All are welcome to gather for an outdoor concert, Sound of the Adirondacks with Dan Berggren, on Wednesday, May 24 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Kelly Adirondack Center
The Kelly Adirondack Center at Union College is pleased to announce an Ethereal: On Ephemeral Photography webinar with Manuel Palacios on Monday, March 27 beginning at 7 p.m.
The Kelly Adirondack Center and Union College Department of Visual Arts is pleased to present Layers of Autumn, an exhibition of paintings by Shriya Balaji ’23, Natalie Berg-Pappert ’23, Talia Coker ’23, Saliha Nazir ’23, Isabel Pacchiana ’24 and Emily Zucco ’23, students from Professor Laini Nemett’s Fall 2022 Plein Air Painting course at Union College. The exhibition opens on Sunday, January 8th, 2023, with a free public reception from 2 to 4 p.m., and will be on view through June 4th, 2023.
» Continue Reading.
By Margie Amodeo
In his “Essay on American Scenery,” Thomas Cole wrote that whether an American “beholds the Hudson mingling water with the Atlantic – explores the central wilds of this vast continent, or stands on the margins of distant Oregon, he is still in the midst of American scenery – it is his own land; its beauty, its magnificence, its sublimity – all are his; and how undeserving of such a birthright, if he can turn towards it an undeserving eye, an unaffected heart!”
Those who read the Adirondack Almanack regularly know it is not revolutionary to write that tourism in the Adirondacks became a model for tourism in the American consciousness. What has made such an impression on me, scanning over 1,200 postcards as a part of a digitization project in the Adirondack Research Library at the Kelly Adirondack Center of Union College, is how inextricably linked Adirondack tourists’ experiences are with American identity.
The Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies (AJES) is now accepting submissions for Volume 25. Deadline for submissions is March 1, 2022. Articles of a broad disciplinary scope will be accepted for review, including topics in natural and social sciences, arts and humanities related to the region or more general environmental issues. We welcome articles in the following categories: Scholarship, Student Work, Commentary, and a new section, Spotlight on Adirondack Archives.
Special consideration in Vol. 25 will be given to articles to be included in the new Spotlight section. These articles will help connect ADK researchers with those organizations with important research collections. We invite libraries, historical societies, museums and other research institutions to submit brief highlights of their archives, especially articles showcasing particular gems in their collections.
Each year, the Kelly Adirondack Center sponsors the work of Summer Research Fellows as they examine diverse topics that make the Adirondacks unique. The students interview experts in their fields, work in the Adirondack Research Library using books and collections to examine the history of the Adirondacks, and conduct field research beside faculty. On October 5, they will present their findings along with the themes that have developed in their work. The following are this year’s Summer Fellows:
The Kelly Adirondack Center and UCALL present a virtual Zoom webinar:
“Anne LaBastille: Trailblazer and Hell Raiser,” with Leslie Surprenant
7 p.m., Feb. 18, free and open to the public.
Explore the life and legacy of Adirondack “Woodswoman,” author, and internationally recognized conservationist, Anne LaBastille, PhD. This biographical slideshow tribute by Anne’s longtime friend and estate executor, Leslie Surprenant, weaves together the story of the exceptional life of this trailblazer. It features many unpublished photos from throughout Anne’s life.
LaBastille was among the first to sound the alarm about the devastating impacts of acid rain in the Adirondacks, first to research the flightless Lake Atitlan Grebe of Guatemala and document ecological conditions for new parks in Latin America and the Amazon Basin. She authored 15 books, over 150 popular articles and 25 scientific articles. Her pioneering work in wildlife ecology in the U.S. and Latin America earned international recognition including the World Wildlife Fund Gold Medal for Conservation, the Explorers Club Citation of Merit, and Society of Women Geographers Gold Medal. Her life and legacy continue to inspire and support new generations of conservationists and authors.
Please click the link to join the webinar: https://union.zoom.us/j/
Photo provided
More information here: https://muse.union.edu/adirondack/anne-labastille-trailblazer-and-hell-raiser/
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a fun event for bird watchers of all ages and abilities, from beginners to experts. The 24th annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2021. Participants are needed! To help, you will need to count birds for at least 15 minutes (or longer if you wish) for one or more days of the four-day event. You can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world.
