Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Embroidered Portraits of Easton Political Equality Club Members

 In 2020 I received a grant from my local arts council to create a series of tea cozies featuring embroidered portraits of local and regional NY suffragists to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Included in this project are four members of the Easton Political Equality Club: Lucy P. Allen, Emma Skiff Becker, Lydia Dwelle Hoag, and Chloe Peckham Sisson. Click on the images to learn more!

Lucy P. Allen embroidered portrait tea cozy (Tisha Dolton, 2020)

Emma Skiff Becker embroidered portrait tea cozy (Tisha Dolton, 2020)


Lydia Dwelle Hoag embroidered portrait tea cozy (Tisha Dolton, 2020) <In the Folk art collection at The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library>


Chloe Peckham Sisson embroidered portrait tea cozy (Tisha Dolton, 2020)

You can also watch me embroider an entire portrait in less then five minutes via this time-lapse video!



The exhibition is on view in the Folklife Galleries at Crandall Public Library, Glens Falls, NY thru September 3, 2021, or online at https://www.crandalllibrary.org/folklife-center/folklife-gallery/past-folklife-exhibits/equali-tea-suffragist-tea-cozies-in-redwork/. 

Suffragist Tea Cozies in Redwork by Tisha Dolton exhibit poster 2020-2021


Equali-tea: Suffragist Tea Cozies in Redwork is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency Decentralization Program with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; administered by the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council.


Thursday, August 27, 2020

Give The Ballots to the Mothers! (A Suffrage Song for Women's Equality D...


For Women's Equality Day 2020 & the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment Suffrage singer & historian, Tisha Dolton sings "Give the Ballots to the Mothers" (1888) with lyrics by suffragist Rebecca Naylor Hazard (1826-1912). Many suffrage songs sung at rallies and meetings, like at the Easton Political Equality Club, were set to popular tunes of the day, this song is set to the tune "Marching Through Georgia". This is actually a reworking of Hazard's own lyrics. She originally penned a version of this song called "Woman Suffrage Jubilee"  in 1882. You can compare different lyrics below. (The first is the version I am singing in the video.)

Give the Ballots to the Mothers

(Tune: Air-Marching through Georgia, Lyrics: Rebecca N. Hazard, 1888)


VERSE 1

Bring the good ole bugle, boys! we’ll sing another song.

Sing it with a spirit that shall start the world along.

Sing it as we hope to sing it cheerily and strong,

Give the ballots to the mothers.


CHORUS

Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the jubilee!

Hurrah! Hurrah! The homes they shall be free!

So we’ll sing the chorus from the mountains to the sea,

Giving the ballots to the mothers.


VERSE 2

Bring the dear old banner, boys! Fling it to the wind.

Mother, wife, and daughter, let it shelter and defend.

'Equal Rights' our motto is, we're loyal to the end,

Giving the ballots to the mothers.


CHORUS

Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the jubilee!

Hurrah! Hurrah! The homes they shall be free!

So we’ll sing the chorus from the mountains to the sea,

Giving the ballots to the mothers.



Woman Suffrage Jubilee

(Tune: Air-Marching through Georgia, Lyrics: Rebecca N. Hazard, 1882)


VERSE 1

Bring the good ole bugle, boys! we’ll sing another song.

Sing it with a spirit that shall start the world along.

Sing it as we hope to sing it fifty thousand strong,

When comes the news in November.


CHORUS

Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the jubilee!

Hurrah! Hurrah! We’ll vote to make you free!

So we’ll sing the chorus from the mountains to the sea,

When we win in November.


VERSE 2

Bring the dear old banner, boys! Fling it to the freeze.

Mother, wife, and daughter, let it shelter all of these.

Those who share a freeman’s dwelling, should themselves be free,

Then vote for freedom in November.


CHORUS

Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the jubilee!

Hurrah! Hurrah! We’ll vote to make you free!

So we’ll sing the chorus from the mountains to the sea,

And we’ll sing it in November.




