NYSM Magazine-Wtr06-final - New York State Museum

The Magazine
of the
New York
State Museum
VOL. 1 • NO. 3
WINTER
2005–2006
INSIDE:
New Exhibitions
Museum
Educators
Tales from
the Field
Extraordinary
Mushrooms
The Museum
Calendar

Friday through Sunday,
February 24–26
6Join us as the New York
State Museum celebrates
New York in Bloom 2006.
New York in Bloom features more than
100 spectacular floral arrangements
throughout the Museum, as well as
informative demonstrations and
children’s activities. 2006 marks the
15th anniversary of this fund-raising
event that benefits the Museum
Club and the Discovery Squad, our
award-winning after-school programs
for children and teens.
Admission to Museum: Friday–$3; Saturday and Sunday–$5, which includes entry to both New York in Bloom and
the 13th Annual James Campbell Memorial Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show and Sale. Children ages 12 and under are free
when accompanied by an adult.

contents
VOL. 1 • NO. 3
WINTER
2005–2006
Frank Wimberley Jr., I'm Not So
Sure What You Said, 2000. Acrylic
on canvas, 46 x 46 inches
features
10
13
14
Where Did You Get All the Bugs? by Jeanine L. Grinage
All through the year, Museum educators encourage
wonder and curiosity about the science and history
behind the exhibitions.
Into Africa by Julie Urban
A biology graduate student, just back from collecting
insects in Africa, shares tales from the field.
The Great Debate by Maria C. Sparks
A new exhibition shows that many of the top sports
moments of all-time happened right here in New York.
What’s in your top 10?
departments
2
Director’s Note
3
Museum News
7
Discovery Now
Solving the mystery of the summer sucker and
identifying mineral species from Orange County
by Richard Morse and Dr. Marian Lupulescu
8
Hidden Treasures
The Art of the Mushroom by Dr. John Haines
Dutch kast c. 1750 (above) and side
chair c. 1750 (below, at left) owned
by Andries Ten Eyck (1718–1802)
and seen in the upcoming exhibition
Preserving Family History: The
Heritage of an Albany County Family
Exploration stations encourage
hands-on learning.
16
New York Stories
History in Every Piece by Craig Williams
The Imperial Palace, as seen in
Beijing: Ancient City, Modern City
www.nysm.nysed.gov
On the Cover
Amanita verna, Small White Amanita
from the State Museum’s wax
mushroom collection
IMAGES, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: NYSM, JOHN WHIPPLE, BEIJING PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION, NYSM, BLACK DIMENSIONS IN ART, INC.

JOHN WHIPPLE
The Magazine of the
New York State Museum
director’s note
Maria C. Sparks, Managing Editor
Janice Kissick, Design Consultant
Christine Carpenter, Copy Editor
In the last issue, I wrote about the opportunity posed by this year’s
state budget challenge fund. The Museum, along with our colleagues
in the State Archives and State Library, were able to bring in more than
$5 million in private and other non-state donations and grants to fully
match the $5 million challenge fund. Thank you for your memberships
and donations—we’ve used them as part of our match and have initiated
a number of important projects.
The matching funds will allow us to complete a gallery devoted to
telling the story of Albany as revealed in archaeological excavations.
Albany is the second-longest continuously occupied European settlement
in North America, so almost every construction project is an archaeological
site. The State Museum has most of the major collections from
Albany archaeological studies and will use them to create an engaging
narrative about the capital city.
Computer interactives and new media presentations will provide
depth to the stories of Ellis Island, Bitter Hope, and Bird Hall. Discovery
Place will be completely redesigned and filled with exciting, interactive
learning adventures. The Cohoes Mastodont, currently in our lobby,
will be moved into South Hall to serve as the centerpiece of the story
of life during the Pleistocene in New York State.
Our collections are also benefiting from the matching funds. More
and more of the specimens and artifacts in our collections will be
made accessible through interactives and new galleries. Our World
Trade Center response collection will be fully inventoried, conservation
plans will be developed, and the artifacts will be housed in archival
quality containers. The two million objects in the South Street Seaport
archaeological collection acquired in June 2005 will also be inventoried
and housed in professional grade cabinets.
As you might expect, the workload for staff has increased tremendously,
but this is the good kind of work—we are transforming our galleries
and preserving collections for future generations. Thank you for your
generous donations and commitment to the New York State Museum
as evidenced by your membership. We couldn’t do this without you!
Cliff Siegfried
Director, New York State Museum
www.nysm.nysed.gov
Design
2k Design
Contributors
Jeanine L. Grinage
John Haines
George Hamell
Nancy Kelley
Marian Lupulescu
Richard Morse
Julie Urban
Craig Williams
Advisory Board
Harry M. Rosenfeld
Clifford A. Siegfried
John P. Hart
Mark Schaming
Jeanine L. Grinage
Robert A. Daniels
Penelope B. Drooker
Editorial Board
Carrie Bernardi
Penelope B. Drooker
Cecile Kowalski
Geoffrey N. Stein
Chuck Ver Straeten
Legacy is published quarterly by the
New York State Museum Institute,
Third Floor, Cultural Education
Center, Albany, NY 12230. The
New York State Museum Institute,
a private single-purpose 501(c)(3)
charitable organization, supports the
exhibitions, research and programs
of the New York State Museum.
The magazine is sent to members
of the New York State Museum as
a benefit of their membership. For
information about membership,
call 518-474-1354 or send an e-mail
to membership@mail.nysed.gov.
2 ■ Legacy

