Distinctly Dutch - New York State Museum

contents
Vol. 5 • No. 1
summer 2009
features
12
17
18
Understanding a Mohawk Globe
Basket in Its Makers’ World
by Dr. Betty J. Duggan
To fully appreciate the Globe Basket,
commissioned in 2006 and now on
display at the Museum, it’s important
to learn the story of the basket’s
creation, including its intended
meanings and experiences of its
makers, the Benedict family of the
Akwesasne Mohawk community.
NYSM In Person
A familiar face around the Museum,
Ryan Fitzpatrick of Visitor Services can
be seen welcoming student groups,
providing information about living or
extinct fauna in the state, introducing
children to the fish and turtle in
Discovery Place, leading educational
programs for Time Tunnel campers,
and more.
Distinctly Dutch
by John L. Scherer
For more than 150 years after New
Netherland became New York, Dutch
culture remained dominant. Furniture,
decorative pieces, and other material
culture from the 18th century preserve
our state’s Dutch heritage.
On the Cover: Dutch Delft Charger, c. 1760,
originally owned by Conrad Anthony Ten Eyck
(1789–1845) and his wife Hester Gansevoort
(1796–1861) of Albany. They may have inherited
the charger from either of their parents. Museum
purchase, funds provided by Georgann Byrd Tompkins.
NYSM H-2007.48.2
Cover Inset: The more than 400 photographs
included in A Great Day for Elmira were selected
from negatives in the collections of the New York
State Archives.
www.nysm.nysed.gov
departments
2
3
9
Director’s Note
Museum News
Discovery Now
Update on the Schuyler Flatts Burial Ground
Additional studies provide information
about the individuals buried at the unmarked
18th-century African cemetery.
By Lisa Anderson
10
Hidden Treasures
Micro Minerals
See crystal-clear views of the tiniest
minerals in the Museum’s collections.
By Dr. Marian Lupulescu
20
A stained glass window with the coat of arms of
Jan Baptiste van Rensselaer, the second son of
Killiean van Rensselaer and the third patroon of
Rensselaerswyck. The 17th-century window
(NYSM H-1937.4.2) was in the van Rensselaer
manor house and will be on display in the 1609
exhibition.
New York Stories
Berenice Abbott’s “Changing New York”
In the 1920s, new construction changed
the face of New York City. Photographer
Berenice Abbott captured a city in transition.
By Craig Williams
Facial reconstructions of individuals
buried at an unmarked 19th-century
cemetery help bring to life the
enslaved in colonial Albany.
Below: Small, rounded, dark emerald
green crystals of chromdravite
from the Gouverneur # 1 Talc Mine,
St. Lawrence County. The central
crystal of chromdravite is 0.07 mm
in diameter. NYSM 22112
Below: Fulton Street Dock
(November 26, 1935). From the East
River pier, Berenice Abbott’s view is
facing the historic fish market, now
the South Street Seaport.
(NYSM H-1940.7.27)