Summers in Lake George, NY are warm and humid, while the water stays pretty chilly. They are full of music and history, where tourists and locals alike mingle at the beach and in restaurants. But summers in the mid-1960s had something else: folksinger Tedd Browne. Tedd Browne was playing in a coffee shop in New York City, when he met Lake George businesswoman, Shirley Caple. The owner of the Cosmic Coffee House on Ottawa Street, she enticed Browne to come north to sing for tw

A few years ago, in the papers of my grandparents, Arthur and Mabel (Hamm) DeGarmo of Schuylerville, Saratoga County, New York, I found a mounted old family photograph, identified on the mat as being published by the Northern Survey Company, Albany, NY. This old photograph also has hand-written notes on the back, identifying the folks lined up in front of their home: "Clarks Corners / Gramma Spicers Home / Bert DeG, Art DeGarmo, Grandma, Grandpa Chauncey, Great Grandmother S

On May 20, 1914 the Infant Welfare Exhibit opened at City Hall in Glens Falls. The multi-day event was created to help mothers better care for their babies and young children. According to the May 5, 1914 article in the Post-Star the "exhibit consists of placards, cartoons and photographs occupying about seventy linear feet and will be installed on the top floor of City hall." Another Post-Star article on May 19, 1914, states a "well trained baby welfare nurse*, employed by t

On May 22, 1971, 50 years ago this Saturday, a portrait of Charles Evans Hughes was presented to Crandall Library during the dedication of Library's new wing. Hughes' daughter, Elizabeth Hughes Gossett and her husband, Mr. William T. Gossett unveiled their gift, they had donated the previous year. The Post-Star and Times reported that the "weather was cool, but intermittent sunshine warmed the audience seated in front of the bandstand." Hughes's son-in-law, William T. Gossett

In Autumn 2019 The Folklife Center partnered with North Country Public Radio for Glens Falls at Work Live! It culminated with a pop-up photography & audio exhibition including live storytelling. NORTH COUNTRY AT WORK is a North Country Public Radio project exploring the work history and contemporary economic landscape of each of the communities in the Adirondack North Country. Our starting point is photographs—images of people at work, the tools they use, the spaces their wor

Here's our newest addition to the Folk Arts Collection: Flemish pyrography Christmas chair/table found in neighboring Washington County, NY. Pyrography is a term used fairly recently to describe an art form that uses heated metal tools to burn designs into wood surfaces. Light-colored wood have been commonly used for this art form, like beech, birch, sycamore, basswood, and pine. The technique can be traced to the art traditions around the world for thousands of years. It is

Most of you are probably already dying for the return of live music to our lives; the rest of you undoubtedly will be after watching this previously-unseen video from Yves Lambert TRIO's March 2019 performance at the Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library. Mr. Lambert is a force of nature, and a legend in Quebec's roots music scene. Few performers can match his musical virtuosity or the energy and charisma of his performances. Enjoy, and keep your fingers crossed for more

Last Friday, April 30, 2021, was the first annual National Historic Marker Day sponsored by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. It is a day to celebrate local history, check on the historic markers & clean them with mild soap and water if conditions allow, as well as tidy & pick up garbage around the sites. As resident Historian at the Folklife Center, I took the day to checkout some markers around the Fort Miller/Thomson/Clarks Mills area in eastern Washington County where I

Mrs Scrap is a doll designed and hand-crafted by Dorothy Murdock DuRose (1909-1999) of Pottersville, Warren County, New York. It's the first doll I collected for our Folk Art Collection back in 1990. Mrs. Scrap is a rag doll with a cloth flour sack body, and dressed in remnants from sewing projects and bits of old lace. She was inspired by Molly, a doll made for Dorothy by her father, and by the many useful items once made out of cloth flour sacks and grain bags. She would ma

With the month of May upon us, wedding season has officially arrived in Upstate New York. It seems only fitting, then, that we take a look at several wedding photos recently found in our Richard M. Bloomer Glass Plate Negative Collection. Having worked as a wedding photographer myself, I'm accustomed to contemporary brides and grooms smiling a bit more than the Davises and Schiavonis did. Nevertheless, there's no denying the fact that all of these folks have impeccable style.