Thursday, May 2, 2019

Jonathan E. Hoag on Dionondahowa Falls

A running theme of my blog seems to be "While researching something else, I came across this cool thing!" & today's post is no different. I was just searching online for some local suffrage images for a colleague (& myself), when I came across a great virtual cemetery on Find A Grave listing members of the Easton Political Equality Club. I noticed a lot of family names, so I started trying to piece together how folks were related. 


Then I came to Jonathan E. Hoag. & the next person on the list turns out to be his third wife Lydia Martin (nee Dwelle) Hoag. The couple joined the EPOC in 1892, just one year after it's founding. So we have husband/wife suffragists in Easton. Cool! As I start reading Jonathan's bio on Find A Grave, I notice that he was poet & friends with Howard P. (H.P.) Lovecraft! Very cool! Since I just happened to be working in the Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library at the time, I went over to the OPAC & located a copy of The Poetical Works of Jonathan E. Hoag with an Introduction by none other than H.P. Lovecraft.


Jonathan Elihu Hoag of Easton, NY poet & suffragist

Suffragist Lydia (nee Dwelle) Hoag of Easton, NY



Jonathan Elihu Hoag was born in Valley Falls (Rensselaer County), NY on February 10 1831 to Abigail (nee Gifford) Hoag & her husband, Robert Nesbit Hoag. The family, including six other children, moved to South Easton when Joanthan was 8. He moved to Greenwich in 1911, & lived there until his death on December 17, 1927. He was 96 years old, & had outlived three wives.

Hoag wrote poems for family & friends

A brief search of New York Historic Newspapers brought the above clip. Apparently Jonathan was fond of writing poems for family members to commemorate milestones, like his cousin's 80th birthday. There are some such poems in his book, including a few for his mother, and one for his sister Hannah Hoag Balch.

I have yet to read the entire volume of Poetical Works..., & while I have not yet found a poem entitled "An Ode to a Suffragist", I did notice one about Dionondahowa Falls. Please enjoy...
An Ode to the Falls of Dionondawa [sic] 
by Jonathan Elihu Hoag (1917)


