The Schenectady County Historical Society has announced a variety of events planned throughout this spring.
Winter Family Day at Mabee Farm
February 20 at 10 am at Mabee Farm
Spend the winter break with us! Today the Mabee Farm will host special winter educational activities for families. Baking on the hearth, colonial crafts and even a behind-the-scenes tour of our artifact collections.
Bead Color Symbolism and Colonialism in the Mohawk Valley
February 26 at 7pm on Zoom
Archaeologist Matthew LoBiondo will discuss how glass beads played a vital role in the social and spiritual lives of 17th-century Mohawks, reflecting their responses to colonialism, disease, and migration. By examining bead colors from the Veeder site (a Mohawk village), we can better understand how Mohawks navigated these challenges and expressed their cultural identity. Their selection of specific bead colors sheds light on the villages’ inhabitants state of being, and provides a way to further understand the intersection of colonialism and Native American interactions.
The Cave Electrician’s Widow: The Tragedy at Howe Caverns & Dramatic Courtroom Fight for Justice
March 1 at 2pm at SCHS, 32 Washington Ave
Author Dana Cudmore will discuss his new book, “The Cave Electrician’s Widow: The Tragedy at Howe Caverns & Dramatic Courtroom Fight for Justice.” Part mystery, part courtroom drama, part travelogue, this is the untold story of two men’s mysterious underground deaths in 1930 at the famous Howe Caverns in upstate New York and the dramatic courtroom battle that followed.
‘The Amazing Iroquois’ and the Invention of the Empire State
March 5 at 7pm on Zoom
John C. Winters, professor of history at PennState, will discuss his recent book from Oxford University Press, “‘The Amazing Iroquois’ and the Invention of the Empire State.” The Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, are celebrated as a key part of New York’s history and identity. In his book, Winters argues that this vision was crafted by a multi-generational Seneca-Iroquois family, who used colonial tools to shape a lasting historical memory. Their work defied stereotypes and colonialism, embedding Iroquois contributions into New York’s culture and self-image.
Mabee Maple Day
March 8 at 10 am 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!
The Raging Erie
March 12 at 7pm on Zoom
Professor Mark Ferrara, will discuss his new book, The Raging Erie (2024). Few of the laborers who toiled along the Erie Canal shared in the prosperity it brought. This new work tells the stories of the ordinary people who lived, worked, and died along the banks of the canal, emphasizing the forgotten role of the poor and working class in this epochal transformation.
Born Fighting: Scots-Irishmen of the Old Schenectady District
March 15 at 2pm at Mabee Farm
Historian Terry McMaster will discuss the local community of Scots-Irish in the colonial period. In the early 1750s, Scots-Irish families settled in what is now Princetown, forming a community that played a key role in the fight for American independence. This presentation explores their resistance to British rule, their service in the 2nd Albany regiment, and the eventual disappearance of their once-thriving ethnic community.
‘We Have a Power to go Where We Please:’ Haudenosaunee Communities Confront Imperial Expansion
March 19 at 7pm on Zoom
Kelly Hopkins, assistant professor at the University of Houston, will discuss her recent publication “‘We Have a Power to go Where We Please:’ Haudenosaunee Communities Confront Imperial Expansion.” By the 1750s, diverse Indigenous communities emerged in the upper Susquehanna River Valley as Haudenosaunee families and others displaced by colonial violence relocated strategically. These villages near key waterways helped control European encroachment, and highlight the vital role Haudenosaunee women played in settlement and land stewardship.
Confiscation in the American Revolution: Taking Property, Making the State
April 2 at 7pm on Zoom
NYU Professor Daniel Huslebosch will discuss his recent work, “Confiscation in the American Revolution: Taking Property, Making the State.” Daniel Hulsebosch is a legal and constitutional historian whose scholarship ranges from early modern England to the 19th-century United States.
Workshop: Needle Felted Fungi with Mallory Zondag
April 5 at 9:30am at Mabee Farm
In this fiber art workshop, participants will learn how to sculpt with wool through that art of needle felting. Artist Mallory Zondag will teach how to work with wire to create an armature, how to cover it with wool, how to use the tools to form the wool into some fantastic fungi, and finally how to mix and blend colors to bring wooly mushrooms to life. The $55 cost includes all supplies.
Cider & Moonshine at the Mabee Inn
April 12 at 1 pm at Mabee Farm | $20
Mabee Farm Inn will be the location of a talk about how folks in the 18th century crafted the beverages that sustained their society. Mabee Farm hard apple cider and some classic Mohawk valley moonshine will be served.
Featuring historians from across the US and Europe, our Winter Speaker Series talks are free for members, otherwise $10.
For online talks, SCHS members will be emailed a Zoom link the afternoon of the program.
Non-members can purchase tickets at schenectadyhistorical.org/events.
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