NYS Library Blog

In the Office of Cultural Education's newest This is How We Do It video, NYS Museum staff explain the story of a Revolutionary War gunship found buried under the World Trade Center site in New York City and demonstrate the painstaking process of rebuilding this incredible relic.

If you’ll excuse the pun, this story has a lot to dig into, and that’s exactly what we did! NYS Library collections are rich in Revolutionary War narratives, and we provisioned some of our favorites for this journey aboard the Museum’s gunship.  

Waterways and the Revolution

Archaeologists discovered the buried gunship while excavating the World Trade Center site in 2010. Based on the ship’s remains, researchers were able to determine that it was likely built near Philadelphia in the early 1770s for the purposes of patrolling shallow waterways like New York's many harbors and rivers.  

Much of the early fighting in the Revolution took place around Manhattan and Long Island. A 1976 publication from the New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, Long Island in the American Revolution, describes how the conflict played out for the inhabitants of Long Island. The publication’s foreword seems to suggest that Long Island was particularly impacted by the machinations of the Revolution:

“During the decade of political protest that preceded the declaration of American independence, Long Islanders were pulled and hauled between conflicting loyalties; neither the supporters of the crown nor the advocates of opposition to British colonial policies could establish a clear ascendancy on the island. Late in 1776, as the British tried to subdue their rebellious colonial subjects, one of the decisive battles for control of lower New York was fought on Long Island. For seven years thereafter, the island served as a main bastion of British strength in America, providing food, fuel, vehicles, and, sometimes, troops for the occupying army. When peace came in 1783, Long Island was one of the last British-held areas to be evacuated.”

However, much of the patriots’ maritime activity around Long Island made use not of gunships, but of whaleboats (although some were fitted with guns). Thirty feet long and pointed at both ends, Long Island whaleboats could be handled by only a few oarsmen, who could also carry the boats on their shoulders over land. Guerilla-style “whaleboat warfare” saw patriots in New England cross the Long Island Sound to kidnap loyalists, but was primarily focused on efforts to disrupt British supply routes:

“The whaleboats were especially effective in interrupting the flow of goods to the British stationed in New York City and the eastern end of the island. Plucky rebel crews captured poultry, hay, grain, building timber, firewood, and other Commodities the British occupation forces needed. The more daring raiders even entered harbors on dark nights and dismantled smaller British vessels as they rode at anchor, making off with their sails and other equipment. Lurking in the cover of reeds and rushes along the shore, the whaleboats could dart out to attack fleets of small supply vessels” (p. 45).

Loyalist and British forces occasionally used whaleboats, but as the book says, “the rebels were the clear masters of whaleboat warfare” (p. 44). You can read Long Island in the American Revolution in the Library’s Digital Collections. 

Chains Across the Hudson

British forces were constantly trying to take control of the Hudson River during the Revolution. In response, Continental forces under George Washington endeavored to strategically block the river by running an enormous chain across it. Multiple chains were attempted, the most famous of which is the chain that stretched across the river from Constitution Island to West Point and figured in Benedict Arnold’s great unmaking.

According to the book History of the Great Iron Chain, Laid Across the Hudson River at West Point in 1778, the Sterling Iron Works won the contract to forge the chain. Each link was over two feet long and weighed 300 pounds. The entirety of the chain weighed 165 tons. According to the book, “a greater part of the chain now lies at the bottom of the Hudson.” But not all parts—in 1858, the NYS Library received the gift of three links from the chain. The links were presented by General Franklin Townsend of Albany. His great-grandfather, Peter Townsend, was one of the proprietors of the Sterling Iron Works. You can find History of the Great Iron Chain in the Library's Digital Collections, as well.

The Revolution in Lower Manhattan

New York City during the Revolution was still a long way from becoming the bustling metropolis of today or even a hundred years ago. However, many of its most important Revolutionary landmarks still stand.  

A map from Landmarks of the American Revolution in New York State, another digitized publication of the Bicentennial Commission, shows a landmark found in Lower Manhattan not far from the World Trade Center site. Fraunces Tavern was the location of many important New York moments of the Revolution, including General Washington’s 1783 farewell to the officers of the Continental Army.  

The map from page 4, drawn in thick, simple strokes that capture Lower Manhattan below Canal Street, shows the location of Fraunces Tavern just a few blocks east of Bowling Green and several blocks southeast of the World Trade Center site. The locations on the map are surrounded by the marks of New York City’s growth, such as the West Side Highway, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (now the Hugh L. Carey tunnel). Today, Fraunces Tavern serves as a high-end restaurant with a museum on an upper floor. 

Dress to Impress

More than 600 pieces of timber and 2,000 artifacts—including musket balls, buttons, and ceramic tankards—were recovered from the gunship site. A small military button bearing the number “52” found with the wreckage pointed researchers to the likelihood that the ship was at one point captured by the 52nd Regiment of Foot, a British force that saw action in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.  

