Distinctly Dutch - New York State Museum
Distinctly Dutch - New York State Museum
Distinctly Dutch - New York State Museum
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The Magazine<br />
of the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
Vol. 5 • No. 1<br />
summer 2009<br />
INSIDE:<br />
1609 Exhibition<br />
An Up Close Look<br />
at Micro Minerals<br />
Schuyler Flatts Research<br />
Mohawk Globe Basket<br />
<strong>New</strong> Collections<br />
and Publications<br />
<strong>Distinctly</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> lives on through the material<br />
culture preserved in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s collection Page 18
Book Smarts<br />
For more than 170 years, <strong>Museum</strong> publications have shared knowledge of anthropology,<br />
biology, geology, history, and paleontology with readers excited by discovery.<br />
In <strong>Museum</strong> Bulletin #509,<br />
Before Albany, An Archaeology<br />
of Native-<strong>Dutch</strong> Relations in<br />
the Capital Region, 1600–1664,<br />
author Dr. James W. Bradley<br />
explores the interaction<br />
between Native Americans<br />
and the <strong>Dutch</strong> settlers living<br />
in the Beverwijck settlement,<br />
now present-day Albany. He<br />
discusses the mutual respect<br />
between the two groups<br />
and how, despite some<br />
conflicts, they established<br />
reciprocal relationships that<br />
led to the settlement of the<br />
Capital Region.<br />
230 pages, 8 1 /8 x 9 3 /4 inches<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Bulletin #502, Natural<br />
History of the Albany Pine Bush,<br />
is a comprehensive field guide<br />
to the trees, shrubs, wildflowers,<br />
insects, amphibians, reptiles,<br />
birds, and mammals that<br />
inhabit one of the most<br />
endangered landscapes in the<br />
Northeast. Author Dr. Jeffrey K.<br />
Barnes also reviews the human<br />
exploitation, land use, and<br />
conservation of the area as<br />
well as the challenges related<br />
to its ecological management.<br />
245 pages, 6 x 9 inches<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Bulletin #505, James<br />
Eights, 1798–1882, Antarctic<br />
Explorer, Albany Naturalist,<br />
His Life, His Times, His Work,<br />
presents a synopsis of the life<br />
and times of a little-known<br />
but respected 19th century<br />
scientist from Albany. Author<br />
Dr. Daniel McKinley brings to<br />
life Eights’ professional career<br />
and recognizes his contributions<br />
to science. Interested in various<br />
fields of natural history, James<br />
Eights explored extensively in<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> and donated many<br />
of the biological and geological<br />
specimens he collected to the<br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
456 pages, 8 1 /2 x 11 inches<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Bulletin #507,<br />
Fabulous Fossils: 300 Years of<br />
Worldwide Research on<br />
Trilobites, documents the history<br />
of research on this fascinating<br />
group of prehistoric animals.<br />
This collection of 15 papers,<br />
written by internationally<br />
renowned scientists, is a significant<br />
contribution to the history<br />
of trilobite paleontology. The<br />
book was edited by Dr. Donald<br />
G. Mikulic, Dr. Ed Landing<br />
of the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>, and<br />
Dr. Joanne Kluessendorf.<br />
248 pages, 8 1 /2 x 11 inches<br />
For information about these and other titles, call 518-486-2013 or visit www.nysm.nysed.gov/publications.
contents<br />
Vol. 5 • No. 1<br />
summer 2009<br />
features<br />
12<br />
17<br />
18<br />
Understanding a Mohawk Globe<br />
Basket in Its Makers’ World<br />
by Dr. Betty J. Duggan<br />
To fully appreciate the Globe Basket,<br />
commissioned in 2006 and now on<br />
display at the <strong>Museum</strong>, it’s important<br />
to learn the story of the basket’s<br />
creation, including its intended<br />
meanings and experiences of its<br />
makers, the Benedict family of the<br />
Akwesasne Mohawk community.<br />
NYSM In Person<br />
A familiar face around the <strong>Museum</strong>,<br />
Ryan Fitzpatrick of Visitor Services can<br />
be seen welcoming student groups,<br />
providing information about living or<br />
extinct fauna in the state, introducing<br />
children to the fish and turtle in<br />
Discovery Place, leading educational<br />
programs for Time Tunnel campers,<br />
and more.<br />
<strong>Distinctly</strong> <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
by John L. Scherer<br />
For more than 150 years after <strong>New</strong><br />
Netherland became <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>, <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
culture remained dominant. Furniture,<br />
decorative pieces, and other material<br />
culture from the 18th century preserve<br />
our state’s <strong>Dutch</strong> heritage.<br />
On the Cover: <strong>Dutch</strong> Delft Charger, c. 1760,<br />
originally owned by Conrad Anthony Ten Eyck<br />
(1789–1845) and his wife Hester Gansevoort<br />
(1796–1861) of Albany. They may have inherited<br />
the charger from either of their parents. <strong>Museum</strong><br />
purchase, funds provided by Georgann Byrd Tompkins.<br />
NYSM H-2007.48.2<br />
Cover Inset: The more than 400 photographs<br />
included in A Great Day for Elmira were selected<br />
from negatives in the collections of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> Archives.<br />
www.nysm.nysed.gov<br />
departments<br />
2<br />
3<br />
9<br />
Director’s Note<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> <strong>New</strong>s<br />
Discovery Now<br />
Update on the Schuyler Flatts Burial Ground<br />
Additional studies provide information<br />
about the individuals buried at the unmarked<br />
18th-century African cemetery.<br />
By Lisa Anderson<br />
10<br />
Hidden Treasures<br />
Micro Minerals<br />
See crystal-clear views of the tiniest<br />
minerals in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s collections.<br />
By Dr. Marian Lupulescu<br />
20<br />
A stained glass window with the coat of arms of<br />
Jan Baptiste van Rensselaer, the second son of<br />
Killiean van Rensselaer and the third patroon of<br />
Rensselaerswyck. The 17th-century window<br />
(NYSM H-1937.4.2) was in the van Rensselaer<br />
manor house and will be on display in the 1609<br />
exhibition.<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> Stories<br />
Berenice Abbott’s “Changing <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>”<br />
In the 1920s, new construction changed<br />
the face of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> City. Photographer<br />
Berenice Abbott captured a city in transition.<br />
By Craig Williams<br />
Facial reconstructions of individuals<br />
buried at an unmarked 19th-century<br />
cemetery help bring to life the<br />
enslaved in colonial Albany.<br />
Below: Small, rounded, dark emerald<br />
green crystals of chromdravite<br />
from the Gouverneur # 1 Talc Mine,<br />
St. Lawrence County. The central<br />
crystal of chromdravite is 0.07 mm<br />
in diameter. NYSM 22112<br />
Below: Fulton Street Dock<br />
(November 26, 1935). From the East<br />
River pier, Berenice Abbott’s view is<br />
facing the historic fish market, now<br />
the South Street Seaport.<br />
(NYSM H-1940.7.27)
John Whipple<br />
The Magazine of the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
director’s note<br />
The economic downturn has placed a great deal of stress on<br />
museums and historical societies in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> state. Many<br />
have seen endowments dwindle while gifts and sponsorships<br />
have become more difficult to secure. The <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> has<br />
not been immune to financial difficulties—periodic spending and hiring<br />
restrictions have been part of our operational landscape for many years.<br />
It’s in the difficult times when the enthusiasm and creativity of our staff<br />
spark a true appreciation for the privilege and responsibility of being<br />
director of the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>. A few examples from the first half of the year:<br />
n We’ve had to cancel cleaning contracts with outside vendors. In<br />
response, staff organized a “strike team,” made a plan, and set<br />
out to clean the galleries. Their pride in presenting the most<br />
welcoming experience for our visitors while protecting the<br />
objects on exhibit drove them to step up and voluntarily work<br />
beyond expectations.<br />
n Federal stimulus funds have been awarded to realize our vision<br />
of the Day Peckinpaugh, the <strong>Museum</strong>’s 1921 motor ship, as a<br />
traveling museum and educational presence on the state’s<br />
waterways. This support is wonderful recognition of the value<br />
of the <strong>Museum</strong>’s collections and the importance of our<br />
educational mission.<br />
n<br />
Staff, working with outside exhibit planners and designers,<br />
completed the design phases for our new natural history gallery<br />
and new history gallery. These galleries will transform the visitor<br />
experience, and our commitment to these projects continues<br />
despite the sometimes daunting economic challenges.<br />
Visitors often ask how I cope with such financial difficulties and<br />
uncertainties. I tell them I take pride in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s legacy—and<br />
in our stewardship of more than 12 million artifacts and specimens<br />
representing <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s past—knowing we continue to inspire our<br />
visitors with the discoveries they make. Most of all, I take pride in and<br />
appreciate the steadfast dedication of our staff. I invite you to come<br />
to the <strong>Museum</strong> and meet them!<br />
Maria C. Sparks, Managing Editor<br />
Contributors<br />
Lisa Anderson<br />
Betty J. Duggan<br />
Ryan Fitzpatrick<br />
Lucy Larner<br />
Marian Lupulescu<br />
John L. Scherer<br />
Michelle Stefanik<br />
Craig Williams<br />
Advisory Board<br />
Clifford A. Siegfried<br />
John P. Hart<br />
Mark Schaming<br />
Jeanine L. Grinage<br />
Robert A. Daniels<br />
Penelope B. Drooker<br />
Editorial Board<br />
Carrie Bernardi<br />
Penelope B. Drooker<br />
Cecile Kowalski<br />
Geoffrey N. Stein<br />
Chuck Ver Straeten<br />
Legacy is published quarterly by the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>, Cultural<br />
Education Center, Albany, NY 12230.<br />
Members can receive the magazine<br />
via e-mail. For information about<br />
membership, call 518-474-1354<br />
or send an e-mail to:<br />
membership@mail.nysed.gov.<br />
Cliff Siegfried<br />
Director, <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
www.nysm.nysed.gov<br />
2 n Legacy
museum news<br />
Exhibition Explores Hudson’s Voyage<br />
and Its Legacy<br />
