Historic Preservation: Kate Mullany National Historic Site

Some of you may recall my daughter & I participating in a re-enactment of the Collar Laundry Strike of 1864 this past February. Well, on October 4, 2014 I was able to visit the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in Troy, NY with my aunt's DAR chapter.

The Kate Mullany House was declared a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 1998 and designated an affiliated unit with in the National Historic Site Congress on 2005. It is located at 350 8th St. in Troy, NY. It is the home of the American Labor Studies Center. The site is undergoing restoration and does not have regular visiting hours. For information on visiting the site, call the American Labor Studies Center at (518) 331-4474. 

 The house at 350 8th St. is under renovation. The other half of the building at 352 8th St. is in foreclosure, and the ALSC is hoping to acquire it as well. Until that time, the renovations continue, as does the fundraising. For more information on supporting the restoration project, please click HERE.

The Kate Mullany house became a National Historic Landmark in 1998

My mom on the steps of Kate Mullany's House

The back yard has been recently landscaped

Kate & her Irish parents arrived in Troy in 1853

One of the exhibit panels at Kate Mullany NHS

Another of the exhibit panels at Kate Mullany NHS

Kate was inducted National Women's Hall of Fame 2000

 Read Kate Mullany's bio at National Women's Hall of Fame website.

Staircase leading to the 3rd floor

Original floors under modern bathroom linoleum

Lathe & plaster and modern plumbing

New old windows

Renovating the ceiling

Turquoise plaster over the brick fireplace

More renovations 

Me at the top of the stairs

3rd floor plan

Me in my "Don't iron while the strike is hot!" tee

Kate Mullany's grave at St. Peter's Cemetery in Troy, NY

Leaving a token to show I was there

The house is not open for regular tours during renovation, but call the ALSC for more information about scheduling your group visit.

Also, check out the PowerPoint presentation for more information on Kate Mullany & the Collar Laundry Strike.

Women's Equality Day 2014

In my last post I discussed the lack of planning for the NY Women's Suffrage Centennial. This is not to say that there are not efforts being made throughout the state, but they are typically individual women's history sites going about there regular business, which is FABULOUS! but more effort is needed if we are to get a fire started.

That said, Women's Equality Day is fast approaching. What is Women's Equality Day you ask? It is the anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment's official inclusion in the US Constitution guaranteeing that the right to vote will not be denied due to gender. The Amendment was ratified one week prior on August 18, 1920 when the Tennessee legislature voted in favor of ratification. The House passed it by ONE VOTE!

19th Amendment stamp 1998- 150th anniversary of Seneca Falls Convention

Women's Equality Day, August 26th, is approved by resolution every year as it is not a national Holiday. This year marks the 94th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Here are some places in NY commemorating Women's Equality Day & the 94th Anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment (all times are EDT). If you know of any others, please let me know...

The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro, NY (near Syracuse) will present a program "Legacies of Equality" on Sunday, August 24 at 2:00 p.m.

*Foundation for the National Archives in conjunction with the Sewell-Blemont House are presenting a live stream via YouTube- Women's history on the horizon: The Centennial of Women's Suffrage in 2020- Tuesday, August 26 at 7:00 pm.

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Hometown Association in Johnstown, NY is hosting a garden party on Monday, August 25.

Women's e-News is hosting a live stream of the 1972 documentary "The Hand hat Rocks the Ballot Box" on Tuesday, August 26 at 6:00 p.m.

 Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, NY does not have a specific commemoration, but the M'Clintock House is open, and Ranger Programs are offered all weekend.

The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House in Rochester, NY held their event last weekend, but it is always a great place to visit.

If nothing else, invite some friends over & have a suffrage tea. Tea parties were a frequent fundraising event for the later half of the suffrage movement. I even have a Votes for Women tea pot & tea towel. There is a great collection of china displayed on the Suffrage Memorabilia page. For event kits & balloons, check out the National Women's History Project.

Here are some women's suffrage blogs you might be interested in as well:

Suffrage Wagon News Channel
Suffrage Centennials
Long Island and the Woman Suffrage Movement
Woman and Her Sphere
Suffrage Memorobilia


*added 8/20/14 at 3:57 pm

Preparing for the big move...

It appears spring has finally sprung, as it always does, here in Greenwich. Just this morning traffic was backed up from the Mowry/Corliss/Main intersection to Cottage Street behind the street sweeper. Kids & adults alike were walking to the Greenwich Free Library without winter coats.

My new office is coming along nicely, but my packing is not. Every time I decide to look through something with the intention of putting it into a box, I come across really cool stuff. Stuff that must be perused & read right now!

Today, was just such a day. I opened the Historic Resources Survey boxes to see if there was anything on Riddle Road to aid in an e-mail inquiry (just a nondescript record on The Owl Pen) & realized that there was a wealth of information in those boxes. Plus, I need to go through & put the records in folders & label them. That will be my project next week! Oh, the survey was done in preparation for Greenwich's nomination for Historic District designation from the National Register of Historic Places & the National Park Service. Check it out here.

I found some information regarding the Lowber Lime Kilns in Bald Mountain & Old Lock 12 of the Champlain Canal. If any of you have been on the Facebook page you have seen the photo I posted, but there were a few others.So I ran them trough my new app "Photo Grid" & voile!

1981 images of the Lime Kilns with a 21st century shot of the marker

Mash-up of 1981 images and my 2009 photos

I also found some interesting historical "papers" included in the survey that I will be reading & sharing with you. An obituary on Ann Caroline Holmes (nee Mowry) really caught my attention. More research is needed there I think!

I'll leave you with images of my new/ old offices. I haven't been this excited since I got upgraded from Windows 3.1 to Windows 98! (Now I have Vista.)

work in progress- new Historian's Office upstairs

current vs. new- so much bigger