History Happenings | October 2015
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Rod Howe's Corner
From the Executive Director
Here is your invitation to explore Tompkins County's cemeteries. Click
HERE
to view a web page that lists approximately 200 cemeteries in the county, and make sure to visit our new exhibition "In Memoriam: Cemeteries of Tompkins County" sponsored by the Tompkins Trust Company. There are also tours, scavenger hunts and numerous programs associated with this new exhibition to help you explore our County's
burial grounds. Your invitation includes reflecting on how cemeteries are integral to our landscapes, discussing our changing relationship to them, learning about preservation and maintenance issues and exploring them from genealogical, archaeological, architectural and, of course, historical perspectives. There will also be a presentation on a cemetery that is part of our national psyche - Arlington National Cemetery. Find out more about that event later in this installment of History Happenings.
As always, feel free to contact me with your thoughts by phone (607.273.8284 x222) or email ([email protected]).
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First Friday Gallery Night Exhibition Opening!
In Memoriam:
Cemeteries of Tompkins County
The History Center in Tompkins County
Opening Friday, October 2nd, 2015
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Join us
TODAY (Friday, October 2nd) from 5:00 to 8:00 PM for our next exhibition opening! Explore our exhibition with a pamphlet guide, browse the fiction and non-fiction cemetery book list compiled by Tompkins County Public Library, and pick up two separate cemetery scavenger hunts at the front desk. Light refreshments will be served.
The places where we honor our dead tell as much about a community as do the homes of the living. In pioneer times, travelers were often buried trail side, perhaps with a stone or stick to mark the grave. In Tompkins County the earliest cemeteries were usually family burial plots. Many of these isolated sites are still extant, sometimes found by unsuspecting farmers as fields are plowed and earth turned. More often they are overgrown and hard to find. Gradually, religious organizations became responsible for interring the dead, and in the late 19th and early 20th century private associations and municipalities also took on this role.
There are hundreds of cemeteries in Tompkins County, and The History Center will be featuring several of them in a new exhibit In Memoriam: Cemeteries of Tompkins County. We will examine the historical, genealogical, and architectural heritage of these places where we remember our past, our loved ones, and the people who came before us.
For more information, contact Donna Eschenbrenner at [email protected] or call 607.273.8284 x224
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Arcadian America
A Book Talk with Aaron Sachs
The History Center in Tompkins County
Saturday, October 3rd, 2015
2:00 PM
Join us at The History Center on Saturday, October 3rd, 2015 at 2:00 PM for a book talk in conjunction with the new exhibition
In Memoriam: Cemeteries of Tompkins County,
co-sponsored by Historic Ithaca, with author Aaron Sachs, Cornell University Department of History Associate Professor, on
Arcadian America
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Professor Aaron Sachs, image courtesy of Cornell.edu
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"Perhaps America's best environmental idea was not the national park but the garden cemetery, a use of space that quickly gained popularity in the mid-nineteenth century. Such spaces of repose brought key elements of the countryside into rapidly expanding cities, making nature accessible to all and serving to remind visitors of the natural cycles of life. In this unique interdisciplinary blend of historical narrative, cultural criticism, and poignant memoir, Aaron Sachs argues that American cemeteries embody a forgotten landscape tradition that has much to teach us in our current moment of environmental crisi
s."
- yalepress.yale.edu on
Arcadian America
For more information, please contact Kayla Sewell at [email protected] or call 607.27.8284 x227
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Progress at the New Shop
Come Explore Tommy's Restoration
Tompkins County Airport Safety Building
72 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
Sunday, October 4th, 2015
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Please join us at our NEW shop and see how far we've come restoring Tommy. Cider, donuts and coffee will be served. Let us know if you can make it, email [email protected]. In the event of inclement weather, check the "Events" tab at
tommycomehome.org
Directions to the Shop: Tommy's New Home is at the Tompkins County Airport Safety Building, 72 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY, just past the Tompkins County Airport. From Route 13, travel north on Warren Road. At the traffic light, turn right onto Brown Road. Go past the Airport Terminal, past East Hill Flying Club and past Taughannock Aviation on your left. The Airport Safety Building is the red brick building on the left.
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Doing Local History
Tompkins County Public Library and History Center
to Host Local History Lunch Series
First Session:
Tompkins County Public Library
Thursday, October 8th, 2015
12:00 PM
Tompkins County Public Library and The History Center in Tompkins County will partner for "Exploring and Doing Local History," a hands-on monthly history program facilitated by Tompkins County Historian Carol Kammen and Rod Howe, executive director of The History Center in Tompkins County.
These free 75-minute drop-in sessions will be held at noon on the second Thursday of each month from October 8th through April 14th, with program locations alternating monthly between the Library's large study room and The History Center's map room. The first session will take place at the Tompkins County Public library.