Ye towering rocks o’er which the waters fly,
Pray tell me whence ye came and when and why;
Your revered age reveal, your purpose show,
Unseal those mysteries of long ago!
Was it at Nature’s noon that first your height
Rose to the fulgent rays of solar light?
Or was it at the dawn, when nascent earth
Glowed like the nebula that gave it birth?
Speak, hoary torrent of the primal scene,
And trace the course of ages that have been;
Reflect once more that ancient sky, whose rays
Lit the first drops with mist-enshrouded blaze;
Recall each memory, and display the whole
On revelation’s all enlightening scroll!
Tell the long story to yon clinging vine,
On that proud sentinel, the wind-swayed pine;
In whispers tell the tinted flowers that spring
Close to the banks where your swift waters sing;
Tell the green groves by balmy winds caressed,
Where twittering wrens and chirping robins nest;
Why be so loath your secrets to unfold,
Ere time shall leave your gorges dry and old?
Some fateful day the sage will seek in vain,
Where now your ripples run, a numerous train;
And many a weed and thorn will lift its head
O’er the mute pebbles of the arid bed.
So speak, thou cataract, while time remains,
And I will spread thy fame in Doric strains;
Thy wondrous tale to millions shall be dear,
And generations yet unborn shall hear!
When glacial cohorts on the heights arrayed,
In icy wonder watched thy tall cascade;
With deadly purpose scanned thy gorge below,
And stalked with hypoborean skill the foe;
Didst chant a warning, and the glaciers greet
With prophecies of peril and defeat?
On sunny plains to Phoebus wont to yield,
They left their rocky bones strewn o’er the field!
And when the Red Man in primeval pride
In admiration sought they pine-clad side;
In each white spray a Manitou to trace,
And bow before the spirit of the place;
Didst thou to him thy secret then relate,
And tell the copper visitor thy fate!
See Cossayuna, stately, gray and tall.
With question grave, address the waterfall;
“You tell me some,” he grunt, “Me tell you more,”
But naught is heard above the mighty roar.
Then lovely Minnewawa, she whose eyes
Gleam brighter that the stars of midnight skies;
“You tell,” she says, “the many things you know;
“Me tell you Indian lore of long ago.
“Your rocks and torrents, I’ll preserve to fame,
“And your proud falls, Dionaondawa name!”
Then spake the rocks, whose ancient lips so long
Had lain in silence, dumb to speech and song;
With thunderous accents they the records read,
Kept through uncounted years of varied dead;
“Behold our sides, by time’s sharp chisel rent
“When Nature rocked the rising continent,
“Dark were the thick veiled skies, no sound was heard
“Save the black Vulcan’s subterranean word.
“The sooty Cyclops, with gigantic might,
“Heaved up the rocks from realms of Stygian night,
“Plutonian silence and Cimmerian pall
“In hideous mantle shroud and cover all;
“In sunless, moonless, starless, soundless space,
“A new world joins the planetary race,
“Then falls the fiat as the Almighty speaks,
“A rift of light through the deep vapor breaks—
“Sun, moon, and stars their wonted paths assume,
“And ordered heaven supplants the primal gloom.
“We gaze above, where circling seraphim
“Induct a foaming torrent o’er our brim;
“With sprightly grace the crystal waters flow,
“And loud reverberate in the gulf below;
“Through the deep gorge with rushing force to rage,
“And serve the mill-wheels for a future age.
“In days to come a million souls shall reap
“The blessings our tumultuous waters keep,
“And industry, with all her copious store,
“Shall feed the mendicant and clothe the poor.
“Its work complete, the useful stream shall glide
“To where the river meets the salty tide;
“And there the laboring flood at least shall rest,
“Safe sleeping on Old Ocean’s ample breast!”

Dionondahowa Falls from the Easton side looking toward the Stevens & Thompson Paper Mill




Thursday, March 28, 2019

While doing a bit of unrelated research... look Kim Gannon!


While doing a bit of unrelated research at NYS Historic Newspapers today, I came across this article about Kim Gannon. 


Greenwich Journal and Fort Edward Advertiser, March 12, 1958, Page 1


                Mr. and Mrs. Kim Gannon left yesterday for Washington, D. C., where Mr. Gannon will appear before the Smathers congressional committee now holding hearings on an anti-trust bill involving the broadcasting companies’ ownership and control of recording and music publishing firms.
                Mr. Gannon, together with Oscar Hammerstein, Arthur Schwartz and Joan Whitney, were asked to appear as representatives of the song-writing business. The Smathers committee is investigating the monopolistic control the broadcasting companies exercise over what music is published and broadcast, and Mr. Gannon and the other songwriters have been asked to testify as to their experiences in having songs withheld from being published or broadcast.

                After testifying Thursday Mr, and Mrs. Gannon will drive to Florida and then fly to Varadero Beach, Cuba, for 10 days vacation. On their return they will attend the masters golf tournament at August, Georgia, the fisrt week in April.

Greenwich Journal, March 12, 1958


As you can see by the little red rectangle in the image above, I was actually searching the Greenwich Journal for references to Cuba & happen to run across this article. I did a brief bit of digging & found nothing on this particular hearing related to anti-trust in broadcasting & music publishing. It must not have come to much, because even George A. Smathers, the head of the committee, doesn't mention it in his interview regarding his career in the Senate, even though he does say "I think the committee is really the most important assignment that a senator has, and it doesn't take a senator long to realize that it's the committee that he serves on that gives him stature and importance."

Lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote such memorable musicals as Carousel, The King & I, and The Sound of Music with Richard Rodgers, also testified. As did Arthur Schwartz, composer of "That's Entertainment", and "Dancing in the Dark". Schwartz was also a former lawyer, just like Kim Gannon. Finally, the lesser know Joan Whiney Kramer testified as well. She was a former show girl, singer and songwriter, having co-written songs like "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens".