museum news
New Life for the Day Peckinpaugh
Corporation, the Erie Canalway
National Heritage Corridor
Commission, and many private
donors and volunteers, the Day
Peckinpaugh was moved from
Erie to Lockport, N.Y. this past
summer and was docked in
Waterford this fall.
After a complete reconfiguration,
the Day Peckinpaugh will
return to the waters as a museum
ship in cooperation with the
National Park Service and the
Erie Canalway National Heritage
Corridor Commission. The
Peckinpaugh, which measures
The Day Peckinpaugh took
its maiden voyage in 1921 (left)
and was towed to Lockport
over the summer (above and
below).
IMAGES: NYSM
The Day Peckinpaugh, the
only surviving example of a
canal motorship used on
the Great Lakes and the New York
State Barge Canal system, just
narrowly missed being scrapped.
Instead, the motorship was
recently named to the National
Register of Historic Places.
From 1921 to 1994, the Day
Peckinpaugh transported bulk
freights between the Great Lakes
and the port of New York. Its
ability to navigate open waters
as well as canals made the
motorship the first of its kind on
the new Erie Barge Canal system.
It was also the last regularly
scheduled commercial hauler on
the state’s barge canal system. In
1994, the Peckinpaugh returned
to Erie, Pa., where it remained
unused for more than 10 years.
The State Museum acquired
the motorship in July 2005
to promote its preservation as a
significant artifact. “It’s been
wonderful to see the variety and
volume of support we’ve gotten
from agencies and individuals,”
says history curator Craig
Williams. With the help of the
Canal Society of New York State,
the New York State Canal
254 feet in length, 36 feet in
beam, and 14 feet depth of hold,
has a capacity of 1,650 tons.
Its giant hull contains plenty of
space for a museum on New
York State history and the history
of the canal system.
Winter 2005–2006 ■ 3

museum
news
The Tompkins Family Collection includes this 18th century Dutch kast
used to store linens and valuables.
Three generations of the Tompkins
family, Coeyman’s Hollow, c. 1888
Silver flatware displaying various
family monograms, c. 1790–1870
Preserving a Family’s History
For more than 200 years,
members of one Albany
County family collected and
passed down furniture, family
bibles, manuscripts, photographs,
quilts and coverlets, clothing,
jewelry, and other treasured
belongings. In the exhibition
Preserving Family History: The
Heritage of an Albany County
Family, visitors to the Museum
will see much of what those
family members saved since
1750 and explore why families
collect the things they do.
Beginning with the possessions
of Andries Ten Eyck, who settled
in southern Albany County in
1749, the collection grew as it
descended through the Ten Eycks
and Vanderzees to the Tompkins
family. The Tompkins family cared
for the collection and added to
it for several more generations
before donating it to the State
Museum beginning in 1998.
“Family collections are the
heart of museum collections,”
says John L. Scherer, curator of
decorative arts. In the case of the
Tompkins Collection, the history
of the artifacts and the family
was well documented, providing
a context for an exhibition on
family history. According to Scherer,
the artifacts in the collection
show that families treasure their
heritage and preserve aspects of
their past. The exhibition opens
February 11, 2006.
IMAGES: NYSM
Family Fun
Weekends
Mark your calendars
every month for great
programs the entire
family will enjoy! Family Fun
Weekends have returned on the
first weekend of every month,
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The weekends
offer activities to engage
the whole family, such as crafts,
demonstrations, talks, story
telling, games, tours, scavenger
hunts, and other fun happenings.
Family Fun Weekends started
again in October with a weekend
of programs and activities recognizing
October as fire prevention
month. There was a walking
tour of the fire engines in Fire
Engine Hall; the Fort Hunter Fire
Department presented a puppet
show with Sesame Street’s Elmo;
Mr. Stop, Drop and Roll asked
children to demonstrate the stop,
drop and roll safety move; and
families met the talking fire
engine and a search-and-rescue
dog from the New York State
Office of Fire Prevention and
Control. Children and their parents
also made crafts and took part in
a scavenger hunt in Fire Engine
Hall, among other activities.
In November, FOX 23 sponsored
Family Sports Weekend. Activities
were planned to complement
the exhibitions Sports: Breaking
Records, Breaking Barriers and
Miracles: New York’s Greatest
Sports Moments. Programs
included a talk on sports and
safety; a visit by Rowdy, the
Albany River Rats mascot; the
showing of the movie “Miracle,”
about the 1980 U.S. Olympic
4 ■ Legacy

