Upcoming Events
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The Follow the River Lecture Series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank - Thank You!
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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.
or call 845-338-0071 ext. 16.
April 2026
Crime on the Hudson: Gilded Age Pirates and River Thieves - Lecture and Performance
Friday, April 24th 2026 - HRMM East Gallery
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6:30PM - 8:00 PM
$20 admission / $10 for HRMM members Do you ever wonder if there were actual pirates on the Hudson River? Come and learn about a wild chapter in Hudson River history when mercenary sloops prowled the waterway, raiding mansions and plundering merchant ships. Who were these river outlaws stirring up chaos…and how did local communities and the law fight back? The evening will begin with a brief lecture on the real and sometimes legendary criminal activity along the Hudson in the 1860s and 1870s, followed by an immersive performance starring the era’s most infamous characters in the flesh, including the mysterious young woman rumored to have led a notorious Lower Manhattan gang. Watch as she is put on trial for her alleged crimes. Is she guilty? How does her story end? Who decides her fate? This special event weaves scholarship and storytelling, created and presented by HRMM’s Education Department in collaboration with Siren Theatre Company. Guest Performers |
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Siren Theatre Company is a small group of performing artists local to the Hudson Valley founded by Caitlin Connelly, Tricia Anderson, and Maclain Maier. They specialize in writing original, immersive productions that bring history to life. The company’s mission is to produce fearless and inspiring work that can create dialogue, play with perspective, and inspire introspection.
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Bite the Bullet: Medicine in the 18th Century
Saturday, April 25th 2026
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1:00PM - 2:00 PM
$10 admission / $5 for HRMM members This lecture is designed to acquaint audiences with the state of medical knowledge and some of the practices of medicine in the time of George Washington. Physicians were frequently confounded by the causes of illness, treated symptoms, and relied heavily on the healing powers of nature. Many remedies stocked by apothecaries were herbal in nature, and the best doctors of the time still healed with herbs. In 1775, the US had 3,500 doctors, but only 300 had medical degrees. The profession of physician / surgeon was open only to men, but the system relied heavily on women who could be and were midwives. The lecture quotes from the diary of traveling midwife, Martha Ballard, of northern Massachusetts who kept a record of her work as a healer and a midwife, which provides an unparalleled window into practical medicine in the quarter century straddling 1800. |
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Guest Speaker
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Matthew Weigman has been a Hudson Valley resident going back to 1962 and has had an interest in American history since the age of 16. His 32-year-career in communications at the auction house Sotheby’s concluded with nine years as Worldwide Director of Sales Communications, based in London. As a historical interpreter at Washington’s Headquarters Newburgh for the past four years he has enjoyed illuminating visitors and audiences about significant achievements of the “indispensable man” of the American Revolution during its final 16 months, as well as lecturing about the era of the Revolution itself. To satisfy an interest in horticulture Matthew volunteers as a Master Gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam County, writes regularly for the Garden Club of America magazine Bulletin and lectures in historical horticulture.
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May 2026
Rondout (Re) Visited Multimedia Presentation & Lecture with Stephen Blauweiss
Wednesday, May 6th 2026
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7:00PM - 8:30 PM
$15 admission / $10 for HRMM members Join historian Stephen Blauweiss in person for a multimedia presentation and virtual walk through the old neighborhood of Rondout before 600 structures were torn down. There will be many “Then & Now" comparisons featuring a vast array of quality, historic images that Blauweiss has impeccably restored, including many of Kingston Point Amusement Park in its heyday. The presentation will be chock full of lesser-known anecdotes that will delight and inform. Whether you're a native or a newcomer, you'll be surprised how much there is to discover—this is not your 8th grade history class! There will also be time for Q&A at the end. Guest Speaker |
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Stephen Blauweiss is an historian with over 30 years experience as an independent filmmaker and produces work on a wide variety of subjects, from art and education to social and environmental issues. He has produced over 75 short films, including three features. Twenty of his short films about artists have aired on American Public Television and have been screened in museums and festivals across the U.S., Europe and Canada, including the New York State Museum, Mass Moca, the Albany Institute of History & Art, and the Dorsky Museum of Art.
The Dutch & Their New York Legacy Lecture with Stephen Blauweiss
Wednesday, May 13th 2026
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7:00PM - 8:30 PM
$15 admission / $10 for HRMM members Dutch history can be elusive – it’s rarely taught in our schools and with so many disparate parts it often follows a meandering, convoluted path and connections are obscured. Historian/filmmaker Stephen Blauweiss brings this history to life in a fun and engaging way, using a vast array of quality images, maps, and timelines. What was once opaque becomes clear and understandable as the stories unfold and connect on multiple levels. Guest Speaker
Stephen Blauweiss is an historian with over 30 years experience as an independent filmmaker and produces work on a wide variety of subjects, from art and education to social and environmental issues. He has produced over 75 short films, including three features. Twenty of his short films about artists have aired on American Public Television and have been screened in museums and festivals across the U.S., Europe and Canada, including the New York State Museum, Mass Moca, the Albany Institute of History & Art, and the Dorsky Museum of Art.
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Sharkey and His Pals! Multimedia Presentation with Stephen Blauweiss and Gary Bohan Jr.
Wednesday, May 27th 2026
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7:00PM - 8:30 PM
$15 admission / $10 for HRMM members Join filmmakers Gary Bohan Jr. and Stephen Blauweiss for an entertaining multimedia presentation that will include several completed segments from their feature documentary Sharkey & His Pals. Sharkey was a sea lion with a sense of humor so uncanny and spontaneous, many considered him practically human. Trained in Kingston at a unique facility called Seal College, Sharkey starred on Broadway and worked with many entertainers and celebrities. His success resulted from the bond between him and his loving trainer, whose secret was showering Sharkey with kindness. This presentation will offer many surprises and laughs along with lots of show business history. Guest Speaker |
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Stephen Blauweiss is an historian with over 30 years experience as an independent filmmaker and produces work on a wide variety of subjects, from art and education to social and environmental issues. He has produced over 75 short films, including three features. Twenty of his short films about artists have aired on American Public Television and have been screened in museums and festivals across the U.S., Europe and Canada, including the New York State Museum, Mass Moca, the Albany Institute of History & Art, and the Dorsky Museum of Art.
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.
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.
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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
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Geology and History of the Rosendale Natural Cement Industry
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Ladies of the Valley |
Brick & Brick Ruins of Hudson Valley |
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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.
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Thomas Rinaldi and Robert Yasinsac’s talk about brickyard ruins as well as notable ruins constructed from local bricks.
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The Land Doesn't Forget |
Manhattan Phoenix |
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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.
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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.
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Seasons of Life |
Marginalized Workers on the D&H Canal |
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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.
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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.
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Please subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notifications of new recorded lectures and other films and videos.