Candlelight Tours SOLD OUT
2020-10-24 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Tours @ 6:30pm & 7:30pm.
It’s October, which means the Stockade’s undead residents are eager to greet you. Join us as we explore the historic neighborhood after dark and discover the neighborhood’s haunting past! Choose from two tours: Colonial Hauntings, or Ghostly Victorian.
Tickets are $12, advanced purchase required, and include entry to the museum. Please remember to bring a flashlight with you!

For tickets and more information please visit www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs
Candlelight Walking Tours are co-sponsored by the Schenectady Heritage Foundation.

Livestream: Preserving Photos 101
2020-10-27 16:00 - 17:00
Photos are some of the most cherished pieces of our family archives. They can also be a challenge to preserve, especially older kinds of images like tintypes. Using examples from the SCHS collection, our librarian, Marietta Carr, will explain how to identify different types of photographic materials and the methods for preserving them for future generations. This livestream is being offered as part of American Archives Month.
This livestream is free, and will be available on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/schenectadyhistorical/live/
No Facebook account is needed.

Candlelight Tours
2020-10-28 18:30 - 20:30

Candlelight Tours SOLD OUT
2020-10-29 18:30 - 20:30
Thursday and Friday evenings in October @ 6:30pm & 7:30pm.
It’s October, which means the Stockade’s undead residents are eager to greet you. Join us as we explore the historic neighborhood after dark and discover the neighborhood’s haunting past! Choose from two tours: Colonial Hauntings, or Ghostly Victorian.
Tickets are $12, advanced purchase required, and include entry to the museum. Please remember to bring a flashlight with you! Tour meets at SCHS, 32 Washington Ave, Schenectady.

For tickets and more information please visit www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs
Candlelight Walking Tours are co-sponsored by the Schenectady Heritage Foundation.

Candlelight Tours SOLD OUT
2020-10-30 18:30 - 20:30
Thursday and Friday evenings in October @ 6:30pm & 7:30pm.
It’s October, which means the Stockade’s undead residents are eager to greet you. Join us as we explore the historic neighborhood after dark and discover the neighborhood’s haunting past! Choose from two tours: Colonial Hauntings, or Ghostly Victorian.
Tickets are $12, advanced purchase required, and include entry to the museum. Please remember to bring a flashlight with you!

For tickets and more information please visit www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs
Candlelight Walking Tours are co-sponsored by the Schenectady Heritage Foundation.

Workshop: Broomcorn Wreath SOLD OUT
2020-11-07 11:00 - 12:30
Fall in love with the season and create your own, one of a kind broom corn wreath. Organically grown and harvested at Mabee Farm, our broom corn wreaths will feature a delicate balance of yellow, orange, and red colors that are sure to conjure warm feelings of the fall season. Also included will be herb and floral decorations collected from the Mabee Farm.

Tickets are $35. Limit 8 people. Pre-registration required at www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs.

Jan Mabee's Twilight Tours
2020-11-13 16:00 - 17:00, 2020-11-14 16:00 - 17:00, 2020-11-20 16:00 - 17:00, 2020-11-21 16:00 - 17:00, 2020-12-04 16:00 - 17:00
Each twilight at Mabee Farm brings a different array of lights and colors, as the warmth of the sunset transforms into deep blue, moon-lit skies. We imagine the Mabee family found this time of day as inspiring and ethereal as we do. So, join us as we explore Mabee Farm as it’s meant to be explored; awash in changing colors, the wind gusting outside, and the flickering lights of the Mabee house keeping us cozy and warm. A costumed guide from the 1600s will lead us through the house, which is decorated for the season. He’ll delve into the histories and mysteries of the Mabee Farm, and give us a taste of what life for was like for settlers living on the edge of the wilderness.
Admission is $10 (free for members), and tickets can be purchased at www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs. Advance registration is required.
Available Dates:
Friday, November 13 at 4pm
Saturday, November 14 at 4pm
Friday, November 20 at 4pm
Saturday, November 21 at 4pm
Friday, December 4 at 4pm

Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow with the New-York Historical Society (Virtual)
2020-11-17 19:00 - 20:00
Join us for a live, interactive journey through history, as New-York Historical Society curators answer your questions and walk you through a slideshow of objects and imagery via Zoom.
Based on the NYHS’ Based 2018-19 exhibition, this virtual presentation will explore Black Americans’ struggle for equality under the law from 1865 through World War I. Learn about both Southern and Northern roles in this dark chapter of our history as well as Black New Yorkers’ organizing and community-building in the face of discrimination.
This program is free for SCHS members, or $5 for non-members. Pre-registration is required for everyone; a link will be emailed to you shortly before the presentation. Register at www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs.

