This virtual program is part of our Winter Speaker Series, and will be presented on Zoom. A Zoom link will be emailed to all SCHS members before the program.  Using research from over 500 primary accounts of patrons of  upstate inns and taverns, Gerald Baum will dig into the valuable contribution the inn made to the development of upstate New York. He will also discuss what a 19th century patron might have experienced staying the night at a roadside inn.

This is an in-person program at Mabee Farm.  As winter cold begins to recede, the ground unfreezes and the sap starts to run. On a New York farm, the first harvest of the year was always maple syrup. In this family-friendly program, you’ll learn the process for yourself from colonial techniques to later innovations. And of course, we’ll be able to taste the results! This is an outdoor event in so be prepared for winter temperatures! Tickets are $5 for members / $10 for non-members. Under 5 is free.  

This is an in-person program at Mabee Farm.  As winter cold begins to recede, the ground unfreezes and the sap starts to run. On a New York farm, the first harvest of the year was always maple syrup. In this family-friendly program, you’ll learn the process for yourself from colonial techniques to later innovations. And of course, we’ll be able to taste the results! This is an outdoor event in so be prepared for winter temperatures! Tickets are $5 for members / $10 for non-members. Under 5 is free.  

This virtual program is part of our Winter Speaker Series, and will be presented on Zoom. A Zoom link will be emailed to all SCHS members before the program. Dr. Myra Armstead will discuss the day-to-day lives of enslaved and free African Americans in the colonial Dutch Hudson Valley, including how they were employed and utilized, how they acquired property and accumulated wealth, Black identity, and more. Dr. Armstead is the Vice President for Academic Inclusive Excellence and the Lyford Paterson Edwards and Helen Gray Edwards Professor of Historical Studies at Bard College.

Join for an evening of tiki cocktails at Schenectady Historical. Led by historian John Gearing, we’ll make — and sample — a variety of historic tiki libations! $33; pre-registration required. Must be 21+ with valid ID. All ticket sales are final.

This program is part of our Winter Speaker Series, and will be presented in-person at SCHS, 32 Washington Ave. Advance tickets are available here, or you may purchase them at the desk when you arrive. Women from the 17th-20th centuries are challenging to uncover, but we may hear their voices in the documents that recorded their lives. With many examples from the speaker’s own New England, New York and Wisconsin family history, learn where to look for womenfolk in letters, diaries and journals, newspapers and various court records.

In this workshop, we'll felt an adorable springtime animal, using wool from our herd. This craft makes a great gift for friends, family, or even yourself. Our experts will guide you through the process from start to finish, and we'll provide all materials and equipment. This craft is recommended for anyone 12+. It involves using sharp needles which can puncture skin if not used properly. Participants should possess good manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and ability to work with focus and care.      

Dive into the world of indulgent skincare! Join us for a hands-on experience where you'll learn to craft exquisite body scrubs using the perfect blend of salt and sugar, leaving your skin feeling refreshed and pampered. Leave with two completed jars of scrubs to gift or keep for yourself. Taught by Leah LaFera of Sweet Sprig, located in the historic Brouwer House Creative. Price includes all supplies. Class length: 75 minutes Max number of participants: 8 Age range: Teen-Adult

This virtual program is part of our Winter Speaker Series, and will be presented on Zoom. A Zoom link will be emailed to all SCHS members before the program. In a richly illustrated presentation, author Ron Knapp will discuss his new book, "Theodore Burr and the Bridging of Early America." In this important work on covered bridges, Knapp explores Burr's local creations: the Schenectady-Scotia bridges. Knapp will delve into a good deal of new information about Burr's two local bridges, filling in gaps in Schenectady history. During his lifetime, Burr claimed to have built forty-five bridges -- these however were not like the ordinary covered bridges commonly seen today that are identified with his patent, but include some of the most challenging and superlative bridges in American history. But, despite Burr's herculean efforts, part of his legacy sadly includes an obscure and ignominious demise in 1822 at the age of 51, possibly by then penniless and without even an obituary lauding his work. He was buried in an unknown grave. Burr deserved better. Knapp's work rectifies this. Ron Knapp is the author, editor, or contributor of more than 20 books. He taught from 1968 through 2001 in the Department of Geography and Asian Studies Program at the State University of New York, New Paltz, where he holds the rank of SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Knapp enjoys hiking and 'reading the landscape,' and since 1987, he has served on the Board of of Mohonk Preserve, New York's largest not-for-profit nature preserve.