We have several resources at the NYS Library that provide detailed information about the uniforms of various fighting forces in the American Revolution. Titles like Uniforms of the American, British, French, and German armies in the War of the American Revolution, 1775-1783 (call number 355.14 L49a) and Soldiers of the American Revolution: a sketchbook (call number 973.34 fU587 76-38241) provide detailed pictorial information on these details.  

Most notably, the NYS Library has book of illustrations dedicated to British military dress, A Representation of the Clothing of His Majesty's Household and of all the Forces upon the Establishments of Great Britain and Ireland from 1742. The Library’s copy was previously owned by George Washington, who received it as a gift in 1787. This item is part of the NYS Library’s George Washington Collection. 

(We’d also like to add that sword enthusiasts may enjoy The American sword, 1775-1945; a survey of the swords worn by the uniformed forces of the United States from the Revolution to the close of World War II.)  

This is How We Gunship

Check out the full video below to learn about the Museum’s gunship from bow to stern:

Social Work Perspectives in the Library is written by Antonia Bruno, Excelsior Service Fellow for the NYS Library in the Office of Cultural Education.

What is Systems Theory?

Systems Theory suggests that behavior derives from factors that work together to form an individual’s system. An individual’s system consists of the varying levels of support and interaction one has with others and the overarching environment surrounding them. Simply put, we are products of the relationships we hold with others, the connections we hold with our local communities, and broader society. Our behavior is not created in a vacuum but instead influenced by our system.

This theory provides multiple explanations for human behavior and experiences. It also permits various perspectives depending on whether a holistic view of an individual’s system is accounted for or contrastingly; specific levels are the focus in perspective-taking.

Additionally, this theory helps clinicians and direct service providers map out the multiple factors that influence an individual's behaviors, mindsets, and life outcomes. There are a few social work perspectives that derive from Systems Theory, including the Ecological Systems Model, Person-in-Environment Perspective, and Family Systems Theory.

The Ecological Systems Model created by psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner in 1979 is often used to describe how children develop over time and how their internal, external, and environmental supports lead to outcomes as they age. Later, I will provide a breakdown of the Ecological Systems Model with examples of interactions within and between the levels in an individual’s system.

Clinicians and direct service providers who apply Systems Theory when conducting biopsychosocial assessments benefit from gaining a holistic view of the client outside of the medical model that defines the biopsychosocial assessment. A biopsychosocial assessment dives into a client’s history and current behaviors, including their biological, psychological, and social factors which help a provider understand the client’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The medical model can be restrictive when assessing clients and creating treatment plans because it is outlined by a client’s biology and psychology and doesn’t provide a holistic view on its own. When this assessment is paired with the Systems Theory, a more detailed focus on a client’s social relationships and connections to broader society is accounted for in treatment plans and goal-setting. To understand an individual’s social factors means to dive into the types of support and social safety net the individual is afforded. 

Ecological Systems Model

The social factors live within a multitiered ecosystem of different types. These are called the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem, as defined by Urie Bronfenbrenner.

Microsystem

Includes the relationships and environments individuals interact with directly including work, school, family, friends, and neighbors. This type of system has a bidirectional influence meaning that the individual may be influenced by the factors in this system but also have the ability to influence factors within the system.

Example: A child in school will be impacted by their educators in school but also has the power to impact the educator with how they interact with their peers in the classroom.

Mesosystem

Includes the different elements within the microsystem that interact with each other and impact the individual’s experience.  

Example: An individual’s family member starts working at the same job as the individual’s spouse, which will impact the individual’s relationship with both parties.

Exosystem

Includes the elements in an individual’s life they do not directly interact with but which still impact their behavior and outcomes.

Examples: Mass media, local government, and social services.

Macrosystem

Includes the social norms, culture, and political system surrounding the individual. The macrosystem holds broader societal implications. These overarching norms and political systems may impact the individual’s view of themselves and others they may closely identify with.

Example: An individual suppresses the expression of their identity because of the social norms in their local community prohibiting that identity.

Chronosystem/Time

Focuses on the unavoidable changes that occur over an individual’s lifetime. Such changes that occur over an individual’s lifetime can present the individual with a transitional period marked by necessary adjustment.

Example: Historical events, aging, experiencing grief and loss, and death. 

How Does This Impact Your Role as a Library Worker?

Systems Theory provides library workers with a framework to map out the larger systems that influence their communities. With an understanding of the systems and various factors that influence patrons, library workers are better informed to serve vulnerable patrons with empathy and understanding. Most have a general understanding how  an individual’s inner circle influences their opportunities and outcomes. But we can look to the Ecological Systems Model which provides a larger context of factors that influence behavior outside of our microsystem.  

