Upstate Institute News and Announcements

This summer, I had the opportunity to work at The Cornelius Whitney Vanderbilt Long Lake Public Library (CWVLLPL) in Hamilton County, NY, and witnessed firsthand the essential role it plays in the community. My role is to help fill the void of a summer reading program and address the community's achievement gap and summer learning slide. I designed and led the summer reading programs, which included three weekly events: crafternoons, storytimes, and infant hangouts. I also conducted a community-based research project to assess how the Long Lake Public Library fulfills its mission and determine the community's perception of the library.

This summer, I was partnered with the Community Action Partnership (CAP) in Madison County to determine the availability of subsidized housing options in the county. CAP is a local non-profit business which has many outreach programs that offer assistance to the low- and moderate-income community. Their mission is to assist individuals, families, and children with society’s problems today, to build a stronger future for themselves and the community.

This summer, I have had the opportunity to work with the Chenango Greenway Conservancy based out of Norwich, NY through the Upstate Institute’s Summer Field School. The rail-trail committee within the Greenway aims to establish a 60-mile multi-use rail-trail along the current New York Susquehanna & Western (NYS&W) railway corridor from Chenango Forks to just South of Sangerfield. The “Chenango Heritage Rail Trail” would connect the communities of the Chenango Valley in a transformative way that stimulates future growth and community development, while also honoring the history of the people, river, canal and railroads that have shaped these communities.

This summer I worked on three projects with the Oneida County History Center (OCHC) in Utica, NY., a small, but mighty, non-profit organization focused on preserving and sharing the history of Oneida County and the greater Mohawk Valley. Firstly, I was to create a panel for a plaque outside OCHC’s front entrance. This panel was to commemorate the addition of their building to the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Secondly, I was to organize the Center’s attic, which served as an archive for their organizational and business records. Lastly, I was to create content for their social media to increase engagement. These three projects hope to help the Center and Community engage in a fruitful relationship and ensure efficiency as the organization grows. 

The National Abolition Hall of Fame (NAHOF), located on the second floor of the historic Presbyterian church in Peterboro, NY, “honors anti-slavery abolitionists, their work to end slavery, and the legacy of that struggle, and strives to complete the second and ongoing abolition–the moral conviction to end racism.” My role this summer involved hosting daily tours at the museum, but my larger project was to develop three interactive learning modules for 11th graders. These three modules focused on slavery, abolition, and emancipation, with an emphasis on Upstate New York history.

This summer, I had the privilege of working with the Lake Moraine Association (LMA) in Hamilton, NY, as part of the Upstate Institute's Summer Field School. The LMA is a dedicated nonprofit organization focused on preserving the natural beauty and ecological health of Lake Moraine. My primary project was archiving the LMA’s historical documents, which include meeting minutes, reports, and newsletters. This archival work is essential for preserving the association's history and helps us understand how past efforts can guide future initiatives.

This summer, I worked on the B-Team project at the Friends of Rogers Center, which helps educate the public about native bees and the issues they face, then encourage the public to take action within their communities to create pollinator habitats and partake in other behaviors that benefit native bees. I managed a multi-media outreach and education campaign, hosted educational nature walks and B-team meetings, expanded the B-team webpage, ran a volunteer event for invasive species removal, and worked on implementing new pollinator habitat space.

This summer, I have been privileged to contribute to the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts’s History Project. Sadly, many of ALCA’s records have been lost, and a significant component of my work has included organizing and cataloging the Arts Center’s many records with the enormous help of several volunteers: Marti Evanoff, Boka Baglieri, Lenore Maynard, and Annabelle Anderson. These records, which include historic photographs, posters, pamphlets, and more, help paint part of ALCA’s rich story. I have also helped digitize many of these records with the help of the Adirondack Experience, the Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, working most closely with their librarian, Jenny Ambrose. 

This summer I had the opportunity to work with Pathfinder Village, a community that provides support for individuals with Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities. My project this summer focused on raising awareness and building community bonds for Council Rock,which is a self-advocacy group run by adult men and women who live at Pathfinder. Members of this group meet weekly to discuss equal access, independence, and volunteerism.

This summer, I worked with Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) – an economic development organization that works to build a stable, equitable economy for all residents in the Adirondack North Country region. ANCA works to achieve this goal with four teams: small businesses, clean energy, food systems, and equity and belonging. My work this summer has been with ANCA’s small business team, which exists to keep small businesses open and thriving, because they are an integral part of our rural economy.