Bird Eggs - New York State Museum

The Magazine
of the
New York
State Museum
VOL. 3 • NO.4
SPRING 2008
INSIDE:
19th Century
Stoneware
Manhattan Minerals
Discovery Squad
Dynamos
Memorabilia from
NYS Gubernatorial
Campaigns
Bird Eggs
PAGE 8

2007
Corporate Support
Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.
—Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696), French writer, moralist
During 2007
these businesses
recognized the
right moment
NEW YORKState Museum
and gave of their
time and treasure.
We salute their
generosity, vision,
and commitment
to the legacy
of the New York
State Museum.
EARTH
DAY
GREAT ART SERIES
NYS MUSEUM CHOCOLATE EXPO
& HOLIDAY GIFT MARKET
MEDIA SPONSORS
DISCOVERY
PLACE
IN-KIND DONORS
FAMILY FUN WEEKENDS
EARTHQUAKE
CENTER
AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS/
NEW YORK IN BLOOM
IN-KIND PARTNERS
TIME TUNNEL
SCHOLARSHIPS
Classé Catering • Dan Engwer Wholesale • Joseph J. Merli Manufacturing Co.
My Favorite Things Florist • Quality Retail Systems • Seagroatt Floral Company

contents
VOL. 3 • NO. 4
SPRING 2008
features
10
Eyes on the Prize
As they approach graduation, seven high school seniors
reflect on their years in the Museum’s after-school program.
13
Running for Governor by Maria C. Sparks
A comprehensive new collection documents more than
200 years of gubernatorial campaigns and elections in
New York State.
departments
2
3
7
Director’s Note
Museum News
Discovery Now
Minerals Beneath Manhattan
Recent tunnel work yields minerals from
600 feet below New York City.
by Dr. Marian Lupulescu
8
16
Hidden Treasures
Bird Egg Specimens: An Ova-looked Treasure
This historic collection may hold the answers
to new research questions.
by Dr. Jeremy J. Kirchman
New York Stories
Stoneware Jar by Paul Cushman
The Weitsman Collection expands with
the addition of this unusual piece.
by John L. Scherer
On the Cover
The bird egg collection contains
this blue egg of the Hermit Thrush
(Catharus guttatus) and hundreds
of other eggs collected by amateur
naturalists. The actual size of the
egg is 2.25 cm tall by 1.5 cm wide.
Inset: Badge from the unsuccessful
gubernatorial campaign
of William Randolph Hearst, the
Democratic candidate in 1906.
www.nysm.nysed.gov

