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Random Recollections of Albany
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In 1850, one Ignatius Jones published the second edition of his “Random Recollections of Albany, from 1800 to 1808.” It’s interesting how many of his opinions of Albany would still find some supporters today. Jones first visited the city “just before the election of Mr. Jefferson, or the Great Apostle as he is sometimes…
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On this day in world history
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Since we’ve been talking about Albany publisher and author Joel Munsell all week, let’s touch on a non-Albany volume he put out in 1858, “The Every Day Book of History and Chronology.” It’s a massive, day-by-day collection of what happened in history on each day of the year. And by “in history,” I mean…
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Please to Save Your Rags
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The frequently mentioned Joel Munsell, in his “A Chronology of Paper and Paper-Making,” tells us this story of the rag trade in Troy in 1801. Paper made from tree pulp is a relatively new development; one reason old documents have survived so long is that paper used to be made from cotton and wool…
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Munsell Steam Printing
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From 1858, an ad for Joel Munsell’s steam printing house. I’ve mentioned Munsell a few hundred times before, and even visited his grave. His Annals of Albany, mentioned here, is an indispensable resource for local history to this day. Some of the books advertised here can be found on Google Books, and others are…
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Old School Week: Grout Park School
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The Library of Congress’s American Memory Collection has a number of photos (unfortunately not high-resolution) of Schenectady’s Grout Park School. When it opened, it was a marvel of modernism, designed by the famous architecture firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, who also designed Idlewild Airport (you now know it as LaGuardia), the Sears Tower,…
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Old School Week: Elmer Avenue School, Schenectady
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The Library of Congress’s American Memory collection has a number of photos of Schenectady schools, including a series taken by photographer Philip Bonn in June, 1943, at the Elmer Avenue School. These photos were made for either the Farm Security Administration, or the Office of War Information, or both – the catalog is confusing.…
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Old School Week: Riverside School, Schenectady
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This photo is from sometime in the early to mid-1940s. Would you say they look like second or third grade? In the middle row, third from right, in the overalls, is my father. The school is still there, remade into apartments, looking lovelier than ever.
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Old School Week: Mohawk School
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Because I don’t have any good photographs of the outside of my elementary school, I’ll start with this charming photograph of my kindergarten class inside the gym. This was the Mohawk School on Ten Broeck Street between Riverside and Sanders avenues. We’re shown here in the gymnasium/auditorium, on the risers we would also use…
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