Update on 48 Hudson

We are thrilled to announce that because of 42 separate investors, HAF was able to reach, and surpass, our $250,000 goal last Friday afternoon ... with 3 minutes to spare!  What a wonderful nailbiter it was.  We are so grateful that we were able to secure $261,000 in tax credit investments to help move the project along. 

Please watch this newsletter for more updates as we move into the next phase of restoring Albanby's oldest building.

THANK YOU!

We will have the doors open wide at 48 Hudson for First Friday on July 5th from 5:30-6:30. Come and see all of the amazing work that has been happening over just the last couple of months and help us celebrate meeting our tax credit goal! 

Sign up to reserve a spot for a tour or just pop in. We'd love to see you!
Sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1st-fridays-at-48-hudson-2024-tickets-764157344187?aff=oddtdtcreator

Campaign For 50

It’s hard to believe that Historic Albany Foundation (HAF) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year!  Founded in 1974 by a group of community activists as a membership-based advocacy organization, we continue to serve our original mission and tenets of protecting our beautiful and historic city.

Today, 50 years later, we accomplish our mission through many advocacy efforts; educational, hands-on how to programs, lectures and tours; community based technical services helping historic property owners maintain and restore their properties, as well as the operation of the Architectural Parts Warehouse and the new Tool Lending Library and Tool Truck.

In honor of our golden anniversary, we are launching the Campaign for 50 to ensure that HAF can continue the important work that staff and volunteers do each day.  To kick off this campaign, we are thrilled to announce that Phoebe Bender has made a gift of $500,000 to HAF’s endowment in memory of her late husband, and one of our founders, Matthew Bender IV.  Please follow Phoebe’s lead and consider making your own gift to HAF and help us reach our goal of an additional $50,000 by August 31, 2024. 

How can you support Historic Albany Foundation at this momentous time in our history?  There are many ways your gift can make a difference including: membership, Annual Fund, programs and project support, the endowment fund, and planned giving.  

However you choose to give, please know that every gift ensures that Historic Albany Foundation will continue our mission to preserve and protect the historic architecture of the City of Albany. 

Please watch your mail for a letter, or, click here to give today! https://www.historic-albany.org/how-to-support-haf

Thank you!

Welcome Julianna Whalen

We are thrilled to announce that we have hired Julianna Whalen as our new part time Development Manager.  Julianna is a native of Pennsylvania and has just relocated to the area.  She brings with her a wealth of non profit fundraising, museum and history experience.  Julianna's role will be overseeing membership, the annual fund and the corporate sponsorship efforts.  You might just be hearing from her soon!

Historic Marker Program

On Wednesday, June 26^th Historic Albany Foundation unveiled its inaugural Historic Marker in the City of Albany.

This marker, located at 247 Second Street in Albany’s West Hill Neighborhood commemorates the home of Arabella Chapman, who in 1873, became the first African-American student to cross the segregation line in the city of Albany. She was the only student of color at Albany Free Academy (Albany High School) for the 1873-74 school year and was the first person of color to graduate in the Albany Public School system.

To mark the 150th anniversary, Historic Albany Foundation has honored the last remaining known home she lived in to launch our new Heritage Marker program.

Who's Afraid Of A Cheap Old House?

Not us!  We can finally tell the secret we have been keeping since last year!  HAF's Parts Warehouse will be featured in the HGTV television show "Who's Afraid of a Cheap Old House!" Our episode will air on Tuesday, July 2nd at 10am. 

Be sure to DVR our national television debut!  For more information, visit:  https://www.hgtv.com/shows/whos-afraid-of-a-cheap-old-house

History Corner

A view of the RKO Grand lower Clinton Avenue between Broadway and North Pearl Street.  The double feature of "Anything Goes" (which started Ethel Merman, Bing Crosby, and Charles Ruggles) and "Spy 77" (starring Greta Nissen, Karl Ludwig Diehl, and Don Alvarado) dates the image to 1936.  Also billed on the marquee is David Irwin who, following his 1934 dog sled trek to the Arctic, toured theaters, fairs, and lecture halls around the United States.  He often brought groups of Inuit as part of his presentation.

The story goes that, as air conditioning became more common in movie theaters, managers would have the house doors opened at intermission on hot evenings to give passersby a "sneak preview" of the modern comforts offered inside!

Programs & Events

Walking Tours

Wednesday July 17th - 5:30pm-7:30pm

Meeting place TBD

Join City Historian, Tony Opalka for a walking tour highlighting the industrial buildings of Albany in the warehouse district.

HAF Members - $5
General Admission - $10

Purchase Tickets HERE

Saturday July 20th - 10am-12pm

Please meet at The Palace Theater located at 19 Clinton Ave.

Join tour guide Derek Baranski for a guided stroll of North Pearl Street.

HAF Members - $5
General Admission - $10

Purchase Tickets HERE

Thank  you to our Tour Season Sponsor CDPHP!