This cannon (NYSM H-1937.4.1) was made<br />
in 1630 in Amsterdam and may have been<br />
sent to Fort Orange that same year. In 1663,<br />
at the outbreak of the Second Esopus War,<br />
Jeremias van Rensselaer demanded the<br />
return of a cannon previously lent to the<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> West India Company, and this one<br />
may have been sent by mistake. The logo of<br />
the company is found on the cannon’s barrel.<br />
The cannon remained in the van Rensselaer<br />
family, and according to tradition, was only<br />
used to announce the birth of a male heir,<br />
until it was bequeathed to the <strong>Museum</strong> in<br />
1939 by Mrs. William B. van Rensselaer.<br />
Must-See<br />
Exhibitions<br />
1609<br />
Opens July 3<br />
Mapping the Birds<br />
of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>:<br />
The Second Atlas of<br />
Breeding Birds in<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
Through August 16<br />
Berenice Abbott’s<br />
Changing <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>:<br />
A Triumph of Public Art<br />
Through October 4<br />
An upcoming exhibition at the <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> investigates, presents, and<br />
celebrates 400 years since the 1609<br />
voyage of Henry Hudson.<br />
The aptly named 1609 opens July 3 and will<br />
be the featured exhibition at the <strong>Museum</strong> during<br />
its eight-month stay. The exhibition introduces<br />
visitors to information about Henry Hudson,<br />
Native People of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>, and the <strong>Dutch</strong> period<br />
in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> by dispelling some commonly held<br />
myths and showing the legacy these groups have<br />
left to residents of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> state and to the<br />
nation as a whole.<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> collaborated<br />
with the <strong>State</strong> Archives, <strong>State</strong> Library, and Office<br />
of Educational Television and Public Broadcasting<br />
on 1609, and these institutions provided additional<br />
expertise, documents, and artifacts for the<br />
exhibition. Archaeologist Dr. James Bradley, an<br />
expert on Native Americans, Russell Shorto,<br />
an authority on colonial <strong>Dutch</strong> history, and Steven<br />
Comer, a Mohican Indian living within the original<br />
territory of the Mohican people, consulted on the<br />
project. The exhibition will also feature paintings<br />
by Capital District historical artist L.F. Tantillo.<br />
1609 presents two very different 17th-century<br />
worlds: the world of Henry Hudson and the <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
and the world of the Native People of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>.<br />
The exhibition investigates the myths that Hudson<br />
deliberately set out to discover a new land and that<br />
Native People were happy to see these newcomers.<br />
It looks at the interaction of these two cultures<br />
living in <strong>New</strong> Netherland and addresses the fallacy<br />
that Europeans took advantage of Native People<br />
and destroyed their culture. The exhibition gives<br />
visitors a view of the trade-oriented existence of<br />
<strong>New</strong> Netherland’s residents, both European and<br />
Native, and show how Native People adapted to<br />
these new people and materials in their world.<br />
The exhibition concludes with an educational<br />
and fun view of all things <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> left to us by<br />
the <strong>Dutch</strong> and Native Peoples of four centuries past.<br />
Visitors can explore and discover the origins in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong> of contemporary cultural mainstays, such as<br />
street plans, community names, holiday celebrations,<br />
cultural diversity, and religious and cultural tolerance.<br />
In addition, the exhibition takes a look at two harsh<br />
realities of this cultural interaction: the introduction<br />
of European-style slavery and the displacement of<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s Native People from their homelands. The<br />
exhibition will be on view through March 7, 2010. n<br />
– Michelle Stefanik, Exhibition Planner<br />
Upcoming<br />
Exhibitions<br />
Through the Eyes<br />
of Others<br />
African Americans and<br />
Identity in American Art<br />
Opens September 8<br />
This Great Nation<br />
Will Endure<br />
Opens October 2009<br />
For more details on<br />
the exhibitions, go to<br />
www.nysm.nysed.gov.<br />
Summer 2009 n 3
museum<br />
news<br />
Recent Acquisitions on Display<br />
Detail of a decorated family record<br />
produced in 1799 for the Garlogh<br />
family who lived in Montgomery<br />
County. NYSM H-2008.17.1<br />
In April, the “Collections in<br />
the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>”<br />
display case in Adirondack Hall<br />
was updated with some recent<br />
acquisitions. Now on view are:<br />
n An intricate Globe Basket made<br />
collaboratively by three generations<br />
of an Akwesasne Mohawk<br />
family, the Benedicts. The <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> commissioned the<br />
basket, which represents a striped<br />
gourd and brings to mind stories<br />
of the life-sustaining Three Sisters<br />
(corn, beans, and squash-gourd),<br />
for the Governor’s Collection of<br />
Contemporary Native American<br />
Art. (See page 12 for more on<br />
this acquisition.)<br />
n Eight mineral specimens from<br />
an important early collection of<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> minerals acquired<br />
from the Philadelphia Academy<br />
of Sciences. The minerals on<br />
display are from Niagara, Orange,<br />
St. Lawrence, Ulster, Warren, and<br />
Westchester counties, including<br />
many localities long ago depleted<br />
or built over.<br />
n Bats and birds that crashed<br />
into wind turbines while migrating<br />
to and from breeding sites. To<br />
help understand the impact of<br />
wind power on wildlife, <strong>Museum</strong><br />
scientists are identifying the<br />
species and preserving them<br />
as research specimens.<br />
n A decorated family record<br />
produced in 1799 for a Mohawk<br />
Valley family. The artist, William<br />
Murray, worked in the style<br />
of early European decorated<br />
or “illuminated” manuscripts<br />
to appeal to the German<br />
immigrants of this region. The<br />
document on display is one of<br />
only about two dozen known<br />
examples of this type from the<br />
Mohawk Valley.<br />
As part of the exhibition,<br />
visitors can see additional digital<br />
materials related to the artifacts<br />
and a video of <strong>Museum</strong> biologists<br />
providing a “behind the scenes”<br />
window into their collections.<br />
The collections case was<br />
installed in 2006 to display<br />
highlights from and new<br />
additions to the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
collections. The comprehensive<br />
collection includes more than<br />
12 million artifacts and specimens<br />
in the areas of biology,<br />
geology, and human history.<br />
It is the single most significant<br />
record of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s natural<br />
and cultural heritage. n<br />
On the Bookshelf<br />
The photographs included in A<br />
Great Day for Elmira were selected<br />
from thousands of Department of<br />
Public Works negatives documenting<br />
railroad projects. The negatives are<br />
in the collections of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> Archives.<br />
The <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> and<br />
the Chemung County<br />
Historical Society in Elmira<br />
recently published A Great Day<br />
for Elmira: An Illustrated History<br />
of Twentieth-Century Grade<br />
Crossing Elimination Projects in<br />
Elmira and Elsewhere in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong>, <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
Memoir No. 28, by Senior<br />
Historian Geoffrey N. Stein.<br />
The 426-page book contains<br />
hundreds of historical photographs<br />
that show how communities and<br />
landscapes changed when<br />
railroad tracks were separated<br />
from roadways. Three railroads<br />
operated in Elmira, but in the<br />
1920s, as more people began<br />
driving cars, the tracks became<br />
impediments to drivers as well<br />
as a safety concern, says Stein.<br />
Trains, previously essential to<br />
communities, would begin to<br />
fade from public view. “The<br />
significance of railroads now<br />
is lost for most people,” adds<br />
Stein, who curates the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
transportation collections.<br />
The photographs included<br />
in the book were taken in the<br />
1930s, 1940s, and 1950s by<br />
photographers working for the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> Department of<br />
Public Works. They document<br />
track projects, from the onset<br />
through completion, showing<br />
how the work transformed<br />
places where railroad tracks<br />
and streets had intersected.<br />
“Elmira is an example of what<br />
was happening all over the state,<br />
especially in the 1930s,” says Stein.<br />
The <strong>Museum</strong> also recently<br />
produced Interpretation of<br />
Topographic Maps, <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> Leaflet No. 36,<br />
by John B. Skiba. The leaflet<br />
provides an overview of topographic<br />
maps, how to read<br />
them, and their use. n<br />
4 n Legacy
volunteers in action<br />
Jerry Haller Makes Plant Specimens<br />
Available for Study<br />
museum<br />
news<br />
At any given time of the<br />
day, any day of the work<br />
week, volunteer Jerry<br />
Haller can be found mounting and<br />
filing specimens in the vascular<br />
plant herbarium. Haller, who<br />
retired in June 2008 after a career<br />
as a pediatric neurologist, is said<br />
to be a full-time volunteer. His<br />
involvement came at a fortuitous<br />
time for the <strong>Museum</strong> because<br />
in January 2009, the number<br />
of specimens in the herbarium<br />
topped the significant milestone<br />
of 200,000.<br />
“That’s remarkable for a state<br />
museum,” says Dr. Charles J. Sheviak,<br />
curator of botany at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>. The vascular plant<br />
herbarium documents the flora of<br />
the state, including flowering<br />
plants, ferns, trees, grass, and<br />
more. It records what was growing<br />
in an area at a certain time. The<br />
collection represents all portions<br />
of the state and also includes<br />
specimens from throughout the<br />
United <strong>State</strong>s and Canada that<br />
are used to compare trends in<br />
variation. All told, the herbarium<br />
