HRMM Follow the River Lecture Series

The Follow the River Lecture Series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank - Thank You!

Location: Lectures are hosted in the Hudson River Maritime Museum's East Gallery during the winter months or the Homeport Barn during the summer. Check individual event details for location.

If you are interested in participating in our lecture series as a guest speaker, please contact the Museum's Education Department
or call 845-338-0071 ext. 16.

An Apple a Day: The Apples of the Hudson Valley
Wednesday, October 21st 2026

7:00PM - 8:30PM
$10 General Admission / $5 HRMM Members

Join Kevin Clark from Rose Hill Farm as he discusses the importance and uniqueness of the apple, the genetic diversity which apples hold, as well as the importance of preserving that diversity. You will learn how apples have traveled around the world and the importance of apples in the Hudson Valley. Each variety of apple has a story, rich in humanity and culture. A collection of over 100 types of apples will also be on display during the lecture.

Past Events

For more than a decade the Hudson River Maritime Museum's "Follow the River Lecture Series" has hosted historians, authors, and maritime experts covering a variety of subjects ranging from regional and maritime history to ecology and art inspired by the river.

Past lectures that were able to be recorded are available to view on the museum's YouTube channel. Due to restrictions, not all lectures may be available on video or in full. Watch via our Lecture Series playlist on YouTube or simply click on the graphics below to be taken to recordings of recent lectures.

A Year in the Life of an Orchard
Kevin Clark, lead orchardist at Rose Hill Farm

Finding Joy in Color and Peace in Nature: Becoming a Coast Guard Artist with Fred Feiler

Geology and History of the Rosendale Natural Cement Industry

Ladies of the Valley

Brick & Brick Ruins of Hudson Valley

Author Mary Mistler leads a talk on her novel 'Ladies of the Valley" Women of the Hudson Valley's Great Estates' highlighting several of these women and and offering insights and anecdotes from their lives, which largely reflect women’s changing roles over centuries.

Thomas Rinaldi and Robert Yasinsac’s talk about brickyard ruins as well as notable ruins constructed from local bricks.

The Land Doesn't Forget

Manhattan Phoenix

All the land that makes up the United States was in its entirety Indigenous land. Learn about the policies used to remove Indigenous Nations from their homes and pushed them onto reservations. Heather Bruegl explains why the fight to regain this land is important.

Based on his book, "Manhattan Phoenix: The Great Fire of 1835 and the Emergence of Modern New York", author Daniel S. Levy describes in detail the Great Fire of 1835 —which destroyed nearly 700 buildings in lower Manhattan—and the forces that transformed New York from a large unruly metropolis during the early years of the 19th century.

Seasons of Life

Marginalized Workers on the D&H Canal

Frank Beres, an aquatic ecologist and naturalist based out of Port Ewen, New York, examines the phenology of biodiversity as he travels through a year in our local area of the Hudson River watershed.

The construction of the 108-mile-long Delaware and Hudson (D&H) Canal required about 5000 laborers working in hard and dangerous conditions. D&H Historian and Bill Merchant gives a presentation about the lives and experiences of the diverse group of people who worked on the Canal.