All SCHS Sites Closed
2020-11-26 - 2020-11-29, 2020-12-24 - 2020-12-25, 2020-12-31 - 2021-01-01
Closed for the Holidays!

Livestream: The Frost Papers
2020-12-02 16:00 - 17:00
Land surveying was a crucial component in the development of our area, and James Frost was one of the primary surveyors in Schenectady, Albany, and Montgomery counties in the early 1800s, particularly in the Duanesburg area.
The James Frost Papers, a collection in the SCHS library, comprises copies of survey sketches, maps, leases, receipts, legal documents, and other materials related to Frost’s surveyor work. On this livestream, Librarian Marietta Carr will share examples from the Frost collection, discuss Frost’s work as a surveyor, and give insight into the collection’s potential value to genealogists and local historians. No Facebook account is needed, simply join us at https://www.facebook.com/schenectadyhistorical/live

Festival of Trees
2020-12-05 10:00 - 2020-12-23 17:00
Celebrate the season as we fill our galleries with lighted fir trees! Decorated from classic to kooky Christmas styles, the Festival of Trees glows with the enchantment of the holidays. Join us throughout December for a shimmering, festive season.
The Festival of Trees is a fundraiser for, and a partnership between, the Schenectady County Historical Society and the YWCA NorthEastern NY. Admission is $6 for adults 12+.
Consider supporting these two community organizations by sponsoring a tree! Please visit our Festivals page to register!

Wintertide Tours
2020-12-10 14:00 - 15:30, 2020-12-11 14:00 - 15:30, 2020-12-17 14:00 - 15:30, 2020-12-18 14:00 - 15:30, 2020-12-23 14:00 - 15:30, 2020-12-23 16:00 - 17:30
December 10, 11, 17, 18, & 23 at 2pm or 4pm @ Mabee Farm Historic Site
Enjoy the spectacularly decorated Mabee House this season. It’s, warm, cozy, and will be filled with good cheer. During Wintertide Tours of the farm, our expert guide will show you around Schenectady’s oldest home, and discuss what life was like for 18th century farmers during the year’s very darkest month.
Masks are required. Cost, $10 per person (free for members, but registration still required), tickets at schenectadyhistorical.org/programs.

A Mabee Christmas Carol CANCELLED
2020-12-30 15:00 - 17:00, 2021-01-02 15:00 - 17:00
Humans have long celebrated the winter solstice, greeting the year’s longest night with songs, drinks, and merriment. From the pagan rituals of Yuletide to the trimmings of modern Christmas, we’ll explore the history of the holidays from the perspective of Mabee Farm. The house, properly decked in festive decor by the Hugh Platt Garden Club will be open for tours from 3-5pm, and at 4pm, we’ll feature a special performance of historic carols sung by our very own Schenectady Historical Wassailers. Each ticket includes a warm drink of wassail (for adults) or hot chocolate (for kids), best enjoyed around the campfire.
This is an outdoor performance and will be properly socially distanced- be sure to dress warm! Masks are required. Cost, $6 per person, tickets at schenectadyhistorical.org/programs

Virtual Talk: Dr. William Griswold - Archaeology at Saratoga Battlefield
2021-01-21 19:00 - 20:30
The Battles of Saratoga in 1777 gave a decisive victory to the Americans in the Revolutionary War. Nearly 250 years later, we’re still learning about the details of this turning point in the fight for independence. In 2019 the National Park Service and its partners undertook a study at the Barber Wheatfield, Saratoga National Historical Park, where the second battle of Saratoga started. Team Lead Dr. William Griswold will share results of the project.
This program is free for members, or $5. Pre-registration is required, and a link to the Google Meet will be emailed out in advance of the program. Please register or purchase tickets by visiting www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs

