A New York Minute In History

On this Halloween episode of A New York Minute In History, we explore a murder in the state’s capital of Albany. In May 1827, a member of the city’s elite was killed in his family’s Georgian mansion at Cherry Hill. The murder of John Whipple resulted in two sensational trials steeped in the issues of their time, and the last public hanging in Albany. Historic Cherry Hill continues to mark the anni...

On this episode of A New York Minute In History, co-hosts Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts take a crack at early baseball. Through interviews with John Thorn , the official historian of Major League Baseball, and Tom Shieber of the Baseball Hall of Fame , the episode explores the beginnings of baseball in America, the origin stories and how the game developed into America's pastime in the 19th cent...

On this special episode of A New York Minute In History, we attend a birthday party for one of America’s greatest hoaxes. The Cardiff Giant, a 10-and-a-half foot so-called petrified man, was uncovered in 1869. And he is still marveled at by the public today. Just inside the front door of the Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown – can’t miss him – lies the man who mystified New Yorkers and newspaper read...

Now regarded as one the most iconic cultural expressions of American society, the Woodstock festival of 1969 served to encapsulate the spirit of the 1960s counterculture movement. Despite Woodstock’s continued popularity 50 years after it was first held, the complexities that led to its creation and lasting social impacts are often overlooked. On this episode of A New York Minute In History, co-ho...

One hundred years ago, on April 11, 1919, New York Governor Al Smith signed the “Historians Law.” The first law of its kind in the United States, the Historians Law allowed for every village, town, and city in the state to have an official historian to gather and preserve historical records. On this episode of A New York Minute In History, host and New York State Historian Devin Lander is joined b...

A reservoir system capacity of 570 billion gallons. A watershed area that covers 1.2 million acres. And a supply that is 90 percent unfiltered. The parameters of New York City’s drinking water infrastructure are astounding, but the story behind the system is much more fascinating. It’s a tale that involves engineering feats, colliding cultures and even Aaron Burr. On this episode of A New York Min...

On this special episode of A New York Minute In History, we come to you from the New York State Museum in Albany. The occasion is Capital Region History Day as more than 100 students from area schools displayed their projects in hopes of making it to New York State History Day in Cooperstown on April 29. Co-host Don Wildman spoke to some of the students competing and the teachers involved in the e...

On this episode of A New York Minute In History, co-hosts Devin Lander and Don Wildman examine how two New Yorkers – Al Smith and Franklin Delano Roosevelt – influenced the Progressive Era of the early 20th century. The episode also explores how the administrations of Smith and Roosevelt shaped modern day politics and the role of government. (more…)

On this special edition of A New York Minute In History we discuss an exciting development regarding the New York History Journal . Starting this year, Cornell University Press will publish the century-old journal. Working in association with an editorial team at the New York State Museum, the Press will expand the scope of the journal to include public history and museum studies. Podcast co-host...

The Jansson-Visscher map of the American Northeast first published by Adriaen van der Donck. Public Domain. Wikipedia. On the fourth episode of A New York Minute In History, we detail Henry Hudson’s exploration of what would become the Empire State and how his journey up the aptly named Hudson River led to the Dutch settlement of New Netherland. Join us as we explore how the Dutch colony dif...

Ground-Breaking Ceremony by J. Erwin Porter, ca. 1960. The first shovel of dirt was ceremoniously overturned outside Rome, NY on July 4, 1817. Credit: NYS Museum On the third episode of A New York Minute In History we explore the Empire State’s most ambitious engineering feat…the Erie Canal. Completed in 1825, it transformed New York and the nation by compressing time and distance, providing the f...

Credit: New York State Library, Manuscripts and Special Collections, BRO0119+ The second episode of A New York Minute In History explores the Women’s Rights Movement from the Seneca Falls Convention in Central New York in 1848 to equality matters being debated today. We explore the Movement’s progress through the lineage of Coline Jenkins, the great-great granddaughter of suffragist Elizabeth Cady...

The first episode of A New York Minute In History explores the lives of Henry Johnson and Tommy Hitchcock Jr., World War I heroes with ties to New York. Through interviews with family members, historians and others, we follow Johnson and Hitchcock to the trenches and airfields of Europe and beyond. We explore how both men are shaped by their upbringings and the color of their skin. We examine how...