The public library may reside somewhere between the macrosystem and the exosystem levels of the model. The library can positively impact outcomes for  community members: 

• Positive health outcomes, such as free blood pressure kits/screening, chair yoga, providing health related materials, food pantries on site
• Positive education outcomes, including tutoring and homework programming for youth, free professional test-prep materials for adults, free textbooks related to college or trade school course work
• Positive employment outcomes, like career counseling sessions, Microsoft and related tools workshops, resume and job application assistance

These are just a few ways that libraries connect their communities with resources that increase  wellbeing and provide access to varying types of care. Moving beyond programming and services within the library, libraries can influence an individual’s outcomes by committing to a culture of care that supports varying needs seen in the community. This can be done through outreach with relevant community partners to bridge gaps in service acquisition. This can also be done by embodying practices reflective of a trauma-informed approach, aiming to be a positive influence in a patron’s system.

Reflect: 

1. Think about the many factors that make up your personal systems. What areas impact you the most?
2. Think about your library’s services. Are there areas for improvement or exploration in the way that your library impacts patrons’ systems? How can the library uplift and enhance its role in a patron’s personal support? 

Written by Matthew Laudicina, Manuscripts and Special Collections Unit

Of the forty-seven individuals to serve in the highest political office in the United States, five presidents were born right here in the great state of New York. Only two states have produced more U.S. Presidents than New York: Ohio with seven and Virginia with eight.  

The first such person to have been born in New York State and serve as President was none other than Martin Van Buren. In celebration of the eighth President of the United States, who was born in the month of December, let’s take a look at a few fun facts regarding this trailblazing New Yorker!

First and Only

Martin Van Buren was the first president to have been born (December 5, 1782) a citizen of the United States. The seven previous presidents were born in one of the British colonies!

Van Buren was born in the town of Kinderhook, New York. Originally settled by the Dutch (his family was also of Dutch descent), most residents of Kinderhook spoke Dutch as their primary language at the time. As a result, Van Buren spoke Dutch as his primary language. This makes Martin Van Buren the only president who spoke English as a second language!

A New York Career

Long before being elected to the presidency, Van Buren was elected as the ninth Governor of the State of New York as a result of the 1828 gubernatorial election. In a surprising twist, following Andrew Jackson’s victorious campaign for President (also in 1828), the newly elected Jackson asked Van Buren to serve as his Secretary of State. Van Buren resigned his post as Governor on March 12, 1829, having served just seventy-one days, so that he could serve the country as the new Secretary of State. Van Buren’s brief tenure as New York State Governor is the second-shortest in New York State history!

President Van Buren

Van Buren was elected the eighth President at the conclusion of the 1836 Presidential Election. He was a one-term president, as he would go on to decisively lose the 1840 Presidential Election to William Henry Harrison. Eight years later, Van Buren would run again during the 1848 election as a candidate of the Free-Soil Party, opposing the expansion of slavery. While he would only receive roughly ten percent of the vote, his platform greatly influenced the national debate on the issue of slavery.

We hope you enjoyed these factoids pertaining to the first person born in the State of New York to serve as U.S. President! 

In the newest installment of Look at This, the New York State Museum's Chief Curator of History, Jennifer Lemak, takes us on a tour of a collection of stoneware donated by Adam Weitsman in 1996.  

Watch the full video or read a complete transcript at the bottom of this post. 

The Weitsman Stoneware Collection

The Weitsman Stoneware Collection provides insight into New York in the nineteenth-century, economics along the Erie Canal, and how increased access to clay transported from New Jersey and Southern NY led to the flourishing of this prominent example of American folk art.

Art for the People: Decorated Stoneware from the Weitsman Collection (NYS Library call number MUS 950-4 AETPD 218-2142), published by the NYS Museum, provides an in-depth look at the collection. Readers can page through photographs of each piece of stoneware, read about decorative styles, and learn to whom each work is attributed.

One of the flasks shown in the video, referred to in the book as "Flask, 1804," is explained as, "undoubtedly the best stoneware flask in American art" (p. 36). This piece, also chosen for the book's cover image, is attributed to Henry Remmey, who worked in New York City circa 1789-1810. One side depicts a bird, leafy foliage, and the initials H.E., all painted in the cobalt blue typical of the decoration on this stoneware. The other side has three birds standing on small branches above the text, "Henry Edoson, February 14, 1804."

The circular ring flasks, or arm flasks, shown in the video, were designed to fit over one's arm: a person working in the fields could drink from the flask without having to use their hands. Another piece shown by Lemak depicts a peacock in intricate detail. "Depictions of peacocks were sometimes featured on stoneware, but the peacock on this churn is one of the most elaborate depictions of the species ever found on a piece of American stoneware" (p. 204).

