Museum Receives NYCH Grant For Phase II of Online Exhibit

The Museum has received a Project Grant from the New York Council for the Humanities. This grant will enable us to continue work on the “Making Waterford Our Home: Online” exhibit website. We are calling this Phase II of the project.

A s part of the grant we have hired Aine Leader-Nagy to continue working on the materials. Phase II will include: matching oral histories (both audio and text clips) with relevant sections via hyperlinks; adding video of neighborhoods and areas discussed in the text of the exhibit; making sections more interactive with feedback options and, organizing a new section designed for use in the classroom, just to name a few.

Making Waterford Our Home: Online” www.waterfordimmigrants.org Time to Start Exploring!

Explore. Learn. Share. That’s what we hope you’ll do with our new website, “Making Waterford Our Home: Online.” Launched at last March’s Science and Technology lecture series, this website is the culmination of years of research, community engagement, and public presentations. The Making Waterford Our Home exhibit series investigated the histories of the Italian (2009), French-Canadian (2010), and the Irish communities in Waterford through year-long public exhibits at WHMCC. But physical exhibitions are temporary. In fact, WHMCC prides itself on presenting new, original exhibits each season and that means replacing former exhibits with new ones. The question becomes, how can we keep our audience engaged with this project about Waterford’s immigrant history and how can we provide access to the materials we collected over these several years? The answer is digital.

“Making Waterford Our Home: Online” takes the elements and information from those three distinct exhibits out of the WHMCC building and into a digital space. This website will allow us to share the information we collected with people who were not able to come to the original installations and also allow people to “visit” the exhibits again. We are particularly excited that we will be able to use this format to incorporate so many materials we were unable to include in the original exhibits. New images, oral history clips, research materials and resources will continue to enrich this community history project. But this website will also take our exhibits to another level since we will be able to use it to compare the experiences of one group with those of the others within one space. We also hope that this will prove to be a forum for discussion and that we will continue to collect Waterford’s history via this website.

This project is far from over and that’s pretty exciting. It’s exciting that there’s enthusiasm for this type of project. It’s exciting that granting agencies have seen the value in this project and awarded us money to keep improving it as a community resource. It’s exciting that there is still a way to share YOUR family’s Waterford history with us. Because even though the Italian, Franco-Americans, and Irish kicked this project off, we hope to expand it to include other ethnicities in the future.

Intrigued? Start exploring, start learning, and start sharing today! www.waterfordimmigrants.org

Janney Contributes Toward CanalWays and DVC Positions

The Museum is proud to announce that Janney Montgomery Scott, LLC, a full-service financial services firm, has made a contribution of $1,500 toward our CanalWays fourth grade education program and our Docent Volunteer Coordinator (DVC). The donation will help pay the salaries of our CanalWays Project Coordinator and DVC.

“At Janney, we believe strongly in giving back to the communities in which our employees and clients live and work. The Southwoods Investment Group of Janney Montgomery Scott takes a great deal of pride in the commitment we have made to CanalWays and the Waterford Museum,” said Scott Wilson, First Vice President of Janney Montgomery Scott in Albany, NY.

These funds have enabled us to re-hire Aine Leader-Nagy to continue her work as the DVC and serve as CanalWays Project Coordinator. This will help us to maintain our expanded hours on Saturdays and continue to run our successful CanalWays program.

Fire Company Records Become part of Museum Collection

Two incredible sets of records have recently been donated to the Museum. One is a ledger book from the Knickerbocker Steamer Company, which includes company records from 1843-1851. This book was thought to be lost forever and was found in a basement in Northside! It was donated by Timothy Stuto.

The other is a set of company record books from F.B. Peck Hose covering 1892 through 1953! These books were donated by F.B. Peck Hose to the Museum. Thank you to both Timothy Stuto and Peck Hose for enriching our collection and knowledge of Waterford’s past!

More to come in upcoming newsletters about these items. Don’t forget to check out our new exhibit exploring Waterford’s rich firefighting legacies!

Thank You Town of Waterford

Once again the Town of Waterford government has demonstrated its commitment to heritage tourism and the preservation and interpretation of Waterford’s treasured past by appropriating $5,000 to the Museum. These much needed and appreciated funds will help the Museum to pay general operating expenses.

We also would like to thank the Town Highway Department for repairing Museum Lane!

Wine Tasting Cruise on the Hudson Kicks Off The Waterford Cultural Festival

What could be a nicer way to welcome in the month of August than a sunset cruise down the Hudson River aboard the paddleboat Caldwell Belle? How about enjoying the views as you sip some wines from the regions of Normandy and Naples, from whence many of Waterford’s Franco-American and Italian-American residents migrated?

Join us on Friday, August 3 for a two hour cruise embarking from the Waterford Visitor’s Center at 6:15 pm. Your $50 ticket lets you enjoy a sampling of three wines from the Naples and Campania regions, and three from Northwestern France and the upper Loire regions, topped off with Calvados (the apple brandy from Normandy). Scrumptious light hors d'oeuvres prepared by museum staff will perfectly pair with the libations. You may want to bring along a camera to snap a few sunset pictures of this special evening.

Due to popular demand, seating is limited, so please reserve your seat on the Caldwell Belle by July 20th by calling us at 238-0809 or emailing info@waterfordmuseum.com.

Payment Due in Full by July 20th, $50 per person.

Mail Check to: Waterford Museum
2 Museum Lane
Waterford, NY 12188

This is a fundraising event produced by and benefiting the Waterford Museum. For more information please contact the Museum (238-0809 or email info@waterfordmuseum.com) or check our website at www.waterfordmuseum.com

Annual Fall Day

The Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center’s Autumn Day Trip will be Wednesday, October 10, 2012 to the Springfield Museums in Springfield, Ma. The Springfield Museums consist of five world-class museums; the Michele & Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, the Springfield Science Museum, the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum and the Museum of Springfield History. The Museums Association is proud to be home to the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, a series of full–scale bronze sculptures of Dr. Seuss's whimsical creations, honoring the birthplace of Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.

There will be a guided tour of the Wood History Museum in the morning. After lunch there will be the option of visiting any of the other sites that interest you. Each museum is different and there is plenty to see.

Lunch: will be at The Student Prince Restaurant in Springfield. The meal will consist of turkey, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, a salad, cranberry sauce, dessert, coffee and tea.

Departure: 8:00 a.m. from the rear parking lot across from the Wesleyan Church, 75 Grace Street, Northside, Waterford. Approximate return to Waterford 5:00 p.m.

Cost: Current members- $80.00 - non-members $85.00. Price includes parking, motor coach transportation with Wade Tours, admission fees, guided tour and lunch.

Paid Reservations by September 14, 2012

Make reservations early. Call in reservations to Emily Wilson at 518-237-7122. Please make checks payable to the Waterford Historical Museum and mail directly to: Emily Wilson, Treasurer 26 Columbus Ave., Waterford N. Y. 12188

Waterford Cultural Festival

Winner of our Chili-Cook-off!

Congratulations to Mary Harney, winner of our Chili-Cook-off! We had over 30 people attend with 6 different entries to sample. It was a great event to honor New York Museum week. Thank you all who attended and thank you to all of our contestants!