hockey team; crafts; and sports
demonstrations.
Family Fun Weekends are an
enjoyable way for families to
see the Museum,” says John
Krumdieck, director of floor
services. “Museum learning is a
lot of fun. Museums are one
of the best places for parents to
share experiences with their
children, and for children to share
experiences with their parents.”
Family Fun Weekends are
scheduled for the first Saturday
and Sunday of each month.
Upcoming weekends include
December 3–4, January 6–7,
February 4–5, and March 4–5.
New Exhibition from
Black Dimensions in Art
Driven to Abstraction:
Contemporary Works by
Ten Artists, a new exhibition
sponsored by Black Dimensions in
Art, Inc., opens January 28, 2006.
The exhibition highlights the
works of 10 artists of African
descent and showcases a broad
range of creative expression from
the postwar years of the 1940s
through the postmodern era of
the 1980s and 1990s.
The exhibition includes works
by Frank Wimberley Jr., Ed Clark,
Bill Hutson, Nanette Carter, Gregory
Coates, Ralph Fleming, Howardena
Pindell, George Simmons, Angelo
Rombley, and the show’s curator
Stephen J. Tyson.
Driven to Abstraction offers
the public an opportunity to
broaden their perspectives and
understanding of the history of
abstract art in the United States,
says Tyson. The exhibition continues
through March 26, 2006.
Frank Wimberley Jr., Red Shoes,
1998. Acrylic on canvas, 46 x 46
inches
A Look Back: “Old Indian Life Groups”
Longtime Museum goers
who remember when the
State Museum was located in
the State Education Department
building will also remember the
“old Indian life groups.” These six
exhibitions recreated in life-sized
detail a scene of everyday life
among the Seneca, Cayuga,
Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk
Iroquois from about 150 to 400
years ago.
The “old Indian life groups”
were planned and researched
during the early 1900s by Arthur
C. Parker, the Museum’s first
full-time curator of ethnology and
archaeology. From the time they
opened to the public in 1916 to
their closing in 1975, these life
groups were the most ambitious
ethnographic exhibits anywhere
in the museum world.
The “old Indian life groups”
featured 39 life figures modeled
after living American Indian
people residing within New York
State and Ontario, Canada.
When the exhibition closed,
Museum staff photographed and
documented the life groups as if
they were archaeological sites. The
life figures, painted backgrounds,
and some foreground furnishings
were then placed into long-term
storage. Costuming and objects
were placed into collection storage.
The preservation of the life
groups and accompanying details
of their construction allowed
the State Museum to recreate
the Oneida Industries Group for
a retrospective exhibition in 1999.
The recreation of the Oneida
group was so successful that the
Oneida Indian Nation of New
York requested the loan of the
exhibition. Today, the Oneida
Industries life group can be seen
recreated in a series of vignettes
on the second floor of their
cultural center, Shako:wi.
NYSM
Detail from the Oneida Industries Group exhibition that opened in 1916. The figures
were prepared by sculptor Casper Mayer, whose studio was in Astoria, Long Island.
– George Hamell, senior historian
and ethnology collections manager
Winter 2005–2006 ■ 5

museum
news
Temple of Heaven (above) and
the Imperial Palace (below).
Photographs courtesy of the
Beijing Photographers Association.
Beijing’s Past
and Present
The photographic exhibition
Beijing: Ancient City, Modern
City continues through
December 31. Made possible by
the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship
Association (USCPFA)
and the Beijing Photographers
Association, the exhibition details
aspects of life in Beijing from
years past and present day. The
exhibition opened in October to
celebrate the USCPFA’s national
convention, which was held in
Schenectady. USCPFA is a nonprofit,
non-political, educational
organization that seeks to develop
and strengthen friendship and
understanding between peoples
of the United States and peoples
of China.
Volunteers:
The Heart
of the
Museum
Museum volunteer
Betsy Kaido
Betsy Kaido has helped
tremendously in the
Museum’s history unit
since coming on board in
April 2004. In fact, she literally
came on board to work with
curators on the Museum’s
new acquisition, the historic
1921 canal motorship the Day
Peckinpaugh. Betsy’s assistance
with the Peckinpaugh was
admirably demonstrated by
freshly painted deck and trim.
Her involvement with the
Museum predates her volunteer
efforts. An active Museum
goer, she attended one of the
history lecture series programs
several years ago. Focusing
on the Museum’s dismantled
Fort Plain Canal Store, the
program highlighted the past
owners of this remarkable
upstate artifact. Among the
owners was Betsy’s grandmother.
As a volunteer, Betsy has
taken charge of the White
Studio Collection. The Studio,
opened in the 1920s, was
one of Schenectady’s premier
photographic establishments,
and the Museum has several
hundred thousand film negatives
from the Studio’s archives.
Her work includes rehousing
the negatives with acid-neutral
materials, cataloging, and
providing working digital prints
of the images. Access to the
collection has improved dramatically
due to her weekly volunteer
efforts.
Betsy recently retired from
the New York State Department
of Civil Service where she was a
chief personnel examiner. She
earned a doctorate in educational
psychology and statistics. A
native of Albany, she now lives
alongside Kinderhook Lake in
Columbia County.
– Craig Williams, senior historian
The New York State
Museum offers many
interesting and
educational opportunities
for volunteers, interns
and those interested
in community service
placements. For more
information on how
to become involved,
please call 518-402-5869.
ROBYN GIBSON, NYSM
6 ■ Legacy

