Researching NY 2011 Thursday and Friday, November 17th and 18th University at Albany, SUNY Sponsored by: the Department of History, the History Graduate Student Organization and the New York State Archives Partnership Trust Upheaval & Disaster, Triumph & Tragedy: AFTERMATH See http://nystatehistory.org/researchny/rsny.html for detailed conference information, including more than 30 panels, special sessions and gallery tours at the New York State Museum, and the lunch keynote, "Rescuing and Remembering Attica, with Temple University historian Heather Ann Thompson. You can still register by e-mail, [log in to unmask] FEATURED EVENTS - The Horwitz and Downey talks are free and open to the public. Details for both events at the conference Website. Tony Horwitz: Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, 7:30 PM Clark Auditorium, New York State Museum Book signing immediately following the talk. This free event, open to the public is made possible with support from The New York State Council for the Humanities. October 16, 1859, John Brown, leading eighteen men, seized the massive U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, freeing and arming freed slaves, and vowing to liberate every bondsman in the South. Brown's shock attack sundered the nation and plunged it toward bloody war. Horwitz traces Brown's unlikely rise from farmboy to revolutionary and also introduces the remarkable cast brought together by Brown's magnetism and moral fervor. As a Wall Street Journal reporter, Horwitz received the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Perhaps best known to historian s for Confederates in the Attic (1998), he is also the author of four nonfiction bestsellers, including A Voyage Long and Strange (2008), Blue Latitudes (2002), and Baghdad Without a Map (1991). Co-sponsored by NYS Writers Institute. There will be a book signing immediately following the talk. Kirstin Downey: Frances Perkins-Architect of the New Deal 4:00 PM Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, University at Albany Uptown Campus Book signing immediately following the talk. Frances Perkins, witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, wrote the state's fire safety code, and helped steer the state industrial commission from 1918-1932 before moving to the national stage. The nation's first female cabinet secretary, her ideas became the cornerstones of the most important social welfare legislation in U.S. history. Today, her name is almost unknown. Downey will explore this woman's remarkable life-and her surprising drop into obscurity. This free, public event to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is made possible through the New York State Archives Partnership Trust with support from The American Labor Studies Center, CSEA, the Civil Service Employees Association; NYSUT, New York State United Teachers; and PEF, the Public Employees Federation and the New York State Museum. Book signing immediately following Kirstin Downey's talk.