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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.
From the Mountains to the River - Two Evening of Songs and Stories with Geoff Kaufman
Friday, July 10th 2026
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7:00PM - 8:30PM
$25 admission / $22.50 for HRMM members 
The following evening, Saturday, July 11, 2026, at 6:00 PM, guests can enjoy a live musical cruise aboard HRMM's solar-powered tour vessel, Solaris, as Kaufman performs songs drawn from his years of sailing on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and singing with Pete Seeger as a member of the the Sloop Singers while cruising the scenic Rondout Creek.
Whether on land or aboard Solaris, attendees can expect an unforgettable evening of music, history, and community. |
The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to welcome renowned maritime musician and storyteller Geoff Kaufman back to Kingston for two special performances celebrating the rich traditions of folk and maritime music.
Audiences will have two opportunities to experience Kaufman's captivating performances. On Friday, July 10, 2026, at 7:00 PM, Kaufman will perform in HRMM's Homeport Barn, offering an intimate evening of songs and stories with a special focus on folksongs of the Catskills collected at Camp Woodland outside of Phoenicia, along with other local songs and tales. Known for his engaging stage presence, powerful voice, and deep knowledge of traditional music, Kaufman has spent decades sharing songs of the sea and the people who lived and worked on the water. 
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About Geoff Kaufman – Although Geoff is best known for his 35 years of singing and organizing maritime music programs at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut, he has maintained an active touring career throughout his professional life. Since retiring from Mystic Seaport in 2019, Kaufman has expanded his repertoire to include music addressing social justice issues while continuing to perform the traditional songs and ballads that have inspired him throughout his career. Whether singing a cappella or accompanied, Kaufman's performances are celebrated for their warmth, authenticity, and emotional depth.
The Keeper Screening & Talk with with Jon Bowermaster and special guest John Lipscomb
Wednesday, July 29th 2026
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7:00PM - 9:30PM
$15 admission / $10 for HRMM members 
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Come to the Homeport Barn for this special screening of The Keeper by Jon Bowermaster!
Like many rivers around the world – the Hudson, America's First River and the Birthplace of the American Environmental Movement – boomed as a growing human population used it for transportation, sustenance and, for many years, a dumping ground. The river paid a price for all this use and abuse, struggling against its share of contamination. For the past nearly three decades the river's poet laureate and literal "eyes on the river," Captain John, has been at the forefront of each of those fights, taking on industrial and human pollution, suffering the losses and celebrating victories. While he has had successes on the Hudson, committing a life to protecting a river is a never-ending fight. Today, John Lipscomb is one of more than 300 “Keepers” around the globe, looking out for their respective rivers. This screening will feature a talk with Jon Bowermaster and special guest John Lipscomb. |
Crime on the Hudson: Gilded Age Pirates and River ThievesFriday, August 28th 2026
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7:30PM - 9PM
$28 admission / $14 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. |
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. Visit them on Facebook.
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Hudson River Hooray! Concert for Kids
Saturday, September 26th 2026
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3:00PM - 4:00PM
$12 admission Join Music Lady extraordinaire Emily Music for Kids for an hour long rollicking musical celebration of our beautiful, historic Hudson River. Sing, celebrate, and dance along to songs about sailing, paddling, the many boats that travel up and down the Hudson, crawdads, and fishing. And sing along to music by Hudson River hero, Pete Seeger, too! Emily Music for Kids is Emily Ellison, a Master Degree Teacher and award winning children’s music lady with over 20 years creating fun filled, interactive, hands-on music, visual arts, history and science programs for people of all ages, cultures and abilities all over New York City, and beyond. |
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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.