RESEARCHING NEW YORK 2010 ~ Updated 11/12/2010
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2010
REGISTRATION & Exhibits
11:30 AM -4:00 PM: University at Albany, Science Library - Barnes & Noble Reading Room
SESSION I: 12:15- 1:30 PM
Life Along the D Line
The Superlative Decade in Bronx History, 1920-1929: Neighborhood Life as Recalled by Longtime Residents of New York
City's Northernmost Borough
Tabitha Kirin, Lehman College, CUNY
Childhood in the Bronx
Janet Butler Munch, Lehman College, CUNY
A Digital Exploration: Online Resources and Research into Queens, New York Neighborhoods
Phyllis Conn, St. John's University
Comment: Marci Reaven, City Lore
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Lost, Found, and Now Available...
Not Such a ‘Safe’ Occupation After All: Bartleby, Allan Melville, and the Court of Chancery
Warren Broderick, New York State Archives, Emeritus
“We Were there, Charlie!” Joseph Gavit and the 1911 New York State Library Fire
Paul Mercer, New York State Library
Researching Executive Clemency and Pardons at New York State Archives
Monica Gray, New York State Archives
Comment: Susan Ingalls Lewis, SUNY New Paltz
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Technology Transforming New York
Information Technology and the Transformation of New York History
Bruce W. Dearstyne - Historian, Guilderland, N.Y.
New teachers Researching New York Using Digital Archives
Julie Carter, St. John’s University
Comment: Amy Murrell Taylor, University at Albany, SUNY
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SESSION II: 1:45 - 3:15 PM
Union History in the Digital Age: One Hundred Years of the CSEA in New York
Ivan D. Steen, Center for Applied Historical Research, University at Albany, SUNY
Stephen Madarasz, Civil Service Employees Association.
Brian Keough, M.E. Grenander Special Collections, University at Albany, SUNY
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Fostering Change
“The Historic New York City Public School of C.B.J Snyder”
Jean Arrington - Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY
Taylor v. New Rochelle and the Limits of Liberalism
Paul T. Murray, Siena College
The Capital District Gay and Lesbian Center: From Separatism to Community
Sean Heather McGraw, University at Albany, SUNY
Comment: Peter Eisenstadt
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The Sailor, the Spy and "The Girl with the Perfect Voice"
Following Wild Ambition's Fancy: A Search for Truth in the 19th and 21st Centuries
Paul Schneider, Independent Historian
Where is Juliet Stuart Poyntz?: Murder, Betrayal, and Narratives of Communist Degeneracy in Anti-Communism."
Denise Lynn, University of Southern Indiana
Looking for Rosaline: Research as Narrative
Carolyn Wavrin, University at Albany, SUNY
Comment: Ann Elizabeth Pfau
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Special Off-Site Sessions
Cultural Education Center: New York State Museum, Library & Special Collections, and Archives
3:30 PM
Transportation will be provided from the University at Albany to the New York State Museum and Cultural Education
Center and back. To insure seating for all, you must reserve a seat; Seating will be available on the day of the
Conference, as space permits. The shuttle bus will leave from, and return to, the University at Albany Science Library. If
you prefer to drive, parking is free after 3 PM at the Madison Avenue lot, next to the Museum and Cultural Education
Center. Please see the conference Web site for additional details.
SESSION III: 4:00-5:00
State Library Workshop
Digital Collections in the NYS Library
7th Floor - Librarians Room
State Library staff will discuss the challenges we faced in creating our digital collections. The program will include a
demonstration of the Kirtas scanner, an overview of the technical issues involved in making digitized material accessible
after scanning and a discussion of ways to make these resources available to researchers. Limited to 20 people. Call
(518) 408-1916 to reserve a spot. Walk-ins are welcome if space is available.
Library Manuscripts and Special Collections/Archives
Open House
11th Floor
The New York State Archives, www.archives.nysed.gov, and the New York State Library Manuscripts and Special
Collections, http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/mssdesc.htm, share the 11th floor of the Cultural Education Center. Examples
from both collections will be on display; staff from both institutions will be available to give overviews of their collections
and answer questions.