JOHN WHIPPLE
The Magazine of the
New York State Museum
director’s note
Maria C. Sparks, Managing Editor
Leigh Ann Smith, Design Consultant
Bonnie Kerrick, Copy Editor
Each January, I look back on the previous year and review our many
accomplishments. There is a great deal of satisfaction in this exercise,
with much credit going to our dedicated, creative Museum staff.
I’d like to share some of our 2007 accomplishments that continue to
build on the Museum’s legacy of research, stewardship, and education.
• In 2007, we were still the best! Capital Region Living and Hudson Valley
magazines, Metroland, and the Times Union all named us the “Best
Museum.” And the public agrees; the Museum hosted more than
770,000 visitors in the past year.
• More than $2.5 million in grants and sponsorships and $9 million in
contracts were awarded to Museum staff for research and collections
work and to support exhibitions and public programs. This total is greater
than our state operations budget!
• We presented more than 200 programs for our visitors. Our research and
collections staff presented public programs, tours, and workshops that
exceeded one per week—an unprecedented number of opportunities for
the public to interact with Museum scientists and historians.
• We brought nearly a dozen new exhibitions to the galleries while
upgrading our hands-on discovery spaces, developing a new birthday
party room, and introducing a new “Earthquake Central” area.
• Our planning for new natural science and history galleries, the completion
of our native peoples gallery, and a new collection stewardship facility
continues to engage staff across all areas of the Museum.
We look forward to your frequent visits in 2008. Watch for new events and
join us as we continue the Museum’s legacy of excellence.
Design
2k Design
Contributors
Sara Dewitt
Mariah Evans
Kiera Fitzgerald
Derek Hines
Jeremy J. Kirchman
Marian Lupulescu
Marissa Moncrieffe
Hezekiah Morris
Corey Patillo
John L. Scherer
Michelle Stefanik
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
Cliff Siegfried
Director, New York State Museum
www.nysm.nysed.gov
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
Museum Geologists
to Discuss Earth and Life
In two upcoming lecture series,
Museum geologists consider
the view of Earth from space
and from our own backyards.
Dr. Taury Smith discusses trends
in global population, resource
consumption, and the environment
in a series of lectures on “Life
on a Small Planet.” The lectures
take place on Wednesdays in
March at 7 p.m. The series is a
follow-up to his well-attended
lectures on global warming held
in 2007.
On March 5, Dr. Smith examines
how some medical, scientific, and
technological breakthroughs that
have made life more comfortable
also threaten the sustainability of
the planet. The following week,
he discusses global warming and
actions that will slow down this
and other damaging environmental
trends. On March 19, he talks
about the consumption of oil and
the future peak in production,
highlighting possible economic
and geological implications. The
series concludes on March 26
with a discussion of the current
science and economics behind
alternative sources of energy and
the societal changes needed for
living in a sustainable manner.
“I am extremely concerned with
current unsustainable trends in
resource consumption, environmental
damage, and population
growth and wanted to do my part
NASA
to educate the public on the challenges
the world will face in the
coming decades,” says Dr. Smith.
In April, the lecture series
“Reading the Earth: Global to
Atomic Perspectives” examines
Earth from four angles—from
space, across landscapes, in
outcrops and hand-size rocks,
and under the microscope. The
lectures series is designed to help
the audience understand what
geologists see and will, through
images, show them different
ways of looking at Earth, says Dr.
Chuck Ver Straeten.
State Geologist Dr. William
Kelly discusses the types of satellite
images earth scientists study
and interprets images of Earth and
Mars on April 2. On April 9, Dr.
Andrew Kozlowski presents what
geophysical methods of exploring
Earth have revealed about the
landscape and subsurface. The
following week, Dr. Chuck Ver
Straeten shares what geologists
see when they study a rock or
an outcrop that allows them to
understand geologic history. The
series concludes on April 23 with
Dr. Marian Lupulescu showing
how geoscientists apply physical
and chemical analyses to the
microscopic study of Earth’s
minerals and rocks.
All lectures take place in the
Huxley Theater and are free and
open to the public.
On the
Bookshelf
Anew Museum publication
takes readers on a field
trip 500 million years
back in time. This detailed
geological guide to eastern New
York and adjacent New England
is the same one that paleontologists
followed during the field
portion of the 12th International
Conference on the Cambrian,
held in summer 2007.
Bulletin No. 510: Ediacaran-
Ordovician of East Laurentia, S.W.
Ford Memorial Volume, edited by
State Paleontologist Dr. Ed Landing,
covers geologic history from
580 to 460 million years ago. It
includes 35 abstracts of oral and
poster presentations on Cambrian
life and environments that were
presented at SUNY-Plattsburgh
during the conference.
The authors dedicated the
book to S.W. Ford, a telegrapher
and fossil collector who lived in
Troy and made important contributions
to Cambrian paleontology
in the 1870s and 1880s. For
more information on titles published
by the Museum, go to
www.nysm.nysed.gov/publications/
or call 518-486-2013.
94 pages, illustrated, 8 1 /2" x 11"
Must-See
Exhibitions
Expressions in Blue:
A Feeling, A Place,
A Color, A Sound
Through March 16
Upcoming
Exhibitions
Asian Long-horned Beetle
Invaders
Opens April 15
Focus on Nature X
Opens April 17
Bank of America
Great Art Series
Latin American and
Caribbean Art: Selected
Highlights from the
Collection of The
Museum of Modern Art
Opens May 17
For details, see The
Museum Calendar or go to
www.nysm.nysed.gov/.
PEST AND DISEASES IMAGE LIBRARY, BUGWOOD.ORG
Spring 2008 ■ 3

museum
news
A White’s Dumpy Tree Frog, known
by the nickname “Dumpy,” has
become a favorite attraction in
Discovery Place. Kids Cove, the new
birthday party space (décor pictured
at right), takes children under the
sea for their special day.
Navigating the Erie Canal
Anew exhibition in Discovery
Place allows Museum
visitors to experience what
it was like for a 19th century
family to travel the length of the
Erie Canal, from Albany to Buffalo.
The trip along the water route
is told through the eyes of a
fictional 14-year-old boy whose
family operates a canal boat.
Rufus Martin works as a hoggee
walking a team of mules on the
towpath as they pull his father’s
boat, The Soggy Beast, along the
canal. As the boat arrives in Fort
Plain, Little Falls, Utica, Syracuse,
and then proceeds through locks
in the Rochester area, Rufus gives
his observations about working
and living on the canal. He writes
about his responsibilities as well
as what his father, mother, and
sister do to keep the boat moving
toward its destination.
The story format opens the
exhibition to a wider audience, says
Carrie Bernardi, associate exhibit
planner at the State Museum.
Adults can read Rufus’ story to
children and also use the “touch
and spin” dials that reveal interesting
facts about the canal, such
as information about how the
canal was built and the folklore,
songs, and jargon of canallers.
The new exhibition was
designed to help young people
learn about the Erie Canal and
how its opening in 1825 changed
the way people and goods
traveled across the state. It features
images from the Museum’s
collection and the Canal Society
of New York State.
The new Erie Canal exhibition fills the back wall of Discovery Place, the Museum’s hands-on
learning center for children. Visitors turn large wheels to uncover more information about
the 524-mile inland waterway and, in a separate display, compare the pace of hauling
freight by horse versus by the water route.
What’s New
■ The State Museum recently
renovated the space used
for birthday parties and other
special events. Kids Cove,
located in Adirondack Hall,
features an underwater theme
complete with ocean murals
and porthole windows. Models
of harbor porpoises, formerly
displayed in New York Hall,
now reside in Kids Cove with
a colorfully painted sea turtle
and a whimsical school of fish.
■ More than 81,000 people—
many repeat visitors—came to
Discovery Place in 2007. An
aquarium full of fish and a
terrarium with three frogs
were added in August as part
of ongoing enhancements to
the hands-on learning center.
■ Museum visitors can see the
real-time display of earthquake
activity in New York and
around the world at the new
M&T Bank New York State
Museum Earthquake Center.
A video screen displays earthquake
activity recorded by the
Museum’s seismic station as it
happens. New York experiences
about four small earthquakes
each month, and the exhibition
presents up-to-date records of
these micro-earthquakes.
4 ■ Legacy

