The Corner
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Painting of the Eight Square Schoolhouse. From the Collection of The History Center.
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We love the Eight Square Schoolhouse! We are excited to invite you to the
August 3rd
First Friday Gallery Night at the Eight Square Schoolhouse because we will have our program there instead of at The History Center.
So come out to Hanshaw Road in the Town of Dryden (just off from Route 13, or around the bend from the SPCA, across from Cayuga Radio Group) between
5:00 and 7:00 p.m.
Learn about the schoolhouse, play, and do some artwork on chalk boards. Prizes will be given out for the most creative artwork. Consider it a one evening summer school with ice cream. We promise that it will be fun.
The schoolhouse combines architecture, history and education in one setting!
- The Trustees of The History Center in Tompkins County
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Bookstore & Gift Shop Highlights
Mention our newsletter and get 15% off from these selected titles!
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King Bridge
over Troubled Waters:
Preservation Versus Destruction of the Historic Zenas King Iron Bowstring Bridge in Newfield, NY
By Karen Van Etten
The Art and Science of making bridges made out of wrought iron and steel were a revolutionary technology in the early and mid-19th century. These bridges created new possibilities for improving systems of efficient transportation and communications among the nation's growing cities, towns and countryside that coincided with the great expansion of the nation to the west. By now, most of these old bridges have been replaced to meet the needs of modern traffic, but a few are left as important reminders of our engineering past. The historic Zenas King Iron Bowstring Bridge is one of those few.
New York Amish:
Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State
By Karen M. Johnson-Weiner
Tracing Amish settlement in New York from the nineteenth century to the twenty-first, Karen M. Johnson-Weiner draws on more than thirty years of participant-observation, interviews, and archival research to introduce the Amish to their non-Amish neighbors. In the last decade, New York State has had the fastest-growing Amish population. This work highlights the diversity of Amish settlement in New York State and the contribution of New York's Amish to the state's rich cultural heritage.
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Ithaca Heritage Free Guided Walking Tours
Fridays, July 20 & 27, August 3, 10 & 24 (Meet at Trolley Circle, Center Ithaca, Ithaca Commons)
Ithaca Heritage, a collaboration between Historic Ithaca and The History Center in Tompkins County, launched its inaugural series of free guided walking tours. The next tour is on Friday, July 20th at 4:00 PM, meeting at the Trolley Circle on the Ithaca Commons. Explore downtown Ithaca from a historical perspective on these guided history and architectural walking tours. Learn more on the website: http://www.ithacaheritage.com/
Historic Ithaca's 2018 Walk & Talks
Saturdays, July 21 and 28, August 4 and 11, 11:00 AM (Various locations)
This summer, stroll and explore selected landmarks in Tompkins County with our local municipal historians! This program will take place on Saturdays and last for about an hour.
Visit
Historic Ithaca's website
for more information.
Johnny Russo's Performance
at The Ithaca Artist Market
Friday, July 27, from Noon to 7:00 PM (at the Ithaca Farmer's Market)
Stop by to see Johnny Russo play jazz music at the Ithaca Artist Market. A new Book/CD "Ithaca Our Home: A Forty Year Musical Odyssey of Tompkins County" will be available for sale.
The Ithaca Artist Market fills all 88 booths at the Ithaca Farmers Market with
regional fine and functional artists
in a unique, once-a-year, can't miss event. Over 85 established visual artists will be juried into the Market to showcase and sell a stunning variety of some of the best fine art in the region. Find out more information about the Ithaca Artist Market here: http://www.artspartner.org/content/view/ithaca-artist-markets.html
Lecturer in Character as Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Friday, July 27, from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM (in the Library's Ezra Cornell Reading Room)
In conjunction with the exhibit, Recognizing Women's Right to Vote in New York State, on display at TCPL from July 8-27, Cayuga College history lecturer Melinda Grube will speak in character as Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Her topic will be the struggle for women's suffrage in New York State. The lecture will include local history of the Suffrage movement and will also touch upon other subjects covered in the exhibit. The lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
Melinda Grube is a history lecturer at Cayuga Community College and gives lectures as Elizabeth Cady Stanton for the National Women's Rights Historical Park and Seneca Falls Convention Days as well as libraries, museums, and universities across the state.