Wednesday, December 26, 2018

The Gannon Legacy in Greenwich, NY & St. Lawrence University



On Friday, December 21, 2018 I spoke with Mark Mulholland about James Kimball "Kim" Gannon. I think the reporter from WNYT was just expecting a little story about "I'll Be Home For Christmas" & the lyricist who called Greenwich home. I don't think he realized the impact Kim & his wife Norma had on Greenwich & their alma mater, St. Lawrence University.

To here & read the news cast, click HERE.

"I'll Be Home For Christmas" was originally sung by Bing Crosby in 1943


Below is an article about the Gannons, written by Sandy McReynolds, Gill Room Historian.

December 18, 2014
Old News
From the Archives of Gill Room
By Sandy McReynolds, historian
The Gannon Legacy
Gannon in 1934 as an Albany Law School graduate
I’m sure by now many have read numerous articles over the years in regards to James Kimball Gannon. This article is intended for those that are unaware of the connection between Greenwich and the gentleman behind one of Christmas’ greatest songs. Kim and Norma Gannon have become household names over the last decade due in part to the generosity of Mrs. Norma Gannon. Upon her death on April 1, 2000, Norma had left a sizable endowment for the purpose of providing programs and services for the youth of the village to better themselves and their community. 

James Kimball “Kim” Gannon was born in Brooklyn on November 18, 1900, to parents James H. and Harriet Kimball Gannon. After graduating high school, James eventually found himself at St. Lawrence University where in his senior year of 1924, had written a song that would become the schools alma mater, on campus it is referred to as “The Scarlet and the Brown”. It was also during this time when Norma Allen came into his life and the two eloped.

It was in 1929 when the couple had made their way to Greenwich and James began work in the local office of the New York Power & Light Corporation. Working in the office wasn’t enough and in 1931, he began Albany Law School. While in school, he began work in a law firm in Ballston Spa and commuted from Greenwich. Deciding to move again in 1933, he and Norma settled in Ballston Spa. The following year he graduated and passed the New York Bar exam. During all of this, he began hosting a show on Schenectady’s WGY radio station under the name of Johnny Albright. Entertaining was in his blood.
Finally in 1939, he relinquished the idea of practicing law and pursued his true path in the musical world. James and Norma moved once again, this time to New York City where he found work writing lyrics for other composers, and eventually catching the attention of Warner Brothers, who signed him to contract in 1942. Hollywood came calling next and he and Norma headed to the West Coast. It was here that he began to mingle with the stars of the day usually out on the golf course, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope most notably. He was hired by other studios to work on projects as well. 

Kim Gannon’s work has been heard in nearly 30 films, and what is rarely heard about is, some use of his songs has been used in cartoons. Several Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons from the Warner Brothers collection have included his songs.

However it is the 1943 classic written with Walter Kent, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” that has endured. It is hard to find anyone that in this day and age that has not heard of this holiday song as there have been over 200 version recorded by artist of all genres. Bing Crosby was the first to record the song and it appeared on the flip side of another of Crosby’s classics, “White Christmas” in 1943. The following year “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” became the most requested song at USO shows by the soldiers of World War II. Two decades later on December 17, 1965, the Crosby recording became the first ‘request’ (by astronauts James Lovell and Frank Borman, Gemini 7), that was broadcast into outer space.