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SESSION IV: 5:00-6:00
New York State Museum Gallery Talks
The scholars and museum professionals who were integral in the creation of these exhibits will lead talks in the
respective galleries.
The Landscape of Memory: Prints by Frank C. Eckmair
Mark Schaming, New York State Museum
Citizen Soldier: New York’s National Guard in the American Century
Carrie Bernardi and Aaron Noble, New York State Museum
Not Just Another Pretty Place:The Landscape of New York
Ronald Burch, Curator Emeritus,
6:00 PM ~ RECEPTION
Co-sponsored by the New York State Historical Association & The Farmer’s Museum
7:00 PM
I’d Rather Not Be on the Rolls of Relief” Images and Songs from the Great Depression and New Deal.
with The 198 String Band
The 198 String Band combines large-screen sequences of Depression-era photographs with live performance of largely
unknown songs from the 1930s. The photographs are drawn from lesser-known images in the archives of the Farm
Security Administration (FSA) and the Library of Congress. The songs, many grounded in New York history, are from
long-unavailable period records and FSA migrant camp field recordings; some have never been publically performed or
commercially
The 198 String Band is from Buffalo, NY. Tom Naples (guitar, banjo, autoharp) has researched the music of the Great
Depression in archives and travelled the route of the Dust Bowl migrations, and conducted oral histories with former camp
residents. Peggy Milliron (guitar, vocals) is a music educator and avid photographer who did the photo research for this
presentation and collaborated in the editing process. Mike Frisch (fiddle, guitar, vocals) is Professor of American Studies
and History at the University at Buffalo, and the current President of the Oral History Association.
http://www.musicfromthedepression.com/The-198-String-Band.html
The shuttle bus will return to the University at Albany Science Library immediately following the performance.
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2010
REGISTRATION & Exhibits: 8:00 AM - 3 PM
coffee, continental breakfast
SESSION V: 8:30 – 9:45 AM
Uncovering Hidden Landscapes
Modeling Minetta
Steve Duncan, University of California, Riverside
Liz Barry, School of Architecture Planning &Preservation, Columbia University
Exploring Historic Albany Through Mobile Technology
Brad Cornelius, Independent Historian/Writer
Comment: John S. Pipkin, University at Albany, SUNY
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How a Clever Idea Becomes an Award-Winning Exhibit Film
Erica Nuckles, Crailo State Historic Site & University at Albany, SUNY
Heidi Hill, Crailo & Schuyler Mansion State Historic Sites
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Geographies of Slavery: A Roundtable Discussion
Scott Christianson, Author, Documentarian
Glenn McClure, SUNY Geneseo, University of Rochester Eastman School of Music
Moderator: Martha Swan, Newcomb Central School, John Brown Lives!
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SESSION VI: 10:15 –11:45
Print and Politics in Early New York
Strangers, Friends, and Outsiders: Reconsidering Political Relations in Colonial New York
Matthew L. Williams, Binghamton University, SUNY
A House Divided New York Gubernatorial Election of 1813
Harvey Strum, Sage College of Albany
Print Culture and Everyday Life in Early New York
Steven Carl Smith, University of Missouri
Comment: Jennifer Dorsey, Siena College
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Sight and Sound: Art, Culture, and Community
Stories from the Museum of Modern Art
Eva Repouscu, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra - 75th Anniversary as told through the BPO Archives
Raya Lee, Medaille College Library
Jackson Pollock and Jazz: Inspiration or Imitation?
Helen A. Harrison, Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center
Comment: Beth E. Wilson, SUNY New Paltz
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Rochester’s 175th Anniversary Quilts Project: A Model for School-Community Partnerships
Patchwork History: Piecing Together the Past in the Elementary Classroom
Khieta Davis, Flower City School #54
Margaret Manico, Charles Carroll School #46
Jennifer Gkourlias, Rochester City School District.
