Crossroads of Rockland History

Broadcast originally aired on Monday, January 15, 2018, 9:30 am, on www. WRCR.com We explored the 42nd Annual Holiday Exhibition at the Historical Society of Rockland, entitled "Peace & Joy." In addition to miniatures and dollhouses, the exhibition features the charming marionettes made by hand by Paul Peabody. Clare Sheridan's guest was Jeanne Peabody Walsh, Paul Peabody's...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, December 18, 2017, 9:30 am Topic: "Marydell-Over 90 Years-Serving-Mentoring-Caring!" the new exhibition at the Historical Society of the Nyacks. Suzanne Belisle, assistant exhibition curator, and Sister Veronica Mendez, President of the Sisters of Our Lady of Christian Doctrine spoke about the retrospective, which traces the work of the Marydell Sisters...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, November 20, 2017 at 9:30am on www. WRCR.com Selene Castrovilla discussed her new children’s book, Revolutionary Rogues: John Andre and Benedict Arnold. It's a riveting nonfiction picture book that unfolds like a play, telling a story from American history. Gravely injured and with little chance for more military honors, Major-General Benedict Arnold seeks r...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, October 16, 2017, 9:30 am Mary Cardenas, director of the Orangetown Historical Museum and Archives, spoke about their new exhibition "Loyal to the Crown," which opened there on Saturday, October 14. Cardenas discussed what it was like for Loyalists during the Revolution. We also welcomed special guest George Way, whose collection of fine English antique...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, September 18, 2017 at 9:30am We explored the life and legacy of Carson McCullers. With a collection of work including five novels, two plays, twenty short stories, more than two dozen nonfiction pieces, a book of children's verse, a small number of poems, and an unfinished autobiography, Carson McCullers is considered to be among the most significant America...

Broadcast originally aired Monday August 21, 2017, 9:30 am We turned our attention to Haverstraw, an engaging historical novel set at the turn of the 20th century. The author, Margaret Williams, was on hand to discuss her debut novel, which has been described as a finely tuned, aching tale of time, place and the constants of human nature. In this beautifully realized story, a young French-Canadian...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, July 17, 2017, at 9:30 am Nyack Village Historian John Patrick Schutz visited the program. The son of a librarian (Irene is still found behind the desk at Blauvelt Library), Schutz was taught researching skills from an early age. He has always been fascinated by local history and frequently writes about it in his blog, "At Home in Nyack." Clare Sheridan...

Broadcast originally aired June 19, 2017 Topic: Richard Donegan described two new exhibitions on view through November 5, 2017 at the Historical Society: "Rockland Recollections: The Art of Robert Burghardt": Each of the 55 works on display demonstrates how this talented artist soaked up Rockland's history and documented it in a unique way. To learn more about this exhibition, click...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, May 15, 2017, at 9:30 am Under the dynamic leadership of founding Artistic Director Joe Brancato and Executive Director Andrew M. Horn, Penguin Rep has grown from a summer theater in a converted 1880s hay barn to become one of the Hudson Valley's most influential nonprofit cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1977, Penguin Rep has entertained more th...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, April 17, 2017, at 9:30 am on WRCR 1700AM and www. WRCR.com Clare Sheridan welcomed Joe Allen, who is making an hour-long documentary about the compelling 1943 story of how Thurgood Marshall and the Hillburn, NY community achieved the historic desegregation of the Brook School in Rockland County, NY. They discussed the film and the upcoming premiere, hosted by Ro...

Broadcast originally aired March 20, 2017, 9:30am Clare Sheridan interviewed Liz McEnaney, Executive Director of the SS Columbia Project. The landmark SS Columbia is currently being restored; once it is, the steamboat will become a floating platform for arts, education, and entertainment that connects New York City and the Hudson Valley. To learn more about the SS Columbia Project, visit sscolumbi...

Broadcast orginally aired Monday, February 20, 2017, 9:30 am Clare Sheridan welcomed Rich Donegan, Education Coordinator at the Historical Society of Rockland County. Topic: the 5th Annual John T. and Mary A. Grant High School Local History conference, held at SUNY-Rockland Community College on February 14.  A program unique to Rockland County, the annual conference brings together students from p...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, January 16, 2017, 9:30 am on www. WRCR.com The urban anthropologist Sherrill Wilson, faculty member of SUNY RCC and Manhattan College, visited the program.  In addition to teaching, Dr. Wilson lectures and writes on the subjects of the African presence in colonial and early New York and the enslaved African presence in the North. We spoke to her about her recent...