Other songs of Gannon’s have been recorded by such artists as, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Dorsey and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras, Dick Haymes, and Johnny Mathis. His final song to be recorded was “I Want to Be Wanted” by Brenda Lee in 1960.
1949 saw the Gannon’s return to Greenwich. Though NYC was from where Kim worked from, they spent their off time back here in the village. Changing things up a bit, he and Walter Kent collaborated on a Broadway play “Seventeen”, writing thirteen songs for the show that was produced by comedy great Milton Berle. 
Kim Gannon wrote the lyrics to the Broadway Musical "Seventeen"

Upon his retirement from the entertainment field, it was Greenwich where Kim and Norma made their home. An avid golfer, Kim spent many hours at the Battenkill Country Club. They were both active members of the community and supporters of Mary McClellan Hospital. A plaque was placed in memory of James Kimball Gannon in the East Wing after his death.
They spent winters in Palm Beach, Florida and on April 29, 1974 it was there that James passed away. He was buried here in the Greenwich Cemetery, with the words “A Song Is Forever” engraved upon his headstone. 

Norma Gannon spent the remainder of her life in the village that she loved. Mrs. Norma Allen Gannon passed away at home on April 1, 2000, and is also buried in the Greenwich Cemetery. It was upon her death that an endowment was left for the youth of Greenwich. Though it did not become publically known until 2006 that she had done so, the Gannon Trust consisted of mutual fund investments valued at approximately $800,000; 14 acres of village property, a value of nearly $100,000; and continuing royalties from song copyrights. 

An organization was formed and named Citizens Committee for Greenwich Youth, Inc. (CCGY) to represent the youth and to oversee the usage of the trust as Mrs. Gannon had intended. The first project was the repurposing of the village seasonal ice rink to a year round activity center for the young children. In 2009, Gannon Park was dedicated to coincide with the village bicentennial. This “pocket playground” was designed with the small children of the village in mind. A whiffle-ball field “Little Fenway”; playground equipment; basketball courts; and the favorite among the visitors in the hot summer months—the splash pad (which was added in 2010). Two scholarships have also been created for graduating seniors, the James “Kim” Gannon Scholarship for Performing Arts and the Norma A. Gannon Memorial Scholarship for Community Service. 
For the kids that fall in between the very young and the seniors, something else was needed. A youth center was created and opened in June of 2011. Gaining in popularity yearly, the Greenwich Youth Center (GYC) has added hours and programs to accommodate the needs of the kids in grades 3 to 12. The newest item to be added to the center is the radio station, WGRE 105.1, the kids have been creating and broadcasting podcast on the radio equipment. Whenever the center is open, the youth flock to it, as there is always something going on. Looking at the number of local youth that utilize this program proves beyond a doubt that the CCGY has been fulfilling Mrs. Gannon’s wish.

Thursday, October 4, 2018

The Gill Room & Battenkill Inspired




Sandy McReynolds, Gill Room Historian, is not one to appear on camera, but Hannah DeGarmo can put even the most behind-the-scenes type of person at ease. Learn about all of the treasures in the Gill Room at Greenwich Free Library.

I hope you enjoy the video. Currently, all of the Battenkill Inspired videos can be seen at kiosks at Crandall Public Library, & Greenwich Free Library. Or you can view the videos on the Folklife Center's YouTube channel. There are currently 28 shorts, including films on Cliff Oliver, Susan B. Anthony, Eddy Plow Works, & Bob Warren.


"Battenkill Inspired: The Flow of Creativity, Ingenuity, and the River" celebrates art and culture throughout the Battenkill watershed. Videos are released weekly as part of the celebration of the Folklife Center's 25th anniversary and Crandall Library's 125th year. . Filmed, Directed, and Edited by Kevin Rogan, Sara LaPell, Hannah DeGarmo & Todd DeGarmo Opening & closing music composed by Benjamin Phelps Closing image: "River Reflections" by George Van Hook www.georgevanhookartist.com Produced by Todd DeGarmo 2017 based on the exhibit, Battenkill Inspired Folklife Gallery January to June 2015 Funding for this project came from a 2017 Corridor of Commerce Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Additional support was provided by: New York State Council on the Arts - Folk Arts Program Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust Helen & Michael Casper Fellowship for Internship Support

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Bob Warren & Battenkill Inspired

Bob Warren has been a part of the local music scene for many years. He is also great at turning local history (his song cycle of Susan B. Anthony) & the local community (Greenwich: The Musical) into entertainment! He is also a patient & talented producer, with a studio in his home along the Battenkill.