Howe will introduce exploratory themes and topics, and Kammen will assist participants in conducting their own local history, by documenting past events, people or groups, and provide information on how to conduct research. She will introduce local documents for group discussion. The format will include time for open discussion.
Kammen is an award-winning historian, a published author and editorial writer for "History News," the journal of the American Association for State and Local History. She has taught at Ithaca High School, Tompkins Cortland Community College and is retired from teaching at Cornell University. She lectures widely around the country to historical organizations and consults for a number of historical societies.
Howe has strong generational ties to Tompkins County. Prior to his work with The History Center, Howe worked at Cornell University in an extension and outreach role focused on community and economic development. He has a diverse educational background that includes architecture, sociology, planning, theology and history.
No registration is required, and participants are encouraged to bring their own lunch. Beverages will be provided.
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Tompkins County Historian Carol Kammen, image courtesy of Ithaca.com
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For more information, contact Carrie Wheeler-Carmenatty at (607) 272-4557 ext. 248 or
[email protected]
or Kayla Sewell at 607-273-8284, ext. 227 or
community@thehistorycenter.net
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Cemetery Tours in Tompkins County
Saturday, October 10th, 2015
2:00 PM
ASBURY CEMETERY
100-174 County Rd. 108, Lansing, NY
Cemetery Walking Tour
GROVE CEMETERY
Sunday, October 18th, 2015
1:30 PM
GROVE CEMETERY
Corner of C
emetery Street and Falls Street, Trumansburg, NY
Walking Tour of Grove Cemetery
Led by Joe Baldwin (Ulysses Historical Society), Michele Mitrani (Trumansburg Village Historian) and John Wertis, the elder (Town of Ulysses Historian and prior Cemetery Superintendent). Meet at the chapel (corner of Cemetery Street and Falls Street). View the inside of the chapel and hear about its history. Then we will make a broad "loop" through several sections of the cemetery (did you know there are named sections?) learning why they are so named and a little bit about noteworthy "residents" in each. Phone John at 387-4331 if you have any questions.
Sunday, October 18th, 2015
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
PLEASANT GROVE CEMETERY
184 Pleasant Grove Road, Ithaca, NY
Open House and Self-guided Tour
Come discover two hundred years of New York history at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery open house and self-guided tour.
In conjunction with The History Center in Tompkins County's exhibit, "In Memoriam: Cemeteries of Tompkins County," the Pleasant Grove
Cemetery at 184 Pleasant Grove Road in the Village of Cayuga Heights welcomes you to an afternoon of exploration on Sunday, October 18th, 2015, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
Kline, Hanshaw, Wyckoff, Hasbrouck -- these are familiar local place names, but they are also the early farm families whose gravestones at the nondenominational Pleasant Grove Cemetery reveal the early history of our community. Poets, writers, historians, scientists, architects, and even a Nobel laureate -- they are all buried at Pleasant Grove Cemetery, showing the influence of Cornell University on Village development. Learn their stories, as well as those of Joanna Brown, Carrie Manning, Dinah Tenbrook, and the Meeker brothers, as you take in the beauty of the cemetery's wooded hillside. Trace the changes in gravestones over time, from the earliest slate and shale markers to more ornate marble and stone obelisks. Learn what carved lambs and logs, urns, palm leaves, open books, triangles and circles, and other carved gravestone images reveal about our history. Village historians and preservationists will be available to answer questions and share their ongoing research about this historic site.
Saturday and Sunday
October 24th, 25th, & November 1st
11:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Saturday, October 31st
2:00 PM
ITHACA CITY CEMETERY
Meet at University Avenue entrance
Historic Ithaca's Annual Halloween Graveyard Tours
Saturday, November 7th, 2015
10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:00 PM
NEWFIELD VILLAGE CEMETERY & WOODLAWN CEMETERY
Bank Street (Newfield Village) and Main Street (Woodlawn)
Both in Newfield Village
The emphasis of these tours will be an overview of cemeteries in general and specifically these cemeteries. Particular styles of stones and some of the interesting folks buried in these cemeteries will be discussed. Anyone interested in old cemeteries is invited to attend as we're sure that they will find these tours very interesting. Tour guides will be accepting donations for the Newfield Historical Society and its Archives.
For more information, contact Kayla Sewell at [email protected] or call 607.273.8284 x227
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The Archaeology of American Cemeteries and Gravestones
with Professor Sherene Baugher
T
he History Center in Tompkins County
Thursday, October 15th, 2015
6:00 PM
Cemeteries are everywhere. The focus of this talk is how archaeologists study gravestones as "above ground archaeology." Cemeteries in the Northeast, especially in New York State, contain gravestones from as far back as the late 1600s.
Gravestones, cemeteries, and memorial markers offer fixed points in time to examine Americans' changing attitudes toward death and dying. Baugher reveals how gender, race, ethnicity, and class have shaped the cultural landscapes of our burial grounds. She will also briefly discuss how archaeologists have also examined burials, such as the African Burial Ground in New York City.
