History Happenings    Early June 2019
The History Center's Electronic Newsletter 
The Corner
One More Appeal For Our New Home

We did it. With your assistance, we are in the Tompkins Center for History & Culture. We are poised to be a more visible and dynamic organization for the benefit of county residents and visitors. We anticipate a bright future as we can already see how the new space and central location provide a better foundation for carrying out our mission.

We hope you were able to attend the May 10 Tompkins Center Ribbon Cutting and Community Celebration. If you were not, and have not been by to visit our new place, please do so soon. You will see how The History Center has gone from unassuming to spectacular.

As we approach the end of this fiscal year, we are making a special appeal to you as local newsletter readers and organizational supporters from throughout our community. I realize that this is the last "ask" you will receive with my name on it as Executive Director of The History Center in Tompkins County. It has been my distinct pleasure to serve as the director of this organization. I am very proud of the accomplishments of the past four years in collaboration with staff, trustees, and community partners. It has been an amazing journey to our new home at 110 North Tioga Street on the Commons. A tremendous foundation has been set for the next Executive Director to move The History Center forward in its ongoing transformation.
Here is the ask - help us cover the unexpected final costs associated with our momentous transition. We planned for moving expenses; however, some unforeseen costs came up and new situations arose. We are now in need of more climate-controlled storage for artifacts and new computers for library researchers and docents, as our number of visitors vastly increases each week. (The Saturday of Ithaca Festival brought 170 people through the exhibit hall doors.) To help us end this amazing phase on a high note, please consider making a donation toward our $20,000 fiscal year goal by June 30, 2019. Donate here or via mail to 110 North Tioga Street, Suite 204A, Ithaca, NY 14850.
And most importantly - engage and discover with us - whether through the exhibits, the library, the Eight Square Schoolhouse, tours, or programs.
Thank you, as always, for your support.
Sincerely,
Rod Howe, Executive Director
The public entered the Tompkins Center following the ribbon cutting on May 10.
The public entering the Tompkins Center following the ribbon cutting on May 10.
Upcomin g Events

Celebrating the Strawberry
From Seeds to Wisdom: Exploring Haudenosaunee Cycles
Celebrating Strawberries
   Sunday, June 9, 12:30 to 2:00 PM
Tompkins Center for History & Culture, Ithaca College Gallery, 1st Floor, 110 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Join us to learn about the importance of the strawberry plant in Haudenosaunee culture. This fun, free event will include storytelling, art making, and celebrating the strawberry! For families with children ages 6 to 12. From Seeds to Wisdom is a new monthly program in collaboration with local indigenous persons.


Donna Eschenbrenner and Christine O_Malley
Architectural History Research Support
Tuesdays, June 11, 25, July 2, 23, 1:00 to 4:00 PM
Tompkins Center for History & Culture, The History Center's Cornell Local History Research Library, 1st Floor, 110 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Interested in researching an architectural topic? Good news!  In addition to our own architectural historian Mary Tomlan helping researchers on Thursday afternoons, we are happy to announce that Historic Ithaca 's Preservation Services Coordinator, Christine O'Malley will be available here on select Tuesdays this summer. Access to the research library and archives is free for all county residents.



Ithaca Kitty in window
Ithaca Kitty's Housewarming
   Wednesday, June 12, 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM
Online via GiveGab at  bit.ly/tompkinskitty
Support The History Center's mascot and our new home as part of GiveGab's annual day of fundraising for Tompkins County organizations, Giving is Gorges.  Follow the Tompkins Center for History & Culture on Facebook, t hen tune in to the twelve partners' and two licensees'  social media channels. Money raised will be split between making the building completely visitor-friendly and developing a children's book about Ithaca Kitty. (Fun fact: GiveGab is now in our old space in the Gateway Center!)




Martha Preston and Laurel Southard.
The History Center in Tompkins County's Annual Meeting
    Tuesday, June 18, 5:00 to 6:30 PM
Tompkins Center for History & Culture, Ithaca College Gallery, 1st Floor, 110 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Please join us as we recognize outgoing trustees and introduce our new board members.  There will also be remarks by Gerard Aching, Professor of Africana and Romance Studies  and Provost's Fellow for Public Engagement; Tom Knipe, Deputy Director for Economic Development, Department of Planning, Building, Zoning and Economic Development, City of Ithaca; and Rod Howe, Executive Director of The History Center about new interrelated initiatives. The evening will include light refreshments, engagement, and exploration of the new space.

Genealogy Society
Tompkins County Genealogy Society Meeting
  Wednesday, June 19, 6:00 to 7:30 PM
Tompkins County Public Library, BorgWarner Community Room, 101 East Green Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
The History Center in Tompkins County and the Tompkins County Public Library support this local genealogy society with the goals of building and supporting a network and making relevant resources discoverable. Society meetings are open to anyone interested. The program will begin with "DNA and Genealogy" from a mateur genealogist Jeremy Beutel. He will present a survey of current, major DNA testing options and their usefulness in modern genealogical research.  Approaches for using various DNA results will be discussed, including an example of breaking through a 140-year old "brickwall."   Then there will be an open discussion session for attendees to ask questions about his work, genealogy in general, or to talk abou t their own research. Individuals wanting email reminders of upcoming meetings of the Society are encouraged to respond to this newsletter or contact Community@TheHistoryCenter.Net.


