KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture “Indigenous Removal in the Hudson Valley During the French & Indian War,” held in-person on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at 7:00 PM.
The lecture will discuss an attempt by the colonial governments of New York and New Jersey, as well as Sir William Johnson, the British superintendent of Indian affairs, to remove members of Algonquian-speaking Native groups from the wider Hudson Valley region during the Seven Years’ War (1754-63). Acting in an atmosphere of crisis and widespread paranoia among the colonial population, government officials came to exploit and exaggerate individual acts of violence against members of local Native groups to encourage their resettlement first among the Mohawks and subsequently farther afield.

Dr. Tom Mitrod discusses an attempt by the colonial governments of New York and New Jersey, as well as Sir William Johnson, the British superintendent of Indian affairs, to remove members of Algonquian-speaking Native groups from the wider Hudson Valley region during the Seven Years’ War, also known as the French and Indian War, which took place from 1754-63. As the crisis of war and paranoia spread among the colonial population, government officials exploited and exaggerated individual acts of violence against local Native groups to encourage them to leave the Hudson Valley, resettling first among the Mohawks and later farther west.
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Tom Arne Midtrød is an associate professor of early American history at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He is author of the book The Memory of All Ancient Customs: Native American Diplomacy in the Colonial Hudson Valley.
 
Tickets are $7 for the general public and free for Hudson River Maritime Museum members. To register, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series.

KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture “The 1904 General Slocum Disaster: New York’s Deadliest Day before 9/11,” held virtually on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 7:00 PM.
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This talk details the extraordinary story of the burning of the steamboat General Slocum, the deadliest day in New York City history before September 11. More than 1,000 New Yorkers perished on June 15, 1904 when their steamboat burst into flames on the East River.  A panicked and untrained crew, coupled with rotten life preservers and inaccessible life boats, turned a small storage room fire into a human tragedy of immense proportions. News of the horror made headlines around the world and elicited an enormous outpouring of sympathy and donations. Later, as evidence of negligence and corruption on the part of the steamer's owners mounted, sympathy turned to outrage and demands for justice that were never fully met.  This talk brings to life this gripping tragedy and the wider, compelling story of innocents lost, heroes made, and a city and people that overcame.

Edward T. O’Donnell is a history professor at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. He is the author of several books, including Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (Columbia, 2015) and Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (Random House, 2003). O’Donnell also hosted (2016-2020) a popular U.S. history podcast, In The Past Lane (www.InThePastlane.com) and he has written history-themed feature and opinion pieces for the Huffington Post, Newsweek, and the New York Times. O’Donnell has also created courses for the Great Courses Company, including “Turning Points in American History.”
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Tickets are $7 for the general public and free for Hudson River Maritime Museum members. To register, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series.

About the Follow the River Lecture Series
For more than a decade the Hudson River Maritime Museum's "Follow the River Lecture Series" has hosted historians, authors, and maritime experts for engaging illustrated talks on a variety of regional history and maritime subjects. In recent years, many of the lectures have also been recorded and are available on YouTube. For more information about upcoming lectures and to access recordings of past lectures, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series. The series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank.
The Hudson River Maritime Museum is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries and related communities. In addition to extensive collections documenting maritime transportation, industry, recreation, and natural science, the museum offers classes and programs at its Wooden Boat School, Sailing and Rowing School, and aboard its floating classroom, Solaris. The museum is located along the historic Rondout waterfront in downtown Kingston. Visit www.hrmm.org for more information.

KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture “Warning Signs:  Climate Change in the Hudson Valley,” held in-person on Wednesday, May 25, 2022 at 7:00 PM.
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The signs of climate change are all around us; rising sea levels, more frequent and severe storms, heatwaves, and droughts are becoming the norm both globally, and right here in the Hudson Valley. Scientists warn that we must take significant action this decade to save ourselves from the most serious consequences of a warming earth. Learn what the HRMM is doing to educate the public about the causes, consequences, and actions that we can take to meet this challenge with its new exhibit, Warming Signs: Climate Change in the Hudson Valley. Participants will have the opportunity to tour both the new indoor and outdoor exhibits which are scheduled to open in June.