Peggy Ross volunteers
one day a week,
working within the
history collections
with curator Craig
Williams.
Art for the People:
Decorated Stoneware from
the Weitsman Collection
Many things in our lives
today are both utilitarian
and decorative. Even
things as seemingly mundane as
a telephone or a coffee cup come
in a variety of colors and shapes.
However, it was not long ago that
“simple but useful” was the game
plan for items of frequent or heavyduty
use. The workhorse of the
18th and 19th century American
kitchen was stoneware. As
testament to its durability, many
stoneware pieces manufactured
in those centuries still exist.
Forty examples of decorated
stoneware are on view in Art for
the People: Decorated Stoneware
from the Weitsman Collection, a
new exhibition in New York Hall.
The pieces, collected by Adam
Weitsman of Owego, are unique,
humorous, commemorative, and
culturally relevant. With etched
images and cobalt blue paintings,
these useful clay vessels cross the
line from function to art. Some
are decorated with flowers or birds;
others feature exotic images like
lions or a merman. Still others
capture people and moments in
history, such as the Temperance
movement, the homecoming of a
Civil War general, and the death
of Abraham Lincoln.
It has been nearly 10 years
since treasures from the Weitsman
Collection have been exhibited at
the State Museum. In that time
the collection has grown. Art for
the People features pieces added
since that last exhibition and a
few special ones from the past
that Weitsman and Curator of
Decorative Arts John Scherer just
couldn’t keep from public view.
The exhibition is ongoing
through summer 2009.
—Michelle Stefanik, Museum
Exhibit Planner
MUSEUM VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION
Peggy Ross Helps Preserve
New York’s History
Over the past 14 years,
photographer Peggy
Ross has ventured into
the field with maps in hand for
“an explorer’s project.” She has
been photographing sites at
the historic Mount Lebanon
and Watervliet Shaker communities,
visually connecting these
modern views with those taken
of the same sites by Museum
photographers back in the
1930s. With Museum volunteer
Betsy Kaido, she has integrated
all of these images into a digital
database that has immensely
helped our understanding of
the Museum’s outstanding
Shaker collections.
Peggy began volunteering
with the Museum in the early
1990s. After reading an article
about state budget cuts, she
wrote to the Museum to offer
her time and photography skills.
The projects she has worked on
are all photographically related.
Whether scanning Civil War-era
letters or Margaret Bourke
White photographs that
decorated a state institution,
photographing the last days of
a knitting mill in Gloversville, or
painting the Day Peckinpaugh,
Peggy has found the work
meaningful.
“It is a privilege and a
pleasure to work with the
incredibly dedicated Museum
staff on a broad range of
fascinating projects,” says
Peggy. “I wish I could do more.”
As a native of New York City,
Peggy took special interest in
photographing New York Fire
Department Engine Company 6
before the station’s renovation
in 2004. She has also photographed
the World Trade Center
site, attended memorials, and
transcribed interviews of witnesses
to the terrorist attacks
of September 11, 2001, as part
of the Museum’s long-term
project to record the events and
reaction to that day’s events. “I
felt privileged…to hear people’s
stories,” says Peggy.
Five-Gallon Water Cooler, 1850–1859,
by Julius & Edward Norton, Bennington,
Vermont
Six-Gallon Water Cooler, c. 1870, by
Albert O. Whittemore (working 1863–1893),
Havana, New York
The New York State Museum offers many interesting and educational
opportunities for volunteers, interns, and those interested in community
service placements. For more information, call 518-402-5869.
Spring 2008 ■ 5