View the video to see these and other examples of stoneware, including decorated flasks, inkwells, and a footwarmer. Visit the NYS Museum to see the 40 pieces from the Weitsman collection in one of the Museum's ongoing exhibits. 

Stoneware Along New York Canals

The NYS Library's Manuscripts and Special Collections found, among their collection of broadsides, advertisements, order forms, and price lists for NY stoneware in the nineteenth-century. The first broadside, from N. White & Sons in Utica, advertises "a large assortment constantly on hand, and for sale at the Central New York Pottery, on the Canal, where all orders will be thankfully received and faithfully executed" (NYS Library call number bro4906). A note near the bottom indicates that this Bill of Prices was adopted in January 1855 by the Convention of Manufacturers at Syracuse.  

Printed with red and blue ink with an ornate decorative border, the form lists types of stoneware and corresponding prices. Molasses jugs were $3.50 for a dozen 1-gallon jugs or 29 cents each. Butter pots with covers cost $15 per dozen; for the cost of $1.50, a person could get one dozen moulded ink stands. This form was used on June 13, 1857, to purchase jugs, molasses jugs, churns, flowerpots, cream pots, and butter pots. The purchaser indicated the quantity of each item needed in pencil and calculated their total purchase in the bottom right. 

Another invoice broadside, dated June 23, 1866, is from the J.A. & C.W. Underwood pottery at Fort Edward (NYS Library call number bro2230). At this time, Fort Edward was geographically advantaged for stoneware creation, with the Hudson River, the Champlain Canal, and railroads providing easy access to clay. Prices are slightly higher on this invoice than they were in the above example from Utica, nine years prior. There are small illustrations of each type of pottery throughout the order form. 

Syracuse Stoneware Co. advertises Boston Bean Pots, covered and handled (NYS Library call number bro1892). The undated broadside says, "We make reduced prices, as the following assortments pack to the best advantage." Six dozen could be purchased for $7.50 or five dozen for $6.  Interestingly, there was no charge for packages. 

Pottery in New York's Capital

For further exploration of pottery at the NYS Museum, check out another ongoing exhibition, Beneath the City: An Archaeological Perspective of Albany.  This exhibit explores the archaeological findings of our capital and delves into the ways each recovered object helps piece together the history and culture of NYS. The exhibit catalog is held by the Library (NYS Library call number UNI 068-4 BENCI 213-1102) and is available to view in our Digital Collections.

The objects uncovered beneath the city of Albany provide insight into the daily life of the city's inhabitants at various points in the city's history: from the settlement at Fort Orange in 1624 to a rum distillery in the eighteenth-century.

The exhibit catalog differentiates between the significance of documents and material objects left behind: while documents are created by individuals with access to literacy, primarily the wealthy and powerful, objects give us insight into all of society. 

The material things people make, exchange, use, and discard or lose in their daily activities reflect their assumptions about the world and their actions in it. People are not aware of the historical record they create when they throw away broken objects. Such unintentional actions create numerous archaeological sites (p. 2). 

These collections were found during excavations conducted ahead of the construction of buildings and roads. "Federal and state laws require archaeological explorations prior to public-funded construction" (p. 3) to ensure the preservation of historical information.

Many of the material objects found can be attributed to the Dutch settlers of Albany. Some of the floor tiles, wall tiles, window glass, and brick can be traced to the Netherlands. Certain household goods recovered at the Fort Orange site can be identified in Dutch paintings of the time.

A photograph from the Beneath the City exhibit catalog (p. 78) shows examples of earthenware found during an excavation undertaken before the construction of the Department of Environmental Conservation building in downtown Albany. It was determined that these ceramic pieces, mostly pearlware, creamware, and redware, were dumped there after the Albany fire of 1797. The hand-painted ceramics were unused and were likely broken during shipment from England.  

Pearlware is a British earthenware that was made beginning in the late eighteenth-century. It can be identified by the pooling of blue on the footring, as cobalt blue was put in the glaze to make the resulting pottery whiter, like the more expensive porcelain. Fun fact: a broken piece of ceramic is called a sherd. Among these sherds, we see the characteristic pooling of blue color around the bottoms, as well as painters' marks used to signify individual painters.  

Three of the bowls in the photograph are decorated with a single orange flower with green leaves; part of a matching plate has a decorative border with a curvy, dotted line and half-circles. Five bowls have thick blue lines drawn in a rough x shape with orange dots in each quadrant. These bowls have a circular blue tint around their base.  

Look at This

To discover more New York history within the artifacts and documents of the NYS Archives, Library, and Museum, be sure to follow along with the Office of Cultural Education's video series! If you missed last week's video, tune in to see a 1796 cookbook from the Library's Manuscripts and Special Collections and learn why it holds an important place in American history. 