HistoryForge Data Entry Bee Party
Saturday, July 28, 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM (at The History Center)
Come volunteer at our next transcription bee! Light refreshments will be served with lots of fun and an educational opportunity that will make Ithaca history come alive. Be sure to bring your laptop. Sign up to volunteer here:
https://thehistorycenter.net/volunteer-historyforge
First Friday Gallery Night at the Eight Square Schoolhouse
Friday, August 3, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM (at the Eight Square Schoolhouse)
Come out to Hanshaw Road in the Town of Dryden (just off from Route 13, or around the bend from the SPCA, across from Cayuga Radio Group) to learn about the schoolhouse, play, and do some artwork on chalk boards. Prizes will be given out for the most creative artwork. Consider it a one evening summer school that combines architecture, history, education and ice cream!
Tompkins County Genealogy Society Meeting
Wednesday, August 15, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (at TCPL,
in the
BorgWarner Community Room East
)
This will be the second meeting of Tompkins County Genealogy Society. The History Center in Tompkins County and the Tompkins County Public Library host a local genealogy society with the goals of building and supporting a network and making resources discoverable.
The program will consist of a speaker, brief highlights of local resources and a discussion of organizational issues.
West End Neighborhood Evolution:
HistoryForge 1900-1930
Saturday, August 18, 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM (at Just Be Cause Center, 1013 W State St, Ithaca, New York 14850)
RSVP for a West End Neighborhood Evolution tour on Saturday, August 18, 2018, from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm. Register:
https://tinyurl.com/yaoadaks
HistoryForge will help provide a historical context. The walk will focus on West Seneca Street and Brindley Street and include going by a few houses, the Sign Works Building, the Aeroplane Factory, and Ports of New York.
This event is sponsored by M&T bank and is the second in a three part series.
SAVE THE DATE:
Authentically Rural Weekend
Friday, October 5 through Sunday, October 7 (at various times and locations)
Ithaca Heritage would like to welcome you to Tompkins County, where rural areas uphold long-held traditions that contribute to the county's vibrant cultural and economic life. Come explore our rural history, architecture, landscapes, and culinary bounty on a New York State Path Through History weekend October 5-7, 2018. You'll love the small-town vibe that encourages us all to slow down and appreciate the Finger Lakes landscapes and farm-to-table flavors. Registration details are coming up soon at IthacaHeritage.com.
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We are Moving!
Packing Highlights
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Samuel Jansen Miller violin. From the Collection of The History Center.
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This violin and many other things are being packed as we get ready for our big move at the end of the year.
This Samuel Jansen Miller violin is the first of the over 330 violins Samuel Jansen Miller made in his lifetime. Miller was born to a Dryden farming family in 1867. Besides making violins, Miller worked on Robert Nelson's farm for 18 years and then on his own farm after marrying Evelyn Westervelt in 1907. Later they moved to East Main Street, Dryden until his death in 1944. Miller's passion for violin making began when his younger brother, who was frail and sick, received a store-bought violin. Seventeen-year-old Miller felt he too should have one. However, his family could not afford to buy another, so he cut down a yellow birch tree for the body of the violin. This birch tree is recorded as "standing one mile south of the former Old Dryden Center house." At the time of Miller cutting down the tree, the Old Dryden Center House was a tavern that catered travelers and teamsters. Many of Miller's subsequent violins came from wood that had a story; 100-year-old pine rails, an antique bed-stead, a maple drop-leaf table, bridges and a plank fence.
Although Miller recycled wood to create his fine instruments, the wood had to be of high quality. He sold approximately 70 violins and traded others for antiques. His violins sold anywhere from $35.00 to $500.00. In addition to making violins, miller repaired 285, re-toned 120 violins, and made two bass violins. In 1935, he completed his first bass violin , which stood seven feet tall and took three months to complete.
Miller designed violin patterns and made copies of famous violins such as Guanerius and Stradivarius. The violins and the varnishes (on later violins) were handmade. He used delicate instruments to make sure the thickest part of the violin was no more than .95 and the thinnest .15 of an inch thick.
Decorations of the violins included a carving of Stradivarius' head on the scroll of one violin and purfling. "Purfling" is a rope-like inlay of ebony and white woods which run along the edge of the violin. Miller's craftsmanship in violin making did not end at visual aesthetics. In 1931, Miller entered a competition with 30 other violin makers and was awarded first prize for execution and tone of his instruments by the American Violin Trades Association.
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