• The Albany Egg Auction

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    Carl Johnson

    The Altamont Enterprise in 1935 had high praise for Egg Auction, Inc. of Albany (praise inspired by the company’s advertising in the newspaper’s special section – common practice then and now). “In North Albany at 10 Learned Street is one of the reliable institutions of this section and doing an extensive business throughout this…

  • Her Brown Eyes Lingered

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    Carl Johnson

    The Atlanta Constitution of April 9, 1906, carried this story of romance from Athens, Georgia that involved a Schenectady girl with big brown eyes. “News has just reached Athens of the marriage of Thomas R. King, formerly of this city, and Miss Theresa Cotie, of Schenectady, N.Y., the marriage having been solemnized the first…

  • 10 hours between New York and Montreal

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    Carl Johnson

    In 1933, the Delaware and Hudson Railroad (you may recognize its headquarters. Or its other headquarters) could carry you from New York to Montreal, overnight or during the day, in just 10 hours. Today, Amtrak from New York to Montreal takes 10 hours, 51 minutes. Just going from  Albany to takes eight hours, or…

  • The Russell Sage School of Mechanical Engineering

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    Carl Johnson

    We’ve spent most of this week looking at the good that Mrs. Russell Sage did for two well-known institutions for the education of women, the Emma Willard School and Russell Sage College. But that wasn’t her sole focus. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) was founded in 1824 as the first school of science and civil…

  • What she left behind

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    Carl Johnson

    Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage died November 4, 1918, at the age of 90, just two years after founding Russell Sage College. Her will, which had been drawn up 10 years earlier, distributed an estate of $50 million, which was on top of the $35 million she had given away in the years after Russell…

  • The Benevolence of Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage

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    Carl Johnson

    American Biography: A New Cyclopedia has a more detailed description of the life of Margaret Olivia Slocum, who later in life became Mrs. Russell Sage and one of the nation’s greatest philanthropists. Born in 1828 and raised in Syracuse as the daughter of some old (like Miles Standish old) money, her father was impoverished…

  • The new Emma Willard School

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    Carl Johnson

    After almost 90 years in downtown Troy, the Emma Willard School moved out to Mount Ida, thanks to a $1 million gift from one of its graduates, Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, also known as Mrs. Russell Sage. After two years of construction, the new campus opened in 1910 with stunning examples of what was…

  • Mrs. Russell Sage

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    Carl Johnson

    One of the Troy Female Seminary’s most important former students was Margaret Olivia Slocum. She is best known as Mrs. Russell Sage, for as the second wife of the Wall Street titan and railroad executive, she ensured that significant chunks of his wealth funded philanthrophic efforts all over the northeast. In chronicling the history…

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