Video and Transcript

Transcript

[Chief Curator of History Jennifer Lemak, in a white shirt with a tied, light purple scarf draped in front, stands in front of an open cabinet in the Museum's closed storage area.]

So, the New York State Museum is home to one of the most significant stoneware collections in the world.

[Lemak stands in a large Museum storage area. Warehouse shelving holds dozens of old wooden chairs behind her.]

Hi, I'm Jennifer Lemak, Chief Curator of History at the NYS Museum, and today we're going to look at the Weitsman stoneware collection.

[A light, upbeat piano melody plays to a montage of Museum staff engaged in their day-to-day work, taking boxes from shelves, opening a cabinet, or examining wooden furniture in a storage space. The words “Look At This” appear on screen against a bright orange background. The camera pans across an open cabinet filled with stone vases and jugs.]

All these pieces were donated by Adam Weitsman, who is a lifelong New Yorker, and he specifically goes after the highly-decorated and presentation pieces. Stoneware is kind of the plastics of the nineteenth-century.

[Lemak stands in front of the open cabinet in a brightly-lit storage area. The camera zooms in on a rotating jug that depicts a man wearing a hat and blowing a horn. Lemak holds a thin piece of stoneware shaped like a circle, with an opening at the top to drink from, and demonstrates pulling it around her arm.]

This is an arm flask, so you would put your liquid in here, and then you could either carry your flask on your arm or you could attach it to your hip with your belt.

[Lemak picks up a small flask, about six inches in diameter with beautiful blue decoration, and holds it for the camera.]

Another flask form is this little kind of precious flask from New York City from 1804. That's got three birds here and on the other side it's got one lovely bird. And those are very rare.

[Lemak puts her hand on the corner of a rectangular foot warmer, decorated along the edges with blue triangles with an opening at the top. She touches two inkwells decorated with plants and a large circular flask with leaves winding around the sides.]  

This is a foot warmer. You'd put the hot water in and it would warm up and you could warm up your feet. We've got a couple inkwells and we've got a kind of large party flask.

[Lemak gestures with her hands while she explains some background information about stoneware. The camera pans across shelving with large jugs and cream pots with decorations of cherubs, a deer with antlers, a lion, a horse, and a woman sweeping with a broom. Also shown are examples of pottery that look very different than the rest of the collection, with snakes and people's legs protruding from the jugs.]

So stoneware, while it's not unique to NYS, it's predominantly in NYS because of our waterways and the clay. The clay used to make these pieces is from Northern New Jersey and Southern NY, and NYS had waterways, the Hudson River and then the Erie Canal, to ship the unfinished clay Upstate and to the different potteries, so we see potteries all over the canal system across NY. The Weitsman Collection has a lot of unique pieces.

[The camera pans across more jugs, one decorated with a man with a beard, another with a chicken and flowers.]

This jug from Fort Edward depicts Abraham Lincoln, which is really quite rare.

[A large piece of stoneware is decorated with a peacock standing on a branch; surrounding stoneware depict foliage, a dove, and a star.]

And over here we have a beautiful peacock on a butter churn that was made by John Burger in Rochester.

[Lemak stands in the center of the bright hallway, surrounded by closed cabinets that house the Weitsman stoneware collection.]

If you're interested in stoneware, I encourage you to come to the NYS Museum and visit the Adam Weitsman stoneware collection. We have about 40 pieces on long-term exhibit in the Museum. 

More than any other figure of the American Revolution, George Washington has enjoyed a legacy subject to exaggeration, mythmaking, and a downright confusion of facts. Of the many relics of his life that Washington left behind, the steel hilted dress sword that he wore on his hip as the first president has been subject to considerable exaggeration and confusion among enthusiastic scholars, collectors, and Washington descendants. 

George Washington’s Most Modern Sword

Washington acquired many swords in his lifetime, and each one can be used to situate him at various points in his notable life. Often described as image-conscious and exacting, Washington frequently used his appearance to great effect, as when he attended the sessions of the Second Continental Congress in his military uniform and was the only delegate to do so.  

Though there is some argument in the historical record as to how and when Washington acquired his steel hilted dress sword, it's most often associated with his election to the presidency and his evolution from general to statesman. William Sullivan, a New England lawyer visiting the presidential mansion in 1795, provides a detailed description of Washington on this occasion:

“On entering, he saw the tall manly figure of Washington, clad in black velvet; his hair in full dress, powdered and gathered behind in a large silk bag [...] He wore knee and shoe buckles; and a long sword, with a finely wrought and polished steel hilt, which appeared at the left hip; the coat worn over the sword, so that the hilt, and the part below the folds of the coat behind, were in view. The scabbard was white polished leather.”  

This version of Washington is famously captured on canvas in John Vanderlyn’s 1834 portrait of Washington, which depicts the president’s dark clothing and prominent shoe buckles, as well as the hilt of the sword just visible at Washington’s hip. This painting is part of the Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives and was originally commissioned for the House chamber.

