Archives Month used to be in October - following national patterns
-----Original Message-----
From: A LISTSERV list for discussions pertaining to New York State history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Christopher Philippo
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2015 12:48 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: history of NYS History Month
I’ve submitted the below info as a comment in reply at http://newyorkhistoryblog.org/2015/11/09/november-is-new-york-state-history-month-2/ It was cobbled together from e-mails I’ve sent in the past to people asking me why November was chosen.
Assemblyman Jack McEneny, a historian, was the sponsor of the bill. See the Governor's Bill Jacket, L. 1997, ch. 113
The Sponsor’s Memo is considered part of the legislative intent of the bill. http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/legint.htm Quoting from Robert Allan Carter’s Legislative Intent In New York State (linked from that webpage) one of the powerful statements:
"In construing a statute its purpose may not be ignored. Rather, its object should be the polar star of the court, when the course has become obscured by decisions where, manifestly, the port for the time has been lost. (Failing v. National Bond and Investment Corporation, 168 Misc. 617, 621, 6 NYS 2d 67, 1938)”
The best I can gather from the Governor’s Bill Jacket http://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/33977 is that November might have been chosen to enable the NYS Education Department to focus school year activities and possibly for textbook publishing purposes. Whether November would make the most sense for that, or whether in practice that has happened much (if ever) since the law was enacted, I don’t know.
The justification for the bill reads (minus the typos):
“The recognition of a month where we can celebrate history and those of historical importance is appropriate. This legislation will allow the Commissioner of the Department of Education to undertake efforts to recognize the historical achievements of New Yorkers and New York as a State. Various organizations have expressed an interest in the designation of a month as New York state history month and this legislation will meet the goals of such organizations.”
Kathy A. Ahearn of the State Education Department wrote in part, "The Department supports the bill because it would help to focus school year activities on the historical achievements of New Yorkers and New York as a State. The bill would help foster a valuable educational experience for the students of our State."
Impressively, it was passed the first year it was introduced. A lot of bills have to be reintroduced year after year. I suppose claiming there were “no fiscal implications” for the bill helped it pass into law, something which in turn unfortunately has not helped the implementation of the law….
"publishers, many of whom specialize in topics of local interest, have banded together to form the New York State Regional Publishers Association, a group that is celebrating its first big victory, New York State History Month.
"The association developed the concept to encourage readers to discover the state's heritage through books. The Legislature and governor signed on, as did The New York Times, state historical association, state museum and state Education Department.
"The result was a kickoff event Nov. 3 featuring Gov. George Pataki, at which the Times announced it would donate nearly 1,000 copies of a biography published by Black Dome Press Corp. in Hensonville, Greene County, to middle schools.”
Moorse, Alan. "Small publishers battle for shelf life." Albany Times Union. November 7, 1997: E1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5837654
Jack McEneny, Purple Mountain Press, or Black Dome Press could perhaps be contacted for further information about what the reasoning was behind choosing November.
http://www.catskill.net/purple/
http://shop.blackdomepress.com
The NYS Regional Publishers Association apparently no longer exists.
There seeming to be no strong justification for November, it doesn’t seem like changing it would be much of an issue. It would require a bill to change the month named in the law, but given a reasonable justification (and perhaps tying it into the “Path Through History” and support of historical and/or tourism and/or publishing organizations that might go through relatively quickly.
Christopher K. Philippo
Glenmont, NY
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