All programs are free and open to the public.
Video recordings will be available on the Society’s YouTube channel following each event.
Wednesday, January 15
From Axe Blazes to Highlines
From Axe Blazes to Highlines will examine how the network of area hiking trails evolved over the past 150 years and how the techniques for trail building and maintenance have evolved as use levels have increased.
Presented by Tony Goodwin, Town of Keene Historian and chief of the Adirondack Mountain Club’s first professional trail crew of 1979.
Wednesday, February 19
Driven to the Poor House: The County Home in Whallonsburg
Driven to the Poor House will examine how early settlers and governments in Essex County faced the issue of poverty and how communities and public programs evolved to care for the poor and elderly.
Presented by Maggie Bartley, retired teacher, historian, lecturer, tour guide and a trustee of the Essex County Historical Society.
Wednesday, March 19
Aviation in the Adirondacks
Aviation in the Adirondacks will explore the history, events and the role of aviation in the Adirondacks through a range of historic images.
Presented by Aurora Pfaff, a writer and editor living and working in New York State’s Adirondack Park.
Wednesday, April 16
Celebrating Filmmaker Ken Richter and His Short Film Adirondack Holiday
PROGRAM CHANGE! First released in 1960, Adirondack Holiday showed Essex County as a four-season vacation paradise. Commissioned by the Essex Chamber of Commerce, this half-hour short was a fixture in local theaters, where it screened before features. Filmmaker Ken Richter was something of a fixture as well. An inventor and aviator, he lived for over 50 years in Essex, NY. In this program Daniel Eagen will describe how Richter, one of the country’s foremost travel lecturers, came to make the signature tourist film about the Adirondacks. Learn about Richter’s expansive career, including winning an Oscar in 1985. Following the presentation the audience will see the restored film showcasing Essex County in the early 1960s. Daniel Eagan is a writer and producer who first started hiking in the Adirondacks in 1983. He is the author of several books devoted to film and a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Variety, IndieWire, and other publications.
Copyright restrictions prevent the Historical Society from recording the movie for viewing on its YouTube channel.