Broadcast originally aired December 19, 2016. Terri Thal visited the program. She discussed her role as Bob Dylan’s first manager when he arrived on the folk music scene in New York in the early 1960's. She also discussed the history of the Lake Lucille community in New City where whe lives today. Crossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, airs on...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, November 21, 9:30 am, Frank Eberling, who recently published a new novel titled Demarest Kill, was interviewed by Clare Sheridan. Demarest Kill is a murder mystery and coming-of-age/loss-of-innocence novel unlike any you have read before. In the novel, the Demarest Kill, a stream that threads its way through New City, behind Dutch Garden and the Rockland County C...

Broadcast originally aired on  October 17, 2016  The topic was Local History on Social Media. Clare Sheridan interviewed Kato Hatch, a Rockland County native who moderates the incredibly popular Facebook group/page "Rockland County, Back in the Day."  The page has more than 13,000 fans and is full of vintage images, rare film footage and shared memories from its followers.  They discusse...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, September 19, 2016, 9:30 am Our program was devoted to the 1956 movie musical High Tor.  Based on a play of the same name, Maxwell Anderson's High Tor, the first "made-for-TV" movie in history, was originally broadcast on CBS in 1956. The play, produced in 1937, led to the preservation of High Tor Mountain by the Palisades Interstate Park Commissio...

Broadcast originally aired August 15, 2016. 914 Sound Recording Studios is where some of the most iconic rock anthems of the 1970s were made, including Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" and Janis Ian's "At Seventeen." Clare Sheridan welcomes special guests:  Robert Brum (The Journal News), Michael Magnone and musicians Joe Delia and Joe D'Urso to discuss the hist...

Broadcast originally aired July 18, 2016  Our topic was summer reading (history and nonfiction). Joining Clare Sheridan were Brian Jennings, history librarian from the New City Library, and Joe Barbieri, history librarian from the Nyack Library. We shared our favorite books and opened up the phone lines to welcome caller recommendations. For a list of books that were discussed, visit our blog here...

Broadcast orginally aired on Monday, June 20, 2016, 10:10 am The Garner Arts Center is a 19th century textile mill that has been transformed into a vibrant cultural art center in Garnerville, NY. Robin Rosenberg, president of the Garnerville Arts Project Inc. (GAP), also known as Garner Arts Center since its founding in 2003, will be in the studio to shed light on this dynamic place that continues...

Broadcast orginally aired on Monday, May 16, 2016, 10:10 AM Topic:  The fascinating and little-known area known as Skunk Hollow. The archeologist Joan Geismar, who wrote her doctoral dissertation on Skunk Hollow, shared how she uncovered the history of this place through archeological research and discoveries.   "Crossroads of Rockland History," a program of the Historical Society of Roc...

Broadcast orignally aired on April 18, 2016  Clare Sheridan interviews Palisades Historian Alice Gerard, published author.  Ms. Gerard shares the history of this interesting part of Rockland County including the private enclave of Snedens Landing.  She also shares information about her recent project of completing the transcription of the diaries of Nicholas Gesner.  The Gesner diaries, comprising...

Broadcast originally aired Monday, March 21, 2016, 10:10 am In conjunction with the Quadricentennial celebration of Haverstraw, Clare Sheridan spoke to Supervisor Howard Phillips and exhibition curator Corinne McGeorge.   Included in the conversation is information about the recent discovery of a map from 1616 on which Haverstraw appears and the year-long celebration that this 400th anniversary wi...

Broadcast orginally aired February 15, 2016  Clare Sheridaninterviewed Scott Kaplan, history educator from Suffern High School and Richard Donegan, History Coordinator from The Historical Society of Rockland County.   Guests discussed how local history is taught in our schools, and described the John T. and Mary A. Grant Rockland County High School Local History Conference (a daylong gathering tha...

Broadcast originally aired on Monday, January 18, 2016, 10:10 am Clare Sheridan welcomed Orange County Historian Johanna Yaun, whose recent address on the state of local history in 2015 has piqued the interest of many people in the local history community.  Ms. Yaun  spoke about the unique mandate in New York State that every municipality must have a historian; the role the municipal historian pla...