Tool Library Update

This week one of our Tool Librarians, Daina took the Tool Truck out to the Delaware Avenue Library Farmers Market to help kick off their weekly Tuesday Farmers Market. We will be back at the market on Tuesday, July 9th. We look forward to seeing you out and about this summer!

The Tool Library and Tool Truck are run by Volunteer support. If you are interested in helping with this program email Shöna Nilsson at [email protected]

What's New in the Warehouse?

What's new in the Warehouse this week is Pam! Dave has this Saturday off which means our Executive Director, Pam will be alongside our amazing volunteers and staffing the warehouse. Be sure to come party with Pam and check out the 50 new to us doors that Dave and Earl picked up from Ballston Spa this week! There is a pile of French doors, some pocket doors and a mix of others.

Do you have cool old stuff tucked away in a closet, your attic or basement?  Does your relative have cool old stuff, does your neighbor have cool old stuff? We do pickups up to 40 miles out from Albany.

Warehouse hours:
Wednesday 12-6 pm
Friday 12-6 pm
Saturday 9-4 pm

Address:
89 Lexington Avenue, Albany NY 12206

Moved?  Not getting HAF mailings?

Please make sure we have your current mailing address so we can continue to keep you up-to-date on your membership and all of HAF's programs and events.  Email [email protected]

NEWS

Grondahl: New York exhibit eye-opening window into Dutch colony
A visit to the exhibit: “New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam.”
By Paul Grondahl, Columnist
June 26, 2024

A circa 1656 window from the Dutch church in Albany's forerunner, the settlement of Beverwyck, at the New-York Historical Society exhibit, "New York Before New York." 

(Paul Grondahl / Special to the Times Union)

"The New York-Historical Society exhibit was curated by Russell Shorto, author of “The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan & The Forgotten Colony That Shaped America,” a 2004 bestseller. Shorto spoke at a June 7 dinner gala of the New Netherland Institute at Albany’s Fort Orange Club to mark the quadricentennial. The honoree was Charles Gehring, who has devoted the past 50 years to translating and publishing 17th-century Dutch documents stored in Albany at the State Library. Gehring, now 85, who still works two days a week, has translated more than 7,000 of the estimated 12,000 pages of documents. Shorto has worked closely with Gehring for years, along with local artist Len Tantillo, the foremost visual chronicler of Dutch Colonial Albany. Gehring’s translations are included in the New York-Historical Society exhibit and the New Netherland Institute is listed as a contributor. Shorto is scheduled to deliver the Historic Albany Foundation’s annual Matthew Bender IV lecture in Albany on Oct. 20."

To read Paul Grondahl's full Times Union article visit: Grondahl: New York exhibit eye-opening window into Dutch colony (timesunion.com)

Get your "Going Dutch!" passport, and join us for Dutch-themed experiences through the Capital Region!

2024 marks 400 years of Dutch culture in the Capital Region. Historic Cherry Hill is partnering with seven fabulous heritage organizations and businesses to help you get in touch with Albany’s Dutch roots.

Pick up your Going Dutch! passport at any participating site. Get your passport stamped at each experience between July 5th and August 2nd--First Friday to First Friday. Then redeem your passport for prizes!

Any passport with 7 stamps may be redeemed for a buy-one-get-one flight at Fort Orange Brewing...PLUS...

...The first 10 people to complete 7 experiences get a free “swag bag.”
Present your completed passport at Historic Cherry Hill to collect your swag bag!

Participating Venues:
First Friday, First Church Tour
Friday, July 5^th, 6:00 pm
$10/regular admission; $5/ HCH members

First Friday Tours of 48 Hudson 
July 5^th and August 2^nd, 5:30-7 PM
Free

"Dutchness on Display" Tours of Cherry Hill
Fridays at 12 and 2.
$6/adults, $5 seniors & students, $3/ children, HCH members free.

Find the Giant “Klomp”!
Find the giant Dutch shoe outside of Discover Albany’s Visitor Center—then head inside to get your passport stamped!

Crailo State Historic Site
Wednesdays-Sundays from 11 AM to 5 PM.
(Last tour at 4.)
$5/adults, $4/seniors & students, children free.

Fort Orange Brewing
Wednesday-Friday 4-9, Saturday 1-9, Sunday 1-6
Have a drink at Fort Orange Brewing—in honor of the 400th birthday of the 1624 fort!

Albany Institute of History & Art
Wednesday-Saturday 10AM-5PM, Sunday 12-5PM
Admission with passport: $10/adults, $8/seniors, $6/children

Tour of Quackenbush Square
First Friday, August 2^nd, 6 PM
$10/regular admission, $5/HCH members. Ticket price includes only the tour.

APTNE In-Person Event
Historic Sheet Metal Shop Tour
Crocker Architectural Sheet Metal Company
July 25th
North Oxford/MA
2:00pm - 4:00pm 

For more information and to purchase tickets visit: Upcoming Events (aptne.org)

Click here for More Information