provides great historical depth,<br />
stretching back to the earliest<br />
part of the 19th century, says<br />
Dr. Sheviak. It contains approximately<br />
400 type specimens that<br />
serve as the standard references<br />
for the identification of species.<br />
Dr. Sheviak recalls that when<br />
he came to the <strong>Museum</strong> in 1978,<br />
he inherited about 55,000 unprocessed<br />
specimens. Then, 23,000<br />
additional specimens were brought<br />
in from other state institutions<br />
and collections during one year<br />
in the early 1980s. Although the<br />
number of specimens grew, there<br />
has not always been staff or time<br />
to identify and label each specimen<br />
for the collection. Processing<br />
specimens would be just one<br />
responsibility of a collections<br />
manager, for example. “Needless<br />
to say, there are still 10’s of<br />
thousands of specimens remaining<br />
from the original backlog,<br />
and other material comes in regularly,”<br />
says Dr. Sheviak. “Jerry,<br />
by working full-time on this, has<br />
been processing specimens at a<br />
much higher rate than staff with<br />
additional responsibilities.”<br />
Haller reached his own milestone<br />
by the end of April—he<br />
has mounted more than 3,000<br />
specimens since starting at the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> in August 2008.<br />
Haller has had a longtime<br />
interest in orchids and other<br />
plants, and while in high school,<br />
he thought about becoming a<br />
field botanist. While his career<br />
aspirations led in another direction,<br />
his avocation returned to<br />
botany. As a volunteer, he has<br />
become increasingly familiar with<br />
vascular plants and was able to<br />
organize the recent addition of<br />
400 specimens from the <strong>State</strong><br />
University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> at<br />
Oneonta’s herbarium. He has<br />
also brought in specimens for<br />
the herbarium.<br />
If the specimen has an identification<br />
label, he mounts the<br />
specimen and the label on cotton<br />
acid-free paper. Once mounted,<br />
the specimen officially goes into<br />
the collection and can be used<br />
by scientists and others for the<br />
purposes of research and reference.<br />
“There’s a goal to clear up as<br />
much [of the backlog] as possible,”<br />
Haller says, then turns away<br />
to work on another specimen. n<br />
Jerry Haller focuses on mounting and filing specimens in the Asteraceae family. As a result<br />
of his work, more than 3,000 additional vascular plant specimens are available for study.<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> offers<br />
many interesting<br />
and educational<br />
opportunities for<br />
volunteers, interns,<br />
and those interested<br />
in community<br />
service placements.<br />
For more information,<br />
call 518-402-5869.<br />
Summer 2006 2009 n 5
museum<br />
news<br />
Memory Keepers<br />
John Pasquini (right) and Ralph<br />
Rataul (center) interview Senior<br />
Historian John Scherer about his<br />
experiences at the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
The two anthropologists initiated<br />
an oral history project to record<br />
the unwritten history of the people<br />
“who’ve worked at and shaped”<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
When Senior Historian<br />
John Scherer retired in<br />
April, he took with him<br />
nearly 42 years of firsthand knowledge<br />
of the decorative arts, popular<br />
entertainment, and print collections<br />
as well as information about the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s history and day-to-day<br />
activities. While it’s impossible<br />
to capture all of a person’s institutional<br />
knowledge, an ongoing<br />
oral history project aims to record<br />
the experiences of longtime staff<br />
members to compile a history of<br />
the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> anthropologists<br />
John Pasquini and Ralph Rataul<br />
conceived the research project in<br />
April 2006. The 2002 death of<br />
Dr. Robert Funk, who served as<br />
<strong>State</strong> Archaeologist from 1973<br />
to 1993, had left a void in their<br />
professional lives. They both considered<br />
Funk “a great resource and<br />
friend” and knew he had “a wealth<br />
of tales” about his time working<br />
at the <strong>Museum</strong> and could provide<br />
the answers to questions about<br />
decisions made during his tenure.<br />
As a result of this loss, Pasquini<br />
and Rataul identified a need to<br />
capture and preserve the first-person<br />
accounts, stories shared among<br />
colleagues, and personal remem-<br />
brances that shape an individual’s<br />
institutional memory.<br />
“Some of this information can<br />
and does live on in the written and<br />
oral traditions that surround us<br />
everyday as friends and co-workers<br />
reminisce about the individuals in<br />
question, but that information is<br />
secondhand and is often altered<br />
through these recollections and<br />
time,” says Pasquini, a director of<br />
the archaeology lab in the Cultural<br />
Resources Survey Program. “The<br />
Oral History Project collects these<br />
memories firsthand and records<br />
them for future generations.”<br />
Pasquini and Rataul, a research<br />
and collections technician for<br />
anthropology, have interviewed<br />
more than a dozen longtime<br />
employees and former staff members.<br />
During the recorded interviews,<br />
topics range from the<br />
general background of the staff<br />
members and how they came to<br />
work at the <strong>Museum</strong> to details<br />
about how they did their job, who<br />
they reported to, what accomplishments<br />
they are most proud<br />
of, and how the <strong>Museum</strong> operated.<br />
Oral histories have the advantage<br />
of being from the “insider’s perspective,”<br />
says Rataul, who points<br />
out that neither he nor Pasquini<br />
or the majority of the current<br />
staff were <strong>Museum</strong> employees<br />
at the time many of the recalled<br />
events took place.<br />
“These insider perspectives,<br />
covering the last half century,<br />
provide a very real conception<br />
of coping and thriving during<br />
periods of massive facility and<br />
management change,” says<br />
Rataul. “Potential blueprints for<br />
how we, the current staff, might<br />
promote and manage pending<br />
changes within our time at this<br />
institution can be found in these<br />
interviews… .”<br />
A key area of interest is past<br />
relocations of the collections, and<br />
many of the <strong>Museum</strong>’s senior staff<br />
participated in the last major move<br />
[from the <strong>State</strong> Education Building].<br />
“We suspect the lessons learned<br />
during that effort would be<br />
applicable to any future relocations<br />
of the Research and<br />
Collections department,” say<br />
Pasquini and Rataul.<br />
The oral history initiative is<br />
one of several internally funded<br />
Research and Collections projects.<br />
Pasquini and Rataul were granted<br />
a percentage of time from their<br />
regular positions to work on this<br />
additional project. n<br />
6 n Legacy
Discovery Squad<br />
Student Receives<br />
Prestigious Scholarship<br />
Ocasio Willson joined the<br />
Discovery Squad as a<br />
9th grader looking for<br />
a job; this June he “graduated’<br />
from the after-school program<br />
looking ahead to Vassar College<br />
and beyond. And the <strong>Museum</strong><br />
community couldn’t be more<br />
proud of him—In April, Willson<br />
received a 2009 Gates Millenium<br />
Scholarship, a prestigious award<br />
that will cover the cost of his<br />
undergraduate education.<br />
The Albany High School graduate<br />
was one of 1,000 high school<br />
seniors from throughout the<br />
country, and 37 in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
state, selected for this scholarship.<br />
The scholarship provides educational<br />
support by covering the<br />
costs that remain after a college<br />
or university provides its financial<br />
aid package. The scholarship,<br />
initially funded by a $1 billion<br />
grant from the Bill and Melinda<br />
Gates Foundation, is renewable<br />
each year. It will also provide<br />
funding for graduate school and<br />
doctoral programs, if the recipient<br />
pursues education in computer<br />
science, education, engineering,<br />
library science, mathematics,<br />
public health, or science.<br />
As a member of the Discovery<br />
Squad, Willson received academic<br />
and personal support, career<br />
guidance, and assistance with<br />
college preparation and applications.<br />
He mentored the young<br />
students in the <strong>Museum</strong> Club<br />
after-school program, helping<br />
them with homework and facilitating<br />
educational programs. He<br />
also worked as a junior counselor<br />
for Time Tunnel summer camp<br />
and as a staff host for birthday<br />
parties. This is all in addition to<br />
his involvement in about a dozen<br />
community and school organizations.<br />
“I’m the type of person<br />
who goes for any opportunity<br />
open to me,” says Willson.<br />
Stephanie Miller, the director<br />
of the after-school programs at<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong>, describes Willson as<br />
“the epitome of a role model” with<br />
his selection as a Gates Millenium<br />
Scholar. “I don’t know if I have<br />
Discovery Squad member Ocasio<br />
Willson, a Gates Millenium Scholar,<br />
helps <strong>Museum</strong> Club students with<br />
their homework.<br />
ever met a young person so<br />
focused and driven to achieve<br />
his goals …,” says Miller. “We<br />
are very proud of this young<br />
man’s many accomplishments<br />
and know that his strength of<br />
character and dedication to<br />
hard work and excellence will<br />
take him a long way.” n<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> Apple-<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
Hudson Heritage Cruise<br />
The <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> and <strong>Dutch</strong> Apple<br />
Cruises offer a Hudson Heritage Cruise to<br />
celebrate the quadricentennial of Henry<br />
Hudson’s exploration.<br />
To complement the new<br />
exhibition 1609, the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> has teamed with<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> Apple Cruises to offer<br />
a two-hour, narrated cruise on<br />
Albany’s popular <strong>Dutch</strong> Apple.<br />
And thanks to the generosity<br />
of <strong>Dutch</strong> Apple Cruises, the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s educational programs<br />
will benefit from a donation<br />
from ticket revenue at the end<br />
of the cruise season.<br />
The Hudson Heritage Cruise<br />
is available on selected dates<br />
