Advancing Prosperity: Reexamining Life and Culture in Upstate New York,
1825-1861
A Symposium sponsored by the Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, NY.
November 2 and 3, 2001
The Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy, New York is presenting
its Fall 2001 symposium, “Advancing Prosperity: Reexamining Life and Culture
in Upstate New York, 1825-1861.” The symposium will be held at the newly
renovated Carr Building property of RCHS on November 2 and 3 and will bring
together curators, historians, students of history and material culture, and
interested members of the public to focus on upstate New York during the
first half of the nineteenth century.
The keynote address will be given by well-known historian and author of On
Doing Local History, Carol Kammen. The speakers will focus on the period
1825 to 1861 to look at a number of forces, national and local, that were at
work in upstate New York. These forces include changing consumer trade
patterns, increased ethnic and religious diversity, the change from a
commercial/craft-based economy to one based on industrial production,
developments in urban planning, architecture and the fine and decorative
arts, and, of course, transportation with the opening of the Erie Canal. The
goal of the conference is to inspire renewed interest in this important
period of New York State history and highlight recent scholarship.
Friday, November 2
12:30 pm Coffee and Registration
1:00 pm Welcome - Donna Hassler, RCHS Director
1:10 pm Introductory Remarks - Stacy Pomeroy Draper, RCHS Curator
1:30 pm Key Note Address - “Not Like a Bed of Oysters,” Carol Kammen,
Historian and Author of On Doing Local History
2:00 pm The Erie Canal: The Empire State Hauls Itself Up By Its Own
Boatstraps - JW Bouchard, Hartgen Archeological Associates
2:30 pm The Hudson River in Art and Literature, Upstate New York’s Cultural
Response to Economic Prosperity, James Crawford, Canajoharie
Library & Art Gallery
3:00 pm Dreaming of Timbuctoo: A Lost Chapter in African-American Adirondack
History, Amy Godine, Author and Social Historian
3:30 pm Break
3:45 pm Advancing Prosperity: Troy and Rensselaer County, 1825, Stacy Pomeroy
Draper, Rensselaer County Historical Society
4:15 pm The Marble House in Second Street: A Tale of Two Cities, Douglas G.
Bucher, John G. Waite Associates, PC
4:45 pm Wrap up
5:30 pm Optional Tour of new RCHS facility and exhibits [No charge
w/registration]
5:30-7 pm Reception/Cocktails at a private home [No charge w/registration]
7:00 pm Buffet Dinner at a private home in Washington Park [$25 per person]
Saturday, November 3
8:15 am Optional Tour of Hart-Cluett House [No charge w/registration]
8:30 am Coffee
9:15 am Intoductory Address - Troy and the United States in the 1820s: A
Turning (Inward) Point? Paul Hohenberg, Acting Chair, Department of
Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
9:45 am Images of Unease: Interior Spaces in Early New York Genre Scenes -
John Quidor and Francis W. Edmonds, Kathryn Clippinger Kosto, Ph.D.
candidate, Cornell University
10:15 am Financing Utopia: From Bible Communism to Successful Capitalism,
Oneida Community, Kerry A. Keser, Oneida Community Mansion House
10:45 am Break
11:00 am Charcoal Production in Rensselaer County, Katherine Wells/William
Reynolds, Independent Researchers
11:30 am Creamware and Crocks: Ceramics in the Catskills, 1820-1860,
Jacqueline M. Atkins, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Art and Art
Professions, New York University
12:00 Box Lunch or Lunch on Your Own [$10 for box lunch]
12:15 pm Optional Walking Tour of 2nd Street Historic District [No charge
w/registration]
1:30 pm History You Can Touch, Physical Evidence of Troy’s 19th Century Past,
Matt Lesniak, Hartgen Archeological Associates
2:00 pm Worms, Waste, and Water, Parasites and Human Health in the 19th
Century, An Archeological Example, Matthew Kirk/ Karl Reinhard, Hartgen
Archeological Associates
2:30 pm Break
2:45 pm Transfer Print and Medicine Bottles: National and International
Consumer Goods of Mid 19th Century Albany, Scott Stull/Jason Fenton, Hartgen
Archeological Associates
3:15 pm Wrap up
3:45 pm Optional Tea [No chargew/registration]
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION IS MONDAY, OCT. 22.
Seating is limited. Please register early.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE $50 ($45 RCHS memb/students)
Friday, Nov. 2 Buffet Dinner $25
Saturday, Nov. 3 Box Lunch available @ $10
Please contact the Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, NY 12180
518-272-7232 for registration form and other information.
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