Russ Lange worked as a scientist and engineer at IBM for 40 years.  He retired from the position of IBM Fellow and VP of Technology Strategy.  He became interested in climate change in the early 80s while at IBM Research.  In 2006 Russ became the Executive Director for HRMM and has been involved in its leadership in various capacities since.  His special interest is exhibit development and has been involved, together with his wife and other teams, in the creation of over 25 exhibits at HRMM, The Newburgh Historical Society, The D&H Canal Museum and IBM.
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Meg Clark: With thirty years of experience as a classroom teacher and environmental educator, Meg has a deep appreciation for the need to provide students with meaningful opportunities to explore their natural world.  In her capacity as elementary science and math specialist for Ulster BOCES and the Kingston School district, she has written curricula, provided teacher training, and served as an adjunct professor for the School of Education at SUNY New Paltz. Her classroom experience has made her acutely aware of the capacity that we all have to impact children’s lives."
 
Tickets are $7 for the general public and free for Hudson River Maritime Museum members. To register, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series.

About the Follow the River Lecture Series
For more than a decade the Hudson River Maritime Museum's "Follow the River Lecture Series" has hosted historians, authors, and maritime experts for engaging illustrated talks on a variety of regional history and maritime subjects. In recent years, many of the lectures have also been recorded and are available on YouTube. For more information about upcoming lectures and to access recordings of past lectures, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series. The series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank.

​The Hudson River Maritime Museum is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries and related communities. In addition to extensive collections documenting maritime transportation, industry, recreation, and natural science, the museum offers classes and programs at its Wooden Boat School, Sailing and Rowing School, and aboard its floating classroom, Solaris. The museum is located along the historic Rondout waterfront in downtown Kingston. Visit www.hrmm.org for more information.

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KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture “Maiden Full Circle,” held virtually on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 7:00 PM.

Tracy Edwards MBE inspired a generation of women as the skipper of Maiden. She led the first all-female crew to compete in the notoriously difficult Whitbread Round the World Race in 1988/89.

Fast forward to 2014 when Tracy learned that Maiden had been abandoned and was rotting away in the Seychelles.  She knew that she had to save this unique piece of maritime history and set about raising funds to buy her and bring her back to the UK.  In April 2017 Maiden was shipped to Southampton and began an extensive restoration and refit and The Maiden Factor project was born.

Tracy Edwards MBE rose to prominence when she Skippered Maiden, the first all-female crew to sail around the world when Maiden raced in the 1989/90 WRTWR. Maiden came second overall and Tracy became the first woman in its history to be named Yachtsman of the Year. Tracy then created and skippered the first all-female crew to attempt the Jules Verne, Non-Stop Round the World Record.  In 2000 she created and managed the world’s first mixed gender racing team and in 2005 the first round the world race to start and finish in the Middle East. Now runs The Maiden Factor.

Educating girls, everywhere, is one of the smartest investments we can make to lift communities out of poverty, grow economies and build back better from the pandemic.
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Tickets are $7 for the general public and free for Hudson River Maritime Museum members. To register, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series.

KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture “Why I Love Rowing,” held in-person on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 at 7:00 PM.
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There are many reasons to have an interest in rowing: its history, its evolution, the physics, the geography, the techniques, the benefits, the joy and the pain. There are a million stories to tell about it. This one is from rowing aficionada, Nelsie Aybar-Grau.

It all started when Nelsie moved to Kingston and she was introduced to rowing by a friend. After a few years she became certified on the Concept2 indoor rowing machine, then she picked up a Learn to Row Instructor's Certification from US Rowing. To track all the interesting things she found out about rowing she created a Facebook page and website: theRondoutRower.com. Then when asked to teach young participants in the HRMM Youthboat Project how to row a traditional wooden Whitehall boat, her interest in rowing went into high gear. Last summer she built a wooden tandem wherry AND participated in a row around Manhattan. Why is rowing so compelling, you ask?  Join us and see!