discovery now
New Mineral Species
The mineral species
fluoropargasite was
undescribed until
recently.
In the past two years, a team
of researchers led by Dr. Marian
Lupulescu, the Museum’s
curator of geology, discovered
and described two new minerals
from New York State. The new
species fluoropargasite and
fluoro-potassichastingsite were
recently approved and recognized
by the International Mineralogical
Association (IMA). The IMA, which
oversees the introduction of new
minerals and mineral names,
recognizes more than 4,067 valid
mineral species.
The newly described species
belong to the second-largest
group of minerals, the amphibole
group that includes 81 species.
Fluoropargasite, from Edenville,
Orange County, sat undescribed
in the Museum’s mineral collection
for more than 100 years, and
fluoro-potassichastingsite was
collected two years ago from the
Greenwood Iron Mine’s dump,
Harriman State Park, Orange
County. Both are black to dark
green, with perfect cleavage in
the hand specimen. However,
under the polarizing microscope,
they display different optical
properties because they have
specific chemical compositions. The
minerals also differ in the distribution
of chemical components at
crystallographic sites and in crystal
structure. The chemical element
fluorine is a main component for
both species. Fluorine increases
the thermal stability of these
amphiboles so they can survive in
the high-temperature conditions
under which they were formed.
The description of new mineral
species is helpful in understanding
the diversity and complexity of
the mineral world and why some
minerals become accustomed to
different environmental conditions
and others are replaced by more
stable species. The new species
provide information on the variability
of the chemical substitutions
and structural changes in the
rock-forming minerals.
– Dr. Marian Lupulescu, curator of
geology
NYSM
The Rediscovery of a Species
The summer sucker,
Catostomus utawana, was
originally discovered and
described from the Adirondack
Park by Fred Mather in 1891. It is
a cryptic species; that is, a species
that looks very similar to another
species. Summer sucker grows to
little more than 12 centimeters
(4.72 inches) in length and looks
like juvenile, or stunted white
sucker. The cryptic nature of this
fish has caused many to misidentify
the summer sucker.
In fact, the very population
of fish that was used to describe
the biology of C. utawana was
determined in 1977 and 1980 to
be comprised of stunted white
sucker, and not summer sucker at
all—raising questions
as to whether the summer
sucker actually exists. Since
that population was assumed
to represent all populations of
summer sucker in the Adirondacks,
the summer sucker was no longer
considered anything but a stunted
white sucker.
In June 1999, we discovered a
population of fish matching the
description of C. utawana. We
spent six years at fieldwork, laboratory
work, and literary research
to disentangle the taxonomic
dilemma of this rare fish. We
realized that this fish is indeed
the summer sucker, and there are
far greater differences from the
white sucker than even Fred
Mather thought. More than a
century after Mather’s description,
this animal will be afforded the
protection and recognition of a fish
species found nowhere else but
in the Adirondacks of New York.
– Richard Morse, fish collection manager
Research proves Catostomus
utawana, the summer sucker,
does exist.
ELLEN EDMONSON
Winter 2005–2006 ■ 7

hidden treasures
theArt of the
BY DR. JOHN HAINES
Inset above: Agaricus campestris, Meadow
Mushroom
Right: Armillaria mellea, Honey Mushroom
8 ■ Legacy

Mushroom
IMAGES: RON BARBER, NYSM
It has been nearly 30 years
since 57 wax mushroom models
were removed from exhibit cases
at the “old Museum,” where
they were displayed as The Charles
H. Peck testimonial exhibition.
Dr. Peck was New York’s
botanist from 1867 to 1915 and
the best-known expert on American
fungi, especially mushrooms.
The Museum plant and fungus
collections contain thousands of
his specimens, including “type
specimens,” the irreplaceable
standards upon which new species
are based and which are used
by scientists worldwide to settle
questions of identity. Dr. Peck
certainly earned this testimonial,
but he died just days after it was
Clavaria cristata, Crested Coral-Fungus
dedicated and never saw it.
Jules Henri Marchand, the
sculptor of these models, was a
leading innovator in the science
and art of museum display. Born
near Paris in 1877, Marchand
studied in France’s best art schools
and also with sculptor Auguste
Rodin. Just as his career and
family were growing, Marchand
was persuaded by American
industrialist Andrew Corbin to
come to America to design hardware.
After several short periods
of unsatisfying employment, he
landed in Albany in 1909 to do
sculpture for the New York State
Museum, which was just under
construction.
Marchand, often accompanied
by his sons George and Paul,
worked on the Museum’s
dioramas of fossils and Native
American life, which were the
mainstay of the Museum until
those exhibitions closed in 1976.
Friends and colleagues of Charles
Peck commissioned the mushroom
exhibit in 1917. The Marchands
had no trouble fulfilling the
commission, as they were familiar
with the mushrooms that grew
near their rural Rensselaer County
home. Sons Paul and George
Marchand went on to make
models of mushrooms, fossils,
insects, and flowers for museums
throughout the United States
into the 1980s. ■
Cantharellus cibarius,
Edible Chanterelle
Dr. John Haines is an
emeritus scientist after
34 years as a scientist
and curator of mycology
(study of mushrooms)
at the New York State
Museum.
Winter 2005–2006 ■ 9

