See
What's Going On At The Herkimer County Historical Society!
UPCOMING PROGRAMS FOR 2008:
Tuesday,
May 13 @ 7:00 p.m. - "Three Days at Gettysburg: July 1-3, 1863"
by Cheryl Pula
It was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, and the largest
ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. More Americans became casualties
in three days than in the entire ten years of the Vietnam Conflict.
We thought it appropriate to have Cheryl present this slide show
program because it's the 145th anniversary of the battle this year.
Thursday,
June 19 @ 7:00 p.m. - "World War I - 107th Regiment of the
27th Division" by Rear Admiral Thomas Johnson Originally from Little Falls and now living in Virginia,
Tom will be presenting a program on a topic that we have never had
before - World War I in Herkimer County. He will specifically talk
about the 107th Infantry Regiment of the 27th Division which included
many men from Herkimer County. Tom is the chairman of the Western
Front Association - USA Branch.
Saturday,
July 12 - "Delving into the Mind of Chester Gillette"
by Judge Jack Sherman
The co-author of the new book "Prison Diary and Letters of
Chester Gillette," that is what Jack has exactly been doing
while reading the diary that Chester Gillette kept during his stay
at Auburn Prison before he was executed in 1908 for the murder of
Grace Brown. Jack will share some of his thoughts on the diary and
letters and explore the possibility of "another woman."
Wednesday,
July 23 @ 7:00 p.m. - "Great Camp Sagamore" by Debbie
Trichilo
Located nearRaquette Lake, this "Adirondack Great Camp"
was built in 1897 by William West Durant and was later purchased
by the Vanderbilt family in 1903. Debbie, a resident of Fulton,
NY, is a volunteer at Sagamore and will share a power point presentation
on Camp Sagamore, along with the nearby camps of Echo Camp and Santanoni.
Tuesday,
August 19 @ 6:30 p.m. - "Dolgeville Cemetery Walking Tour"
by Susan Perkins
This months' program will be "on the road." Come join
us in the village of Dolgeville for a walking tour of their cemetery.
Visit the burial sites of Alfred Dolge, the village's namesake,
buried at the highest point in the cemetery, George Ward, famous
for his prosecution of Chester Gillette, and several others who
were an important part of Dolgeville's history. Rain date of August
20th.
Wednesday,
September 24 @ 7:00 p.mm. - "John Bowman Murder Case"
by Jeff Steele
The year was 1811 when the Herkimer community was shocked at the
murder of a young girl by a nine year old boy. The case made national
headlines. Would the sentence of the death penalty stand for young
John Bowman? Come find out.
October
and November programs - To Be Announced
The
monthly programs are held at the Historical Society's Eckler Building,
406 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY (unless otherwise noted).
LOOKING
FOR PICTURES OF HERKIMER
We
have been approached by Arcadia Publishing, the creator of the Image
of America series books, to do a book on the Village of Herkimer.
The book will feature pictures of Herkimer with captions.
The
categories for our book are as follows: Historic Homes,
Churches, Schools, Industry
and Businesses, Transportation, Main
Street Shots, Notable People, and Notable
Events. The pictures need to be of good quality so that they
can be reproduced well in the book.
If
you have pictures you would like to loan us for the book, you can: * Stop at the Historical Society (406 N. Main St., Herkimer)
Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. and we will scan them and you can
take them right back. * Mail us the pictures (400 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY
13350) and we will scan them and mail them back to you. * Email us the pictures at herkimerhistory@yahoo.com
NEW ITEMS IN THE GIFT SHOP
"The
Prison Diary and Letters of Chester Gillette" - For
the first time, a book on the famous “American Tragedy”
murder of 1906 involving Chester Gillette and Grace Brown, features
the words of the convicted murderer Gillette. The
book is based on the actual diary and letters of correspondence
written by Gillette while he was in Auburn Prison awaiting his sentence
of execution. The
book was co-edited by Craig Brandon, author of “Murder in
the Adirondacks,” and Jack Sherman, creator of the Gillette
Trial Reenactments in 2006. Both worked together to transcribe the
diary and letters and have added notations throughout the book to
give background information on the people and places that Gillette
writes about. Chester
Gillette was executed at Auburn Prison in 1908 for the murder of
Grace Brown at Big Moose Lake in 1906. This case was the basis for
Theodore Dreiser’s classic novel “An American Tragedy,”
the 1951 movie “A Place in the Sun,” and a 2006 opera.
