History Room Programs

The Hudson Area Library hosts an exhibition curated from a scrapbook of the Society to Promote Our Unique Town (SPOUT) that is part of its Arthur Koweek Urban Renewal collection. The reception includes a talk, as well as wine, cheese, and Talbott & Arding whale cookies. SPOUT-related merchandise designed by Kelley Drahushuk and Alan Coon (co-owners, Spotty Dog Books & Ale) will also be for sale. 

Date/Time:
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 11, 6pm
Exhibition on view: May and June 2023

Location: In person, Hudson Area Community Room

Registration: No registration required; all are welcome!

Dr. Voorhees, director of the Jacob Leisler Institute for Early New York History, speaks on the prominent role women played in the 1689-1691 New York uprising against King James II’s government popularly known as the “Leisler Rebellion.” Numerous references to female political activism are found in the records of the rebellion. Indeed, historians note that women played a prominent role in the uprising. This presentation explores women’s involvement in New York politics a generation after the English takeover of New Netherland in both the local and broader Atlantic World contexts.

Date/Time: Thursday, June 29, 6pm

Location: In person, Hudson Area Library Community Room

Registration: No registration required. All are welcome. For more information, email brenda.shufelt@hudsonarealibrary.org or call 518-828-1792 x106

The Jacob Leisler Library Lectures are made partially possible through the generous support of the Van Dyke Family Foundation and Hudson River Bank and Trust.

On Thursday, June 24, Dr. Evan Haefeli, historian of colonial North America and the Atlantic world at Texas A&M University, discussed the history of the Iroquois Confederacy’s relations with its Indigenous neighbors to the east and south, especially the people of the Hudson Valley, in a joint program with the Hudson Area Library History Room and the Jacob Leisler Institute for the Study of Early New York History.

The talk is viewable in full on the library’s YouTube channel, and the video includes Dr. Haefeli’s answers to questions asked by virtual attendees of the event.

The Jacob Leisler Library Lectures are made partially possible through the generous support of the Van Dyke Family Association.

On Thursday, March 25, 2021 Gary Sheffer, library board of trustees member and History Room Committee chair, interviewed Leo Bower, local resident and historian, on all things Shantytown for this special LIVE History Room on Zoom. Learn about the history of Shantytown/The Furgary from the 1600s to the present day.

The talk is viewable in full on the library’s YouTube channell, or here on our library website.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuAL3yP31dI

On Thursday, November 19, Heather Bruegl, director of community affairs for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community and member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, spoke on the history of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, a band of Mahicans who inhabited the land that makes up New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Vermont. Their original territory includes the land where our library is located.

The talk is viewable in full on the library’s YouTube channel, and the video includes Heather’s answers to questions asked by virtual attendees of the event.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire globe in a historic way. The killing of George Floyd has sparked protests in our community, nation, and around the world as well as demands for police reform and restructuring to combat systemic racism in society. Both of these events serve as the inspiration to collect the history of our community during this time for use by future researchers. The Hudson Area Library History Room Committee invites you to submit images (photos, artwork), videos, and words (poems, stories, journal entries, personal essays) that help to document the personal experiences of our community in 2020.

Those wishing to contribute to the archive can submit work through the library’s website by following the link “Community Archiving of Local History” found underneath the main banner on the home page or by clicking here. If you are contributing works as physical items rather than digital submissions, please also submit using the form on the website to schedule your drop-off. In keeping with the mission of the Hudson Area Library’s History Room, we request that all submissions be either from individuals who live in the library’s service area – Hudson, Greenport and Stockport – or that feature these areas as the main subject.

To learn more about our community’s rich history, please visit our History Room page.

In this episode of The History Room on Zoom, Gary interviews David Voorhees of the Jacob Leisler Institute for the Study of Early NY History and Tina Lesem, who works at the Hudson Area Library and the Jacob Leisler Institute, on the history of the US Census and the importance of completing the 2020 Census.