though October 31, at a special<br />
cost of $16.09 per person.<br />
During the two-hour cruise, the<br />
boat passes historic and contemporary<br />
landmarks.<br />
Guide “Henrietta Hudson”<br />
holds forth, covering these important<br />
sites along the shoreline. This<br />
mysterious, long lost “relative” of<br />
Henry Hudson shares her vast<br />
knowledge of the history of<br />
the <strong>Dutch</strong> in Albany and their<br />
interactions with Native People,<br />
sprinkled with a touch of humor<br />
and personal anecdotes from<br />
her many travels on the river.<br />
The cruise departs from the<br />
Steamboat Square dock in<br />
downtown Albany at 11 a.m.<br />
and returns at 1 p.m. Boarding<br />
begins at 10:30 a.m. For more<br />
information on cruise dates,<br />
please visit www.dutchapplecruises.com;<br />
for reservations,<br />
please call 518-463-0220. n<br />
– Lucy Larner, Executive<br />
Director, <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> Institute<br />
Summer 2009 n 7
museum<br />
news<br />
a look back<br />
The Big Move: <strong>Museum</strong> Collections<br />
Relocated from the Education Building<br />
The largest of the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
three dugout canoes in the<br />
anthropology collections<br />
(NYSM CN A-37517) was<br />
hoisted out of the Education<br />
Building in 1980 (shown at<br />
right) and now resides in the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s off-site collections<br />
facility. This canoe was<br />
reported found along the banks<br />
of the Susquehanna River near<br />
Binghamton and gifted to the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> in 1922.<br />
All three dugout canoes are<br />
undergoing dendrochronology<br />
dating analysis to determine<br />
their exact ages. Recovered in<br />
1893 from Glass Lake, Rensselaer<br />
County, the <strong>Museum</strong>’s second<br />
largest dugout canoe<br />
(CN A-37516) measures 20 feet<br />
in length and will be on view<br />
in the 1609 exhibition.<br />
In 1976, when the <strong>Museum</strong><br />
opened in the new Cultural<br />
Education Center, the research<br />
collections remained a few<br />
blocks away in the Education<br />
Building on Washington Avenue.<br />
By 1979, however, an effort to<br />
remove the thousands of artifacts<br />
and specimens (as well as<br />
a few intact exhibitions) housed<br />
there was underway.<br />
Like any move, it was not<br />
without challenges. At more<br />
than 27 feet in length, a large<br />
dugout canoe that had been<br />
displayed on top of cases in<br />
Morgan Hall was too long to<br />
fit inside the building’s freight<br />
elevator. The solution was<br />
to place the canoe in a crate<br />
that would be lifted through<br />
one of the upper windows in<br />
Biology Hall, according to John<br />
Krumdieck, who as a new hire<br />
at the <strong>Museum</strong> in October 1978<br />
was charged with coordinating<br />
the move of the collections.<br />
Special scaffolding was<br />
constructed to hold the crated<br />
canoe at the height needed<br />
for it to slide out the window,<br />
which overlooked Elk Street.<br />
Early on a Saturday morning<br />
in August 1980, two cranes<br />
were positioned outside for the<br />
delicate operation of removing<br />
the canoe. “Two slings were<br />
attached to the crate as it slid out<br />
the window,” Krumdieck recalls.<br />
“As the crate emerged out of<br />
the window, the first sling was<br />
attached to the first crane, which<br />
supported one end of the crate<br />
until it had moved far enough<br />
out of the window for the<br />
second crane to be attached to<br />
fully support the crate. The two<br />
cranes then lowered the canoe<br />
evenly onto a flatbed truck.”<br />
The canoe was temporarily<br />
housed in what is now South Hall,<br />
with some of the history collections,<br />
remembers Krumdieck. The biology,<br />
anthropology, geology, and<br />
paleontology collections were<br />
also moved from the Education<br />
Building to the Cultural Education<br />
Center. Prior to this move, the<br />
bulk of the history collections<br />
had been moved from other<br />
locations and consolidated<br />
at the <strong>Museum</strong>’s off-site<br />
storage facility. n<br />
8 n Legacy
Update on the Schuyler Flatts<br />
Burial Ground<br />
discovery now<br />
By Lisa anderson<br />
Gay Malin, a facial reconstruction artist at the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>, created this initial reconstruction<br />
of Burial 3, one of the individuals buried<br />
at the unmarked 18th-century cemetery on<br />
property owned by the Schuyler family.<br />
When an unmarked 18th-century African cemetery was<br />
accidentally discovered during construction in Colonie in<br />
2005, it was an unprecedented opportunity to learn about<br />
the lives of people who otherwise would be little known. Although<br />
there was no record of the burial ground, historical research suggested<br />
it probably was used by African individuals enslaved by the prominent<br />
Schuyler family. Studies of the skeletal remains of 14 individuals (eight<br />
adults and six children) gave a glimpse into their lives, showing that<br />
they worked hard and suffered from arthritis and poor dental health.<br />
Additional studies, including DNA analysis, were recently conducted<br />
to learn about their origins and histories. In particular, tests were conducted<br />
to confirm their African ancestry and identify the regions where<br />
they, or their ancestors, originated. Accounts in Ann Grant’s Memoirs of<br />
an American Lady describe two extended African families enslaved in the<br />
household of Margaret Schuyler, who lived at the Flatts from about 1723<br />
to 1771. Because of this, tests also were conducted to determine if any of<br />
the people from the burial ground were related.<br />
DNA testing revealed some<br />
unexpected results. Looking at<br />
mitochondrial DNA, a type of<br />
DNA inherited from our mothers<br />
that is more abundant and easier<br />
to identify in ancient bone, Esther<br />
Lee at the Andrew Merriwether<br />
Lab at Binghamton University<br />
determined that none of the<br />
adults tested were related to<br />
each other through their mother’s<br />
line. She did find, however, that<br />
three of the Schuyler Flatts people<br />
had maternal ancestry that could<br />
be traced to Africa. One of them<br />
had DNA commonly found in west<br />
and west central Africa while two<br />
others traced their maternal lineages<br />
to east Africa. The results<br />
mean that those individuals or their<br />
mothers, grandmothers, or even<br />
great-grandmothers were from<br />
Africa. Their paternal ancestry, or<br />
father’s heritage, remains unknown.<br />
The DNA for two other individuals<br />
was initially difficult to<br />
identify but was eventually traced<br />
to Madagascar, an island off the<br />
southeast coast of Africa. In the<br />
late 18th and 19th centuries,<br />
Madagascar was home to a<br />
lucrative and illegal slave trade,<br />
where pirates sold Malagasy men<br />
and women in exchange for rum<br />
and other merchandise. Members<br />
of at least one wealthy <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
family, Frederick Philipse and his<br />
son Adolph, were slave traders<br />
who profited from the illicit trade<br />
off Madagascar. They were also<br />
associates of the Schuylers, who<br />
may have purchased slaves directly<br />
from Philipse’s Madagascar<br />
slave ships.<br />
Another individual, a woman<br />
known only as Burial 3, had DNA<br />
that was different from the other<br />
people buried at Schuyler Flatts.<br />
Her maternal ancestry was identified<br />
as Native American. Even<br />
more interesting, the closest<br />
match for her DNA is not with<br />
Native American groups in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong> but with the Micmac, a<br />
tribe from the Gulf of St. Lawrence<br />
around Nova Scotia and <strong>New</strong><br />
Brunswick in eastern Canada.<br />
While additional DNA analyses<br />
are being conducted to confirm<br />
the identity by comparing DNA<br />
from members of the Aroostook<br />
Band of Micmacs living today in<br />
Maine, historical evidence may<br />
explain the connection. Heavily<br />
involved in the fur trade, the<br />
Schuylers seized upon opportunities<br />
to trade with Native groups<br />
in Canada despite laws on both<br />
sides of the border prohibiting<br />
such trade. They may have profited<br />
from trade in areas as far away<br />
as Micmac territory, apparently<br />
returning with more than furs.<br />
Each new piece of information<br />
sheds more light on the story of<br />
the Schuyler Flatts people and<br />
the complex history of enslavement<br />
and diversity in colonial<br />
Albany. Once the tests are<br />
concluded, plans will be made<br />
for reburial of the Schuyler Flatts<br />
people. Their story will be told<br />
as part of the planned Empire<br />
<strong>State</strong> gallery. n<br />
Lisa Anderson is the<br />
curator of human<br />
osteology at the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
and coordinator for the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s compliance<br />
with the Native American<br />
Graves Protection and<br />
Repatriation Act.<br />
Summer 2009 n 9
hidden treasures<br />
MicroMinerals<br />
By Dr. Marian Lupulescu<br />
Beautiful yellow calcite “flower,”<br />
CaCO 3<br />
, on dolomite matrix,<br />
Middleville, Herkimer County.<br />
The calcite cluster is<br />
5 mm across. NYSM 22263<br />
By Dr. Marian Lupulescu<br />
The minerals in some specimen samples are too tiny to<br />
be seen by the naked eye, but mineralogists can study<br />
their form, color, and relationship with other components<br />
by using digital imaging software. The software used by <strong>Museum</strong><br />
scientists extends the capabilities of the optical microscope,<br />
such as the depth of field, and produces perfect image stitching<br />
from samples with considerable depth of field. For the images<br />
shown here, the scientist used the optical microscope to take<br />
a number of images from different levels between the base<br />
and the top of the mineral. Then, the software assembled<br />
all the images and rebuilt the crystal in high-resolution 3-D<br />
digital photography. n<br />
Dr. Marian Lupulescu is<br />
curator of minerals at the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
His research interests in<br />
mineralogy include mineral<br />
classification and new<br />
mineral species as well as<br />
how minerals form and<br />
change their composition<br />
and structure with the<br />
environment.<br />
“The Tower of Pisa.”Cluster of shinny<br />
golden crystals of marcasite, FeS 2<br />
, with<br />
white melanterite, FeSO 4<br />
.7H 2<br />
O, from<br />
the Cicero clay pits, Onondaga County.<br />
The cluster is 3 mm in length.<br />