museum
news
A Look Back:
NYSM Archaeologist Arthur C. Parker
Arthur C. Parker’s excavation of
the Ripley site in Chautauqua
County produced thousands of
Iroquoian artifacts for the
Museum’s collection. Shown here
are drawings of typical cylindrical
brass finger rings, diameters
1.8–2.4 cm (NYSM A-15521).
Drawings by Patricia Kernan, NYSM.
While many archaeological
artifacts in the
Museum’s collection
have been acquired as a result of
excavations conducted by Museum
staff, there was a time when it was
State Museum policy to purchase
existing collections amassed by
amateurs rather than to conduct
professional excavations.
Arthur C. Parker, an archaeologist
at the Museum from 1904
to 1924, urged the Museum to
change this policy. As an early
proponent of professional
standards and the strict use of
appropriate methods for recording
and reporting data, Parker
worked to elevate the field of
archaeology and to reduce the
Museum’s reliance on artifacts
collected—or perhaps even excavated—by
untrained aficionados.
After passing the civil service
exam for the archaeologist
position, his goal was to “infuse
the NYSM with a purpose and
make the archaeological department
at least more than a museum
of curiosities.” (“Arthur C. Parker
and the Educational Mission of
American Museums.” Curator
32(2):104–122.)
He succeeded. Within his first
six years with the Museum,
Parker excavated several sites in
western New York State. His
large-scale, systematic excavation
of the Ripley site in Chautauqua
County was particularly significant
and produced thousands
of artifacts for the Museum’s
collection. After conducting the
excavation of this Iroquois village,
he interpreted the results as a
description of the Iroquois culture.
He later focused on excavating
sites in the Finger Lakes region,
the Hudson Valley, and elsewhere.
Throughout his career with the
Museum, he worked to identify
archaeological sites in New York
State, either through his own
fieldwork or from information
provided by local residents. The
results were published in 1920,
in two volumes in the Museum’s
Bulletin series: Bulletin No. 235/236
The Archaeological History of
New York, Part 1 and Bulletin
No. 237/238 The Archaeological
History of New York, Part 2.
Both volumes can be read
online via the New York State
Library’s digital collections
(www.nysl.nysed.gov/).
Parker, of Seneca Iroquois
ancestry (he was the grandnephew
of the famed Seneca
leader Ely S. Parker), also gathered
and extensively documented a
large collection of 19th and
early 20th century Iroquois items
for the Museum.
ROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER
6 ■ Legacy

discovery now
Minerals Beneath Manhattan
BY DR. MARIAN LUPULESCU
With its skyscrapers,
paved streets, and
subway tunnels,
Manhattan Island has no place
for mineral-carrying rocks to crop
out. Yet, at the beginning of the
20th century, geologists and
amateur mineralogists collected
beautiful minerals from old
subway, building foundation, and
water tunnel excavations.
In 2006, geologists had another
opportunity to go underground
to study the rocks and seek
minerals from below the asphalt,
concrete, and steel of New York
City—a new water tunnel along
the western side of Manhattan
Island was being built. After hearing
about the underground project
from the geologist responsible
for mapping this engineering
work, my Museum colleague
Michael Hawkins and I rushed
over to the site to investigate the
“basement” of New York City.
During our three-mile walk
in the tunnel, at about 600 feet
beneath the surface, we were
impressed by the beauty of the
rock structures shown on the
almost perfect circular and smooth
walls. We spent a total of eight
hours walking along the tunnel,
collecting rock samples and
minerals. With the tunnel now
nearing completion, underground
access has become restricted and
the chance of finding minerals
has diminished. However, the
“non-accessible underground
Manhattan mineral world” is
preserved for future scientific
studies in our collection, as part
of the 350 mineral specimens
from New York County.
The minerals found beneath
Manhattan represent the complexity
of the geological processes
that shaped the island. Many
millions of years ago, sediments
were deposited in a shallow sea
that covered the eastern part of
what the geologists call proto-
North America. At that time, an
island arc—similar to what is
now the Japanese archipelago—
moved toward, and collided with,
the American continent around
450 million years ago, in an
event known as the Taconian
Orogeny. The collision exposed
the shallow sea sediments to
temperatures of 650º to 700º C
as well as high pressures and
transformed them, through a
geological process called metamorphism,
into the rocks that
built Manhattan Island.
When the metamorphism
reached the highest temperature
(T) and pressure (P) conditions,
the combined action of T-P and
continental crust-derived fluids
reorganized the composition of
the rocks and generated beautiful
minerals such as garnets, sillimanite,
potassium feldspar, chrysoberyl,
phosphates with thorium and
rare elements (monazite and
xenotime), and tourmaline, a
boron-bearing silicate. When the
rocks relaxed after the orogenic
climax, some of the first-formed
minerals became unstable; thus,
kyanite, muscovite, and staurolite
grew at the expense of the
minerals that could not adjust to
Figure 1
Figure 2
the new conditions. The last
mineral-forming event produced
stilbite and apophyllite by precipitation
in shallow fractures.
The study of the minerals
from Manhattan in the Museum’s
collection brings new insights
into the physical conditions and
composition of the crustal fluids
during the geological evolution of
Manhattan Island and presents a
part of the mineral world generally
accessible only to professionals.
These minerals are a legacy of
the tormented geological history
and natural beauty of this part of
New York State. ■
The State Museum’s mineral
collection includes specimens from
New York City’s newest water
tunnel. Many of these specimens
were donated by the project’s
engineering geologist or purchased
from the miners. Figure 1. Stilbite
(yellow) with small pyrite (the
dark spots) crystals from the water
tunnel. NYSM 21952. Figure 2.
Squared apophyllite crystal found
in a small fracture in the water
tunnel. NYSM 21668. Source: Eric
Jordan, New York City Department
of Environmental Protection.
Dr. Marian Lupulescu is
curator of minerals at the
New York State Museum.
Spring 2008 ■ 7