According to Dr. Erik Goldstein, author of The Swords of George Washington (2016), this was the most modern of Washington’s known swords and was likely made in England. Washington made some significant and stylish modifications to the steel hilted smallsword, instructing his cutler to replace the blade entirely and to add red wax to the tang, or the part of the blade that passes through the hilt. This would have had a striking effect as it showed through the highly polished steelwork in the hilt. 

Forging Myth and Legend

Despite their presence at countless historical moments, many of Washington’s swords entered storied chapters well after Washington’s death. Among countless other items reflective of his life and legacy, Washington left five swords to five of his nephews. In his will, he names the order in which they should choose swords and forbids them from unsheathing the blades for bloodshed “except it be for self defense, or in defense of their Country and its rights; and in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands, to the relinquishment thereof.” You can read a complete transcription of Washington’s will on the website of the Mount Vernon museum.

The steel hilted dress sword was the first selected, largely for its traditional backstory, which Washington’s descendants were somewhat vehement in upholding. As the story goes, Frederick the Great gifted the sword to Washington sometime around 1780, accompanied by the message “From the oldest General in the World to the Greatest.” By the late 19th century, the tale began to receive some attention as a likely myth, which rankled some Washington descendants. In particular, an essay by Moncure D. Conway that appeared in The Century Magazine prompted William Lanier Washington to write to the New York Times on August 27, 1916, in defense of the family lore. William Lanier Washington’s argument is thin, but his letter traces all movements of the steel hilted dress sword through the family, until it was sold by the widow of Colonel Lewis William Washington in 1871. He writes:  

“It is not disputed that family tradition may in the course of sixty or seventy years (the time elapsing between the death of General Washington and the childhood of the writer, when he saw this sword in his grandfather’s home in Virginia and heard its history repeated) may have become somewhat perverted or an added glamour acquired, but with the knowledge possessed by the writer as to the accuracy of any statement of the three inheritors of the sword, it is highly improbable that a fictitious tradition has developed in this particular case.” 

In 1859, as he prepared for his raid on Harpers Ferry, the abolitionist John Brown sent his agent John Cook Jr. to scout the local area and identify any advantageous hostages or meaningful relics that could be applied to his cause. Cook found it easy to gain entrance to the Beall-Air mansion of Colonel Lewis William Washington, who upon inheriting the sword only a few years before had it refurbished and placed on display in his home. Lewis William Washington and the dress sword were both removed from Beall-Air on John Brown’s orders and remained in his possession until his eventual capture. Brown believed his possession of Washington's sword would guarantee his victory. Though his raid ultimately failed, Brown may still have benefited from carrying the sword: by many accounts, he survived a saber thrust when the blade was deflected by the belt buckle securing Washington’s dress sword to his person. 

Lewis William Washington sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War, and his family faced financial decline in the years that followed. On his death, Colonel Washington’s widow, Ella Bassett Washington, offered several of Washington’s artifacts for sale to the United States Congress. They did not marshal the necessary funds. But the New York Legislature did, at the urging of William “Boss” Tweed, who in 1871 was serving his fourth term as a NYS Senator, and who would in 1873 begin his jail sentence for forgery and larceny. 

In and Out of the Flames

After purchasing the relics in 1871, New York State deposited them with the NYS Library. In addition to the steel hilted dress sword, the relics include the first draft of Washington’s farewell address, a pistol gifted to Washington by the Marquis de Lafayette, and a number of surveying instruments from Washington’s early career. The collection is given special attention in the Annual report of the Trustees of the State Library - 1873, which includes descriptive notes for each item. The entry for the dress sword traces possession of the item through the years and attempts to account for its backstory: 

“There is no known record of the fact, but it was generally reported in the family, that this sword was brought over from Europe about the year 1780 to Washington, with this verbal message from Frederick II (the Great), King of Prussia, 'From the oldest general of the world to the greatest.' A 'picture' with this sentence inscribed under it is mentioned in a newspaper of that year.”  

Per a footnote in the text, the newspaper of that year was the New Jersey Journal of August 2, 1780. The item from the Journal is reproduced in Moore’s Diary of the Revolution. The sword has also featured in the Annual Reports of the State Historian: in the early 1900s, State Historian Hugh Hastings corresponded with the Embassy of the United States in Berlin as part of his own efforts to prove it was a gift from Frederick. The results were inconclusive.

