There will be a meeting of the Hoosick Township Historical Society on April 4 at 7 pm. The speaker will be David Honyoust. He is an Oneida Indian War Chief who grew up in Hoosick Falls. He will talk about Indians in Hoosick. His entertaining speaking style and deep knowledge of local Indian history give promise of a fascinating program.
At the last meeting of
the Society, several new trustees were elected to the Society’s Executive
Board. These new trustees are Kyle
Jones, Raymond LaFlamme, and Gilbert Wright.
The other officers and trustees are the same as last year, with the
exception of the President. Charles
Filkins has decided to step down from the Presidency. First Vice-President Rick Ferrannini was named acting President, and
a new president is expected to be elected at the April meeting. The Society welcomes our new trustees!
The Hoosick Township
Historical Society has launched a web site.
It is at www.hoosickhistory.com. On the site already are a number of biographies
of prominent people in Hoosick Falls history, and several other historical
articles, as well as information about the Society and the Louis Miller Museum.
Gary Kjelgaard designed the site. He is
also the Chairman of the committee that is working to improve and maintain the
site. More material is being added all
the time. Gary envisions the site as a
sort of “virtual museum,” which will allow the society to offer local
historical materials to a much wider audience, including all those who for one reason
or another, are unable to come in and visit our actual museum. Gary made a
presentation to the last Society meeting on March 7 about his plans for the
development of the site. Volunteers
interested in working on the site are invited to participate in the work of the
web site committee, researching historical topics, scanning pictures, and
preparing items to be posted on the site.
It’s an opportunity to learn about local history and about the internet.
The Society is inviting local businesses to be sponsors of the web site, to
help defray the cost of putting it on-line.
There are 24 slots available.
Sponsors pay $30 annually. Their
banner ads are rotated at the top of the site.
When the flashing banner is clicked, a page comes up listing the
sponsors, with information about their businesses. The site is hosted by
Classic Service of Hoosick Falls. The
Society thanks Brian Dooley, the proprietor of Classic Service, for his
assistance and cooperation in the launching of the site.
Over the winter Museum Director Alex Brooks has made some changes to the permanent collection displays in order to make space available for special exhibitions. The room downstairs that formerly housed the “Hall of Fame” room will now be devoted to special exhibitions. A new Hall of Fame room is being set up upstairs, as well as a new display for the Society’s collection of bottles, tea cups, and soap carvings. A Grand Re-Opening event will be scheduled when these new displays are completed.
Museum
Director Alex Brooks is applying for grants for three new projects:
Rubin
Community Fellows Program: This program would bring
a professional archivist to the museum to look at what needs to be done to
preserve and protect items in the museum’s collection. As part of the project we will learn
archival materials and techniques, and write an Archival Plan for the museum,
detailing and prioritizing preservation tasks.
Study of
Old Barns in Hoosick: This project will seek to identify and document the histories of
old barns in the Town of Hoosick. The
project is undertaken with the assistance of Richard Babcock, a
nationally-famous barn expert from our area, and Connie Kheel, President of the
Pittstown Historical Society. The final
product will be a book, and probably also a museum exhibit, on Barns in
Hoosick, with photographs and narrative about the barns.
Symposium
on The Battle of Bennington: This event, to be held at
the museum on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in October, will offer a chance
for three local scholars, who are currently involved in ongoing research about
the battle, to present new findings and discuss these with each other and with
the public. The main focus of the Symposium
will be on the participation of New Yorkers in the battle.
The Opening
Reception of the Bridges Exhibit will be from 6-7 on Tuesday, April 4, just
before the regular Society meeting.
Refreshments will be served. A
roomful of pictures and narratives has been gathered, much of it new to the
museum, about bridges in Hoosick. It
will be on display for the month of April.
Be sure to come in and see it while it is still on display! We hope to see you April 4, at this exhibit
opening, and/or the presentation on Indians in Hoosick.
Our
membership drive is now in progress. If
you have not yet become a member for 2000, please consider doing so. Individual membership is $5, family
membership $10. Mail your membership dues
to P.O. Box 536, Hoosick Falls, NY 12090, or bring them to the April 4 Society
meeting.