Airplane crafts for kids
Father's Day Fun with Alphabet Soup
Sunday, June 16, 1:00 to 3:00 PM
Alphabet Soup, 171 East State Street AND Tompkins Center for History & Culture, The History Center's Exhibit Hall, 1st Floor, 110 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Make airplane-themed crafts at Alphabet Soup and The History Center. Then take a photo with the "Tommy" Plane! Thanks to the Sciencenter for the supplies.



Old TCPL Building
1968 Time Capsule Opening & Ceremony
Saturday, June 22, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Tompkins Center for History & Culture, Ithaca College Gallery, 1st Floor, 110 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
The Tompkins County Public Library and community leaders invite the community to witness the opening of a time capsule from 1968 that was found placed in a cornerstone in the recently demolished old library building. The ceremony will mirror the schedule of events that took place when the capsule was dedicated on April 22, 1968. The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by John Graves, the son of James Graves who led the Pledge at the 1968 event, followed by remarks from community leaders. A sampling of letters contained in the time capsule will be read by the people who wrote them as students in 1968. Light refreshments will be served.




Freida Jacques
Haudenosaunee 101
   Saturday, June 22, 2:00 to 3:30 PM
Tompkins Center for History & Culture, Ithaca College Gallery, 1st Floor, 110 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Freida Jacques of the Onondaga Nation will present fundamental information about the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, drawn from and enhanced by her own life experience and understanding of her culture, and will invite the audience to ask questions and engage with her first-hand accounts.




LGBTQ Pride Flag at Ithaca College
Ithaca LGBTQ Local History Tour: Celebrate Stonewall 50 
   Saturday, June 22, 3:00 to 4:15 PM
Start From Downtown Ithaca, NY 14850
As part of New York State's celebration of Stonewall 50 and World Pride 2019, the Ithaca College Center for LGBT Education, Outreach & Services will host a second guided LGBTQ History Tour during Ithaca Pride! Register here to be part of the fun and get more details. If you cannot attend, look out for future walking tours or guide yourself anytime with the PocketSights app or website . The History Center and Ithaca Heritage are proud to sponsor this tour.




Audre Lorde writes Women are powerful and dangerous
Audre Lorde "Your Silence Will Not Protect You" Reading & Discussion Group  

   Mondays, June 24, July 1, July 8, July 22, 6:30 to 8:00 PM
Tompkins Center for History & Culture, Conference Room, 2nd Floor, 110 North Tioga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Kimerly Cornish, a trustee of The History Center, will facilitate a discussion group on the writing of Audre Lorde. The primary text is Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. A native of Cambridge, Maryland and descendant of Harriet Tubman, she presented "Re-visioning: Harriet Tubman in Visual Culture" here in April. Register here to participate. Space is limited.




Fly Through the Finger Lakes
Fly Through the Finger Lakes
   Saturday, July 13, 9:00 to 5:00 PM
Multiple locations throughout central New York
The History Center is excited to join with Wings of Eagles Discovery Center in Horseheads, the National Soaring Museum in Elmira, the Glenn H. Curtiss Aviation Museum in Hammondsport, and Ithaca Aviation Heritage Foundation to offer  this first-of-its-kind regional aviation bus tour through the beautiful Finger Lakes region....  Jump onboard in "America's Coolest Small Town" Hammondsport or "Gorges" Ithaca. Take in the countryside and small towns of central New York as local historians share stories. Visit these four museums without thinking about driving or parking. Enjoy lunch at Wings Cafe from locally- and woman-owned Sweet-N-Saucy Catering.... Come fly through the Finger Lakes this summer! Pricing for this all-inclusive adventure ranges from $30 to $75 per child or adult.  Register here to start in Hammondsport or here to start in Ithaca, by June 29 if possible. 




From fellow Tompkins Center partner, Historic Ithaca...

Forest Home House Tour
10th Annual That Old House Tour: Forest Home
   Saturday, June 15, 12:00 to 4:00 PM
Throughout Ithaca's historic hamlet of Forest Home
Forest Home is celebrating its 225th anniversary of settlement. Find more information and tickets here
Share Your Story This Summer
Sign Up Now for Summer Camp 2019

CONTACT US

110 North Tioga Street,  Ithaca, NY 14850

Rod Howe | Executive Director | Director@TheHistoryCenter.Net | Phone extension 222
 
Donna Eschenbrenner |   Director of Archives & Research Services | Archives@TheHistoryCenter.Net | Phone extension 224

Julia Taylor | Youth Educator | EightSquare@TheHistoryCenter.Net | Phone  extension 229

Lucy Walker |  Community & Visitor Outreach Coordinator | Community@TheHistoryCenter.Net | Phone  extension 227

Dave Dier | Bookkeeper and Office Manager  | Admin@TheHistoryCenter.Net | Phone extension  225

Cindy Kjellander-Cantu | Curator and Design & Support Specialist | Design@TheHistoryCenter.Net | Phone extension 223
 @TompkinsHistory 

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