Newsworthy 2024 02

New Insights into Pre-Civil War Free Black Communities Program Committee: The Program Committee is excited to invite you to a special Black History Month program with DCHS Executive Director Bill Jeffway on Thursday, February 22 at 7pm via Zoom, sponsored by the Dutchess County Government. Greater Risks, Global Dynamics: New Insights into Local Free Black Communities Before the Civil War will explore the global connections of local free Black communities and the many risks that free Blacks in so-called “free states” (like NY after its 1827 abolition of slavery) faced on a daily basis.  As abolition either approached or passed in northern states, the selling of northern free and enslaved Blacks into a life of enslavement in the US South took forms both illegal, and in some instances, with a thin and corrupt veneer of legality.The program will introduce you to local men, women and children engaged in the battle against enslavement until it was extinguished not just locally, but nationally, in part by looking at the recent online trail published by Celebrating the African Spirit.  To register click here. We want to thank DCHS Board Member David Turner for an excellent January program, How the Automobile Changed the Hudson Valley Landscape through Vintage Postcards.  We had great attendance on the Zoom session, and I am pleased to share that the program is now available on-demand through our Virtual Event Space.We are grateful to Healey Brothers for sponsoring this program and the entire DCHS Virtual Event Space for the month of January.  The Program Committee is putting together several great programs and events that I look forward to sharing in next month’s newsletter. Stay tuned!Be sure to follow us on Facebook. Andy Villani, Chair Program Committee

Read an online version of DCHS Executive Director Bill Jeffway’s regular Decoding Dutchess Past in the Northern/Southern Dutchess News / Beacon Free Press that uses the recent HBO series The Gilded Age as a springboard into a look at local Black history during that period.

Membership The Membership Committee would like to encourage all members to consider paying their dues in the first quarter of 2024, to facilitate the overall planning for the year, and consider adding a small donation to their dues payment.We appreciate every member’s support and involvement in the Society. We also rely on each member to enthusiastically invite friends and acquaintances to join DCHS at any time during the year. Check out www.dchsny.org to learn about additional member benefits becoming available in the coming months, and to enjoy the plethora of historical programs and resources available to everyone. Betsy Strauss, Eileen Hayden, Karen Lambdin, Membership Committee

Collections Committee: New Collection…The Historical Society is proud to announce it has accepted the Harold Mangold Sr. and Harold Mangold Jr. Collection.  This fascinating group of items related primarily to Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park was originally assembled by Harold Mangold Sr.  Upon his death, his son Harold continued to seek out items of interest related to the two communities and to expand the collection.  The Mangolds had eclectic tastes; the collection includes photographs, maps, documents, glass plate negatives, commemorative pin buttons, and local memorabilia and ephemera. Harold Jr., known to all as Hal, was raised in Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park and graduated from Franklin D. Roosevelt High School.  He was a founding partner of the law firm Mangold and Mahar, practiced law in Dutchess County for over 50 years and eventually retired as a partner in the firm of McCabe and Mack LLP.  He was widely recognized for his contributions to the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Historical Association and the Anderson School.  He served as the President of the Dutchess County Bar Association and the Dutchess County Magistrate’s Association.DCHS extends its heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Mangold’s wife Marjorie and his children for trusting us to care for this precious collection.

Below: Some less familiar images of commercial trucks and shop interiors from the early 20th century make up part of the Mangold Collection:

New Intern Welcome to our new intern from Vassar College.  Joining us for the spring semester, Celeste Pozderec will receive her Bachelor of Arts in English with History and Medieval and Renaissance Studies Minors in May.  After a gap year, she hopes to pursue a degree in Library Science.  What makes her perfectly suited to join us is her extensive experience working with local history collections.  She has served previous internships with the Long Island Museum at Stony Brook, the Town of Babylon Office of Historic Services, and the Village of Babylon Historical and Preservation Society.  While at Vassar she has worked in the college library digitizing its historic newspaper collection.  Celeste will be working to organize, catalog and produce a finding aid for the recently-received Mangold Collection. If you’re in the area, please drop by and check out the new collection and say hello to Celeste. New Spring Exhibit: Firefighting in Dutchess County One of the great benefits of DCHS’s new Rhinebeck location is the opportunity to mount changing exhibits.  Shortly after our relocation last August we hung several of the paintings of Caroline M. Clowes and one of the educational panels that had been part of the fall 2022 retrospective of her work at Locust Grove.  This spring we are looking to create our first new exhibit in our new space.  The theme of the exhibit, as will be the theme of the 2024 Yearbook, will be “Firefighting In Dutchess County.”  The choice of the theme was driven by two things happening locally relative to this popular topic.  When the Dutchess County Fair opens this August there will be a new building in the area near the train station and the school – a replica firehouse.  This exciting new educational exhibit has been developed in collaboration with the Firefighting Museum of Dutchess County.  Founded in 2008 the organization has been collecting items related to firefighting in the county and has for several years shared portions of their collection at the annual fair.  We are grateful to the leadership of this organization for their willingness to share their expertise with us as we explore this popular topic.  Also available to us are the extensive collections of the Rhinebeck Fire Department.  DCHS has recently agreed to partner with the fire department in the inventorying and cataloging of their extensive photographic and documentary collections.  Watch for an upcoming announcement of what we hope will be a fascinating look at an important part of Dutchess County’s history.Melodye Moore, Chair Collections CommitteeBelow: The long history of firefighting in Dutchess County is a central topic for 2024. DCHS Collections.

2024 DCHS Yearbook call for articles DCHS seeks to promote and interpret local history through the publication of original research and case studies that address personalities, places, businesses, and events in and from Dutchess County, New York, as well as the county’s relationship to national and international events. The Yearbook features three sections: a forum of articles focused on a specific theme, general county history articles, and brief notes. Full articles should be approximately 2,500-5000 words in length, while notes should be around 800 words in length. The Dutchess County Historical Society Publications Committee actively solicits articles, essays, reports from the field, and case studies that support the historical society’s mission to procure, promote, and preserve the history of Dutchess County.For the 2024 forum, DCHS seeks articles and notes focusing on emergency services, including Fire Departments, Police Departments, and other first responders. The latter group includes those public servants who have provided relief to the needy residents of our county, from the overseers of the poor of the eighteenth century to modern government services. As always, the DCHS Publications Committee welcomes submissions on all aspects of Dutchess County’s past for consideration.For a full set of submission guidelines or to submit a piece to the DCHS Publications Committee, please contact the editor, Rick Levitt, by email or via mail at DCHS, 6282 Route 9, Rhinebeck, NY12572.Submissions are being actively accepted.

New Location, New Sponsors, New Ways to Support Us Development CommitteeThe DCHS Development Committee would like to welcome two new DCHS sponsors!  Healey Automotive Group and Blacktop Maintenance (BTM)/Petrovits Family have joined the distinguished list of generous supporters of DCHS. We pleased that the Dutchess County government  continues its longstanding support of our programs for Black History month.We encourage other businesses and organizations to follow their example.  Feel free to spread the word about our new location, all the interesting and informative educational programs we offer, and the importance of our mission.  The sponsorship levels are as follows:Annual Corporate Supporter: $2,000 (Tailored, Includes Membership) Monthly Program Sponsor: $1,000 (Your Logo/Website link) Event Sponsor: $500 (Your Logo/Website link)As a reminder, the Dutchess County Historical Society is a not-for-profit and relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations, and businesses in our community for support.  There are many ways to give and become involved.Learn More:Become a DCHS Member.DCHS website.Thank you for your interest in the Dutchess County Historical Society and we look forward to hearing from you!Wayne Nussbickel Chair, Development Committee