NYSM 22265<br />
Short prism of pale yellow olenite, NaAl 3<br />
Al 6<br />
Si 6<br />
O 18<br />
(BO 3<br />
) 3<br />
(O 3<br />
)(OH), associated with white rossmanite,<br />
[ ](Li 2<br />
Al)Al 6<br />
Si 6<br />
O 18<br />
(BO 3<br />
) 3<br />
(OH) 3<br />
(OH), from <strong>New</strong>comb, Essex County. The olenite crystal is<br />
1 mm in length. NYSM 426.21<br />
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh<br />
10 n Legacy
Tiny wine-red crystal of the tourmaline-group<br />
species, manganese-rich hydroxy-uvite,<br />
CaMg 3<br />
(Al 5<br />
Mg)Si 6<br />
O 18<br />
(BO 3<br />
) 3<br />
(OH) 3<br />
(OH),<br />
from the Arnold Pit, Balmat, St. Lawrence<br />
County. The crystal is 0.5 mm in length.<br />
NYSM 15248<br />
Square crystal of wulfenite, PbMoO 4<br />
, with<br />
rounded corners from Ellenville, Ulster County.<br />
The crystal is 0.9 mm on the outer edge.<br />
NYSM 19307<br />
Small, rounded, emerald-dark-green crystals of chromdravite, NaMg 3<br />
Cr 6<br />
Si 6<br />
O 18<br />
(BO 3<br />
) 3<br />
(OH) 3<br />
(OH),<br />
associated with green tremolite and quartz, from the Gouverneur # 1 Talc Mine, St. Lawrence<br />
County. The central crystal of chromdravite is 0.07 mm in diameter. NYSM 22112<br />
Two beautiful golden sprays of goethite,<br />
FeO(OH), on quartz from the Sterling mine,<br />
Jefferson County. The sprays are 0.4 mm<br />
across. NYSM 22533<br />
Beautiful spray of pale green fibers of<br />
pecoraite, Ni 3<br />
Si 2<br />
O 5<br />
(OH) 4<br />
, in a tiny vug in<br />
quartz, from the Sterling mine, Jefferson<br />
County. The longest fiber is 3.9 mm.<br />
NYSM 22549<br />
Cluster of lamellar white crystals of gypsum, CaSO 4<br />
.2H 2<br />
O, with calcite (brown) peppered by<br />
balls of pyrite (dark). The longest gypsum crystal is 3 mm in length. NYSM 22300<br />
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh<br />
Summer 2009 n 11
Three generations of an Akwesasne<br />
Mohawk basket-making family, (from<br />
left to right) Rebecca, Luz, and Florence<br />
Benedict, offer a collaboratively made<br />
Striped Gourd Basket from Florence’s<br />
Globe Basket series. Photo by Salli<br />
Benedict, 2006.<br />
Understanding a<br />
Mohawk Globe Basket<br />
in Its Makers’ World<br />
By Dr. Betty J. Duggan
In 2006, the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong> commissioned a<br />
basket from a Mohawk family<br />
from Akwesasne. A year later,<br />
soon after I joined the <strong>Museum</strong>,<br />
the Anthropology Department<br />
was abuzz one day with the<br />
basket’s arrival, and I was introduced<br />
to a gracefully wrought<br />
Benedict “Globe Basket,” in all<br />
the newness of its natural colors<br />
of black ash and sweetgrass, and<br />
the latter’s distinctive fragrance.<br />
Once examined, named, catalogued,<br />
measured, and technically<br />
described for entry in the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s electronic database,<br />
this gem became a part of the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s Ethnology Collection/<br />
Governor’s Collection of<br />
Contemporary Native American<br />
Art, to await future study and<br />
exhibitions. As an ethnographer,<br />
an anthropologist who studies<br />
contemporary cultures from<br />
cultural insiders’ and scholarly<br />
viewpoints, usually including<br />
original field research, I was<br />
eager to conduct my first fieldwork<br />
with the Benedict family.<br />
From my initial in-depth ethnographic<br />
interview with them in<br />
March 2008, through subsequent<br />
follow-up inquiries over the next<br />
year, I would explore with the<br />
Benedicts the making—contexts,<br />
meanings, and particular story—<br />
of this basket, its relation to<br />
earlier, stylistically very different<br />
Mohawk baskets, and their own<br />
lives as its makers.<br />
Meeting the Benedicts<br />
Just entering the Akwesasne<br />
Mohawk community and then<br />
reaching the home of the Ernest<br />
Benedict family, on Cornwall<br />
Island (Kawehnoke), Ontario, in<br />
the middle of the St. Lawrence<br />
River, is a lesson in Mohawk,<br />
U.S., and international history,<br />
politics, and culture. Akwesasne<br />
(“land where the partridge<br />
drums”) is the Mohawk name<br />
for the now-drowned rapids<br />
at this place in the mighty<br />
St. Lawrence when it still ran<br />
free, reverberating with a sound<br />
reminiscent of the partridge’s<br />
drumming call. It is a Mohawk<br />
community that pre-dates both<br />
the United <strong>State</strong>s and Canada,<br />
first split by those two powers<br />
in 1783 at the point where the<br />
provinces of Ontario and Quebec<br />
and St. Lawrence and Franklin<br />
counties now converge. Yet,<br />
culturally and in daily life for the<br />
Mohawk people, Akwesasne<br />
remains seemless as Native<br />
Nation and social community.<br />
The Benedict family, though its<br />
members might modestly beg to<br />
differ, saying they simply live by<br />
Mohawk ways, holds a critical<br />
place in modern Mohawk history,<br />
politics, and cultural revitalization<br />
(see page 15, For Further Reading).<br />
Florence Katsitsienhawi<br />
Benedict (trans., “she carries<br />
flowers”), born in 1931, who<br />
like the central globe in the<br />
Globe Basket, is the heart of this<br />
traditional matrilineal Mohawk<br />
family. She is a lifelong community<br />
worker, as well as a stellar<br />
and widely recognized basket<br />
maker, and granddaughter of a<br />
Wolf Clan Mother. At 78, she<br />
continues as a basketry instructor<br />
and supervises interns in the<br />
Akwesasne <strong>Museum</strong>’s crafts<br />
revitalization programs. Ernest<br />
Kaientaronkwen Benedict (“he<br />
gathers the small sticks of wood<br />
as in the ceremonial game”),<br />
born in 1918, is the eminent<br />
Mohawk intellectual, activist,<br />
early leader in Native-controlled<br />
education reform, professor,<br />
spiritual leader, and<br />
condoled Mohawk Life Chief<br />
(Rotinonkwiseres). He is founder<br />
of the North American Indian<br />
Traveling College (now Native<br />
North American Traveling<br />
College and Ronathahonni<br />
Cultural Center) and the noted<br />
Indian Country activist news<br />
journal, Akwesasne Notes.<br />
During one visit by Pope John<br />
Paul II to Canada, he was chosen<br />
to present the sacred eagle<br />
The Benedict family followed traditional Mohawk kinship and collective work patterns when<br />
they joined together to produce the Globe Basket commissioned by the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>. Left to<br />
right: Rebecca, Salli, Ernie, Florence, and Luz. Photo by Dr. Betty J. Duggan, 2008.<br />
Curator of Ethnography<br />
and Ethnology Dr. Betty<br />
J. Duggan joined the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong><br />
in 2007. She is the first<br />
to hold this recently<br />
created position.<br />
Dr. Duggan received a<br />
Ph.D. in anthropology from<br />
the University of Tennessee<br />
and a graduate certificate<br />
in museum studies from<br />
Harvard University. Her<br />
research, and more than<br />
60 professional publications,<br />
focus on North<br />
American Indians, material<br />
culture, folklife, applied<br />
ethnography, anthropology<br />
in museums, and cultural<br />
tourism. She was Hrdy<br />
Visiting Research Curator<br />
at Harvard’s Peabody<br />
<strong>Museum</strong> of Archaeology<br />
and Ethnology during<br />
1999–2000 and a visiting<br />
professor and research<br />
associate for Wake Forest<br />
University from 2003 to<br />
2005. From 1983 to 2004,<br />
she directed and/or curated<br />
more than two dozen<br />
grant-, university-, and<br />
tribal-funded collaborativeresearch<br />
exhibitions and<br />
community projects in<br />
Tennessee, North Carolina,<br />
Mississippi, and Georgia.<br />
She is a guest editor for<br />
Practicing Anthropology<br />
in 2010.<br />
At the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>,<br />
she negotiated a new<br />
Native American Advisory<br />
Committee (NAAC), with<br />
formal representatives from<br />
ten Native Nations, with<br />
whom she now partners to<br />
plan and research new historic<br />
through contemporary<br />
exhibits for the renewed<br />
Native Peoples Gallery<br />
(slated for 2012).<br />
Summer 2009 n 13
“<br />
Mohawk baskets<br />
and design<br />
elements tell us<br />
stories, and must<br />
have purpose, even<br />
if only decorative;<br />
otherwise, to take<br />
the life of a tree<br />
is selfish.<br />
”<br />
Page 15: Globe Basket made by<br />
Florence, Rebecca, Luz, and Salli<br />
Benedict (basket); Kevin Lazore<br />
(ash splints). Iroquois, Mohawk.<br />
Black Ash and Sweetgrass, 34.5 cm<br />
x 32.5 cm. Ethnology Collection/<br />
Governor’s Collection of<br />
Contemporary Native American Art.<br />
NYSM E-2007.12.01A–B<br />
Below: Florence, Rebecca, and Ernie<br />
Benedict sort fresh sweetgrass<br />
before air drying and then braiding<br />
it, preparatory to basket making.<br />
Photo by Salli Benedict, 2008.<br />
feather to the Pope on behalf<br />
of all First Nations of Canada.<br />
Growing up, Florence and<br />
Ernie’s daughters and sons<br />
witnessed, participated in, and<br />
learned from their parents’<br />
important cultural work. In their<br />
own lives they consciously base<br />
their choices and actions in<br />
Mohawk values, language,<br />
teachings, and traditions, even<br />
as they engage in materially<br />
modern lives and careers.<br />
Daughters Salli Kawennotakie<br />
Benedict (“she brings a<br />
goodword”) and Rebecca<br />
Wenniseriiostha Benedict (“she<br />
makes the day nice”), both are<br />
artists and authors. Between<br />
them, the sisters work for two<br />
of the three Mohawk Councils<br />
that govern at Akwesasne:<br />
Rebecca is office manager for<br />
the St. Regis Mohawk Health<br />
Service Dental Office and Salli<br />
is a manager in the Mohawk<br />
Council of Akwesasne Aboriginal<br />
Rights and Research Office. More<br />
than two decades ago, Salli<br />
and brother, Lloyd Skaroniati<br />
Benedict (“beyond the sky”),<br />
also a former Mohawk Council<br />
of Akwesasne District chief,<br />
founded CKON Radio (“Sekon”<br />
the Mohawk greeting), which<br />
brings community news and<br />
Mohawk language, music,<br />
and arts to Akwesasne residents.<br />
Lloyd has also undertaken<br />
numerous environmental projects,<br />
including growing black ash trees<br />
and sweetgrass. Another brother,<br />
Daniel Kiorenhakwente Benedict<br />
(“light coming through the<br />
trees”), previously a media specialist<br />
at CKON and director of the<br />
Akwesasne Freedom School, now<br />
works for the St. Regis Mohawk<br />
Tribe Environment Division.<br />
Florence’s granddaughter<br />
and Salli’s oldest daughter,<br />
Luz Teiohontasen Benedict<br />
(“sweetgrass is around her”),<br />
a linguist and life coach by<br />