hidden treasures
Bird Egg Specimens:
Figure 3. Eggs of the Common Loon are
Dr. Kirchman’s favorites to show visitors to
the NYSM bird collection because they are
beautifully shaped and colored and they
are not as fragile as smaller eggs.
Eggs shown at 90 percent
of actual size.
Figure 1. This Peregrine Falcon (Falco
peregrinus) egg is one of a set that
originally consisted of four eggs,
collected rather ingeniously (see data
card) in 1887. The set now contains
only three eggs since one was removed
in 1969 and used in the famous study
by Dr. Peakall of Cornell University
that linked DDT exposure in raptors to
eggshell thinning.
Figure 2. This pretty blue egg
belongs to the Hermit Thrush
(Catharus guttatus). Many
cup-nesting thrushes, including
American Robins, lay blue eggs.
Dr. Jeremy J. Kirchman is
the curator of birds at the
New York State Museum.
BY DR. JEREMY J. KIRCHMAN
The New York State
Museum’s collection of
blown bird eggs is one of
the world’s largest and most
diverse, ranking 23rd in the
number of specimens and 12th
in the number of species. Nearly
all of the eggs were obtained
from three large private collections
that were donated to the
Museum by Benjamin W. Arnold
(in 1912), Beecher S. Bowdish
(in 1952), and Roy C. Latham (in
1969). For these men, and other
wealthy amateur naturalists of
the 19th and early 20th centuries
(including the young Franklin D.
Roosevelt and E. A. McIlhenny,
inventor of Tabasco Sauce),
egg collecting was a hobby that
involved searching for nests in
nature as well as trading and
purchasing eggs from other
collectors. The size and diversity
of one’s egg collection was a
source of pride, and collectors
competed against one another
much the same way that birders
today compare “life lists” of the
bird species they’ve seen.
A new conservation ethic,
developed in the early 1900s,
and the 1918 federal Migratory
Bird Treaty Act, protecting birds
8 ■ Legacy

An Ova-looked Treasure
Figure 4. This comparison shows how
the shape and color of bird eggs are
adapted to different nesting conditions.
The Common Murre (Uria aalge) egg
(right), which was laid on a steep
coastal cliff, is colored to blend into
its rocky surroundings and is pointed
so that it won’t roll off the cliff. The
Barred Owl (Strix varia) egg (above) is
plain white and nearly round, as befitting
an egg that would be laid in the
relative safety of a tree trunk cavity.
Figure 5. This
comparison shows
the difference in size
between the smallest
and largest eggs laid
in New York State. They
belong to the Ruby-throated
Hummingbird (Archilochus
colubris) (above) and the Mute
Swan (Cynus olor) (right).
and their nests and eggs,
effectively ended the era of
private egg collections. Some
professional ornithologists
obtained permits to continue
collecting wild bird eggs, but
for most of the 20th century,
very few eggs were added to
museum collections.
Fortunately, the NYSM and
other museums have maintained
their historic egg collections,
and these are proving to be
valuable to scientists investigating
a wide variety of new research
questions. In one recent study,
egg specimens were used to
document the laying dates of bird
species over the last 150 years.
The data showed that songbirds
now begin laying earlier in the
year and that this change in
laying date is correlated with
higher average March temperatures.
Another study demonstrated
that enough DNA can
be extracted from the dry inner
membranes of duck eggs to
identify the species of bird that
produced the egg. Currently,
NYSM egg specimens are on
loan to an ornithologist whose
research shows that eggshell
thickness has decreased in
Dickcissels (Spiza americana)
since they were exposed to
organochlorine pesticides
beginning in the 1940s. These
examples of new research using
historic egg collections highlight
one of my favorite themes
of museum-based research:
technological and theoretical
advances continually result in
new research questions that
can be answered by studying
museum specimens, questions
that could not have been
imagined by the naturalists who
collected and prepared the
specimens so long ago. ■
Spring 2008 ■ 9

