News

Saturday, May 20, 2023, 9 am-1 pm*

Victor Town Hall, 85 East Main Street, Victor

8:30-9:00—Registration and Refreshments

9:00-9:15—Welcome by Babette Huber, Town and Village of Victor Historian,

APHNYS Board of Trustees Member

9:15-10:00—"House Histories”, Wilma Townsend, Curator, Ontario County

Historical Society

10:15-11:00—"Attracting the Next Generation and Beyond”, Panel

11:15-12:00—Sharing information, questions, gripes, kudos—all attendees

*12:00-12:30—Lunch time for those attending the Cemetery Cleaning workshop

(please bring your own lunch)

Region 2 will hold its spring meeting on Saturday, May 6, 2023, 10am to noon.

The Region 9 Historian’s Meeting will be Saturday May 13th, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Samuel Center for Canal History (38 Rochester St., Port Byron), a former Catholic Church being given new life as a research center!!!

 

Schedule of events:

  

9:00-9:10 Welcome & Introduction from Cayuga County Historian Ruth Bradley

                                                                                                                    

9:10-10:00-Dan Wiles, Park Manager at the Port Byron Old Erie Canal Heritage, and manager of the Samuel Center will talk about how the building came to be, what the plans for the future are and the new research center.

 

10:50-10:50- A national representative from the Daughters of the American Revolution, American Revolution’s 250th committee will speak (virtually) about the organizations’ plans and how local historians can get involved. 

 

10:50-11:40-Devin Lander, NYS Historian will talk about the state’s work on the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, and what you can do in your local community to assist. 

  

11:40-12:15 Lunch

  

12:15-1:00 APHNYS Updates, 1779 Sullivan Campaign Working group and we will let you have the floor and talk about what you are doing, frustrations you are having, anything that you feel is pertinent to your role as a municipal public historian

 

Registration is $15 and includes a boxed sandwich lunch from Potter’s Family Restaurant. All lunch options include a sandwich (mayo & mustard are on the side), chips, macaroni salad, cookie and a water. Please let me know which option you would like:

1.)    Turkey & Provolone on Multigrain with lettuce & tomato

2.)    Ham & Swiss on sourdough with lettuce & tomato

3.)     Roast Beef & Cheddar on Rye with lettuce & tomato

4.)    Grilled Balsamic Vegetable Wrap

Please make your payment out to APHNYS, and mail it and your lunch choice to:

Madison County Historian

PO Box 668

Wampsville, NY 13163

 

May 6, 2023 Start time 9 am.  Coffee, tea, and pastries provided by the Madrid Historian and her Deputy/Co- Historian Opening  and welcome by County Historian- Nancy LaFaver Introduction of Historians and hosts- Nancy LaFaver Announcements= Nancy LaFaver Roundtable with Historians- moderated by Nancy LaFaver Compliments/Complaints- Nancy LaFaver Program- Presentation by Madrid Historian-Sara Day Schulz and Co Historian- Carrie Rutherford  Followed by a tour of the Walker House Museum Departure contact Nancy LaFaver  NLaFaver@stlawco.org

Region 7 of APHNYS will hold its spring 2023 meeting in Herkimer on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the Dutch Reformed Church on North Main Street Herkimer across the street from the Herkimer County Historical Society. The meeting will begin at 9:30AM and end at 2:30PM 9:30- 10:00 register and sign-in; coffee mingle with others 10:00-10:45 Samantha Hall-Saladino (Fulton County Historian) “Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Fulton County Historical Society Resources for historians” 10:45-11:30 Ron Ketelsen (Sharon Springs H.S. president) “How To Revive Your Historical Society” 11:30 - 12:00 Justine Hutchinson (Herkimer Reformed Church Administrative Assistant ) “Dutch Reformed Church and Palatine Settlers” 12:00-12:45 Lunch -visit bookstore 12:45-1:30 “Incorporating DNA results into Genealogy Research” Cassandra Castle (Herkimer County H.S. Executive Director) 1:30-2:30 James Greiner (Herkimer County Historian) “Murder and Mayhem in Herkimer” 2:30-? Visit the jail and Suiter Mansion

Friday, April 28, 11:30-1 PM "Lunch Break Brown Bag"  

at: The Historical Society of Rockland County | 20 Zukor Road New City, NY 10956 | 845-634-9629

Their director, Susan Deeks, has kindly offered to host us. 

• Bring your own lunch.

• Send me any agenda items you think need discussion.  Otherwise, I envision this as an informal discussion time, with some emphasis on what our communities are doing (or not doing) to prepare for the nation's 250th.  We can also enjoy seeing the host site and their exhibits.

• Please RSVP if you think you will attend so we have an approximate head count.  The room holds up to 40. 

• I do not at this time plan to have a virtual attendance option, but if I hear back from several that you need that, I will gather your emails and send out a Zoom link, and set up my laptop, and see how that works for you.

• I will also ask for someone to take notes, to share with those not able to attend.

• Note: We will have a 'free will' donation basket for the host organization.  You'd be surprised how few organizations in our Region there are that can or will host-- for free-- this kind of meeting that are 'relatively central or at least equally

• inconvenient for most.'