Sherene Baugher is a professor in both Cornell University's Department of Landscape Architecture and in the Cornell Institute for Archaeology and Material Studies. Her degrees (BA, MA, and Ph.D.) are all in anthropological archaeology. Prior to coming to Cornell in 1991, she was the first city archaeologist for New York City (1980-1990). As the city archaeologist she undertook a study of New York City's historic cemeteries. She has co-authored a book,
The Archaeology of American Cemeteries and Gravemarkers (2014 University Press of Florida). Over the years she has worked with diverse community members including Native Americans to help protect cemeteries, burial grounds, and sacred sites. In addition, she and her Cornell students have worked in collaboration with community partners to excavate, preserve, and interpret to the public important non-burial archaeological sites, such as Tutelo Park in Ithaca and the buried hamlet of Enfield Falls in Robert H. Treman State Park.
For more information, contact Kayla Sewell at [email protected] or call 607.273.8284 x227
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Markers, Memorials, and Memories:
Preserving Arlington National Cemetery
The History Center in Tompkins County
Saturday, October 17th, 2015
2:00 PM
Join us at The History Center on Saturday, October 17th, 2015 at 2:00 PM for a presentation by guest preservationist, Rebecca Stevens joined by Tom Stevens. Rebecca is the preservationist at Arlington National Cemetery. She will give a brief history of the cemetery in order to explain what is preserved and why. She will also discuss a range of historic landscapes and structures, the preservation program she is tasked with developing, and will highlight both typical and unusual conservation work underway. She will discuss what it is like to take care of the 240,000+ headstones, and much more, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the USS Maine Memorial, and Old Ampitheater!
For more information, please contact Kayla Sewell at [email protected] or call 607.273.8284 x227
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Postwar Cornell
A Panel Discussion with author Brad Edmondson
The History Center in Tompkins County
Saturday, October 24th, 2015
4:00 PM
Join us at The History Center at 4:00 PM on Saturday, October 17th for a panel discussion with author Brad Edmondson and guests on his book Postwar Cornell: How the Greatest Generation Transformed a University 1944-1952. Stay tuned for more information in our next installment of History Happenings!
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APHNYS Conference
Association of Public Historians of New York State
The History Center in Tompkins County
Saturday, October 24th, 2015
On Saturday, October 24th, 2015, The History Center in Tompkins County will be hosting public historians from across New York State for a conference. This means that access to the gallery will be limited until 2:30 PM that day. The History Center's Research Library, Map Room, and Life-In-The-1890s area will be open as usual.
For more information, contact Kayla Sewell at [email protected] or call 607.273.8284 x227
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The Coffin Man Gravestone Carver
with Mary Dexter
The History Center in Tompkins County
Saturday, October 31st, 2015
2:00 PM
Program details to be announced in our next installment... but save the date!
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YouTube Channel Launch!
Make sure to subscribe...
The History Center in Tompkins County has a YouTube channel! We're pretty new to this platform so there isn't much up yet, but stay tuned. We aim to record as many programs as possible and upload them online to share with everyone. Let us know what programs you want to see uploaded!
In the meantime.... check out our first video! If you couldn't make it to "Destroyed, Forgotten, Never Noted: Ithaca's Hidden Indigenous History" (or couldn't find a seat with optimal viewing!), no worries! We recorded the event and it's now available via the link below. Enjoy!
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Moving Stills: Images from the Wharton Studio
Exhibition on display at The History Center
The History Center in Tompkins County
Friday, October 2nd - Saturday, October 31st, 2015
October is Silent Movie Month in Ithaca and
to celebrate the impact the silent film
industry has had on Ithaca and the region, The History Center,
in collaboration with Wharton Studio Museum, presents this
exhibit of photographs of the Wharton movie studio era
from the archives of THC. Photographs of the Wharton era from THC's archives will be on display near the east parking lot entrance.
For more information, contact Kayla Sewell at [email protected] or call 607.273.8284 x227
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with Ithaca dignitaries, including Dr. Edward Hart, 1960 |
The History Center remembers Dr. Edward Hart who died on September 22nd, 2015. Dr. Hart and his wife, Jocelyn, were engaged with local, as well as national and global issues. They were very involved with The History Center. We mourn this loss to the community and send our condolences to his family and to his broad network of friends.
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Local History Tidbits
Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter
If you haven't been watching The History Center via social media, you've been missing out on our biweekly installments of LOCAL HISTORY TIDBITS. Twice a week, we post an interesting historical fact about Tompkins County with an image. Make sure to "Like" us on Facebook and "Follow" us on Twitter to stay up-to-date with events, Local History Tidbits, and more!
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/tompkinshistory
TWITTER: @TompkinsHistory
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