training, worked at a group<br />
home for Akwesasne youth and<br />
will continue a private practice<br />
in coaching young people. She<br />
and younger sisters, Jasmine<br />
Kahentineson Benedict and<br />
Kawehras Benedict-George (“it<br />
thunders”), all learned basket<br />
making at an early age from their<br />
grandmother, Florence, and assist<br />
her with new basketry projects<br />
today. Also, significant for<br />
Akwesasne basket weavers, a<br />
cousin, Les Benedict, of the St. Regis<br />
Mohawk Tribe Environment<br />
Division, co-directs a long-term,<br />
black ash restoration project aimed<br />
at revitalizing this species and<br />
area forests devastated by decades<br />
of industrial contamination and,<br />
more recently, invasive insects.<br />
Exploring the “Globe Basket<br />
Series: Striped Gourd Variant”<br />
In the comfort of Ernie and<br />
Florence’s home, a solid structure<br />
built by his grandfather, in a living<br />
room lined with commemorative<br />
honors, diplomas, family pictures<br />
and memorabilia, and, everywhere,<br />
baskets in various stages of<br />
completion, Florence, with Salli,<br />
Rebecca, and Luz, who have<br />
driven in from their homes<br />
tonight, settle in to tell me about<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong>’s new basket, and<br />
14 n Legacy
their family’s long history in<br />
basket making. Three hours go<br />
by quickly, with occasional interruptions<br />
as these and other family<br />
come and go in the course of<br />
daily routine. The interview<br />
proceeds intently, yet<br />
probingly respectful,<br />
and slowly<br />
a dialogue<br />
emerges,<br />
alternating<br />
conversations<br />
in<br />
Mohawk<br />
between<br />
Florence<br />
and Salli and<br />
English translations<br />
for the benefit<br />
of the other two, less<br />
fluent in Mohawk, and me.<br />
The women gradually chronicle<br />
for me the making and meaning<br />
of this Globe Basket. At points,<br />
their narrative is enriched with<br />
the names and basketry styles<br />
and techniques learned throughout<br />
Florence’s life, first in<br />
childhood from her grandmother,<br />
and then from other female<br />
relatives and neighbors. Other<br />
stories emerge: of economic<br />
necessity, exceedingly low prices,<br />
and changing basket forms and<br />
function geared to non-Indian<br />
tastes over more than two<br />
centuries; of periodic boat<br />
crossings of the St. Lawrence<br />
within living memory to sell<br />
stockpiled baskets to non-Indian<br />
stores. Ernie listens quietly to our<br />
conversations in the adjacent<br />
den; later he is persuaded to<br />
join us for photographs.<br />
I am instructed that Mohawk<br />
baskets and design elements<br />
tell us stories, and must have<br />
purpose, even if only decorative;<br />
otherwise, to take the life of<br />
a tree is selfish. Following the<br />
traditional rootedness and<br />
interweaving of story and spoken<br />
language within craft and<br />
production, Florence decided a<br />
few years ago to create a series<br />
of globe-shaped baskets woven<br />
from sweetgrass and black ash<br />
to represent key messages<br />
associated with Mother<br />
Earth. Each unique<br />
variant’s form,<br />
story, and<br />
name—“Hair<br />
of Mother<br />
Earth,”<br />
“Friendship,<br />
Peace and<br />
Respect,”<br />
“Striped<br />
Gourd,”<br />
“Onenhakenhra:<br />
White Corn,” “Globe<br />
Thistle,” “Onenhakenhra<br />
Spirit”—illuminates in<br />
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and<br />
Mohawk worldviews, essential<br />
values, relationships, and<br />
obligations human beings have<br />
in sustaining this Earth, now<br />
and into the future, to the<br />
Seventh Generation.<br />
I learn the <strong>Museum</strong>’s Globe<br />
Basket is of the “Striped Gourd<br />
variant” and in intended<br />
meanings and making demonstrates<br />
the Benedicts’ traditional<br />
collective and individual<br />
commitments to expressing,<br />
living, sharing, and passing on<br />
Mohawk culture. The viewer is<br />
visually and figurativelypresented<br />
with a striped gourd, prompting<br />
remembrance of traditional<br />
stories about three special Life<br />
Givers or Kionhekkwa (“The<br />
Three Sisters”: corn, beans, and<br />
squash-gourd-pumpkin), which<br />
in Haudenosaunee worldview<br />
and agricultural practice work<br />
in tandem to sustain life physically,<br />
emotionally, and spiritually.<br />
As Salli writes (2008a:20), for<br />
contemporary Mohawk people,<br />
the actual striped gourd is still<br />
used for multiple purposes:<br />
“… as a container for holding<br />
our food or water, or<br />
for supporting our fishing<br />
nets … [and] in making<br />
music, so that we can sing<br />
the songs that are our<br />
thanksgiving tribute to the<br />
Creator and all elements<br />
of Creation … so that<br />
the World will have the<br />
resources we need to<br />
survive. Everybody sing!”<br />
I discover that from idea to<br />
completion, this Striped Gourd<br />
basket’s creation was a traditional<br />
collaborative effort, requiring<br />
more than four months of coordinated<br />
work by five people.<br />
Salli designed it. Kevin Lazore,<br />
another Mohawk from the<br />
Sugarbush area of Akwesasne,<br />
harvested, debarked, pounded,<br />
and prepared splints from a black<br />
ash tree, as he does for many<br />
basket weavers. (In earlier<br />
generations, male family<br />
members did the arduous preliminary<br />
preparation of black<br />
ash. Ernie, now 91, still assists<br />
the Benedict women in gathering<br />
and preparing sweetgrass.)<br />
From the pounded splints,<br />
Florence then wove the large<br />
central basket, while Rebecca<br />
and Luz made the roughly<br />
27 dozen miniature baskets<br />
that stripe its curved sides.<br />
I am informed the thin gold,<br />
green, and brown strands that<br />
ring the globe’s lid and rims and<br />
completely form the miniature<br />
baskets are made of native<br />
sweetgrass (Anthoxanthum<br />
nitens), harvested from a wild<br />
patch tended by Florence and<br />
Rebecca. The sweetgrass’ colors<br />
will ripen and change over time,<br />
as the long strands of grass age<br />
after cutting; its pleasant aroma<br />
will always return, strong and<br />
fresh, when dampened with<br />
life-giving water. Later, in going<br />
For Further Reading:<br />
Writings by or About<br />
the Benedicts<br />
Benedict, Ernest. 1999. “‘I<br />
would say when you search after<br />
truth, truth is that which you will<br />
find that is dependable and is of<br />
use to you.’” In In the Words of<br />
the Elders: Aboriginal Cultures in<br />
Transition, Peter Kulchyski, Don<br />
McCaskill, and David <strong>New</strong>house,<br />
eds., p. 95–140. Toronto:<br />
University of Toronto Press.<br />
_____. 1995. “’Through these<br />
stories we learned many things.’”<br />
In Native Heritage: Personal<br />
Accounts by American Indians<br />
1790 to the Present, Arlene<br />
Hershfelder, ed., p. 111–112.<br />
MacMillan Publishing Company.<br />
_____. Editor, Akwesasne<br />
Notes, 1994–1996.<br />
Benedict, Les and Richard<br />
David. 2003. “Propagation Protocol<br />
for Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra<br />
Marsh).” Native Plants: 100–103.<br />
Benedict, Rebecca and Charis<br />
Wahl. 1976. St. Regis Reserve.<br />
Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhenry &<br />
Whiteside.<br />
Benedict, Salli. 2008a.<br />
“Akwesasne Basket Making: An<br />
Enduring Tradition.” In North by<br />
Northeast: Wabanaki, Akwesasne<br />
Mohawk, and Tuscarora<br />
Traditional Arts, Kathleen<br />
Mundell, ed., p. 11–15. Gardiner,<br />
Maine: Tilbury House, Publishers.<br />
_____. 2008b. “The Globe<br />
Basket Series of Akwesasne<br />
Basketmaker Florence<br />
Katistsienkwi Benedict.” In<br />
North by Northeast: Wabanaki,<br />
Akwesasne Mohawk, and<br />
Tuscarora Traditional Arts,<br />
Kathleen Mundell, ed., p. 16–23.<br />
Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House,<br />
Publishers.<br />
_____. 2007. “Made in<br />
Akwesasne.” In Archaeology of<br />
the Iroquois: Selected Readings<br />
and Research Sources, Jordan<br />
E. Kerber, ed., p. 422–441.<br />
Syracuse: Syracuse University<br />
Press. [Originally published in J.V.<br />
Wright and Jean-Luc Pilo (2004).]<br />
_____. 2000. “Tahotahontanekenseratkerontakwenkakie.”<br />
In Stories for a<br />
Winter’s Night, Maurice Kenny,<br />
ed., p. 146–148. Buffalo, NY:<br />
White Pine Press. [Also published<br />
in Jerome Beaty and Paul Hunter<br />
(1999) and Simon Ortiz (1983).]<br />
Summer 2009 n 15
For Further Reading:<br />
Writings by or About<br />
the Benedicts (continued)<br />
_____. 1999. “Mother Earth.” In<br />
The Words that Come before All<br />
Else: Environmental Philosophies<br />
of the Haudenosaunee.<br />
Haudenosaunee Environmental<br />
Task Force.<br />
_____. 1997. “The Serpent<br />
Story.” In Reinventing the<br />
Enemy’s Language: Contemporary<br />
Native Women’s Writing of North<br />
America, Joy Harjo and Gloria<br />
Bird, eds., p. 311–314. <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>:<br />
W. W. Norton & Co.<br />
Hauptman, Laurence M. 2008.<br />
“Where the Partridge Drums: Ernest<br />
Benedict, Mohawk Intellectual as<br />
Activist.” In Seven Generations<br />
of Iroquois Leadership: The Six<br />
Nations Since 1800. Syracuse:<br />
Syracuse University Press.<br />
Johansen, Bruce. 2007.<br />
Grandfathers of Akwesasne<br />
Mohawk Revitalization: Ray Fadden<br />
and Ernest Benedict. In The Praeger<br />
Handbook on Contemporary<br />
Issues in Native America, p. 209–<br />
219. Praeger Publishers.<br />
over an essay by Sue Ellen Herne,<br />
Mohawk author, artist, and<br />
curator, I find another quotation<br />
by Salli (in Herne and Williamson<br />
2008:7) that connects this<br />
Striped Gourd basket’s material<br />
and symbolic essence back to<br />
the first story and name in<br />
Florence’s inspired Globe Basket<br />
series. She explains, “In<br />
Rotinonshonni [Mohawk for<br />
Haudenosaunee] culture, sweetgrass<br />
is the ‘Hair of Mother<br />
Earth.’ Its sweet fragrance is<br />
appealing and endears us to<br />
her. We know that we are not<br />
disconnected from our Mother<br />
Earth when we can smell her<br />
sweet hair.”<br />
On Making Mohawk Art<br />
and Community<br />
There is yet deeper meaning<br />
and purpose to consider in<br />
understanding the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
Globe Basket. This is the role<br />
of creation and continuation<br />
of Mohawk social community,<br />
in this case, glimpsed through<br />
Mohawk basket making and its<br />
embeddedness and interconnectedness<br />
within the larger,<br />
collective cultural frames of<br />
Mohawk society.<br />
Taking us further, in speaking<br />
of distinctions between understandings<br />
of meaning and<br />
purpose of art/craft and<br />