RSVP: The courtesy of a reply is requested by April 20.

contact 

Sue Gardner 

warwickhistory@gmail.com

Region 7 of APHNYS will hold its spring 2023 meeting in Herkimer on

Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the Dutch Reformed Church on North Main Street

Herkimer across the street from the Herkimer County Historical Society. The

meeting will begin at 9:30AM and end at 2:30PM

9:30- 10:00 register and sign-in; coffee mingle with others

10:00-10:45 Samantha Hall-Saladino (Fulton County Historian) “Elizabeth

Cady Stanton and Fulton County Historical Society Resources for historians”

10:45-11:30 Ron Ketelsen (Sharon 

Springs H.S. president) “How To Revive

Your Historical Society”

11:30 - 12:00 Justine Hutchinson (Herkimer Reformed Church Administrative

Assistant ) “Dutch Reformed Church and Palatine Settlers”

12:00-12:45 Lunch -visit bookstore

12:45-1:30 “Incorporating DNA results into Genealogy Research” Cassandra

Castle (Herkimer County H.S. Executive Director)

1:30-2:30 James Greiner (Herkimer County Historian) “Murder and Mayhem

in Herkimer”

2:30-? Visit the jail and Suiter Mansion

contact Dick Williams: 

aladdin153@aol.com

Region 8 Tri-County Conference Invite

A Gathering of Jefferson, Lewis, and Oswego County Historians

Lewis County Historical Society (LCHS)

7552 S. State Street, Lowville, New York 13367

Friday, May 12th, 10:00AM – 3:00PM

Doors Open 09:30. One Hour Optional Tour at 2:00PM

You are invited to attend the Region 8 Association of Public Historians New York State (APHNYS)

Conference with local historians from Jefferson, Lewis and Oswego Counties. This year’s event

will be held at the Lewis County Historical Society. The primary goal is bringing historians from

the region together where we learn of contacts as well as research processes from one another.

The cost to attend is $10.00 (payable to APHNYS) – light refreshments and lunch is provided. We

prefer this to be paid in advance, however, we will accept cash or check at the door.

Please RSVP and return the bottom portion by May 5th to:

Lewis County Historical Society (LCHS)

Tri-County Region 8 Conference

7552 S. State Street, Lowville, New York 13367

contact 

Tom LaClair at historian@townofclayton.com

Sorry to report that in a short period we have lost two stalwarts of our New York State local government historian community.

Wayne County Historian Peter Evans passed away on March 11. His obituary is at Obituary for Peter K. Evans | Young Funeral Home (youngfuneralhomeny.com). Peter served as an APHNYS trustee and as Region 11 Regional Coordinator and was a faithful attendee of our annual conferences. Our sympathies go to Sue-Jane and her entire family.

Dr. Marilyn VanDyke, former town of Queensbury Historian and a founding member of APHNYS, passed away on March 13. She was APHNYS second Vice President at its creation in 1999 and served on the board of trustees. She also was very active in APHNYS's predecessor organization, AMHNYS (Association of Municipal Historians of NYS). Here is her obituary. Our sympathies to her family: Marilyn VanDyke Obituary - South Glens Falls, NY | M.B. Kilmer Funeral Home- SGF

Join us in Ithaca for our 2023 Annual Meeting!

"Home, Sweet, Home"

The Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS) is pleased to announce that our 2023 Annual Conference will be held in Ithaca, NY, September 18-20, 2023. Our conference draws more than 100 government-appointed historians and affiliates from across the state.

Named after the island home of Homer’s King Odysseus, Ithaca sits on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake and is the seat of Tompkins County in the Finger Lakes region of Central New York. As we gather in Ithaca this fall, we consider the pull that the city’s mythological eponym had on its homesick hero and invite you to explore our theme— “Home, Sweet Home”—and its various implications.

How have people connected with the places they call home, whether their birthplace, adopted community, or ancestral origins? How have geographies and landscapes influenced people’s social, cultural, and economic experiences, whether in urban, suburban, or rural homes? How have people used the land they call home? How have people’s homes been a point of pride? How have people defined or redefined their homes? Their families? How have home spaces reflected safety and protection, or threat and vulnerability? What disruptions to homelife—war, captivity, enslavement, migration, natural disasters—have people faced? What have been the experiences of those without homes, those displaced from their homes, or those who lived in places they might not have considered home?

At this year’s conference, we invite New York’s public historians to explore these and other questions relating to the concept of home and its influence on the lives of people throughout our state’s history.

We invite proposals for workshops, panels, and presentations that explore this theme. Deadline: April 30 2023. The Program Committee will review proposals and respond to all applicants by June 15, 2023.

Nancy LaFaver, Lisbon Town Historian and St. Lawrence County Historian, organized a children's program with Dana Denhoff, reenactor with Forsyth’s Rifles. Dressed in a Forsyth Rifles officer’s uniform from the War of 1812 era, Mr. Denhoff explained the uniform details and how to load and shoot it the rifle. He finished by describing the Battle of Ogdensburg for the group. The presentation held the students attention and even some of the parents learned some new information. After his presentation, the kids had a good time trying on the various uniform pieces. 

Ms LaFaver followed up Mr. Denhoff’s presentation by describing a skirmish that took place in Lisbon (Red Mills today) in October of 1813 at Scott’s Tavern. The tavern is still intact and is now a private home.

Ms. met the children on February 18th to join County Legislator, Jim Reagen, for the reenactment and listened as he narrated the battle.

Everyone present agreed that a living history presentation and a reenactment is the best way to learn about historical people and events!