th floor of the CEC
12:45pm – 2:15pm, Plenary Session, Huxley Theater
“Land of the Great Rivers – From Paxsayek to Noyack: From Reciprocity to Extraction to Recognition”
- James Amemasor, PhD
- Nohham Cachat-Schilling
- Kerry Hardy
- Jack (John Kuo Wei) Tchen
- Teresa Vega
2:30-3:45pm – Session 4
Huxley Theater- “Uncovering the Underground Railroad on the Niagara Frontier: Archives, Archaeology, and Black Agency” (Panel)
-Moderator: Ally Spongr DeGon, Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center,
-Judith Wellman, Principal Investigator, Historical New York Research Associates, and Professor Emerita, SUNY Oswego, “Black Waiters at the Cataract House”
-Karolyn Smardz Frost, historian, archaeologist, and award-winning author, “Cecelia Jane Reynolds and her Escape from the Cataract House”
-Douglas J. Perrelli, Anthropology Department, SUNY, Buffalo, “Public Archaeology at the Cataract House”
-Yao Kahlil Newkirk, Artistic Director, Black Feather Theatre Company, and SUNY Buffalo, "The Cataract House and the National Park Service's Network to Freedom”
Meeting Room A/B- “Constructing Community: Resilience on the Margins in New York History” (Panel)
-Moderator: Gabrielle McCoy, University of South Carolina
-Edward Paulino, City University of New York, “Community Memory of Latin American Immigration to New York City and Latino Diasporic Memory through Statues in New York”
-Jennifer Jones Marler, University of South Carolina, “Self-Emancipation and Spatial Freedom in Revolutionary Era New York, 1776-1783”
-Emma Kistner, Goucher College, “Re-Constructing Polonia: The Survival of Polish-American Buffalo During Suburbanization”
Librarian’s Room- “The Grand Erie Canal: Precedents, Growth and Preservation” (Panel)
-Moderator: Patrick Stenshorn, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
-David Brooks, Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site
-Derrick Pratt, Erie Canal Museum
-Brad L. Utter, New York State Museum
Members Lounge- “Innovative Women in New York State History” (Panel)
-Moderator: Laura Dull Professor of Secondary Education, Social Studies, SUNY New Paltz
-Susan Ingalls Lewis, SUNY New Paltz, Emerita, “The Entrepreneurial Innovations of Self-made Businesswomen in New York City, 1909-1969”
-Shannon Butler, Poughkeepsie Public Library District, “'The Lady Doctor will see you now': Early Female Physicians in Poughkeepsie”
Librarian’s Classroom- “History Even Happens Here?: Infusing Local Connections into Your Curriculum” (Educator Workshop)
-Holly Marcolina, SUNY Potsdam
4:00-5:15pm – Session 5
Huxley Theater- “Constructing Cultures of Gender and Identity in New York State” (Panel)
-Moderator: Lauren Kozakiewicz, University at Albany
-Kelly Marino, Sacred Heart University, “The League of Women Voters and the Legacy of the Women’s Movement during the ‘Inter-Wave’ Years”
-Taylor Mason, University of Maryland, “‘F’ is for Feminism”: Social Conflict and Sesame Street”
-Holland Schmitz, University of Maryland, "Constructing the Sapphic City: New York Lesbianism and Lesbian Pulp Novels, 1945-1968."
Meeting Room A/B- “Utopian New York” (Panel)
-Moderator: Devin Lander, New York State Historian
-Roger Panetta, Fordham University, “The Founding of Sing Sing Prison as a Utopian Scheme”
-Scott White, Dominican University New York, “Shanks Village and the Start of Rockland Suburbia”
Librarian’s Room- “HistoryForge: A Digital Mapping and Demography Tool for Exploring Local History” (Panel)
-Eve Snyder, The History Center in Tompkins County
-Marietta Carr, Schenectady County Historical Society
-Pat Gosda, Niskayuna School District (retired)
Members Lounge- “Conflicting Constructions of Americanism in Early Twentieth Century New York State” (Panel)
-Moderator: Richard Hamm, University at Albany
-Sebastian Garcia, University of Central Florida, “‘To Be a Good Catholic, You Cannot Be a Good American”: Radio Broadcasting and Ethnic Politics in New York, 1926-1929”
-Diana C. Gildea, Lund University, “We are “American” Family: Social Reproduction and Cheap Enough Labor in the Southern Tier (1900-1930)”
-Harvey Strum, Russell Sage College, “The Albany Four”
Librarian’s Classroom- “Urban Renewal in the Classroom” (Educator Workshop)
-David Hochfelder, University at Albany, SUNY
2025 NY History Conference Tentative Schedule
All Times are Subject to Change
Thursday June 5
1:00pm–Conference registration opens
3:00pm-4:45pm- Session 1 (4 concurrent)
5:00pm-6:00pm–Lightning round
6:00pm-7:00pm-Opening reception
7:00pm-8:00pm–Opening public keynote presentation: Marsha Barrett, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Friday June 6
8:30am-9:00pm—Welcome, registration, and networking (coffee, light refreshment)
9:00am-10:15am—Session 2 (4 concurrent)
10:30am-11:45am—Session 3 (4 concurrent)
11:50pm-12:30pm—Lunch
12:45pm-2:15pm—Plenary keynote panel: James Amemasor, Nohham Cachat-Schilling, Kerry Hardy, Jack (John Kuo Wei) Tchen, and Teresa Vega
2:30pm-3:45pm—Session 4 (4 concurrent)
4:00pm-5:15pm—Session 5 (4 concurrent)
2024 NYHC Resource Page
View videos of recorded sessions from the 2024 New York History Conference. Educators can access additional opportunities to earn .5 CTLE credit hours!
Conference Partners