I hope you enjoy the video. Currently, all of the Battenkill Inspired videos can be seen at kiosks at Crandall Public Library, & Greenwich Free Library. Or you can view the videos on the Folklife Center's YouTube channel. There are currently 28 shorts, including films on Cliff Oliver, Susan B. Anthony, Eddy Plow Works, & the Gill Room.


"Battenkill Inspired: The Flow of Creativity, Ingenuity, and the River" celebrates art and culture throughout the Battenkill watershed. Videos are released weekly as part of the celebration of the Folklife Center's 25th anniversary and Crandall Library's 125th year. . Filmed, Directed, and Edited by Kevin Rogan, Sara LaPell, Hannah DeGarmo & Todd DeGarmo Opening & closing music composed by Benjamin Phelps Closing image: "River Reflections" by George Van Hook www.georgevanhookartist.com Produced by Todd DeGarmo 2017 based on the exhibit, Battenkill Inspired Folklife Gallery January to June 2015 Funding for this project came from a 2017 Corridor of Commerce Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Additional support was provided by: New York State Council on the Arts - Folk Arts Program Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust Helen & Michael Casper Fellowship for Internship Support

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Cliff Oliver & Battenkill Inspired

Cliff Oliver is one of the best people in Greenwich. His provocative slave narrative photographs, which utilize the Battenkill river, will stir your soul. & if you ever have the chance to catch one of his re-enactments of Solomon Northup of Twelve Years a Slave fame, take it.

Cliff (Harlem Hellfighter) & I (Suffragist Cyclist) at the 2018 Whipple City Days parade

Cliff Oliver as Solomon Northup




I hope you enjoy the video. Currently, all of the Battenkill Inspired videos can be seen at kiosks at Crandall Public Library, & Greenwich Free Library. Or you can view the videos on the Folklife Center's YouTube channel. There are currently 28 shorts, including films on Bob Warren, Susan B. Anthony, Eddy Plow Works, & the Gill Room.

Twelve Years is a Long Time to Hope, 2014 redwork embroidery by Tisha Dolton 



"Battenkill Inspired: The Flow of Creativity, Ingenuity, and the River" celebrates art and culture throughout the Battenkill watershed. Videos are released weekly as part of the celebration of the Folklife Center's 25th anniversary and Crandall Library's 125th year. . Filmed, Directed, and Edited by Kevin Rogan, Sara LaPell, Hannah DeGarmo & Todd DeGarmo Opening & closing music composed by Benjamin Phelps Closing image: "River Reflections" by George Van Hook www.georgevanhookartist.com Produced by Todd DeGarmo 2017 based on the exhibit, Battenkill Inspired Folklife Gallery January to June 2015 Funding for this project came from a 2017 Corridor of Commerce Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Additional support was provided by: New York State Council on the Arts - Folk Arts Program Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust Helen & Michael Casper Fellowship for Internship Support

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Susan B. Anthony & Battenkill Inspired

If you follow this blog, or are from Greenwich, NY & the surrounding area, you know that famed suffragist, Susan B. Anthony spent much of her early life here along the Battenkill river. I have mentioned her numerous times, but two of the more interesting posts are Happy Birthday Susan B from 2013 & Susan B. Anthony Memorabilia from 2015.

The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library has created a bunch of 2 minute shorts about various aspects of the Battenkill. It couldn't be done without mentioning one of it's most famous daughters.



I hope you enjoy the video. Currently, all of the Battenkill Inspired videos can be seen at kiosks at Crandall Public Library, & Greenwich Free Library. Or you can view the videos on the Folklife Center's YouTube channel. There are currently 28 shorts, including films on Cliff Oliver, Bob Warren, Eddy Plow Works, & the Gill Room.