“Where
Did You Get
All the Bugs ?”
BY JEANINE L. GRINAGE
Questions
abound
and Museum
educators
encourage
visitors’ curiosity
Jeanine L. Grinage is
director of museum education
and public programs.
Where did you get all
the bugs?” “Where
are the dinosaurs?”
“What’s the difference between
a woolly mammoth and a
mastodont?” There are always
questions—from both adults and
children—and many answers in
the world of museum education
at the New York State Museum.
And, if we’re really doing a good
job, there will be even more
questions generated after a visit
to the Museum. That’s what we,
the staff in Museum Education,
are all about—fostering the sense
of wonder and curiosity that leads
to the desire to learn even more
about the objects, the people, the
science, and the history behind
the Museum exhibits.
At the center of the Museum’s
education program is a creative,
committed group of professional
educators. These educators
bring skills and knowledge in
anthropology, science, history,
and geology as well as a deep
commitment to teaching and
learning. The Museum’s Visitor
Services staff members also
provide informal educational
opportunities through the work
they do with groups, daily on
the Museum floor, and in the
Discovery Place, the children’s
hands-on area of the Museum.
“The Museum educator can
help visitors to take what they
already know and use the Museum
visit to bring it to a new level,”
says Cecile Kowalski, a Museum
educator. “In a museum, you can
learn with all your senses and
be surrounded by your learning
experience. Around every corner
of the Museum is something new
to discover.”
All education programs and
materials at the State Museum are
directly linked to, and supportive
of, the New York State Learning
Standards—whether it is a class
on Native Peoples provided to a
curious group of 5th graders or a
fluorescent rocks program in the
Mineral Gallery for an 9th grade
earth science class.
Throughout the year, more
than 40,000 school children with
their teachers and chaperones
come to the Museum and
participate in lessons taught by
one of the five Museum educators.
During May and June alone,
the Museum hosts between
700–1,000 students a day. Before
the visit, teachers select lessons
with titles such as Cradleboards
10 ■ Legacy

BUG IMAGES: JASON CRYAN, NYSM; OTHER IMAGES: STEPHANIE MILLER, NYSM
and Cornhusk Dolls; Geology:
Gastropods to Garnet; People of
the Longhouse; Native Peoples
of New York; and Birds and
Mammals. All lessons are tailored
to the grade level of the class.
Teachers may also take
advantage of a growing series of
teachers’ guides that are available
on the Museum Web site or a
CD-ROM. The teachers’ guides
provide teachers and parents
with a description of a specific
exhibition and its contents as
well as the relevant New York
State Learning Standards. The
guides contain pre- and post-visit
activities that may be used in
the classroom. They also offer
suggestions for making the visit an
enriched educational experience.
There are seven guides available
now and additional guides
on permanent and temporary
exhibitions are in development.
In addition to the school
groups that register with us,
about an equal number arrive
with no advance arrangements.
These groups take advantage
of the exploration carts that are
located on the Museum floor.
Touching bear skins and deer
hooves, guessing the purpose of
what turns out to be a button
hook, using a tape measure to
actually see the size of a blue
whale, or trying to fit 12 people
into a space equivalent to a
tenement apartment bring to
life the history and science in
the Museum.
Beyond the Museum Walls
Education at the Museum
extends beyond the walls of
the building. Through two
significant partnerships, we are
able to engage middle school
students at the nearby Thomas
O’Brien Academy of Science and
Technology (TOAST) and other
students across the state and
the nation.
TOAST and the State Museum
All education programs and materials at the State Museum are directly
linked to, and supportive of, the New York State Learning Standards.
have an exciting partnership that
brings the Museum to the school
and the school to the Museum.
We have assisted, through the
loan of artifacts, with the establishment
of a museum room at
TOAST. Educators, scientists and
researchers from the Museum
teach lessons both at the school
and in the Museum. Each fall,
the students, families and teachers
from TOAST have a special
night at the Museum. The entire
Museum is open and exploration
carts, arts and crafts activities,
and refreshments are available.
Because of their frequent
experiences here, the students
see the State Museum as their
Museum and they enjoy acting
as tour guides and sharing their
knowledge about the exhibitions
and artifacts.
The Museum also benefits
from this partnership. TOAST
students are always willing to
serve as pioneers as we try out
new programs. The teachers
and students at TOAST were
enthusiastic volunteers as Museum
scientists, with assistance from
Museum program and education
staff, began the Cool To Be A
Scientist program. We know how
important it is to reach students
in their early years if we want
to have an impact on their
career aspirations. Cool To Be
A Scientist lets kids experience
the excitement that Museum
scientists and researchers bring
to their work.
“I interact with a lot of teachers
over the year, and they often
ask if I could come talk to their
classes,” says Chuck Ver Straeten,
a geologist at the State Museum.
“That would become a full-time
job itself, so it’s worked out well
to have larger school groups
come to the Museum, spend an
hour interacting with three of
the scientists, and then go
explore the museum. All of us
walk away with a new burst of
energy and interest.”
Winter 2005–2006 ■ 11