This in-person program is part of our Winter Speaker Series, and will be presented at Mabee Farm.  Historian Catherine Haag's 2023 dissertation explores the confluence of Schenectady's Socialist history,  local workers’ adoption of direct labor action practices at the point of production, and the commitment of local labor leaders to industrial unionism to reveal how radicalism became mainstream among Schenectady’s workers.

This virtual program is part of our Winter Speaker Series, and will be presented on Zoom. A Zoom link will be emailed to all SCHS members before the program.  In his recent work form University of North Carolina Press, Professor Aston Gonzalez charts the changing roles of African American visual artists as they helped build the world they envisioned. The fight for racial equality in the 19th century played out not only in marches and political conventions, but also in the print and visual culture created and disseminated by African Americans, as Black artists produced images that advanced campaigns for equal rights. Aston Gonzalez is Associate Professor of History at Salisbury University. He focuses on 19th century African American history, politics, visual culture, and material culture, using a broad variety of original documents to examine the complex histories of African American communities and activism. For the 2019-2020 academic year, Gonzalez was a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow based at New York University where he finished his first book, Visualizing Equality: African American Rights and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century,  published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2020. Visualizing Equality was a finalist for two major book prizes. Other publications include: “Reading the Emancipation Proclamation’: Viewing Race and Freedom during the Civil War Era.” Civil War History 68, no. 2 (June 2022): 194-209. “Claiming Space, Bearing Witness: The Portraits of Early African American Ministers” in Jasmine Nichole Cobb, ed., African American Literature in Transition, 1750-2015: Volume 2, 1800-1830 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021): 288-315. “Stolen Looks, People Unbound: Picturing Contraband People during the Civil War.” Slavery & Abolition 40, no. 1 (2019): 28-60. “William Dorsey and the Construction of an African American History Archive.” Social Dynamics: A Journal of African Studies 45, no. 1 (2019): 138-155. “Stealing Freedom: Robert Smalls and Modeling Citizenship” in Kathleen Diffley and Benjamin Fagan, eds., Visions of Glory: The Civil War in Word and Image (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2019). “The Art of Racial Politics: The Work of Robert Douglass Jr., 1833-46.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 138, no. 1 (January 2014), 5-37.

Life at the colonial Mabee Farm was tough, and didn’t offer many sweet treats. But in a time before refrigeration, winter was the perfect season to make ice cream! In this family-friendly class, we’ll teach you how you can make a frozen custard the old fashioned way. And of course you’ll get a taste! Tickets are $10 for everyone 5 and up; free for SCHS members at Family+ levels, but RSVP required.

Join us for curated wine tastings by and for local wine lovers. Wine connoisseur Buffy Leonard and city historian Chris Leonard will lead us on a tasting and history tour of their favorite wines for the season. Our theme this month is Syrah, featuring a rose of Syrah, a sparkling Shiraz, a Syrah from the Northern Rhone, a Syrah from California, and a Shiraz from the Barossa Valley. $33; pre-registration required. Must be 21+ with valid ID. All ticket sales are final.

Spend the spring break with us, as Mabee Farm springs back to life! Today the Mabee Farm will host special springtime educational activities, including tasty treats, a craft, and more! This program is free for SCHS members at the Family+ levels, but RSVP required. Tickets for non-members are $10 for everyone 5 and up.