New York's Capital Region in 50 Objects

New York's Capital Region in 50 Objects

Introduction

Each region of the nation has its own distinctive history and identity. The New York’s Capital Region—consisting of Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Saratoga Counties—is no different. But what best identifies the region? What events, objects, people, and ideas have contributed to its character and uniqueness?

To learn the answers, we presented these questions to the numerous museums, historical organizations, libraries, and residents of the Capital Region. The fifty objects that were ultimately selected present an exciting history of the Capital Region, including well-known favorites but also unexpected surprises. Some of the fifty objects characterize very broad topics like the textile industry and the Hudson River School of art, while others embody large populations of people who shaped the character of the region, such as the Dutch and the Iroquois. Many objects represent specific people or events, such as writer William Kennedy and the Battle of Saratoga. In some instances, the objects represent themselves, like the GE Monitor Top refrigerator and Albany’s beloved Nipper statue. A complementary image accompanies each of the fifty objects, providing context and additional information.

Overall, the fifty objects clearly demonstrate that this narrowly circumscribed part of New York State has played an astonishing role in shaping the history of the nation and, in several instances, the world beyond the confines of our national borders.

Albany Female Proprietors

The decorated woman’s hat shown here was made and sold by Hendrie & Campbell, an Albany millinery partnership formed by Scottish immigrants Isabelle B. Hendrie and Mary J. Campbell. Located first on N. Pearl Street and then at 11 Leonard Place, the firm of Hendrie & Campbell competed with roughly three dozen other milliners and lasted for over thirty years. A major competitor was the McQuade Millinery Shop at 234 State Street, which was also a female-owned business.

The McQuade sisters, Maude C. and Mary E., and the Scottish immigrants Hendrie and Campbell were four of the thousands of female entrepreneurs who ran small businesses in the Capital Region between about 1830 and 1930. Most female entrepreneurs were found in the millinery and dressmaking trades, but women in the Capital Region also made and sold men’s collars, shirts, boots, furnishings, and cigars. They ran boarding houses, restaurants, commercial laundries, hotels, saloons, tobacco shops, and liquor stores. A few women were undertakers, blacksmiths, coopers, and plumbers. Small businesses like the McQuade Millinery Shop and Hendrie & Campbell began to vanish from downtown neighborhoods in the twentieth century, finding it difficult to compete with department stores.

Was Albany uniquely friendly to businesswomen? It is difficult to say. Thanks to recent scholarship, we know more about female entrepreneurs in the Capital Region than other regions of the United States.

Woman’s Hat

Made by Misses Hendrie and Campbell, Albany, New York | 1915-1922

Maker: Made by Misses Hendrie and Campbell, Albany, New York

Credit: Gift of Mrs. Lawrence O’Donnell

Scroll down to view additional content

Albany Congress

At the outbreak of the French and Indian War, British officials urged colonial leaders to meet and prepare a defense strategy. The meetings that resulted are known as the Albany Congress, and they took place at Albany’s Stadt Huys (City Hall) from June 19 to July 11, 1754.

Discussions focused on two specific issues: Indian negotiations and unification of the British colonies. Colonial officials specifically wanted a commitment from the Iroquois Confederation supporting the British instead of their enemy the French. Iroquois leaders, however, were not anxious to commit themselves to either side, but prefered to wait and see if they could ally with the victor. Despite these obstacles, the Albany Congress did succeed at winning a moderate commitment from the Iroquois Confederation in return for bribes of weapons and supplies.

Prior to the meeting at Albany, Benjamin Franklin published a cartoon in the May 9, 1754, issue of his newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, that showed a dissected snake with each part identified as one of the British colonies. The cartoon visualized the importance of unity as they confronted the French over control of the North America.

At the Albany Congress, Franklin and Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson served as the main authors of what became known as the Albany Plan of Union. Simply stated, the document was a plan for a federated colonial government with an executive officer appointed by the King. This single executive officer would be responsible for Indian relations, military preparedness, and the execution of laws regulating various trade and financial activities. Delegates at Albany approved the Plan of Union, but neither King George II nor a single colonial assembly ratified it. Despise its rejection, some features of the plan were later adopted in the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution.

Bust of Ben Franklin

Late nineteenth century

Credit: Albany Institute of History & Art

“Join or Die” Cartoon

Printed in The Pennsylvania Gazette

May 9, 1754

Woodcut on paper

Courtesy of Library of Congress

Scroll down to view additional content

Albany Pine Bush Preserve

The 3,200-acre Albany Pine Bush Preserve, located west of Albany in New York’s Capital District, protects one of the best remaining inland pitch pine-scrub oak barrens in the world. This extraordinary fire-dependent habitat is home to a diversity of life including the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly. Recognized as a National Natural Landmark, the Pine Bush is also a local treasure used by visitors for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, hunting, and more.

Formed thousands of years ago, only a fraction of the Pine Bush survives today. In 1988, the New York State Legislature established the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, a unique partnership that works with willing landowners and municipal, state, federal, and private partners to protect, restore, and manage this globally rare, nationally significant, and locally distinct ecosystem.

The endangered Karner blue butterfly has become a symbol of the Albany Pine Bush and the effort to conserve this ecosystem. Inspired by the Karner blue, artists Matt Hart and Chip Fasciana created the sculpture Butterfly. Hart is the owner, visionary, and artisan of Hartist Metals and Feral Fly Works—Sculpture, Design, and Function in metals with endless potentials. Fasciana has shown work extensively in New York City and London, UK. He has public murals and sculptures in New York and California and his art has been featured in the New York Times and has won Masterpiece Award at the Albany Institute of History [&] Art for the Tomorrow’s Masters Today exhibition.

Butterfly

Matt Hart and Chip Fasciana

2008

Stainless steel

Courtesy of Albany Pine Bush Preserve

Controlled Burn at Albany Pine Bush

Digital photograph

Courtesy of Albany Pine Bush Preserve

Scroll down to view additional content