STEPHANIE MILLER, NYSM
Museum Education partners
with the Schenectady City
School District on Project View,
a distance-learning program
(www.projectview.org/
aboutprojectview.htm). Project
View, a Federal Technology
Innovation Challenge Grant led
by the Schenectady City School
District, expands learning opportunities
beyond the classroom.
Through the program, schools
from New York and around the
country are able to take part in a
lesson taught by Museum educators
in our video studio. With
recent additions to our equipment,
Museum Education will be
able to provide real-time lessons
After School
and in the Summer
The learning does not stop
at the end of the school day
or school year. We have two
award-winning after-school
programs for elementary- and
high school-aged children. The
Museum Club and the Discovery
Squad provide homework help,
tutoring and classes on the
Museum floor with scientists,
historians, curators and educators
Monday through Friday from
September through June. Our
summer Time Tunnel day camp,
which this summer had record
enrollment during the three
two-week sessions, provides daily
“In a museum, you can learn with all your senses and be surrounded by your
learning experience. Around every corner of the Museum is something new
to discover.” – Cecile Kowalski, Museum educator
Museum education experiences.
Perhaps the most rewarding
educational program offered
this year was for Camp Sundown,
a camp for individuals with
xeroderma pigmentosum—a
debilitating disease that prohibits
sufferers from being exposed to
the sun and other ultraviolet light.
Staff from Museum Education,
Visitor Services, and throughout
the Museum volunteered to open
the Museum from 10 p.m. until
1 a.m. on a Thursday night so that
participants in Camp Sundown,
both children and adults, could
have a full Museum experience.
Each day brings new experiences
and new discoveries in
Museum Education. We serve
as a crossroad where research,
collections, and exhibitions meet
the public to provide learning
that satisfies their natural curiosity
and that is enjoyable and
memorable. We want each visitor
to leave reluctantly and return
anticipating another memorable
experience. ■
Above: Students from the Albany
City School District explore the
Museum.
At right: Cathy Cozzens of Visitor
Services helps a middle school
student hold a skull that is much
heavier than it looks.
from both research labs and the
exhibition floor. Although distance
lessons do not give students the
same whole body/sight-touchsound
experience they can get
at the Museum, they are an
effective tool for districts that are
unable to visit because of distance
or travel budget limitations,
and for youth in care facilities
who cannot visit the Museum.
JOHN WHIPPLE
12 ■ Legacy

Left: The New York State
Museum research expedition
team with wildlife officers in
the Ankasa Resource Reserve,
Ghana, West Africa.
Below: Julie Urban with school
children in the Ankasa Resource
Reserve, Ghana, West Africa.
BY JULIE URBAN
Into Africa
Surprises, intrigue, and discovery
mark first trip to Africa
Jaguar tracks in Belize. A venomous
bushmaster snake in
Costa Rica. A herd of charging
peccaries in Peru. My life as a
biology graduate student is more
exciting than I could have ever
dreamed! And recently, as I
heard a series of strange sounds
approaching me in a remote
tropical rainforest in Ghana, I
wondered what exotic wildlife I
would encounter on my first insect
collecting trip to Africa. As the
source of these sounds came into
view, I saw that it was a group of
50 school children on their way
to a science summer camp. This
experience came to typify my visit
to Ghana; it was the people, not
the wildlife, that brought the
most exciting and unexpected
adventures.
By far, the most intriguing
encounter in West Africa—a trip
funded by a National Science
Foundation research grant awarded
to New York State Museum
scientist Dr. Jason Cryan—occurred
on a day trip with Jason and State
Museum entomologist Dr. Tim
McCabe. We set out with Tony,
the driver of our van, to scout
out an area near the Ghana/Togo
border as a potential fieldwork
site. The standard practice for these
scouting trips was to drive to the
area, walk around a bit collecting
insects, and determine where to set
up light traps for night collecting.
If the area seemed suitable for
more intensive collecting efforts, we
had to visit the local village chief
to formally ask permission to conduct
our research in their territory.
In this particular case, we decided
that the area was promising, so we
needed to visit the closest village,
Shiare, and its leaders.
Tony stopped the van to speak
with several people walking along
the road, and soon three young
women from the group climbed
into the vehicle with us. Although
they spoke in the Twi language,
it was clear to me that the women
were going to Shiare, and they
would show us the way. Soon the
road became too narrow and steep
for the van, and we continued on
foot. We walked for the next hour
along an ascending, serpentine
trail that kept our mountainous
destination hidden from view.
Near the summit, the trail
descended into the mud and stone
dwellings of Shiare, where we were
brought to the center of town
and given a seat on a long bench.
The chief and village elders soon
emerged. Tony spoke in Twi
announcing our intentions to
the elders and approximately
200 villagers who had appeared
and taken seats on ledges all
around us. After Tony finished his
speech, a town discussion ensued.
For the next 20 minutes, people
of the town stood up and made
speeches in a language that none
of us, including Tony, understood.
The debate was quite heated, and
to my discomfort, their gestures
confirmed that the debate was
about us. At one point, Tony
indicated that Jason should present
to the chief the culturally standard
gift bottle of schnapps, along
with a small amount of cash.
After more discussion, the chief
suddenly stood up, spoke one
sentence very firmly, and placed
the schnapps on the ground. He
then shook our hands. The elders
followed suit, and we were
gestured to leave. Apparently, we
had been granted permission to
collect insects along the road
outside their village.
We had exciting experiences
with wildlife too, including finding
a potentially new species of
planthopper. But overall, what I’ll
remember most about my first
trip to Africa are the people. ■
Julie Urban is a doctoral
student in the Department
of Biological Sciences at the
University at Albany. She
is a dissertation research
fellow at the New York
State Museum’s Laboratory
for Conservation and
Evolutionary Genetics under
the direction of Dr. Jason
Cryan. Her research is an
investigation, primarily using
DNA sequence evidence, of
the evolutionary relationships
within a diverse group of
sap-feeding insects collectively
called planthoppers.
Winter 2005–2006 ■ 13