The new book costs $25.00 and is available for sale at the Herkimer
County Historical Society's gift shop. To purchase the book by mail,
please send a check to the Herkimer County Historical Society, 400
N. Main St., herkimer, NY 13350 and add $4.00 for postage.
Gelston
Castle Computer CD - Featuring over 100 pictures of the
property of Gelston Castle and home of famous
Russian cellist Msistlav Rostropovich that were taken at the “Weekend
at Gelston Castle” event held by the Herkimer County Historical
Society on September 28-30 of last year. In addition, the computer
cd features never before seen pictures that were donated anonymously
to the Historical Society of Rostropovich’s home fully furnished
while he was in residence there, like the one pictured here of his
wife Galina’s bedroom (shown here). An extra bonus to the
cd are pictures of the Robinson family scrapbook showing the family
at Henderson House, better known to the community as Gelston Castle.
Helen Roosevelt Robinson, the last family member to live at the
property, is shown in many of the shots, as well as some interior
shots of the castle. An index to all of the pictures is included
with the purchase of the cd as well as a brief outline of the Henderson
House property lineage. The cost of the cd is $10.00 and can be
purchased at the Historical Society’s Gift Shop, To have the
cd mailed, please add $3.00 postage and send a check to the Herkimer
County Historical Society, 400 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY 13350.
DAR ROOM DEDICATION - MAY 10
On
Saturday, May 10, from 1:00-3:00 p.m., the public is invited to attend
the dedication of the newly redecorated DAR Room in the Historical Society's
Suiter building. It houses the Viola McKay collection of DAR
material with a wealth of genealogy material that is available for the
public to use. The DAR Vice President General will be attending to help
with the ribbon cutting. Refreshments will be served afterwards.
Annual
Dinner Meeting - May 24th, 2007 at the Albany Street Cafe
We
would like to welcome three new Board members who were elected at our
Annual Meeting in May:
Steve
Canipe, of Herkimer, is a retired History teacher from Ilion
High School, but he keeps busy now as the director for the United Way. Donna Rubin, of Millers Mills, is a retired school teacher
who is a longtime Society member and the town of Columbia historian. Sylvia Rowan, of East Herkimer, is not new to our Board
of Directors. She previously served for a 6-year term and agreed to come
on Board again. She is the Herkimer County Clerk and brings a wealth of
experience from serving on nonprofit boards.
Serving a second term are Jan McGraw, of Ilion, Jeff
Steele, Herkimer, and John Stock, Herkimer.
They join fellow Board members Esther Brown, Little Falls,
Carolyn Canary, Herkimer, Kathy Crowe,
Mohawk, Tim Daly, Ilion, Carol Dippolito,
Poland, Toni Helmer, East Herkimer, Lesley Paul,
Little Falls, and Frank Spatto, Mohawk. We would like
to thank our outgoing Board members, Karl Manne and Katie
Nichols, for serving 6 years on the Board.
We
have been approached by Arcadia Publishing, the creator of the Image
of America series books, to do a book on the Village of Herkimer.
The book will feature pictures of Herkimer with captions.
Russian cellist Msistlav Rostropovich that were taken at the “Weekend
at Gelston Castle” event held by the Herkimer County Historical
Society on September 28-30 of last year. In addition, the computer
cd features never before seen pictures that were donated anonymously
to the Historical Society of Rostropovich’s home fully furnished
while he was in residence there, like the one pictured here of his
wife Galina’s bedroom (shown here). An extra bonus to the
cd are pictures of the Robinson family scrapbook showing the family
at Henderson House, better known to the community as Gelston Castle.
Helen Roosevelt Robinson, the last family member to live at the
property, is shown in many of the shots, as well as some interior
shots of the castle. An index to all of the pictures is included
with the purchase of the cd as well as a brief outline of the Henderson
House property lineage. The cost of the cd is $10.00 and can be
purchased at the Historical Society’s Gift Shop, To have the
cd mailed, please add $3.00 postage and send a check to the Herkimer
County Historical Society, 400 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY 13350.