If you’re curious about how to participate, Union College’s Kelly Adirondack Center is hosting a Zoom conversation at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6. Featuring John Loz, President of Southern Adirondack Audubon and Chair of the Board of Audubon New York Chapters. John will discuss this year’s boon of irruptive finches and talk about all the other birds people are seeing. He’ll also share how to contribute to this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count and how to view other birders’ entries. Space at this event is limited to facilitate conversation so please register by emailing Margie Amodeo at amodeom@union.edu.
Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society learn more about how birds are doing and how to protect them. Last year, almost 270,000 people participated in the GBBC. Let’s top that number this year! For more information or to submit checklists visit the GBBC website.
Photo of barred owl by Fred Couse.
The Kelly Adirondack Center at Union College has announced Herpetofauna of the Adirondacks, a talk with Alvin Breisch, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Fish and Wildlife (retired), set for April 11, 2019, in the Old Chapel on the Union College Campus, 807 Union St, Schenectady.
Refreshments will be served at 5 pm, with the lecture beginning at 5:30 pm. This event is free and open to the public. » Continue Reading.
On Thursday, March 16 at 5:30 pm, the Kelly Adirondack Center in Niskayuna will host a lecture and discussion with John W. Caffry on the debate over navigability on rivers in the Old Chapel at Union College.
In the mid-19th century, the rivers of the state were declared public highways to allow their use for transportation of logs to market, regardless of whether they ran over public or private land. This principle was “forgotten” late in the century. Since the late 20th century, recreational paddlers testing the public use concept have been arrested for trespass. » Continue Reading.
Grassroots Activism and the American Wilderness: Pioneers in the 20th Century Adirondack Park Conservation Movement, a new exhibit featuring material from the John S. Apperson and Paul Schaefer collections, will be on display in the Lally Reading Room of Union College’s Schaffer Library through December.
The collections, spanning from 1899 to 1996, provide a window into the history of the American environmental movement and the tensions that erupted over efforts to conserve the Adirondack Forest Preserve and expand the Adirondack Park. The materials also give a broader understanding of the history of national park and wilderness preservation and the critical role activism played in those efforts. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Research Consortium and Union College have partnered to publish Volume 20 of the Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies (AJES). The avian-themed edition features Teddy Roosevelt’s summer bird list and Larry Master’s Christmas bird count.
Leading scientists have contributed research to the journal including, “Songbird Research from Sphagnum Bog to Alpine Summit” by Amy Sauer and David Evers, and “State of the Birds in Exurbia” by Michale Glennon and Heidi Kretser. In all, this edition features 11 articles, one organizational profile of Northern New York Audubon, and color photos contributed by Larry Master. » Continue Reading.
Governor Al Smith helped block the construction of a highway along the shore of Tongue Mountain, but it was Franklin D. Roosevelt who was instrumental in protecting the east shore of Lake George, documents in the Apperson-Schaefer collection at the Kelly Adirondack Center at Union College in Schenectady suggest.
With funding from the bond acts of 1916 and 1926, much of Tongue Mountain and many of the islands in the Narrows were now protected, permanently, as parts of the Adirondack Forest Preserve.
But by 1926, John Apperson, the General Electric engineer who dedicated much of his life to the protection of Lake George, had become concerned about the future of the east side. » Continue Reading.
The Kelly Adirondack Center in Niskayuna, NY has announced an upcoming four-part lunch and learn series, “People in the Wilderness” with Hallie Bond. Bond was at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake from 1983 until 2012, first as Education Director and then as Curator.
On April 7, the topic will be “Adirondack Life”. Before the automobile and good roads, Adirondack life ran in traditional channels, tied to the seasons and the land. Cash was scarce, and people worked at many different jobs. How Adirondackers used the woods to support themselves is essential to understanding Adirondack life today. » Continue Reading.
“Who Were the Adirondackers?” a five-part “lunch and learn” series exploring the social history of the Adirondacks with Hallie Bond, will be held at Union College’s Kelly Adirondack Center in Schenectady, beginning Monday, Jan. 13.
Bond was a staff member of the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake for 30 years. Her writing on regional history and material culture has appeared in a number of scholarly journals, magazines and books. She lives in Long Lake with her husband, author and boat builder Mason Smith. » Continue Reading.
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