The Great Debate
Just what are the top sports moments
Maria C. Sparks is
managing editor of Legacy.
Guest curator Mark McGuire
knew that compiling a
list of the top 10 New
York sports moments would be
daunting. In fact, he dubbed the
effort a “subjective exercise in
futility.” Even so, he was able to
come up with not just 10, but
25 significant moments in the
history of New York sports.
Each of those moments is
included in Miracles: New York’s
Greatest Sports Moments, an
exhibition idea first pitched
about five years ago. But timing
is everything, and when Sports:
Breaking Records, Breaking
Barriers from the Smithsonian
Institution Traveling Exhibition
Service was under contract,
thoughts returned to an exhibition
about New York sports. Miracles
was developed to complement
the traveling exhibition, which
explores individual achievement
in sports and its impact on society.
As the Miracles exhibition
shows, historic moments in every
major U.S. sport have taken place
both in New York and in other
locales with New York teams. Many
of those moments are considered
all-time sports milestones or a
win for the ages—the kind of
moment that lives on in the
national consciousness or in the
personal memory of a sports fan.
“What strikes me about the
exhibition is how you can almost
take that list of New York sports
moments and make them an
all-American story,” says Cliff
14 ■ Legacy

Behind-the-Scenes
Here’s an inside look at the making of Miracles:
JANUARY 2005
• Cliff Siegfried invites Mark McGuire to curate the exhibit
in New York history?
Siegfried, director of the New York
State Museum.
Throughout the exhibition’s
run, sports fans will have an
opportunity to show how they
would rank the top moments in
New York sports history. By using
an interactive kiosk, visitors can
create their own top 10 lists from
McGuire’s 25 sports moments.
The interactive will compile the
results and generate a top 10 list
based on voters’ choices.
As visitors may find, deciding on
just 10 events is not an easy task.
In fact, McGuire was asked to
compile only a top 10 list; he asked
to expand the number to 25 as
“self-preservation,” knowing that
each of these events is important.
McGuire, the television/radio
Miracles: New York's Greatest Sports
Moments runs through March 26, 2006.
Local support provided by the NBA, New
York Yankees, Nextel, Picotte Companies,
RBC Dain Rauscher, and Time Warner Cable.
FOX 23 is the media sponsor.
FOOTBALL HELMET COURTESY OF PRO FOOTBALL
HALL OF FAME.
TOM SEAVER AUTOGRAPHED BASEBALL COURTESY OF
MARK MCGUIRE.
REPLICA 1980 OLYMPIC US HOCKEY JERSEY COURTESY
OLYMPIC REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY.
BY MARIA C. SPARKS
writer for the Times Union
(Albany, N.Y.), also writes a
weekly sports column, From the
Upper Deck, for the newspaper’s
Web site, timesunion.com. A
sports fan and native of Northport,
Long Island, he has written two
books on baseball and written
for national magazines including
Baseball Digest, Baseball Weekly,
Baseball America, and Golf
Illustrated.
“Over the course of doing this,
15 things may have been in the
top 10 at one time or another,”
says McGuire. He already guesses
which moment will spark the most
debate: Lou Gehrig’s farewell
speech in 1939. It’s not a sports
accomplishment, he says, but it
is a great sports moment. ■
FEBRUARY 2005
• Mark McGuire submits draft script for exhibition and timeline
brochure
MARCH 2005
• Exhibit team has kick-off meeting, divides responsibilities
• Exhibit script/timeline is fact-checked and edited
• Tentative checklist of project steps established
• Initial budget established
• New England Technology Group (NETG) presents proposals
for voting interactive and film to be used in the exhibit
APRIL 2005
• Potential lenders contacted
• Image research begins
• NETG contracted for Top 10 film and voting interactive
• Budget revisited
MAY 2005
• Script, images, and checklist reviewed and approved
• Case layout and floor plan designed
• Loan agreements sent to lenders
• Budget revisited
• Approval of NETG’s concept for interactive and film
• Image search continues
JUNE 2005
• Design review of floor plan and exhibit graphics
• Budget revisited
• Final images selected and approved
JULY 2005
• Planning of related public programs underway
• Loan objects begin arriving
• Exhibit designer prepares “scope of work” document for
production department, detailing design requirements
such as exhibit panels, gallery paint colors, and construction
i.e., walls, bases, plexi, and artifact mounts
• Budget revisited
• Final images received and circulated to graphics and NETG
AUGUST 2005
• Artifacts assembled in preparation area for mount building
• Final review meeting
• NETG projects completed
SEPTEMBER 2005
• Artifact mount building continues
• Graphics finalized, printed, and mounted
• Temporary walls and bases in place
• Painting
• Details of public programs finalized
OCTOBER 2005
• October 3–14: Installation of exhibition, AV component
installation and testing, lighting
• October 15: Exhibition opens to the public
– Nancy Kelley, exhibitions coordinator
Winter 2005–2006 ■ 15