Resilient Schenectady
2021-02-06 - 2021-02-07
Resilient Schenectady
February 6-7, the Stockade and online
The weekend we’ll commemorate 1690’s fiery massacre, while lighting our way, one candle at a time, to an even better future in a very special place: The Stockade of Schenectady.
In 1690, Schenectady’s first church was destroyed as the village burned. Attackers killed Domine Petrus Tessemacher, along with neighbors attending his engagement party. Each year in February, First Reformed Church observes this Heritage and, alongside the Stockade Association and SCHS, invites all neighbors to join in this shared experience.
Saturday, February 6:
In the evening (5-8pm), luminaries will glow throughout Schenectady’s Stockade, and we invite participants to build snowmen and stroll this historic neighborhood. Self-guided walking tours of the neighborhood are available through the izi.travel app.
Sunday, February 7:
You can worship virtually with the First Reformed Church as they dedicate new framed prints of the four Native American Sachems (and church members). Later, historians John Gearing and Chris Leonard will discuss the recent release of “Schenectady Genesis, Volume II.” We’ll end the weekend with 5pm Heritage Jazz Vespers: jazz with stories and poems that reflect on Schenectady’s heritage of resilience, including the tale of Domine Petrus Tessemacher’s engagement party. All at www.1streformed.com

Virtual Talk: Scots-Irish Revolutionaries of Corry’s Brook (Currybush)
2021-02-06 14:00 - 15:00
Local Scots-Irish settlers were highly rebellious toward British rule, and, almost to a person, fought for the Rebel American side during the American Revolution. Terry McMaster is an independent historian whose research focuses on the American Revolution in the Mohawk Valley and on the settlement patterns, family connections, and border warfare along colonial New York’s western frontier in the 18th century.

This event will be held via Zoom. Admission is $5 or free for SCHS members. All participants should register at www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs

Virtual Talk: Becoming a “Nation of Statesmen: The Mohicans' Incorporation into the Iroquois League
2021-02-10 18:00 - 20:00
Join Dr. Evan Haefeli for an expert look at Mohican and Iroquois relations in the 1670s. Using oral traditions alongside the documentary record, Dr. Haefeli uncovered a little known peace forged between the Mohicans and the Iroquois League on the eve of King Philip’s War. The resulting alliance altered the regional balance of power and provided the foundation for Mohican diplomacy for the next century and a half.

Dr. Evan Haefeli is Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University, whose work has ranged from the frontier between New France and New England, to early Native American history, obscure revolts in colonial New York, book publishing in colonial America, and religious toleration New Netherland. He is currently finishing a book for the University of Chicago Press on the politics of religious toleration and English overseas expansion from 1497-1688, and editing a volume of essays entitled Anti-Catholicism: The Anglo-American Experience c. 1600-1850.

This event will be held via Zoom. Admission is $5 or free for SCHS members. All participants should register at www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs

Virtual Talk: "Fearing too great a Correspondency”: The 1690 Schenectady Massacre and Jacob Leisler
2021-02-17 19:00 - 20:00
What is the relationship between Leisler’s Rebellion and the 1690 Schenectady Massacre? In the 17th century rebellion, merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of southern New York. As his power expanded north to Albany, Leisler called for elections at Schenectady in January 1690. However, the next month, invaders burned Schenectady and massacred its people. How is this all connected?

Dr. David William Voorhees is the Director of the Jacob Leisler Institute for the Study of Early New York History, and managing Editor of de Halve Maen. His published works include The Concise Dictionary of American History (1983), The Holland Society: A Centennial History 1885-1985 (1985) as well as numerous articles on late seventeenth-century New York. He is currently a consultant to Historic Hudson and Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, NY. In 2010 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands presented Dr. Voorhees with knighthood in the Order of Orange Nassau.

This event will be held via Zoom. Admission is $5 or free for SCHS members. All participants should register at www.schenectadyhistorical.org/programs