EYE
on the
P R IZ E S
This year, a record number of high
school seniors participate in the
Discovery Squad after-school
program. The daily program
provides teens with work experience in
various areas of the Museum as well as
with academic and personal support. For
many years, each Discovery Squad senior
has graduated from high school on time.
“It’s truly a privilege to watch and assist
as young people grow, change, and
develop into college-bound adults,” says
Stephanie Miller, longtime director of the
Museum’s after-school programs for
children and teens enrolled in Albany
schools. “I am always proud of our
students, but this year I am particularly
proud to have a group of seven seniors.
We have been through a lot together
and have weathered many storms and
challenging times, but they are on their
way to being educated, well-rounded,
community-oriented, caring adults. I am
so proud of each and every one.”
As these high school students look
toward graduation, they talk about how
this remarkable experience shaped and
informed their plans for the future.
10 ■ Legacy

The Museum Club
[for ages 8–13] allowed
me to concentrate on
my homework and get
help from staff and the
Discovery Squad teens.
I became more confident and
began to excel at my schoolwork.
I also became more open-minded
about the possibilities that education
offers.
The Museum is a safe and
positive environment for kids and
young teens who want to become
successful in life. As a Club kid,
I was inspired by many D-Squad
members, and I looked forward to
a time when I could become one
myself. The program introduced
me to the Museum through
activities, reading, writing, and
projects that we engaged in right
in the Museum galleries.
As a teen, I became a member
of the D-Squad. This gave me the
ability to interact with kids and
to create positive relationships
while being a role model. D-Squad
encourages teens to set and
pursue educational goals. If we
are struggling with certain subjects,
the program provides assistance
from college interns and volunteers.
We visit colleges, participate
in workshops, and explore the
Museum by helping in laboratories
and various departments.
My experiences in the Museum
gave me the ability to develop
social, professional, and academic
skills. I would recommend this
program to Albany city kids of
all ages, so that they can share
the same experiences that I did.
—Hezekiah Morris
I have been a member
of both the Museum
Club and the Discovery
Squad for a combination
of 10 years! I was only a
7-year-old second grader when I
started here. My mom wanted to
put me in a program that helped
me academically as well as
personally. Growing up in the
program helped me a lot. I was
given the ability to have “brothers
and sisters,” something that I
would have never had. When
you see high school students
helping children it gives you the
confidence to do that too. I was
so glad to be given the opportunity
to work with the youth.
I wanted to show them one of
the many positive outcomes of
the Museum Club. In all, I believe
that this program is fantastic, I
swear by it and can confidently
say I do not know where I would
be if it wasn’t for the Club!
—Derek Hines
The Discovery Squad is
not just a job for me.
It’s a place to learn and improve
myself academically and socially.
The Discovery Squad gives us a
chance to prepare ourselves for
college, and it provides us with
a positive outlook on college life
and our futures. We attend
educational field trips
to colleges and
also work on
our teambuilding
skills. We
volunteer
and help
the community
at events
such as
the
Haunted
Museum,
New York in
Bloom, the
Chocolate Expo,
and other activities
inside and out of the
Museum. We have fun raising
money for our programs and
helping the Museum, too!
The members of the Squad
have a close relationship so
that when complications arise in
our personal lives, we always
have each other to lean on and
talk to. The D-Squad is a place
to learn as well as a place to
express our opinions and talk
about things going on in our
lives and in the world.
I have been a member of the
Discovery Squad for two years
now, and I can definitely say
that I have experienced a boost
in my self-motivation and
determination. I get tutored in
subjects that confuse me, and I
work independently and improve
my study skills as well. Stephanie
[Miller], our [program] director,
and our teen coordinators help
us develop communication and
professional skills. They push and
guide us to be the best we can
be and to strive for higher goals
for our future. —Mariah Evans
Mariah Evans (right) helps
Siena Dean, one of the
Museum Club kids, with her
homework.
Derek Hines (left) and Hezekiah
Morris (center) meet with Albany
Mayor Gerald D. Jennings.
Spring 2008 ■ 11

