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Online programming to keep you busy plus behind-the-scenes looks at museum collections and archives

 
 
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An Inside look at Historic Huguenot Street

Jean Hasbrouck House Video Tour

Click the button to register. It will cost $3 to access the 15 minute short film. Become a member and get access for free!

HHS’s programming is made possible the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

This film project is funded by Hudson River Valley Greenway and Americana Corner: Preserving America Grant Program.

Recordings of Live Programs

On the Road to Libertyville: Resistance, Negotiation, and a Black Man Named Garret DuBois,” a virtual presentation with Josephine Bloodgood

 

Click the button below for access to the February 19, 2025 virtual talk presented by Josephine Bloodgood, HHS Director of Curatorial and Preservation Affairs, exploring the life and experiences of enslaved men named in a manuscript entitled the “Society of Negroes Unsettled,” and what it meant to their futures in terms of resistance and negotiation. Following the slide presentation, Josephine is joined by Kate Hymes, Vice President of the Margaret-Wade Lewis Black History Cultural Center (MWLC), for discussion and Q&A.

“Three Worlds of New Netherland: Native American, African, and European,” a virtual presentation by Russell Shorto

 

Click the button below for access to the June 6, 2024 presentation by author, historian, and journalist Russell Shorto, in which he discusses the complexity of our region in the mid-1600s. The link to access this recording will expire on June 6, 2025.

"Agency and Ownership: The Story of Anthony and Susanna, Two Enslaved Africans in 17th Century New York," a virtual presentation with HHS's Eddie Moran

 

Click the button below for access to the May 30, 2024 presentation by our own Tour & Interpretation Manager, Eddie Moran, who guides attendees through an array of 17th century documents to reveal the powerful story of Anthony and Susanna, two enslaved Africans purchased by Louis Dubois in late 1673, and their tale of agency and resistance.

"Overlapping Histories: The New Paltz Historic Documents Project," presented by HHS's Josephine Bloodgood, Donna Dixon, and Beth Patkus

 

Click the button below for access to the May 14, 2024 presentation by our own curatorial staff: Josephine Bloodgood, Director of Curatorial and Preservation Affairs, Donna Dixon, Digital Librarian and Project Manager, and Beth Patkus, Archivist and Librarian. In this talk, an overview of the joint HHS and NEH project and its significance in local, state, and national history is provided, and the grant process is discussed. How to navigate and search the New Paltz Historic Documents online collection, including for recently translated documents, is also discussed. 

"'Where Sleep These Loved Ones?': History, Evolution, and Preservation of the Old Huguenot Burying Ground," a virtual talk presented by HHS Tours & Interpretation Manager, Eddie Moran

 

Click the button below for access to the January 23, 2024 presentation by our own Tours and Interpretation Manager, Eddie Moran, regarding findings from research undertaken in the last two years on the Old Huguenot Burying Ground and the evolution of how we have engaged with it as historians, as a community, and as an organization.

"The Native Community of Packanasinck," a virtual presentation with J Michael Smith

 

Click the button below for access to the November 30, 2023 presentation by J Michael Smith, regarding a 1738 American Indian Deed, recently discovered by Historic Huguenot Street, for the land and creek called Packanasinck. This deed provides ethnohistorical material for a discussion of the Native participants mentioned.

"Digging into Documents," a virtual presentation with Dr. Jaap Jacobs & Julie van den Hout

 

Click the button below for access to the November 19, 2023 presentation by Dr. Jaap Jacobs & Julie van den Hout, who translated part of the manuscript collection of HHS, which focuses on how the translated documents shed light on economic and religious aspects of daily life in New Paltz in the 1700s.

 

Our Social Feeds

Please find up-to-the-minute info on our programs and other happenings in our social media feeds below.