"Battenkill Inspired: The Flow of Creativity, Ingenuity, and the River" celebrates art and culture throughout the Battenkill watershed. Videos are released weekly as part of the celebration of the Folklife Center's 25th anniversary and Crandall Library's 125th year. . Filmed, Directed, and Edited by Kevin Rogan, Sara LaPell, Hannah DeGarmo & Todd DeGarmo Opening & closing music composed by Benjamin Phelps Closing image: "River Reflections" by George Van Hook www.georgevanhookartist.com Produced by Todd DeGarmo 2017 based on the exhibit, Battenkill Inspired Folklife Gallery January to June 2015 Funding for this project came from a 2017 Corridor of Commerce Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Additional support was provided by: New York State Council on the Arts - Folk Arts Program Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust Helen & Michael Casper Fellowship for Internship Support

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Eddy Plow Works and Battenkill Inspired

In 2013 I wrote a brief blog post about the Eddy Plow Works here in the village of Greenwich. This year, after seeing that blog post, Hannah DeGarmo, who was working on a series of short videos for the Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library, contacted me about speaking on camera about the Eddy Plow Works. I agreed & we met on the Easton bank of the Battenkill River near the recently restored, & currently for sale, Eddy Plow building. We basically did my speaking portion in a couple of segments & decided on a filming without a script. I tried to speak in a conversational manner...




I hope you enjoy the video. Currently, all of the Battenkill Inspired videos can be seen at kiosks at Crandall Public Library, & Greenwich Free Library. Or you can view the videos on the Folklife Center's YouTube channel. There are currently 28 shorts, including films on Cliff Oliver, Bob Warren, Susan B. Anthony, & the Gill Room.



"Battenkill Inspired: The Flow of Creativity, Ingenuity, and the River" celebrates art and culture throughout the Battenkill watershed. Videos are released weekly as part of the celebration of the Folklife Center's 25th anniversary and Crandall Library's 125th year. . Filmed, Directed, and Edited by Kevin Rogan, Sara LaPell, Hannah DeGarmo & Todd DeGarmo Opening & closing music composed by Benjamin Phelps Closing image: "River Reflections" by George Van Hook www.georgevanhookartist.com Produced by Todd DeGarmo 2017 based on the exhibit, Battenkill Inspired Folklife Gallery January to June 2015 Funding for this project came from a 2017 Corridor of Commerce Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Additional support was provided by: New York State Council on the Arts - Folk Arts Program Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust Helen & Michael Casper Fellowship for Internship Support

Friday, October 27, 2017

1900 NYWSA Convention Reenactment: The Location & the Food

As you may have heard, 2017 is NY state's Suffrage Centennial year. On November 6, 1917, the majority of male voters cast ballots in favor of granting women the right to vote!


Seventeen years prior, the small village of Glens Falls hosted a statewide convention for three days in the fall of 1900 for the New York Woman Suffrage Association. Held at Ordway Hall & Rockwell House, delegates came from all over the state: Counties represented were Cayuga, Chatauqua, Erie, Kings, Monroe, Nassau, Niagara, Onondoga, Queens, Warren, and Washington.  




Yellow flags represent delegates from 1900. Purple pins show attendees in 2017.

What the Glens Falls Area Suffrage Centennial Committee wanted to do was to come up with a way to celebrate the spirit of that convention in just two hours. It was a daunting task that required lots of meetings, collaboration, & and action grant from HumanitiesNY. What we put together was very well received!




NYWSA 32nd Convention, Glens Falls, NY 1900


& I will share with you what we did...



Ordway Hall, Glens Falls, NY c 1900

Since Ordway Hall (currently a Spot Coffee) & Rockwell House (destroyed by fire) were not available, we looked to the site of a successful regional suffrage convention in 1894, First Baptist Church of Glens Falls. The folks there were thrilled to learn of their church's suffrage history as they are trying to get the church on the National Registry for historic landmarks. 


