This Month’s Featured Articles…
Race Relations in Fitch’s Home for Soldiers
In the winter of 1863, Lewis H. Starr was a 36-year old laborer from Sharon, CT. Finding it hard to support his wife and son, Starr took advantage of the cash inducements offered to men to join the Union Army. Starr traveled to Bridgeport, where he enlisted in the 29th Connecticut Infantry, a unit comprised of African American soldiers. Starr was wounded in a skirmish at Kell House, Virginia, in October 1864, but it was a hernia he suffered while performing manual labor for the [...]
Clermont-Reimagining the New York State Historic Site
Clermont State Historic Site, located in Germantown, NY, has belonged to the State of New York since 1962. We spoke with Susan Boudreau, historic site manager, and Jennifer Hemmerlein, executive director of Friends of Clermont, to learn about this historic location and how it has changed over time. In our interview, the two described the site’s origins and current programs, while emphasizing plans for the site that will, as Susan puts it, “create longstanding change to the way Clermont interprets its story by broadening the [...]
America’s Oldest Winery
If you’ve never been to Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, in nearby Orange County, NY, put it on your itinerary for this fall. Not only are the wines well worth the visit, but the winery is steeped in history. Yes, America’s Oldest Winery is indeed right here in the Hudson Valley! Roll back the years to 1824 – almost 200 years ago! – when John Jaques established a vineyard on his farm in what was then known as Blooming Grove. By 1835 the Jaques family was [...]
The Bridges of the New York State Bridge Authority
As most of us believe, we study history to determine how we arrived at where we are, and to help us determine what is working and what needs to change. The Bridge Authority has historically provided an invaluable, but mostly unrecognized contribution to the Hudson Valley and New York State. The New York State Bridge Authority was created at the suggestion of then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, through an act of legislation in 1932, to fund, operate, and maintain the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. The Bridge [...]
Summer 2021-To Europe – and Back?
Our trip to France was planned for late March 2020. My younger brother, Michael, and I needed to get over to see our mother in the Maison de Retraite that she had been transported to the previous December because her cognitive deterioration made it impossible for her to live on her own any more. She had moved to France on her own over 20 years earlier to live in the small but charming house that her mother had built in the French Pyrenees. It seemed an idyllic [...]