new york stories
A mother and daughter
hand-stitched this quilt while
traveling along the Erie Canal
in the mid-19th century.
Inset: Erie Canal Lock 52 in
Port Byron, c. 1900
IMAGES: NYSM
History in Every Piece BY CRAIG WILLIAMS
Craig Williams has been
a history curator at the
New York State Museum
since 1983.
The pattern of this mid-19th century quilt is
called “broken dishes.” It is made of 21,559
small pieces of fabric, artistically hand-stitched
into a quilt more than 6 feet by 8 feet in size. When
looking at this quilt, what one should really see
is a single remarkable artifact of upstate New York
history, one that is rich on many levels.
Phillip C. and Patricia A. English of Maryland
donated the quilt to the Museum in late 2004. They
did so in honor of Mr. English’s parents, Carl English,
a former Cornell University professor, and Elsie English,
who still lives in Ithaca not far from the family’s historic
home in the town of Dryden. The quilt has remained
in the family for four generations, but its artistry and
history have reached well beyond the family. It has
been exhibited at the Museum of American Folk Art
and was featured in the 1992 publication New York
Beauties—Quilts from the Empire State.
According to family tradition, Nancy Snyder
Osborn (1823–1909) created the quilt while traveling
with her husband Chauncey on a canal boat. Her
mother assisted in the quilt’s production. The family
was one of several thousand in the mid-19th century
who transported products by boat across New York
State on the Erie Canal and its adjoining waterways.
Families traveling together on boats were the norm.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that it was not
uncommon for families to work brief periods on
the canal during periods of transition in their
lives. It was a work environment where the entire
family could pitch in for the economic benefit of
all. Perhaps to earn enough money to move onto
a more settled life, families might spend several
seasons on the canal. For Nancy and Chauncey
Osborn, we know that their later years were
dedicated to a farm on Nancy’s family property
in Dryden.
Records in the New York State Library provide
some additional clues. The published 1870 register
of canal boats lists the “J.A. Jarvis” of Ithaca as the
property of Peter Snyder, Nancy’s grandfather. The
boat was first on the canal in 1857, not long after
Nancy and Chauncey were married. Likely, this is
the boat on which the quilt was made. It was one
of several dozen that listed Ithaca as their hailing
place, using Cayuga Lake and the Cayuga-Seneca
Canal to reach the Erie Canal. Peter Snyder probably
used the boat to bring wheat and other products
from his Dryden farm to market. It is another indication
of an entire family working toward a common
goal—much like the 21,559 pieces of fabric working
together to make a wonderful quilt. ■
16 ■ Legacy

13th Annual
James Campbell Memorial
Saturday and Sunday,
February 25 and 26
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. ◆ Terrace Gallery – 4th Floor
See thousands of gems, jewelry, minerals, lapidary equipment, fossils, and much more
at the annual Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show and Sale. Museum staff will give guided tours
of the mineral and fossil exhibitions and identify visitors’ own minerals and fossils.
Lectures on the mineralogy of New York will be held
throughout the afternoon on both days.
Admission to the Museum is $5, which includes entry to the both the Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show and Sale and
New York in Bloom. Children ages 12 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Proceeds help fund
new acquisitions for the Museum’s gem and mineral collections.

close-ups
IMAGES: TRUEMASTER TRIMINGHAM, NYSM
Clockwise starting top left: Cabbage Patch Doll with traditional-style Iroquois clothing, 2000, Governor’s
Collection of Contemporary Native American Crafts, Native Peoples of New York; Pileated woodpecker, Birds
of New York; Carved granite keystone, c. 1900, from a New York City building, New York Metropolis; Detail
of Parade Carriage, c. 1875, Fire Engine Hall.
Tell us what you think about Legacy. Send your comments to nysmfeedback@mail.nysed.gov.
For a schedule of exhibitions, programs and events, see The Museum Calendar or visit
www.nysm.nysed.gov/calendar/
The New York State Museum is a program of The University of the State of New York/The State Education Department