Episodes

  • Summer at the Fair: A History of Agricultural Fairs in New York State | A New York Minute in History

    Summer at the Fair: A History of Agricultural Fairs in New York State | A New York Minute in History
    Jul 31 2024
    As New York State prepares to host the oldest state fair in the nation, this episode tells history of the summertime tradition of agricultural fairs and how they developed from gatherings of learned societies into the popular attractions that we all know today. Markers of Focus: County Fairgrounds, Ballston Spa, Saratoga County. Interviewees: Richard Ball, Commissioner of the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, Joshua Hauck-Whealton, Archivist at the New York State Archives and Sarah Welch, Historian for the Saratoga County Agricultural Society. A New York Minute in History is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and the New York State Museum, with support from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. This episode was produced by Elizabeth Urbanczyk. Our theme is “Begrudge” by Darby. Featured Image: "A Close Finish", Saratoga County Fair, Ballston Spa, NY. Image courtesy of SCHC at Brookside Museum Further Reading: Jo
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    30 mins
  • Lady Acland’s Voyage: A First-Hand Account of the Battles of Saratoga | A New York Minute in History

    Lady Acland’s Voyage: A First-Hand Account of the Battles of Saratoga | A New York Minute in History
    Jun 26 2024
    This episode tells the story of Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline “Harriet” Acland, aristocratic wife of Major John Dyke Acland, who commanded the British 20th Regiment of Foot during the Burgoyne campaign of 1777. When Major Acland was wounded and taken prisoner, Lady Harriet risked her own life and freedom to nurse him back to health. She would go on to publish her diary of her time travelling and living with the British Army during the American Revolution. Marker of Focus: Lady Acland, Village of Schuylerville, Saratoga County. Interviewees: Sean Kelleher, Town of Saratoga Historian and Anne Clothier, Assistant Saratoga County Historian Further Reading: Lady Harriet Acland, The Acland Journal: Lady Harriet Acland and the American War, 1993. Holly A. Mayer, Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American Revolution, 1999. Richard M. Ketchum, Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War, 1999. Teaching R
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    30 mins
  • Ronek Park: Postwar Non-discriminatory Housing on Long Island | A New York Minute in History

    Ronek Park: Postwar Non-discriminatory Housing on Long Island | A New York Minute in History
    May 29 2024
    This episode tells the story of Ronek Park, a non-discriminatory housing development built in 1950 in the village of North Amityville. Unlike the many housing developments created in the post-WWII U.S. that followed the practice of redlining and did not allow African American or Jewish people to buy homes, Ronek Park specifically marketed itself as allowing anyone to purchase a home regardless of race or creed. Marker of Focus: Ronek Park, Village of North Amityville, Suffolk County, Long Island Interviewees: Mary Cascone, Town of Babylon Historian and Eugene Burnett, Ronek Park resident and former Town of Babylon Police Department Sergeant. Further Reading: Dolores Hayden, Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000, 2004. Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States, 1985. Gene Slater, Freedom to Discriminate: How Realtors Conspired to Segregate Housing and Divide America, 2021. Teaching
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    30 mins
  • Chinatown Community History | A New York Minute in History

    Chinatown Community History | A New York Minute in History
    Apr 26 2024
    May is Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month and in celebration this episode highlights the community history of Manhattan’s Chinatown, one of the oldest and largest Chinese and Chinese American communities in the United States. The episode tells the story of how during a time of change in the late 1970s the Chinatown community moved to preserve and archive its own history, which had long been ignored and marginalized by the dominant cultural institutions of the area. Featured image: Chinatown, Manhattan. Image: NYC Tourism.com Marker of Focus: Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District, Manhattan. Guests: Dr. John Kuo Wei (Jack) Tchen, Director, Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience at Rutgers University Newark and Ashley Hopkins- Benton, Senior Historian and Curator at the New York State Museum. A New York Minute in History is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and the New York State Mus
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    30 mins
  • Grace Leach Hudowalski | A New York Minute in History

    Grace Leach Hudowalski | A New York Minute in History
    Mar 27 2024
    In celebration of Women’s History Month, this episode tells the story of Grace Leach Hudowalski, the first woman to summit all 46 of the Adirondack High Peaks. Besides being an accomplished mountain climber, Grace was also the first president of the Adirondack 46ers Club as well as its historian for over 50 years. As historian, Grace answered thousands of letters from club members telling her of their exploits as they reached each of the 46 summits. An accomplished writer, Grace promoted the Adirondacks through her work as a tourism writer for New York State and through her many articles for the Adirondack Mountain Club Magazine. Marker of Focus: Grace Leach, Essex County Guests: Laurie Rankin, President of the Adirondack 46ers club, and Jane Meader Nye and Tony Solomon, Adirondack 46ers club members and friends of Grace. A New York Minute in History is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and the New York State Museum, with support from the William G
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    30 mins
  • La Amistad | A New York Minute in History

    La Amistad | A New York Minute in History
    Feb 28 2024
    In honor of Black History Month, this episode tells the story of the 1839 La Amistad Rebellion, in which 53 illegally enslaved Africans rose up against their Spanish captors off the coast of Cuba, took over the ship, and attempted to sail it to freedom. They eventually reached Long Island, where they were arrested by U.S. officials. Aided by New York abolitionists, the Amistad Africans fought various legal battles for over two years before the Supreme Court finally ruled in their favor in what was one of the most important court cases related to slavery before the Civil War. Marker of Focus: Schooner "Amistad", Suffolk County Guests: Dr. Marcus Rediker, author of The Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom and producer of the film Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels, and Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Eastville Community Historical Society. A New York Minute in History is a production
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    30 mins
  • Confederate Spies at the Canadian Border | A New York Minute in History

    Confederate Spies at the Canadian Border | A New York Minute in History
    Jan 31 2024
    On this month's episode, Devin and Lauren uncover a system of Confederate spies, guerillas, and terrorists attempting to wreak havoc on Western New York during the final years of the American Civil War. Marker of Focus: Escape Prevented, Niagara County Guests: Anton Schwarzmueller (Project Coordinator) and Jim Ball (Board President) of the Niagara Frontier Chapter-National Railway Historical Society, Lindsey Lauren Visser, Buffalo City Historian A New York Minute in History is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and the New York State Museum, with support from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. This episode was produced by Elizabeth Urbanczyk. Our theme is “Begrudge” by Darby. Featured Image: John Y. Beall, credit: Library of Congress Further Reading: Transcript of the Trial of John Y. Beall, Library of Congress An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War by Aaron Noble, Jennifer Lemak, and Robert We
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    30 mins
  • Plymouth Freeman and Unfinished Revolutions | A New York Minute in History

    Plymouth Freeman and Unfinished Revolutions | A New York Minute in History
    Dec 27 2023
    On this month’s episode, Devin and Lauren explore the story of Plymouth Freeman, a black Patriot who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and discuss how disenfranchised communities have harkened back to the promises outlined in the Declaration of Independence as a strategy for inclusion in those foundational principles of freedom and equality. Marker of Focus: Plymouth Freeman, Madison County Guests: Donna Wassall and Karen Christensen of the Fayetteville-Owahgena Chapter DAR, Paul and Mary Liz Stewart from the Underground Railroad Education Center, New York State Museum’s Chief Curator Dr. Jennifer Lemak and Senior Historian Ashley Hopkins-Benton. A New York Minute in History is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio and the New York State Museum, with support from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. This episode was produced by Elizabeth Urbanczyk. Our theme is “Begrudge” by Darby. Featured Image: Soldiers at the Siege of Yorktown
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    30 mins