Bannerman Trip is Sold Out!
After stopping by the post office this morning, the Bannerman trip on September 24th is fully booked! If you are interested in being on a waiting list, send us an email with your name and best contact information.
Author: pvhistoricalsociety
A Visit to West Point
On July 28th, a small group went on a tour of nearby West Point. We were fortunate enough to have gotten some pictures of the grounds…
…to compare to these pictures that are about 120 years old! The first four glass negatives in our collection are of West Point, taken sometime between 1895 and 1905 (by our best estimate, which is based on the dates on the negative folders).
While we can thank Michael Bennett for the crisp, color photos we have no idea who took the black and white photos. One of the many mysteries at our little museum. Whoever it was had ties to Putnam Valley and Peekskill, some of the slides are of the Barger family. But that’s another post for another day.
Our American History will return in September – we’ll be at Town Day in September – another trek to Bannerman is on Sunday September 24th, our Annual Meeting is in October, and plans for our Halloween Event are being made. Some smaller, community focused events are also being put together – keep an eye out here and on Facebook for more details – as well as plans for next year, when we celebrate our 50th Anniversary. In the meantime, visit the museum on Saturdays from 10:00AM – 2:00PM. You can check our our recent donations – 3 portraits of members of the Hadden family.
Alexander Hamilton, West Point, Bannerman Castle.
This past Thursday was the conclusion of the 2017 spring season of Our American History – and boy did we go out with a bang! It was our best attended session yet, with around 60 people in attendance. Many thanks to Rand Scholet for a wonderfully entertaining, informative, and exciting glimpse into the remarkable life of Alexander Hamilton.
We’d also like to thank the Tompkins Corners Cultural Center for lending us their space. The lawn outside was the perfect stage for our two lead actors to show us what (supposedly) happened that fateful day in Weehawken, New Jersey.
Stay tuned for a video of the duel.
Our American History will resume in the fall, but in the meantime we have a tour of West Point to look forward to, on July 29th
As well as registration for the fall tour of Bannerman Castle! If you missed it the first time around, or simply want to see it again – sign up soon! The spots filled very quickly last time.
Mark your calendars (or add it to your phone)
There’s a change in our schedule for Our American History for July…instead of being held on the second Saturday (the 8th) at 10:00AM, it will be on Thursday July 13th at the Tompkins Corners Cultural Center (the former TC Methodist Church) on Peekskill Hollow Road, at 7:00pm. Join us that evening for a presentation by Rand Scholet on Alexander Hamilton – George Washington’s Indispensable Partner, enjoy some summer evening treats…and witness a reenactment of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr that only Putnam Valley can pull off. You may be wondering who will be filling those famous shoes, you may have heard rumors – make sure you’re there to see it for yourself!
Bannerman Castle and WWI
The next installment of Our American History is coming up on June 10th – The Great War and the Human Condition: Experiences of Soldiers during World War I, presented by William Broggy. 2017 is the 100th Anniversary of the United States entry into WWI (we declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917). 
Last weekend, the historical society took what is now likely our inaugural trip to Bannerman Castle. Another trip will be planned in the fall, details to follow later this summer, and likely again next spring.
Our annual membership drive mailings also went out last week. If you are interested in becoming a member and are not on our mailing list, you can contact us at putnamvalleyhistory@gmail.com, or stop by the museum on Saturdays from 10:00AM to 2:00PM. We’ve had visitors every weekend this month, some by appointment, and some from out of state!
Tour of Bannerman – Sold Out!
We’ve filled all our available spots for the tour on the 20th! If you couldn’t make it this time, we are discussing the possibility of doing another trip in the fall – we’ll let everyone know later on in the summer.
Exhibit Opening on Saturday
Our exhibit for 2017 is opening this Saturday, May 6th, at 10:00AM. Crossroads: The Cornerstones of Putnam Valley will offer residents both lifelong and new a glimpse into the general history of those well known corners in town. The original goal was to set everything up as a map that you could walk through but given the space constraints it had to be scaled back quite a bit. Equally challenging was narrowing down the photo selection. So many pictures, so little space! The photo on the flyer was one I knew I wanted to use, and I can’t remember if it’s been posted on here or Facebook yet. Do you recognize the corners?
May 13th is the next Our American History program, about slavery in New York.
May 20th is our highly anticipated tour of Bannerman Castle. Spots are going quickly so if you are interested in going, make sure you register today!
The day following the tour (May 21st) is a special program presented by The Reform Temple of Putnam Valley, the Friends of the Putnam Valley Library, and the Putnam Valley Historical Society at the library at 3:00PM featuring author Annette Libeskind Berkovits as she discusses In the Unlikeliest of Places – How Nachman Libeskind Survived the Nazis, Gulags, and Soviet Communism.
As you can see, we have a pretty busy month ahead of us. Hope to see you soon!
P.S. – We finally got our fire proof file cabinets, and boy are they heavy! They are in their new home in our back room, which is a mess right now with the exhibit prep. Starting May 7th, I’ll be diving right back into organization and scanning.