 
This week’s post from the Curatorial Department presents a document from the Josiah DuBois Family Papers. Josiah DuBois (1779-1867) partnered with his father-in-law, Jean Hasbrouck, in the mercantile business in what is now known as the Jean Hasbrouck Memorial House on Huguenot Street. A prominent and active community member, Josiah also served as a trustee of the New Paltz Academy and held elected positions as an Overseer of the Roads and an Overseer of the Poor. As an Overseer of the Poor, one of Josiah’s responsibilities was the disbursement of funds for public assistance. This invoice paid to John DeGroodt shows that he billed the Overseers of the Poor of the Town of New Paltz for boarding Anna Terwilliger from October 15 to December 26, 1824. The first entry is for board “in cases of sickness,” and the next entries read “Ten weeks board…She being pregnant and unable to work” and “Boarding her three weeks after she had laid in, at $2.50 per week.” The invoice totals $25, and a note is made at the bottom, “Allowed $10.” On the verso, it is noted that DeGroodt was indeed paid ten dollars on February 26, 1826, indicating that there was a maximum payment allowed for such services. No record is made of Anna’s delivery or child on the invoice. Several women of childbearing age named Anna Terwilliger in the area at the time are documented in genealogies of the Terwilliger family. As the HHS Archives digitization project continues, we hope to find more evidence of our Anna. Overseers of the Poor Receipt, Josiah DuBois Family Papers (1689-1864). HHS Archives. These documents are part of a project to conserve and digitize New Paltz’s historic documents from the HHS Archives and partner institutions, made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Stay tuned for more posts from these collections, available on NYHeritage.org starting in 2022.
Last year, HHS was awarded a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to conserve and digitize, over a three-year period, around 24,000 pages of documents relating to the early history of New Paltz. The project is a collaboration between HHS, the Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection at Elting Memorial Library, the Town of New Paltz, and the Reformed Church of New Paltz. We’re excited to announce that the first group of documents, nearly 4,000 pages, has been fully uploaded to NYHeritage.org and is ready to explore! There are a few options for browsing this incredible resource. From the landing page linked in our description you can search the collection using any name or subject you choose. Another useful option is to click “Explore the Collection.” When viewing on a laptop or desktop computer, you will see lists of menu items or “facets” along the left-hand side of your screen, including Subject, Personal Name, Source, etc. Whether you are a descendant of early area residents, a scholar, student, or other history buff, you will enjoy browsing familiar Personal Names, including Bevier, Deyo, Freer, and others. The Personal Names of enslaved men and women are also listed, such as Rose, Claus, and Frank (enslaved by Cornelius Jansen) and Dean (enslaved by Daniel DuBois). You can look under the facet Source to view collections of papers associated with an individual or branch of a family, as well. Any one you recognize? Let us know! Image: Military appointment, Louis Bevier Jun by Robert Hunter at Fort Anne. HHS Archives, Louis Bevier Family Papers (1675-1719) The preservation and digitization of these documents has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The translation of Dutch language documents will be supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.
Our Boos and Brews tours continue to be a big hit! Tonight's tour is completely SOLD OUT! There are limited spots available for some of our September tours, so get them while you can! Every Friday and Saturday evening in September, HHS will be offering walking tours of the National Historic Landmark District that focus on the eerie and unexplained occurrences in New Paltz history. Pair this with two local craft beverages of your choice, and you’ve got Boos and Brews! Please enjoy these pictures from one of our recent tours and then register to join us before all of September’s spots are gone too! For more information, and to register, please visit: https://www.huguenotstreet.org/.../boos-and-brews-september Please note: The last Boos and Brews tour of the season will take place on Saturday, October 1st.
This week we are excited to share a depiction of the Abraham Hasbrouck House drawn by Celia Hasbrouck. This charcoal piece portrays the Abraham Hasbrouck house from a north facing perspective. Celia drew this study in 1920 when she was 77, likely inspired by her relation to Abraham Hasbrouck, a founder of New Paltz and a Patentee. She left a handwritten note on the back, stating, “Drawing of the House of Abraham Hasbrouck and occupied by his son Daniel and his Son Isaiah Hasbrouck and my Grandfather.” The third slide in this post depicts Celia in a small ambrotype from the 1800s, posed in period dress and hairstyle. Her hair is pulled back into a low bun and she wears a high-necked black dress, accented by the ornate frame surrounding the image. One of 10 children, Celia was born in Liberty, NY in 1843 to Isaiah Hasbrouck (1790-1873) and Elizabeth Eller (1798-1870). Historic Huguenot Street holds a large collection of Celia’s letters, photographs, and personal works that give a glimpse into her life, family, and relationships. Several of her siblings moved to California and the letters they sent back home to Celia discuss jobs, relationships, disease, births, and deaths. Her brother recalls searching for gold in California and tragically losing his foot during an accident at his work. More cheerful letters relate gossip from home as well as fond exchanges of homesickness and affection. Celia pursued the arts throughout her life, exemplified by this drawing and several of her remaining essays. She never married and resided in Sullivan County for her whole life. Celia passed away in 1928 at the age of 85 and is buried in Liberty, NY. Celia Hasbrouck, “Drawing of the Abraham Hasbrouck House,” 1920. HHS Permanent Collection, gift of Sue Brooks. Ambrotype of Celia Hasbrouck, 19th Century. HHS Permanent Collection, gift of Sue Brooks.