Sara
Dewitt
(right) lends
support to Nia Simpson, a
student in the Museum Club, as
she works on a school project.
My cousin Hezekiah and
I began in the Museum
Club at the age of seven.
As I was a particularly rambunctious
child, many other programs
could not handle me, but the
Museum Club took me in. It served
as a place of refuge in many ways.
The staff there, particularly the
teen staff, had a profound effect
on me. When I became of
legal age to work, my
first choice was the
Discovery Squad.
I began the
program as
a freshman
at Albany
High
School
and have
continued
working
throughout
high
school. I
chose to be
part of the
Discovery Squad
so that I could help
children who were like me
when I was little, but I got much
more than I expected. I get help
with my homework, SAT preparation,
resume building, and so
much more. The Discovery Squad
is like a second family to me. I
will be very sad to leave in June,
because it feels like I have grown
up here at the Museum.
—Sara Dewitt
As of February 2008,
I will have been a
member of the Discovery
Squad for four years.
During my time at the Museum,
I’ve had the chance to prepare
for state tests, Regents exams,
and college. Working with the
younger kids has made me want
to pursue a career that involves
helping others. I think working
at this institution has helped me
grow as a person, and it has
pushed me to work hard for
what I want.
I have seen my co-workers
(other D-Squad teens) accomplish
things that they might not have
without being a member of the
Museum program. In my time, I
have also seen other kids change
for the better—behaviorally
and academically. The diversity
within the Museum Club and the
D-Squad emphasizes that there
is no discrimination. These are
programs that are designed to
help students of all backgrounds
to succeed.
Being in this workplace has
helped me conquer things that I
would normally not try to do, and
I have sought encouragement
from my mentors. Along with
this program, I have gained an
extended family. I feel that Squad
members and staff are people
that I can relate to and go to if
I need guidance or help with
personal issues. I have to say that
the Discovery Squad has given
me a lot to look forward to, and I
will be very sad on the last day of
work in 2008. —Kiera Fitzgerald
As a member of the
Museum Club and
the Discovery Squad
programs, I have
developed professional
and communication
skills. The experiences that I have
had here have been influential
and life-changing. Working and
having the chance to continue my
learning, while helping others—
I never thought I would be able
to find such a place. By assisting
in the accounting department
[within the Museum Institute], I
was able to explore my possible
career. This program has developed
me into a productive, well-rounded
student and has given me the
opportunity to work at the things
that are beneficial to my future.
—Marissa Moncrieffe
I have faced a number
of stressful challenges
in my life this past year
and being part of the
D-Squad was one of the
few things that I could
count on. Staff listened when
I needed someone to talk to
and helped me with schoolwork
when I was struggling with classes.
Working at the Museum has
allowed me to do something that
I love, which is help younger kids
and be a positive role model. I
was even given the opportunity
to work as a counselor in the
Museum’s Time Tunnel Summer
Day Camp. I was co-counselor
with a senior counselor and we
were responsible for 12 kids each
session. It was an amazing and
fun learning experience. It was
probably one of the best summers
that I have ever had.
Working at the Museum
has also positively affected my
academic achievements. I have
been able to prepare for tests
and Regents exams, as well as
study for the SATs. Staff and
interns have helped me with
essays and science and math
classes. I hope to go to college to
study radiology, although I also
really like working with kids!
Working at the Museum has
been a great experience. I’ve
made new friends, learned a
great many things, gained
confidence in myself, and been
exposed to a whole new world. I
will never forget my time here
with the D-Squad. —Corey Patillo
12 ■ Legacy

RUNNING
★★
FOR
★★
GOVERNOR
A one-of-a-kind collection documents New York State’s
gubernatorial campaigns from 1776 to 2006
BY MARIA C. SPARKS
From left to right,
Badge, 1906 (William
Randolph Hearst was
a Democratic challenger
for governor.), Badge, c. 1938.
When Bill Winnewisser
began collecting
political memorabilia
in 1976, he considered focusing
on presidential campaigns. The
Syracuse native soon realized
that this concentration would
yield too large a collection to
properly manage and store. He
decided, instead, to focus on New
York gubernatorial campaigns
and elections.
For that reason, the State
Museum and State Library are
most grateful. The two agencies
acquired the well-documented,
many thousand-piece collection
in 2006.
▼
Maria C. Sparks
is managing
editor of Legacy.
Spring 2008 ■ 13

From left to right,
Badge, 1898; Badge, 1962;
Ballot, 1864; Badge, 1918;
Cabinet Photograph, c. 1882;
Pin, 1958.
This extensive collection spans
three centuries—from the 1776
campaign that resulted in the
election of Governor George
Clinton to the 2006 gubernatorial
campaign. A small fraction of
the collection was displayed on
January 1, 2007, the day Eliot
Spitzer was inaugurated as the
54th governor of New York
State. A larger component was
displayed in September 2007,
when the New York State
Chapter of the American Political
Item Collectors held a convention
in Albany.
The collection is so comprehensive
that his catalog enumerating
its contents required 1,200 pages.
State Museum history curator
Craig Williams was stunned
when he saw the collection
during a visit to Winnewisser’s
home in Liverpool, just north of
Syracuse. Williams recalls that
he had only one word to say,
“Wow,” and he repeated it over
and over as he reviewed drawer
after drawer of campaign buttons,
badges, and other artifacts.
The collection not only includes
campaign materials from the
major party candidates for
governor and lieutenant governor,
but also ephemera from thirdparty
candidates who may have
faded from public memory over
the years. In addition, Winnewisser
collected campaign material of
“hopefuls,” those seeking their
party’s nomination. Posters,
banners, and broadsides reside in
the Library Collection, and photos,
paper ballots, campaign buttons,
convention badges, ribbons, tie
tacks, lapel studs, and other
artifacts are part of the Museum’s
history collections.
Winnewisser collected the
material from political memorabilia
shows, antique shows, garage
sales, flea markets, auctions, and
through connections made over
the Internet. Unlike coin collecting,
there are no catalogs that identify
every item available, so there is a
14 ■ Legacy