aesthetics in Western and<br />
Native American societies, the<br />
distinguished Tuscarora and<br />
Haudenosaunee artist, museum<br />
director and curator, author,<br />
educator, and activist Richard<br />
W. Hill, Sr. (2002:10) explains:<br />
“From birth, the Native<br />
child is immersed in a<br />
circle of tradition and<br />
surrounded with objects<br />
of belief, power, and<br />
identity … The sacredness<br />
of life, the interconnectedness<br />
of community,<br />
and the preciousness of<br />
knowledge are expressed<br />
through art. Images of<br />
power, of spiritual beings,<br />
and of personal dreams<br />
and visions become the<br />
legacy of the first artists<br />
of this land … Taking<br />
the time to craft objects,<br />
to decorate them to feel<br />
connected to a community<br />
aesthetic are all part of<br />
the creative process.<br />
However, the act of creating<br />
is also an act of faith<br />
in your individual and group<br />
identity that connects you<br />
to your ancestors, as well<br />
as to future generations.<br />
Art is the linking of the<br />
past, present, and future<br />
and is thus the reason for<br />
making objects as much<br />
as it is the object itself.”<br />
To appreciate the deepest<br />
meanings of the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
Globe Basket for its makers<br />
ultimately is to understand it<br />
as part of ongoing Mohawk<br />
society— to see it as one<br />
microscopic element in the<br />
making, renewal, and remaking<br />
of Mohawk art/craft, community,<br />
culture, and history through<br />
generations. Here the intertwined<br />
words of two generations direct<br />
us (S. Benedict 2008a:11):<br />
“It’s an old question<br />
that people have asked<br />
Akwesasronon [Mohawk<br />
people of Akwesasne],<br />
and that is, “What does<br />
the art form of Akwesasne<br />
basket making mean to<br />
its people?” One answer<br />
that was provided by an<br />
Akwesasne elder is that<br />
“it brings us together”…<br />
“<br />
To appreciate the<br />
deepest meanings<br />
of the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
Globe Basket for its<br />
makers ultimately<br />
is to understand it<br />
as part of ongoing<br />
Mohawk society.<br />
”<br />
When we gather to make<br />
baskets, we speak our language,<br />
share our culture,<br />
tell stories of the past,<br />
and share ideas for the<br />
future … Basket making<br />
may seem like a simple art<br />
form to some people, but<br />
it ensures our continued<br />
engagement with the land<br />
and our environment, and<br />
that connection is the foundation<br />
of our culture.”<br />
NOTE: I thank the Benedict<br />
family for graciously sharing<br />
home, time, knowledge, and<br />
memories with me. Salli gladly<br />
and unfailingly provided comments,<br />
corrections, and translations,<br />
which I hope I have used appropriately.<br />
Thanks also to Sue Ellen<br />
Herne, Dr. Laurence Hauptman,<br />
and Dr. Charles Orser for other<br />
assistance. The quotation by Rick<br />
Hill is from his preface to Uncommon<br />
Legacies: Native American Art<br />
from the Peabody Essex <strong>Museum</strong><br />
(Grimes et al. 2002:10), and the<br />
quotation from the Herne and<br />
Williamson article can be found<br />
in the Mundell (2008) edited<br />
volume, cited in the “For Further<br />
Reading” sidebar on page 15. n<br />
16 n Legacy
NYSM in person<br />
Ryan Fitzpatrick<br />
of Visitor Services<br />
Q. Describe your typical<br />
day at the <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
A. Every day brings such a<br />
variety that I often have<br />
difficulty describing what I<br />
do at the <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
On a regular weekday while<br />
school is in session, my morning<br />
typically involves interacting<br />
with incoming students and<br />
their chaperones for field trips<br />
and <strong>Museum</strong> visits. When<br />
assigned to receive school<br />
groups, I give an orientation<br />
suited to the goals of their<br />
visit and must be prepared<br />
to accommodate anyone with<br />
special needs. Some days<br />
Visitor Services staff will<br />
receive and process hundreds<br />
of visitors before lunch.<br />
During the summer months,<br />
the second floor is less trafficked<br />
by outside groups but is<br />
used by our own Time Tunnel<br />
Summer Camp. Having helped<br />
to create the themes for Time<br />
Tunnel, my job is to execute a<br />
series of educational programs<br />
for the children that tie in with<br />
what they have learned that<br />
week. Keeping today’s overstimulated<br />
youth entertained<br />
and educated is an energysapping<br />
challenge, but as the<br />
eldest of seven children, it is<br />
something that I’ve been doing<br />
most of my life.<br />
At any other time I could be<br />
speaking with other visitors<br />
regarding exhibits. During our<br />
informal cart talks, we use the<br />
<strong>Museum</strong>’s teaching collection<br />
to educate our visitors. I need<br />
to be able to carry a discussion<br />
beyond a perfunctory explanation<br />
of the exhibit.<br />
Visitors are both curious and<br />
knowledgeable, and as part of<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong>’s face toward the<br />
public, I need to stay abreast<br />
of current information as best<br />
I can. I also take my turn<br />
supervising Discovery Place<br />
and operating the Herschell-<br />
Spillman Carousel. I also<br />
typically run programs in<br />
the Star Lab or use our Starry<br />
Night software to teach about<br />
astronomy for our Family Fun<br />
Weekends. In addition to the<br />
Time Tunnel Summer Camp,<br />
seasonal events also include<br />
working <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> in Bloom,<br />
the Gem, Mineral & Fossil<br />
Show, and Chocolate Expo,<br />
and building and acting in the<br />
annual Haunted <strong>Museum</strong> of<br />
Unnatural History. Recently, I<br />
have been assisting with the<br />
after-school program as well.<br />
Q. What do you enjoy most<br />
about working here?<br />
A. I most enjoy the variety of<br />
exhibits that are displayed at<br />
the <strong>Museum</strong>. If there’s anything<br />
this job gives me besides<br />
a paycheck, it’s the constant<br />
immersion within a cultured<br />
environment. I appreciate<br />
lifelong learning.<br />
Q. What would you like<br />
visitors to be thinking as<br />
they leave the <strong>Museum</strong>?<br />
A. I want their heads to be<br />
spinning, so much so that they<br />
need to return to absorb it all.<br />
I want them to think, “I want<br />
to know all I can about that.”<br />
I want to be the catalyst that<br />
helps young children grow into<br />
scholars. I want the public to<br />
know that we haven’t squandered<br />
their hard-earned tax<br />
dollars. With the body of learning<br />
that we have accumulated<br />
upstairs [in the Research and<br />
Collections Division], I want the<br />
public to first understand it and<br />
then to love it. For the deeper<br />
they love it, the deeper they will<br />
want to understand it. Then<br />
they, too, will pass it on. n<br />
Ryan Fitzpatrick of Visitor Services leads<br />
presentations in the popular Star Lab.<br />
“The Star Lab Planetarium has proved quite<br />
popular with the kids and the counselors<br />
alike, and I use it roughly two to four<br />
times a month during the summer,”<br />
says Fitzpatrick. He joined the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> in February 2005.<br />
Summer 2009 n 17
<strong>Distinctly</strong><br />
<strong>Dutch</strong><br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> lives on through the material<br />
culture preserved in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s collection<br />
Kast, c. 1760, the most readily<br />
identifiable form of <strong>Dutch</strong> furniture,<br />
was used for the storage of linens<br />
and valuables. The style of moldings<br />
and paneling indicate that this piece<br />
was made in Kings County, <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong>. Gift of Wunsch Americana<br />
Foundation. NYSM H-93.23.3<br />
Looking Glass, c. 1770, made of<br />
gumwood or billstead, a favorite<br />
wood of early <strong>Dutch</strong> settlers, originally<br />
hung in the 18th-century home<br />
of Hendrick Van Wie at Van Wie’s<br />
Point, on the Hudson River, four<br />
miles south of Albany.<br />
NYSM H-68.26.9<br />
Senior Historian John L.<br />
Scherer retired in April<br />
after nearly 42 years<br />
at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong><br />
<strong>Museum</strong>. He was curator<br />
of the decorative arts<br />
collection and also the<br />
popular entertainment<br />
and print collections. His<br />
research interests include<br />
furniture, particularly<br />
labeled and documented<br />
examples made in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong> and decorated<br />
examples of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
stoneware.<br />
By John L. Scherer<br />
Shortly after Henry Hudson<br />
sailed up the river that now<br />
bears his name, the <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
established fur trading posts at<br />
<strong>New</strong> Amsterdam on present-day<br />
Manhattan and Fort Orange at<br />
present-day Albany. Merchants,<br />
tradesmen, and farmers from the<br />
Netherlands followed, bringing<br />
treasured furnishings from home<br />
and constructing houses similar<br />
to those they left behind. By the<br />
time the English took over this<br />
thriving <strong>Dutch</strong> colony in 1664,<br />
the <strong>Dutch</strong> were well established<br />
and <strong>New</strong> Netherland, renamed<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> by the English, continued<br />
to be a stronghold of <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
culture. Distinctive architecture,<br />
language, and decorative arts,<br />
including household furnishings,<br />
gave <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> an undeniable<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> flavor.<br />
This “<strong>Dutch</strong>ness,” as reflected<br />
in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s material culture,<br />
is preserved at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> in a number<br />
of 18th-century artifacts. The<br />
most distinctive piece of furniture<br />
owned by early <strong>Dutch</strong> <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong>ers was the kast, a very large<br />
and impressive architectural piece<br />
of furniture with double doors<br />
opening to shelves with a drawer<br />
below and a large cornice above.<br />
Linen sheets, wool blankets, and<br />
quilts could be stored in this large<br />
closet. Since the piece could be<br />
locked, valuables might also have<br />
been stored inside. Kasten usually<br />
