This Month’s Featured Articles…
Local classrooms of decades—and centuries—past: Exploring a selection of the region’s historic schools and schoolhouses
Above photo: Housatonic Valley Regional High School from the 1969 White Oak yearbook. Photo courtesy of the HVRHS Alumni Association. If you’re familiar with the local tri-state area, chances are you’ve driven past at least one of the region’s many historic schools and schoolhouses. As long-standing landmarks of the area’s educational past, these structures have witnessed a variety of changes and transformations over the years, both to their own architectural condition and to the communities that surround them and once relied on them. Exploring a [...]
All about Scottish Highland Cattle: Environmental education and land restoration at Elk Ravine Farm
If you’re taking a drive through the countryside and you find yourself on Route 83 in Amenia, NY, chances are you’ll come across Elk Ravine Farm. The farm – owned by Jim Archer and named for the Rocky Mountain Elk that it initially housed – sits on 90 sprawling acres that encompass multiple different habitats, including wetlands, marshes, meadows, and forests. Today, the farm is most commonly recognized for its herd of Scottish Highland cattle and its driving horses, as well as a number [...]
Anderson Center for Autism: Optimizing quality of life and making spaces more inclusive for individuals with Autism
According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 36 children and 1 in 45 adults in the United States. Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. According to Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to creating an inclusive world for individuals with autism throughout their lifespan, autism looks different for everyone, and each person with autism has a distinct set of strengths and challenges. [...]
Roger Miner & today’s Supreme Court: The Columbia County native’s principled stances still echo across America’s judicial landscape
By Jim Calvin In November 1987, as President Ronald Reagan prepared to try again to fill a Supreme Court vacancy after two misfires, Second Circuit US Court of Appeals Justice Roger Miner stood among three final candidates for the nomination. It was the penultimate step in the remarkable legal career of Hudson, New York’s favorite son, a journey illuminated by a phrase reverently spoken by his immigrant grandparents: “Only in America.” Yet, despite impeccable credentials – and intense behind-the-scenes campaigning by his politically savvy wife [...]
Aesthetics and Ecology Align at Innisfree
It’s rare to find the peace one gets from walking through a garden on a perfect day. … Lester Collins, famed landscape architect of the 20th Century responsible for Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, NY, probably understood the sense of tranquility and calm that can only be gained from God’s green Earth and a beautiful bloom. Raised a Quaker in New Jersey, Collins found like minds in the husband-and-wife/artist-gardener duo of Walter and Marion Beck. The Becks commissioned Collins in 1938 while he was still a [...]
