Office of State History

This episode focuses on culinary history and the Pomeroy Foundation’s Hungry for History program. We discover that the history of what we eat, and how we eat it, can tell us much about ourselves and our shared pasts. Markers of Focus:...

  As New York State prepares to host the oldest state fair in the nation, this episode tells the history of the summertime tradition of agricultural fairs and how they developed from gatherings of learned societies into the popular attract...

This episode tells the story of Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline “Harriet” Acland, aristocratic wife of Major John Dyke Acland, who commanded the British 20th Regiment of Foot during the Burgoyne campaign of 1777. When Major Acland was wounded an...

This episode tells the story of Ronek Park, a non-discriminatory housing development built in 1950 in the village of North Amityville. Unlike the many housing developments created in the post-WWII U.S. that followed the practice of redlining and d...

The New York State 250th Commemoration Commission will be holding a meeting Wednesday, May 15th beginning at 10:30am. The meeting is open to the public and take place at the New York State Museum’s Huxley Theater, located at 22...

May is Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month and in celebration this episode highlights the community history of Manhattan’s Chinatown, one of the oldest and largest Chinese and Chinese American communities in the United States. The ...

New York History invites submissions for a special volume on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in New York to be published by Cornell University Press in Spring 2026. New York was a leading participant in the Revolutionary process a...

On this month’s episode, Devin and Lauren explore the story of Plymouth Freeman, a black Patriot who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and discuss how disenfranchised communities have harkened back to the promises outl...

New Deadline: January 12, 2024 The New York History Conference is still accepting proposals that deal with the history, culture, economy, politics, geography, anthropology, or archaeology of New York State. We also welcome proposals that use Ne...

For our first episode of this new season, we’re celebrating Native American Heritage Month with a conversation regarding how historians can center authentic indigenous voices and work with Native American communities across the state in planning f...

The New York History Conference is accepting proposals that deal with the history, culture, economy, politics, geography, anthropology, or archaeology of New York State. We also welcome proposals that use New York’s history as a lens to understa...

For our season finale, Devin and Lauren tell the story of the Fox sisters, who rose to fame as early practitioners of modern spiritualism in the 19th Century. Margaretta and Catherine Fox were able to convince many people that they could commune w...

On this episode, Devin and Lauren tell the story of the Florence Farming and Lumber Association, a settlement of free African Americans in Oneida County beginning in 1846. The Association was the creation of abolitionists Gerrit Smith and Stephen ...

On this episode, Devin and Lauren learn about an enclave of restaurants, bars and resorts that catered to predominately Latin American clientele near the Catskill Mountains. As more and more Latinos immigrated to New York City for work, they began...

Please save the date for this new annual history conference! The New York State Museum, State Library, State Archives, and the New York State Archives Partnership Trust, in collaboration with the Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College ...