it of the unknown in the search
for political campaign material.
During the 30 years Winnewisser
compiled the collection, he
acquired some rare finds: a color
lithographed poster for the
Grover Cleveland 1882 campaign
and a Jackie Robinson pin
supporting Nelson A. Rockefeller.
The variety of campaign
materials used over the years
chronicles how campaigning
changed with the times. Before
radio became a mass medium,
parties promoted their candidates
through card decks, cabinet cards
(4-inch by 6-inch mass-produced
photographic cards that were
propped up against china and
glassware displayed in cabinets),
and cartes de visité (2-inch by
4-inch photo cards of the candidate
that were placed in family
albums).
Over time,
formal campaign
materials
segued to more
casual and creative items. By the
1990s, campaign buttons gave
way to stickers, and campaigns
cut back on printed pieces in
favor of using mass media to
spread candidates’ messages.
“It’s the largest collection of
New York gubernatorial material
that exists,” said Winnewisser
last September, as he reviewed
the special one-day exhibition.
“It belongs here.” ■
From top to bottom,
Pin, 1902 (Alfred
Manierre was the
Prohibition candidate
for governor.); Pin, 1936;
Pin (for Nelson A.
Rockefeller), 1970;
and Pin, 2006.
Spring 2008 ■ 15

new york stories
Stoneware Jar by Paul Cushman
BY JOHN L. SCHERER
Senior Historian John L.
Scherer is curator of
decorative arts at the
New York State Museum.
Thanks to the generosity of Adam J. Weitsman
of Owego, an important example of Albany
stoneware has been added to the Weitsman
Collection of 19th century decorated stoneware at
the State Museum.
This unusual work is stamped repeatedly, more
than 36 times, with the mark of the potter “PAUL-
CUSHMAN’S:STONE-WARE-FACTORY-1809/HALF-A-
MILE-WEST OF ALBANY-GOAL.” These marks form
a pattern crisscrossing the jar and dividing it into
horizontal bands and vertical halves. The marks even
occur on the bottom of the jar. An inscription that
reads “C Russell/Pott/Sunday” and the date “1809”
is also incised several times.
Paul Cushman (1767–1833) was born in
Charlestown, New Hampshire, and, after a successful
career as a contractor, he purchased property on
Lion Street (later called Washington Street) in Albany
in 1805. Cushman’s Pottery was located near the
present-day intersection of Washington and Central
avenues. The stoneware he produced has creative
incised decorations with, or sometimes without,
block lettering indicating the name of the pottery.
Several existing pieces were decorated with coggle
wheels, while other more unusual motifs include
animals, such as fish and cows, and human figures.
Cushman’s most famous mark is the one used
over and over again on this jar. Goal is an alternate
spelling for jail.
This stoneware jar probably commemorates the
first piece of pottery fired at the Cushman kiln. The
inscription with the name “C Russell” lends credence
to this possibility. A Caleb Russell is found in the
1813 Albany City Directory as a mason living at
51 Deer Street, now State Street, not far from
Cushman’s address. Russell was also the fire inspector
for Albany’s second ward, which included the area
of Cushman’s pottery. Perhaps Russell constructed
Cushman’s kiln, and the jar was given to him to
commemorate the inaugural firing at the Cushman
pottery, which took place on a Sunday.
Interestingly, a decorated water cooler in the
Weitsman Collection made in Bennington, Vermont,
also bears the incised name of a mason living near
the potter’s kiln. It seems as though it may have
been a tradition for the potter to present the first
stoneware vessel made in the kiln to the mason
who constructed it. ■
Adam J. Weitsman acquired this jar from Leigh Keno, a renowned
collector and antiques dealer. It is featured along with 40 other
pieces of decorated stoneware in Art for the People: Decorated
Stoneware from the Weitsman Collection, a new exhibition in New
York Hall. NYSM H-L2007.7.1, 10 inches high x 7 1 /4 inches at waist.
16 ■ Legacy

close-ups
Clockwise from top left: From the Hands of the Creator sculpture, Governor’s Collection of Contemporary
Native American Art; Hat badge, c. 1925, “Equipment and supplies used by Pullman porters on the trains”
display, in the Black Capital: Harlem in the 1920s exhibition; Chinese character from the sign on the Tuck
High Co. front door, City of Neighborhoods; and Oscar the Grouch, in the Sesame Street exhibition.
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