Professor Wayne Franklin discusses the life and work of James Fenimore Cooper, his inspiration for and work on the French and Indian War novel The Last of the Mohicans, and the influence of his depiction of this war on U.S. popular novels, works on the war, literature and on the colonial-era history of the U.S. Franklin also covers, in relation, the history of fiction-writing and novels in the U.S.
Author Lisa Alther talks about her work to trace her family genealogy and determine whether her ancestry includes any members of a perhaps-folkloric group of Tennessee residents called the "Melungeons." She talks about how people reconstruct their family trees, adding and omitting to create the history they wish to remember.
Author Mark Kurlansky reviews the history of New York City, using the perspective of the wildlife that once lived in the area as a framing device—particularly that of the eastern oyster.
The lecture audio is available separately for download.
The Old Fort Niagara State Historic Site preserves Fort Niagara, founded in 1726. The majority of structures on site date from the 18th and 19th centuries. The fort is strategically located at the mouth of the Niagara River. As a result, it was crucial to deciding American dominance in the Great Lakes Region, as opposed to control by the French or British. Both the British and French controlled either the fort itself or the site of the fort at various points of time. Soldiers lived and trained on site for both World Wars. The fort also shaped the history of the Iroquois. Collections include more than 102,000 artifacts.
The site offers period rooms, student programs, guided tours for students, school overnight programs, school outreach programs, and school distance learning programs. The website offers a virtual tour.
The Sterling Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Sterling, NY. To this end, the society operates the Little Red School House Museum. Housed within an 1825 schoolhouse, the museum contains exhibits on military history, area industry, and local artifacts, among other topics.
The society offers exhibits and an hour-and-15-minute narrated boat tour of Fair Haven's bay.
The Women's Rights National Historical Park is located in Seneca Falls, New York, and marks the site of the first public convention on women's rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and four other women called the convention in 1848. The park features a visitor center and is also home to a stop on the Underground Railroad, which is now open to visitors.
The park offers guided tours, exhibits, field trip programs, and special events. The website offers visitor information, historical information regarding the park, a calendar of events, and sample lesson plans and curriculum guides for teachers. In order to contact the park via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.
The Rye Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Rye, New York. To this end, the society operates the Square House Museum, located within a circa 1730 tavern, and the Knapp House Archives, housed in a circa 1670 residence. Collections include 8,000 artifacts ranging from vernacular items and costume to the decorative and fine arts. The archives boast more than 15,000 items. The Square House contains six period rooms which include recreations of a 19th-century bedroom, the village's 1904 council room, and an 18th-century tavern room.
The museum offers period rooms, exhibits, self-guided tours, guided tours, historic crafts, traveling trunks, bus tours, walking tours, hands-on history workshops, slide shows, and summer camp. The archives offer public access, exhibits, and historical gardens.
The Niagara County Historical Society owns and operates the Historical Museum at Lockport, a local history museum which chronicles the history of life in American and Niagara County over the last 175 years. The museum is composed of seven distinct buildings with the Outwater House serves as the main portion of the museum. There are also three other historic house museums, a fire house, transportation building, and barn.
The museum offers exhibits and historic house museums. Guided tours are available by appointment. The museum also contains a library, which is open on the weekends year round. The website offers visitor information, and brief histories of all of the buildings which comprise the museum.
City Lore seeks to preserve and share New York City's history. To this end, they have created the C.A.R.T.S. (Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students) project; and maintain a resource library with more than 1,500 books, 120,000 slides, and audio and visual materials related to oral histories and traditional arts.
City Lore offers educator workshops; residencies, 8- to 20-week programs of fine arts, folk arts, historical, cultural, or folklore education; and a resource center. Appointments are required when visiting the resource center.
The Martin Van Buren National Historic Site contains of Lindenwald, the 220-acre farm where Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) spent the last 21 years of his life. Having served as Secretary of State, Vice President, and the eighth President of the United States, Van Buren conducted two additional (unsuccessful) presidential campaigns from this house before retiring as a gentleman farmer. His administration (1837-1841) is largely remembered for the Panic of 1837, which preceded a five-year economic depression. Conflict concerning the need to maintain national unity and Van Buren's disapproval of the institution of slavery in newly admitted states presaged the upcoming Civil War. The mansion itself contains 36 rooms.
The site offers mansion and grounds guided tours, period rooms, and educational programming. These programs consist of in-classroom activities, with one program also making use of web-based learning. The website offers an extensive virtual tour of the mansion.