Nelsie Aybar-Grau is a longtime Hudson River Maritime Museum volunteer and rowing instructor. She is “The Rondout Rower,” and is currently working on a book on her rowing experiences.

“There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”- Kenneth Grahame
 
Tickets are $7 for the general public and free for Hudson River Maritime Museum members. To register, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series.

About the Follow the River Lecture Series
For more than a decade the Hudson River Maritime Museum's "Follow the River Lecture Series" has hosted historians, authors, and maritime experts for engaging illustrated talks on a variety of regional history and maritime subjects. In recent years, many of the lectures have also been recorded and are available on YouTube. For more information about upcoming lectures and to access recordings of past lectures, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series. The series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank.
The Hudson River Maritime Museum is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries and related communities. In addition to extensive collections documenting maritime transportation, industry, recreation, and natural science, the museum offers classes and programs at its Wooden Boat School, Sailing and Rowing School, and aboard its floating classroom, Solaris. The museum is located along the historic Rondout waterfront in downtown Kingston. Visit www.hrmm.org for more information.

KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture “The Hudson Valley: Weaving Geology and Climate Through Time,” by Audrey Trossen, held virtually on Wednesday, April 13, 2022 at 7:00 PM.

Did you know? The Hudson Valley is one of the oldest geologic regions in the United States. The world beneath our feet has undergone millennia of tremendous change. Join educator Audrey Trossen as she walks us through the geologic history of the Hudson Valley, from hundreds of millions of years ago to the near-present and into the distant future. How does the climate of the past affect the way we use land today? And how will our actions today impact our world as we march into the future? This lecture introduces the geologic history of our region and invites guests imagine the geology the Hudson valley long after we have left it.

​Audrey Trossen is an outdoor educator and museums professional dedicated to developing innovative programming, exhibitions, and hands-on experiences in physical and virtual space that connect people to the natural world around them. She graduated from Smith College in 2019 with a degree in Geosciences and Museum Studies and has served as a member of the AmeriCorps Student Conservation Association with both NYS Parks and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
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Tickets are $7 for the general public and free for Hudson River Maritime Museum members. To register, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series.

About the Follow the River Lecture Series
For more than a decade the Hudson River Maritime Museum's "Follow the River Lecture Series" has hosted historians, authors, and maritime experts for engaging illustrated talks on a variety of regional history and maritime subjects. In recent years, many of the lectures have also been recorded and are available on YouTube. For more information about upcoming lectures and to access recordings of past lectures, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series. The series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank.
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The Hudson River Maritime Museum is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries and related communities. In addition to extensive collections documenting maritime transportation, industry, recreation, and natural science, the museum offers classes and programs at its Wooden Boat School, Sailing and Rowing School, and aboard its floating classroom, Solaris. The museum is located along the historic Rondout waterfront in downtown Kingston. Visit www.hrmm.org for more information.

KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture “Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth,” held virtually on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 7:00 PM.

The American Revolution has a new story to tell. Join historian and author Claire Bellerjeau for a talk about her new book, Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth and discover the story of Elizabeth, or Liss, enslaved by the Townsend family whose son was Washington's spy in Manhattan as part of the Culper Spy Ring.

As Robert and Elizabeth’s story unfolds, prominent figures from history cross their path, including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Jupiter Hammon, Benedict Arnold, John André, and John Adams, as well as participants in the Boston Massacre, the Sons of Liberty, the Battle of Long Island, Franklin’s Paris negotiations, and the Benedict Arnold treason plot. Her escape with the British, re-enslavement, and struggle for freedom gives a new perspective to the country's founding, from the point of view of an enslaved Black woman seeking personal liberty in a country fighting for its own.
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The book was written with encouragement from singer Vanessa Williams, whose own family history can be traced back to Oyster Bay, Long Island, where many of the events of the book took place. Williams writes, “At a time when historically marginalized voices and stories are at last being brought to the forefront, it’s exciting to learn about a true story explaining details of the Revolutionary War on Long Island, African American history in New York, and the valiant fight for independence in a world full of loss, heartache, and eventual triumph. Claire’s research and commitment bring history to life and reveal a new African American female hero . . . Liss.”

