March 15: Jerry Mikorenda, author – America’s First Freedom Rider: Elizabeth Jennings, Chester A. Arthur, and the Early Fight for Civil Rights via Zoom.
For many, the civil rights movement began with Rosa Parks’ brave stand against segregation in 1954. However, few people realize that the right for African Americans to even ride in streetcars was earned a hundred years before that in a landmark civil rights case here in New York City.
Author and Historian Jerry Mikorenda breathes life into this struggle with America’s First Freedom Rider: Elizabeth Jennings, Chester A. Arthur, and the Early Fight for Civil Rights (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020). Using rare period photos and lithographs, in a 30-to-40-minute PowerPoint presentation, followed by a Q&A, the author recreates “The World of Elizabeth Jennings” by exploring the sights and people of old New York as this momentous battle with the Third Avenue Railroad unfolded.
Jerry’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Herald, The Gotham Center History Blog, and the 2010 Encyclopedia of New York City. His biography America’s First Freedom Rider: Elizabeth Jennings, Chester A. Arthur, and the Early Fight for Civil Rights was published in 2020. His short stories have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, BULL, Cowboy Jamboree, and Gravel Magazine as well as other journals. His historical novel, The Whaler’s Daughter was published by Regal House in 2021, and nominated for two Kid’s Choice Awards.
May 17: Robert Feranec, paleontologist – Mastodons and the PaleoClimate of Warren County
Dr. Robert S. Feranec is currently the Director of Research and Collections and Curator of Ice Age Animals at the NY State Museum in Albany. His current research is focused on understanding how ecosystems assembled in NY after the Ice Age. For his academic training, Dr. Feranec received his undergraduate degree at Syracuse University, his Master’s in Geology at the University of Florida, and his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. Just prior to his appointment at the State Museum he was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University. He and his family currently reside in Burnt Hills.
July 19: Dr. Jim Schaefer – The Schaefer Family and the Adirondacks
Jim was born and raised in Schenectady where he gained a lifelong appreciation of the environment and his surroundings—weekend family hikes, arrowhead hunting, skiing, fly fishing, hunting, spent summers in northern Idaho, western Montana, northern Arizona & New Mexico. Early career interest in forest fire research and management; subsequent career drinking behavior and management. Jim has championed many ideas emanating from his illustrious family heritage especially that of his father, mother and uncles: Vincent (inventor of cloud seeding), Lois, Paul, Carl Schaefer’s ideas: The Long Path of New York, Ancient Windows of the Earth, Schaefer homes and masonry, the 1930s Snow Trains, First Ski Patrol, regional Prehistory, early history of the “Forever Wild” environmental activism in the Adirondacks and Catskills. Jim is Rotterdam Town Historian.
Sept 20: Dan Forbush – Spatial Storytelling in Western Warren County
Nov 15: Dr. Daniel Way, author – Seneca Ray Stoddard
During his 37-year career as a Family Physician, Dr Way wrote three books between 2004 and 2016 chronicling his Adirondack medical career and the many patients he came to know: All in a Day’s Work: Scenes and Stories from an Adirondack Medical Practice; Never a Dull Moment, and We Were There: World War II Stories from the Adirondacks’ Greatest Generation. Each book includes many richly illustrated patient vignettes that venerate the doctor-patient relationship while describing the joys and frustrations of practicing rural primary care in Upstate New York’s Adirondack Park.
Since retiring, he has completed work on his most recent book, Seneca Ray Stoddard; An Intimate Look at an Adirondack Legend. It includes almost 300 illustrations and covers new ground that celebrates many facets of the legendary Victorian-era photographer/environmentalist/author/traveler/surveyor/lecturer/publisher, including many that have never been published before. You can learn more about his writing and photography on his website at www.danielway.com and on Facebook.
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