Preserving and Presenting the Past 21st-Century Style: The Rochester City School District's 'Virtual' Quilt’
Jacquie Holmes, School of Imaging and Information Technology at Edison
Stephen LaMorte, Rochester City School District
The Past is Prelude: A Case for the Preservation of Regional Cultural Heritage
Sarah Wilson LeCount, Rochester Museum and Science Center
Chair/Comment: Christine L. Ridarsky, Rochester City Historian
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LUNCH/KEYNOTE
12 NOON
A Tale of Two Tunnels: New York, New Jersey and the Port of Un-Authority
James Fisher, Fordham University
The Port of New York Authority was chartered in 1921 to solve problems unique to the port district’s bi-state nature, the
most vexing of which was the absence of a freight rail tunnel linking the New Jersey mainland to Manhattan Island. Ninety
years later that tunnel remains unconstructed. “A Tale of Two Tunnels” explains why that is, rooting this colossal
infrastructural failing in the political cultures dominant in New York City and northern New Jersey from the late-nineteenth
centuries to the present moment, when a prior-approved, separate Hudson River tunnel for commuter rail teeters on the
verge of annulment.
James Fisher is Professor of Theology and American Studies at Fordham University. His most recent work is On the Irish
Waterfront: The Crusader, the Movie, and the Soul of the Port of New York. (Cornell University Press) In it, Fisher offers
a detailed social and cultural history of the New York/New Hersey waterfront as well as the back-story to Elia Kazan’s
classic film On the Waterfront.
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SESSION VII: 1:45- 3:15
The Legacy of the Depression and New Deal as a Civic Resource: A Western New York Case Study
Anne Conable, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
Margaret Milliron, Independent Researcher
Laura Morris, University at Buffalo
Thomas Naples, Independent Researcher
Moderator/Comment: Michael Frisch, University at Buffalo
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Native Americans in New York
The Munsee Delawares at Cattaraugus, 1780-1800: An Episode in the End of the Iroquois Confederacy
James D. Folts, New York State Archives
Poverty and the New York Oneida: State Relief and Indian Law, Land Deals, and Indian Removal, 1780 to 1850
Tricia Barbagallo, New York State Museum
Users Or Being Used: Lewis Henry Morgan, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, and the Tonawanda Seneca Indians, 1844-1851
Laurence M. Hauptman,SUNY New Paltz
Comment: Airy Dixon - SUNY New Paltz
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Schenectady Museum Pallophotophone Project
Chris Hunter, Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetarium
Russell DeMuth, GE Global Research.
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SESSION VIII: 3:30
New York Working Women’s Quest for Job Equality: Oral Histories in Print and Online
Brenda Berkman, Fire Department of NY (Retired)
Jane LaTour, National Writers Union
Carolyn J. Wavrin, University at Albany, SUNY
Moderator: Gerald Zahavi, University at Albany, SUNY
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Hudson River Valley Virtual: Strategies, Partnerships, Lessons, and Results
Tessa Killian, Southeastern New York Library Resources Council
Susan Stessin-Cohn, Historic Huguenot Street
Jennifer Palmentiero, Southeastern New York Library Resources Council
Christopher Pryslopski, Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College
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Profit, Peril, and Social Justice
The Upstate New York Gaslight Era
Willam D. Lilley, CPG/PI Ecoinvestigations
Towards a Transnational History of Hydroelectricity and the Public Ownership Movement in New York State and Ontario,
1900-1940
Mark Sholdice, University of Guelph
Industial Humanics at Syracuse China: Fair Treatment or Union Busting.
Claire Puccia Parham, Siena College
Comment: Andrew Morris, Union College
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RECEPTION and BOOK SIGNING immediately following the last session
3RD Floor Science Library
James Fisher, our keyote speaker and author of On the Irish Waterfront: The Crusader, the Movie, and the
Soul of the Port of New York and Peter Eisenstadt, author of the just published Rochdale Village: Robert
Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City's Great Experiment in Integrated Housing, will be available to sign
books and informally discuss their work.
Revised 11/12/2010
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