Rockwell House, Glens Falls, NY c1900


Once we had our location & date secured, we set to research & funding. Luckily HumanitiesNY awarded us an action grant so that we could pay performers, a photographer & videographer, & advertise.

One of the things I was able to do was convince people to make food from the Suffrage Cookbooks for refreshments during intermission. My friend Lillian Lasher tackled the appetizers. A few of us baked.






Suffrage Cookbooks on display at the food table

The appetizers Lillian made were featured in the 1915 Suffrage Cookbook compiled by LO Kleber. The recipes she chose were Chicken Croquettes, Spitine, & Savories. They were quite tasty & surprisingly well received by those in attendance. I have listed the recipes below.




Chicken Croquettes (1915, p. 63)

1 pound of chicken
3 teaspoons chopped parsley
1½ cups cream
1 small onion
¼ pound butter
¼ pound bread crumbs
season to taste
1 pinch of paprika 
Grind meat twice. Boil the onion with the cream and strain the onion out. Let cool and pour over crumbs. Add parsley and butter, and make a stiff mixture. Now add seasoning.Mix all together by beating in the meat. If too thick add a little milk and form into croquettes, and put in ice box.When cool dip in beaten egg and then in crackers or bread crumbs. Fry in deep fat.



Spitine (1915, p. 50) 
Cut from raw roast beef very thin slices. Spread with a dressing made of grated bread crumbs, a beaten egg and seasoned to taste. Roll up and put all on a long skewer and brown in a little hot butter.



SAVORIES (1915, p.95-99) 
Hot savory and cold salad are always to be recommended—some suggestions that are worth remembering.A hot savory and a cold salad make a good combination for the summer luncheon, and the savory is a useful dish for the dispositon of left-over scraps of meat, fish, etc.The foundation of a savory is usually a triangle on a finger of buttered brown bread toast, or fried bread, pastry or biscuit. The filling may be varied indefinitely, and its arrangement depends upon available materials.Here are a few suggestions for the use of materials common to all households. 


Tomato Toast 
Half an ounce of butter, two ounces of grated cheese, one tablespoon of tomato; paprika. Melt the butter and add the tomato (either canned or fresh stewed), then the grated cheese; sprinkle with paprika and heat on the stove. Cut bread into rounds or small squares, fry and pour over each slice the hot tomato mixture.


Ham Toast 
Mince a little left-over boiled ham very finely. Warm it in a pan with a piece of butter. Add a little pepper and paprika. When very hot pile on hot buttered toast. Any left-over scraps of fish or meat may be used up in a similar way, and make an excellent savory to serve with a green salad.


Cheese Savories 
Butter slices of bread and sprinkle over them a mixture of grated cheese and paprika. Set them in a pan and place the pan in the oven, leaving it there until the bread is colored, and the cheese set. Serve very hot.





For baked goods we served molasses crinkles, gingersnaps, gingerbread, & "cocoanut cookies" I made using a recipe from the 1886 Suffrage Cookbook. This recipe was submitted by a Mrs. H. R. Shattuck.


Cocoanut Cookies. (1886, p. 81)
Into two and one-half cupfuls of pastry flour, rub with the hands one-half cupful of butter. Add one cupful of sugar, one and three-fourths cupfuls of grated cocoanut (that which comes by the pound is best) and two saltspoonfuls of cream of tartar. Beat one egg and stir in; dissolve one saltspoonful of soda in boiling water and add, moulding the mixture well together with the hands. If it is not wet enough, add a very little milk or water. The danger is in getting it too wet to roll out well, and probably no moisture will be needed. Roll thin, cut with a doughnut cutter and bake quickly.

saltspoon= 1/4 teaspoon



Butter, flour, sugar, coconut, cream of tartar

Add egg, baking soda in water



Combine into dough, not too wet




Roll out & cut out with a doughnut cutter

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Bake at 350 F for about 7-10 minutes

Finished cookies out to cool