came apart in three places: the<br />
lower part with large ball-shaped<br />
feet and drawer; the middle part<br />
with the shelves; and the upper<br />
cornice. This made kasten easier<br />
to transport.<br />
Initially, these large pieces of<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> furniture were imported<br />
from the Netherlands. Before<br />
long, however, <strong>Dutch</strong> cabinetmakers<br />
in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> began<br />
making kasten for their clients.<br />
Interestingly, because of certain<br />
style characteristics preferred in<br />
different regions of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>,<br />
it can be determined whether a<br />
kast was made in Long Island,<br />
Manhattan, or the Albany area.<br />
Country versions are very simple<br />
and lack the identifying moldings<br />
and paneling of the more elaborate<br />
formal examples. They are<br />
usually painted, some decorated<br />
with a gray and black design<br />
known as griselle, showing pears<br />
and other fruit. Kasten continued<br />
to be made in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> until the<br />
early 19th century.<br />
Hudson Valley chairs, commonly<br />
known as “<strong>Dutch</strong>” or<br />
“<strong>York</strong>” chairs were also favored<br />
by the <strong>Dutch</strong> in <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>. <strong>New</strong><br />
Englanders referred to the chair<br />
style as “<strong>Dutch</strong>,” which underscores<br />
their popularity. These<br />
chairs typically have a solid vaseshaped<br />
splat, sometimes referred<br />
to as a fiddle; a yoke-shaped<br />
crest; pad feet in the front; and a<br />
bulbously turned front stretcher.<br />
They became a popular style in<br />
about 1730 and remained in vogue<br />
as late as 1820.<br />
Another typically <strong>Dutch</strong> chair<br />
from this period (see page 19)<br />
has a low back with elliptical<br />
spindles, stretcher turnings, and<br />
tall urn-shaped finials. Similar<br />
chairs are shown in 17th-century<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> paintings and were found<br />
throughout the Netherlands.<br />
These chairs were made by<br />
a turner. The legs, stretcher,<br />
and back were all turned on a<br />
lathe and then the chair was put<br />
18 n Legacy
Table, c. 1760, exhibiting a type of bracing found only in Hudson Valley furniture. It<br />
is similar to tables found in 17th-century <strong>Dutch</strong> genre paintings. NYSM H-82.187.1<br />
together. They were often<br />
painted black, red, or green,<br />
and the seat was usually made<br />
of rush or of splint. <strong>Dutch</strong> <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong>ers tended to brand their<br />
chairs with their mark to<br />
indicate ownership.<br />
Seventeenth-century <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
genre paintings also showed<br />
rather simple tables with an<br />
X form of bracing. Several of<br />
these X-braced tables dating to<br />
the mid-18th century, having<br />
descended through generations<br />
of Hudson Valley families, are in<br />
museum collections. The tables,<br />
usually made of pine and painted<br />
red or blue, look like work tables<br />
and were probably used in the<br />
kitchen. Perhaps because they are<br />
so basic, they were not treasured<br />
as heirlooms. This might explain<br />
why they are so rare today.<br />
Decorative Details<br />
The <strong>Dutch</strong> favored scrolls and<br />
bulbous turnings. These elements<br />
are reflected in many decorative<br />
arts forms such as candlesticks,<br />
silver, and furniture. A mirror in a<br />
frame of heavy scrolls (see page<br />
18) came from the 18th-century<br />
Van Wie Homestead south of<br />
Albany and a table with elaborately<br />
turned legs and scallopedshaped<br />
apron below the top was<br />
owned by the Vandenburgh family<br />
of Rensselaer. Both pieces were<br />
Pottebunk, c. 1720, originally stood<br />
in the Decker House (Shawangunk)<br />
built by Johannies Decker at Gardner,<br />
Ulster County, in 1720. Gift of Fred<br />
Johnston. NYSM H-77.105.1<br />
made of gum wood or billstead,<br />
a favorite wood of the <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
settlers, and are now in the<br />
collections of the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
The bold scalloped outline on<br />
open cupboards found in the<br />
kitchens of many early <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
homes is a <strong>Dutch</strong> characteristic.<br />
These cupboards contain several<br />
shelves, the top shelves stepped<br />
back from the bottom shelves.<br />
Each shelf is grooved to support<br />
plates. The pottebunk as it was<br />
referred to in inventories of the<br />
period, is one of the earliest forms<br />
of Hudson Valley furniture. Literally<br />
meaning “a pot bench” or “shelf<br />
for pots,” these cupboards were<br />
used to display earthenware,<br />
pewter, and other tableware.<br />
Early <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>ers of <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
descent also appreciated the bright<br />
colors of <strong>Dutch</strong> Delft ceramics.<br />
Side Chair, c. 1700, was originally<br />
owned by an unknown Albany<br />
family. It is a style of chair found<br />
in the Netherlands during the<br />
17th century and depicted in <strong>Dutch</strong><br />
genre paintings of the period. Gift<br />
of Wunsch Americana Foundation.<br />
NYSM H-94.48.3<br />
<strong>Dutch</strong> Delft Charger, c. 1760, originally<br />
owned by Conrad Anthony<br />
Ten Eyck (1789–1845) and his wife<br />
Hester Gansevoort (1796–1861) of<br />
Albany. They may have inherited<br />
the charger from either of their<br />
parents. <strong>Museum</strong> purchase, funds<br />
provided by Georgann Byrd<br />
Tompkins. NYSM H-2007.48.2<br />
Colorful plates and sets of decorative ceramics were displayed<br />
on top of the kast, interior doorframes, and mantels. Delft tiles<br />
often decorated fireplace openings and were sometimes used<br />
as baseboards.<br />
The large number of immigrants moving into <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> from<br />
<strong>New</strong> England after the American Revolution tended to dilute the<br />
dominant <strong>Dutch</strong> culture. Eventually by the second quarter of the<br />
19th century, the descendants of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s early <strong>Dutch</strong> families<br />
became acculturated to the tastes of their <strong>New</strong> England neighbors.<br />
However, for more than 150 years after <strong>New</strong> Netherland became<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>, the <strong>Dutch</strong> culture remained dominant. n<br />
Summer 2009 n 19
new york stories<br />
Berenice Abbott’s “Changing <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>”<br />
By Craig Williams<br />
Right: Bread Store on Bleecker<br />
Street (February 3, 1937). This<br />
type of family business was still<br />
common in Abbott’s time.<br />
NYSM H-1940.7.49<br />
Bottom Right: Washington<br />
Square (August 12, 1936). These<br />
19th-century town houses at the<br />
northwest corner of the square are<br />
now part of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> University.<br />
NYSM H-1940.7.48<br />
Below: Tempo of the City (May<br />
13, 1948). At the corner of Fifth<br />
Avenue and 42nd Street, Abbott<br />
photographed office workers and<br />
shoppers on one of city’s busiest<br />
intersections. NYSM H-1940.7.7<br />
Senior Historian<br />
Craig Williams is<br />
curator of photography<br />
at the <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
In the 1930s, amidst the hardships<br />
of the Great Depression,<br />
the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> had a<br />
remarkable opportunity. The<br />
federal government’s Works<br />
Progress Administration funded<br />
many of the <strong>Museum</strong>’s activities<br />
in science and history. It also<br />
supported unemployed artists<br />
and scholars across <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong><br />
state. The <strong>Museum</strong>’s director,<br />
Charles Adams, linked these<br />
WPA-sponsored programs<br />
to bring exhibitions to the<br />
<strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
The first of these occurred<br />
in the summer of 1938 with<br />
“Changing <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>,” Berenice<br />
Abbott’s remarkable photographic<br />
documentation of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong> City. Abbott had returned<br />
to <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> City from Europe in<br />
1929, and the changes she saw<br />
in the city’s landscape inspired<br />
her. First on her own and later<br />
with support from the WPA’s<br />
Federal Art Project, Abbott<br />
carefully photographed the<br />
city. The loan exhibit of these<br />
photographs was a great<br />
success at the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong>.<br />
Recognizing the richness of<br />
Abbott’s documentation of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong>, Adams was convinced that<br />
the <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> should have<br />
a set of her prints. With the<br />
support of Abbott and her<br />
partner, Elizabeth McCausland,<br />
Adams obtained the backing of<br />
Governor Lehman to acquire a<br />
set of the Abbott prints from<br />
the WPA in 1940. Many of<br />
these original prints are being<br />
featured in the <strong>Museum</strong>’s<br />
current exhibition, Berenice<br />
Abbott’s Changing <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>:<br />
A Triumph of Public Art. n<br />
20 n Legacy
Celebrate<br />
Your Child’s<br />
at the
close-ups<br />
Tell us what you think<br />
about Legacy. Send<br />
your comments to<br />
msparks@mail<br />
.nysed.gov.<br />
Clockwise from top left: Detail from the Tuck High Company display in the “City of Neighborhoods” section<br />
of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> Metropolis; an oil lamp on the Hansom Cab made by Brewster & Co. in 1903, on display on the<br />
4th Floor; detail of the caribou from the Ice Age Hunters: <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>’s First People life group, in Native Peoples<br />
of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>; and Hydnoceras, fossil glass sponges from near Ithaca c. 375 million years ago, on display near<br />
Discovery Place.<br />
For a schedule of exhibitions, programs, and events, visit<br />
www.nysm.nysed.gov/calendar<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>State</strong> <strong>Museum</strong> is a program of The University of the <strong>State</strong> of <strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>/The <strong>State</strong> Education Department