Our library team is here to help you and your neighbors complete the 2020 Census – due September 30, 2020. We have team members ready to assist you in English, Spanish, Bengali, and Mandarin Chinese. For an appointment email info@hudsonarealibrary.org. You can also submit your census form online at 2020census.gov.

We’ve embedded the video above for your convenience. If you wish to view the video on YouTube, please click here. For more interviews and videos, and to learn more about our community’s rich history, please visit our History Room page.

UPDATE: Both tours are currently filled. For information on the history of the cemetery click here for Dan Udell’s video of Kelley’s tour from two years ago AND click here for Gary Sheffer’s interview with Kelley about the cemetery as part of our History Room on Zoom series.

Program Description:  Kelley Drahushuk’s talk at the library, Raising the Dead: Tales from Hudson’s Crypts, was so popular we began this tour of Cedar Park Cemetery and it has become an annual event. Kelley once again acts as our tour guide and has added new graves and new stories to the tours.

Date/Time: 1. Saturday, October 17, 12-1:30pm (RAINDATE: Sunday, October 18, 12-1:30pm

2. Saturday, October 24, 12-1:30pm (RAINDATE: Sunday, October 25, 12-1:30pm).

Registration: Required and participation is limited to 10 participants. Mask wearing and social distancing at all times is required. Register by emailing programs@hudsonarealibrary.org or calling 518-828-1792 x101.

Donations are appreciated but not required and they will support the archiving of the library’s History Room collection based in the history of Hudson, Greenport and Stockport.

Attendees will meet in the cemetery office parking lot promptly at 12pm. As this is a walking tour, wear appropriate footwear & dress for the weather & conditions. We may encounter uneven ground, semi-steep hills, and mud and will not always be sticking to the paved pathways.

Long-touted as “a virtual treasure trove for historians and enthusiasts of American funerary art”, the Hudson Cemetery includes over 10,000 grave sites for a wide range of interesting and notable individuals, including the Proprietors and their ancestors, war heroes, famous artists, paragons of industry, disaster survivors and much more. Learn about the history of the original cemetery, more recent history and discoveries as well as its current layout. All attendees will receive a free map of Cedar Park with highlighted sites discussed in this presentation—do your own walking tour and make new discoveries!

Kelley Drahushuk is a long-time resident of Hudson, NY with family history in the city dating back to the 1800’s. She, along with her husband Alan, own The Spotty Dog Books and Ale, now in its 14th year of operation on Hudson’s Warren Street in the former CH Evans Hook & Ladder building. She has served on the board of the Hudson Area Library and continues as a member of the History Room Committee. She earned a BS from Rochester Institute of Technology in Industrial Engineering. Two adorable children, a very chill cat and two noisy guinea pigs keep her quite busy.

The Hudson Area Library’s History Room Committee Local History Speaker Series offers free monthly talks on diverse topics related to the history of Hudson, Greenport, Stockport, and Columbia County. The library’s History Room houses a special collection that pertains to the history of the City of Hudson, Greenport and Stockport; as well as Columbia County and New York State.

The History Room is closed to the public at this time but online research requests are available at https://hudsonarealibrary.org/history-room/ and the public can submit requests for information on local history that volunteers will research.

The Hudson Area Library is located at 51 North Fifth Street in Hudson, NY. The mission of the library is to enrich the quality of life by providing free and equal access to programs, services and resources, and by creating opportunities for all members of our community to connect, create, learn and grow. For more information visit hudsonarealibrary.org.

In this episode of The History Room on Zoom, Gary interviews Rob Perry, head of Hudson’s DPW. They talk about rumors of underground tunnels, a subject inspired by some recent research requests to the History Room! We’ve embedded the video here for your convenience. If you wish to view the video on YouTube, please click here. For more interviews and videos, and to learn more about our community’s rich history, please visit our History Room page. We even have a form for you to submit your own research request!