Claire Bellerjeau is the author of Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth. Until recently she served as historian and director of education at Raynham Hall Museum in Oyster Bay, New York, and has been researching the Townsend family and those they enslaved for over sixteen years, including curating a yearlong exhibit on the Townsend “Slave Bible” in 2005. In 2015, during a research visit to the New York Historical Society, she discovered what may be one of the earliest poems ever written by Jupiter Hammon, America’s first published African American writer. She has developed educational programs about slavery in Oyster Bay and is currently establishing a non-profit organization called Remember Liss, developing new programs to educate students and the community about the life and times of Liss.

Tickets are $7 for the general public and free for Hudson River Maritime Museum members. To register, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series.

About the Follow the River Lecture Series
For more than a decade the Hudson River Maritime Museum's "Follow the River Lecture Series" has hosted historians, authors, and maritime experts for engaging illustrated talks on a variety of regional history and maritime subjects. In recent years, many of the lectures have also been recorded and are available on YouTube. For more information about upcoming lectures and to access recordings of past lectures, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series. The series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank.

The Hudson River Maritime Museum is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries and related communities. In addition to extensive collections documenting maritime transportation, industry, recreation, and natural science, the museum offers classes and programs at its Wooden Boat School, Sailing and Rowing School, and aboard its floating classroom, Solaris. The museum is located along the historic Rondout waterfront in downtown Kingston. Visit www.hrmm.org for more information.

KINGSTON, N.Y. – On Saturday, December 2, 2017, at 2 p.m., Tim Guinee, actor and a leader at the Climate Reality Project, will visit the Hudson River Maritime Museum for “Climate Change and the Hudson Valley,” a presentation and discussion of the latest science concerning climate change in our area and across North America.

“We’re delighted that Tim is coming to the Museum to discuss this topic, which is of concern to anyone who lives or works along the waterfront,” says HRMM Executive Director Lisa Cline.

Founded by Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore, the Climate Reality Project (www.climaterealityproject.org/) is a diverse group of individuals who seek to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by supporting urgent action across every level of society. Guinee’s presentation will use the same deck of images that Vice President Gore uses when the tours the country. Afterwards, he will lead a panel discussion among local elected officials and experts about the implications of climate change for the Hudson Valley.

The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Reserve online now.

In addition to his work at the Climate Reality Project, Guinee is a board member of Green Product Placement, which seeks to place environmentally friendly products in motion pictures and television shows. A long-time environmental advocate, he has worked on behalf of the Sierra Club as a volunteer lobbyist in Washington D.C., and has collaborated with politicians from both parties.

​KINGSTON, NY – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is proud to present a film screening and panel discussion of Jon Bowermaster’s new film, “Hope on the Hudson,” on Saturday, September 9 at 4:00 PM in the Kingston Home Port and Education Center.
 
Jon Bowermaster is the filmmaker behind “Hudson: A River at Risk,” which was screened at the museum last year. “Hope on the Hudson” is in actuality Part III of the “River at Risk” series. While the “River at Risk” series covered the threats to the Hudson River, including crude oil transport, the nuclear power plant at Indian Point, and the construction of the new Tappan Zee bridge, “Hope on the Hudson” focuses on the efforts of organizations and individuals to preserve and restore the Hudson River both environmentally and socially.
 
After the film, Bowermaster will lead a panel discussion with some of the films’ participants. For those who missed the screening of “Hudson: A River at Risk” last year, the films will be shown again starting at 2:00 PM.
 
A writer, filmmaker and adventurer, Bowermaster is a six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council. One of the Society’s ‘Ocean Heroes,’ his first assignment for National Geographic Magazine in 1989 was to document a dog-sled expedition that crossed Antarctica taking 221 days. His Oceans 8 project took him and his teams around the world by sea kayak over the course of ten years (1999-2008), where they bought back stories from the Aleutian Islands, French Polynesia, Gabon, Tasmania, and beyond about how the planet’s one ocean and its various coastlines are faring today. He is the chairman of the board of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation and a board member of Celine Cousteau’s CauseCentric Productions.