The dress sword became a centerpiece of Library collections and New York statecraft. According to an account in the New York Times, the sword was put on display in the Executive Chamber for the 1902 visit of Prussia’s Prince Henry. Governor Odell presented the sword to the prince, who immediately drew the sword from its scabbard, scandalizing one of the reporters covering the prince’s visit, who wrote: 

“When the will of Gen. Washington was read after his death it was found that he had willed his five swords to his five nephews, with the proviso “that they should not be drawn from their scabbards unless in defense of the country.” This sword has been strictly kept in scabbard, in compliance with the provisions of the will. When it was handed to Prince Henry, however, he drew the blade from the scabbard. Of course he did not know of the provisions of the will, but he had, nevertheless, innocently violated them. No one told him of his mistake.” 

The reporter’s alarm was seemingly not shared by NYS Library staff. Librarian Joseph Gavit, writing many years after the 1902 visit, would recall that Prince Henry had drawn the sword during his visit to scrutinize it for a mark that might prove its origins. Again, the results were inconclusive.

In the hours after the catastrophic 1911 Capitol Fire, workers struggled through dangerous and uncomfortable conditions to perform the important work of salvaging what could be saved from the Library’s collections. The intense heat of the fire had softened iron fasteners and brought upper floors crashing through ceilings. In fact, there was not much inside to resemble a library. In the shuffle, one of many twisted lengths of metal was cast into a trash heap, only for salvage workers to scramble after it later when it was properly recognized as a sword. Too long to fit in the Capitol’s first-floor vault with the other Washington Relics, the sword had been placed in one of the Library’s many makeshift storage spaces of the time. The twisted and burned blade and hilt, along with some pieces of the belt hanger, were all that remained of the sword and its accessories. After a preliminary and inexpert straightening by hand, the blade would remain in disrepair for nearly thirty years. 

Joseph Gavit worked at the NYS Library for 50 of its most storied years, from the days of considerable growth in the Capitol to the unending degradations of the fire to the days when the Library emerged from the ashes to become the crown jewel of the State Education building and a leader in library science for decades to come. As head of the Shelf Section, his encyclopedic knowledge of the Library and its holdings would be indispensable in the salvage operations that stretched out after the fire.  

Gavit was a skilled bibliographer with a deep knowledge of and interest in newspaper holdings. Before he retired from the Library in 1946, Gavit wrote a brief note about Washington’s dress sword which was intended for internal use at the Library, but was published anyway in volume one, issue two of the Bulletin of the Society of American Sword Collectors. (Gavit had corresponded often with the editors of the Bulletin.) You can read the essay in the Bulletin at the Library (call number 399 qS67 1847-50), or explore Gavit's handwritten notes and compiled research in our Digital Collections.

In his essay, Gavit is primarily concerned with debunking the sword’s Frederick myth, which he does with typical Gavitian rigor. He indicates that the heart of the matter is the quotation from Moore’s Diary of the Revolution, itself a reproduction of an item from the New Jersey Journal. Accompanying the quote “from the oldest general in the world to the greatest” was not a sword, but a portrait of Frederick the Great. Here is the full quote: 

“August 9.--The King of Prussia not long since presented his Excellency General Washington with the picture of his majesty taken to the life, inscribed under, ‘From the oldest general in Europe, to the greatest general on earth.” 

“For some unknown reason,” Gavit commented, “no attention has been called to the fact that the message accompanied a portrait rather than a sword.”

Gavit also cites William Homan’s The Ancient Scottish Rite, a 1905 book about freemasonry (Frederick and Washington were both freemasons), in his effort to further detangle the sword's origins. In that book, he writes, are reproductions of both the portrait of Frederick gifted to Washington as well as an image of the dress sword in its original, pre-fire state. The New Jersey Journal quote is split across these two images in Homan's text and seems to conflate and confuse the message. The sword image was included in the Bulletin’s version of Gavit’s article.  

As a library-centric reading of the legend, Gavit’s research seems to explain the origin of the myth as a game of historical telephone which the information worker knows all too well. It does not, however, explain the persistence of the Frederick legend in the hearts and minds of the Washington nephews and their descendants—aside from the fact that it’s a very good story.

You can be a part of the small sword’s long story by visiting the NYS Museum’s current exhibit George Washington: An American Paradox, which features Washington’s dress sword among several other items from the NYS Library’s collections. This exhibit closes in January 2026. 

The Pen is Mightier

Visit our George Washington Collection guide or catch up on more of the relics' adventures on the NYS Library blog. Additional accounts of the relics are available on our Capitol Fire collection guide, as well.

For considerably more detail about Washington’s famous swords, visit the Mount Vernon Museum’s website or check out The Swords of George Washington by Dr. Erik Goldstein.

Finally, you can dig into history the Joseph Gavit way by exploring his research and writing in the Joseph Gavit Papers, available in Manuscripts and Special Collections. 

Join us for a fun and informative behind-the-scenes look at the collections of the NYS Library! The Library’s inaugural Look At This video introduces the first American cookbook and investigates what makes it special. 

Watch the full video or read a complete transcript at the bottom of this post.

