New York State Library | Friends Groups
November 14, 2006: The Friends of NYSL presented a lecture on William C. Bouck, who was governor of New York from 1842 to 1844. Edward A. Hagan, former Schoharie County Historian, meticulously researched Bouck over a period of twenty years and became an authority on Bouck, who was perhaps the most noteworthy individual Schoharie has produced. Although Hagan died before he could complete his planned biography, his widow, Stasia Hagan, published her husband's life-time work, William C. Bouck, New York's Farmer Governor, in 2006. Lester Hendrix, Editor, discussed the book and the life of Governor Bouck.
May 2, 2006: In anticipation of the Friends’ spring trip to Schoharie County, author and local historian Jeff O’Connor spoke about life in the 'Schohary' from the 1770's through the Revolutionary War period. Many little known facts leading up to the Battle of Saratoga were brought to light. The author's first book is entitled, Thunder in the Valley.
March 28, 2006: Historian and nonfiction author Taylor Branch read from and discussed his recently released book, At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68, the third volume in a trilogy about the history of the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Branch is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award for Parting the Waters, the first volume in the trilogy.
Mr. Ishiguro won the Booker Prize for The Remains of the Day, and is
also the author of When We Were Orphans, The Unconsoled, and An
Artist of the Floating World.
December
2, 2004: Author Joseph Ellis discussed his newest book, His Excellency:
George Washington, a penetrating biography of the nearly-crowned first president.
The book attempts to "bring to life in all his complexity the most important
and perhaps least understood figure in American history." (Sponsored by
the New York State Library, the Friends of the New York State Library, and the
New York State Writer's Institute.)
November
9, 2004: Author Joseph Persico discussed his book 11th Month,
11th Day, 11th Hour: Armistice Day, 1918. The event was sponsored by the
NY State Library, the Friends of the NY State Library, the NYS Writers Institute
and the New York State Council on the Arts.
June 2004: Paul Grondahl discussed his new book, I Rose Like
a Rocket: The Political Education of Theodore Roosevelt. This event was
sponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library, the New York State Library,
and the NYS Writers Institute.
More information is available at the New
York State Writer's Institute. See also: Theodore
Roosevelt: A Selected Bibliography of His Works in the New York State Library.
March 2004: (Annual Meeting of the Friends of the State
Library) Author Russell Shorto
spoke about The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch
Manhattan, the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America.
Mr. Shorto was joined by Dr. Charles Gehring of the New York
State Library's New Netherland Project. To learn more about this new work, go
to www.islandatthecenter.com.
Then click on Read
an Excerpt to read Mr. Shorto's tribute to Dr. Gehring and the work of the
New Netherland Project, which became the exciting "hub" of the author's
research.
Sponsored by the Friends of the New York State Library, the New York State Library,
the NYS Writers Institute, and the Friends of New Netherland.
December
2003: A Conversation with Charlotte Wilcoxen: The author spoke
about her more than half a century of research and publications on Albany and
Dutch trade and ceramics. She is the author of Seventeenth Century Albany:
A Dutch Profile and Dutch Trade and Ceramics In America in the Seventeenth Century.
She has also lectured widely and contributed numerous articles to journals in
her fields of interest.|
October 2003 - Beverwijck: Albany's Frontier Village - Dr. Janny Venema, an associate of the New Netherland Project, discussed her new book Beverwijck: A Dutch Village on the American Frontier, 1652-1664. A book signing and reception followed the lecture. |
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March
2003 - Roderic H. Blackburn was the guest speaker at the annual
meeting of the Friends of the New York State Library. Dr. Blackburn discussed
his new book, Dutch Colonial Homes in America. Beautifully illustrated
with photographs by Geoffrey Gross and Susan Piatt, the book "examines
the homes in their broader social context by focusing on the historical and
religious forces of the times." This lecture was co-sponsored by the Friends
of the New York State Library, the New
Netherland Institute/Friends of New Netherland, and the New
York State Library.