American Cookery

While the NYS Library is home to many historic cookbooks, Amelia Simmons’s American Cookery is set apart. As the first cookbook for Americans, by an American, it captures a cooking culture wholly unlike what we know today and marks an important development in a national identity. In fact, the Library of Congress included American Cookery in its list of Books That Shaped America,  where it appears alongside such 18th century publications as Ben Franklin’s Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1751), Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (1776), and Noah Webster’s A Grammatical Institute of the English Language (1783).  

As Senior Librarian Elizabeth explains in the video, two editions of American Cookery were published in 1796. When author Amelia Simmons found herself dissatisfied with the first edition, she had a revised version published in Albany not long after. The NYS Library maintains a copy of the improved second edition.

Cooking with Amelia Simmons

As Elizabeth explains in the video, scholarship around Simmons’s linguistic choices suggests the author was probably a New Yorker. Various Dutch words appear throughout the text, as well as the very first appearance in print of the word “cookie,” from the Dutch “koekje.”

Another indication that Simmons was from New York is her use of pearlash, or pot ash, as a leavening agent, as there was a large pearlash industry in Albany at the time that American Cookery was published. Baking powder, like many convenient products known to today’s bakers, would not become available to home cooks until the middle of the nineteenth century.

If you’re feeling adventurous enough to try a recipe from American Cookery, prepare to make do with instructions that are shockingly brief compared to recipes for home cooks today. We’d love to know how you fare, for example, with seasoning food “till grateful.” 

Find This Item in the Library

The second edition of American Cookery by Amelia Simmons is available in our Digital Collections. The Library also holds a few updated or facsimile editions of the book, as well. These can be found in the NYS Library Catalog.

More Food History at the NYS Library

The collections of the NYS Library are a feast for the curious! Readers and eaters alike may want to supplement Simmons’s recipes with details from the Library’s collection of culinary reference titles, including the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (NYS Library call number 641.3003 qO984 205-8232, 2 volumes) and the Dictionary of Herbs, Spices, Seasonings and Natural Flavorings (NYS Library call number 641.338203 S627 94-71110).

Hungry for more? Check out some of our previous culinary adventures, including a look at early pickle recipes, an exploration of pasta, and a refreshing glimpse into the history of vending machines. For dessert, be sure to explore the Library’s Tasting History series, where staff from the Office of Cultural Education try their hands (and taste buds) at time-tested family recipes. 

Video and Transcript

Transcript:

[Senior Librarian Elizabeth, in a dark cardigan and glasses, stands in the Manuscripts and Special Collections stacks in the NYS Library.]  

Published in 1796, this little cookbook is considered by many to be the first cookbook published in America by an American for an American audience.

[Elizabeth uses her hands to part some books on a library shelf and peek through them, addressing the camera.]

Hi, I'm Elizabeth, a Senior Librarian in Manuscripts and Special Collections at the New York State Library, and today we're gonna look at an important piece of culinary history.

[Lighthearted piano music plays during a montage of NYS Library and Archives staff performing their tasks—including investigating a magic lantern slide, paging through materials on a library cart, revealing a large map in a flat file, and using the hand crank to access stacks. The words “Look At This” appear on screen. The camera then focuses on the title page of American Cookery, a small book in a protective enclosure.]

It is called American Cookery, and it's by Amelia Simmons who introduces herself to us on the cover page as an orphan.

[Elizabeth stands in front of a red book cart in the stacks, where American Cookery has been carefully propped up for display.]

In 2012, the Library of Congress even named this book one of the 88 books that shaped America. But why is our copy so special?  

[The camera focuses on the title page again, showing old fashioned type and listing the place of publication as Albany, NY.]

Well, this is a second edition. It was published in the same year as the first edition, but that one was published in Hartford, Connecticut, and Amelia tells us in the preface to this book that she didn't actually care for that one.  

[Elizabeth gestures to the book on the book cart as she explains its story.]

She said that the publishers had added things that she didn't write, and you can even tell by the length between the two editions–the first edition is 48 pages, and this one is 64 pages.

Some scholars have looked into her linguistic choices and they feel that they reflect where Amelia may have been from, which is New York. She uses a lot of Dutch words, including the word 'slaw,' which means 'salad.' She uses the word 'cookie'–the very first time the word 'cookie' appears in print–and that comes from the Dutch word 'koekje.'

[The camera focuses again on the pages of the book, this time opened to a page with recipes for “tea cakes” and “cookies.” The type is dense, and recipes comprise short paragraphs. There are no illustrations.]  

Another clue that she's from New York is her use of 'pearlash' or pot ash, which is a chemical leavening agent.  

[In the book, pearl ash, written as “pearlafh” becomes highlighted with yellow. The camera returns to Elizabeth in front of the red book cart.]

Prior to having that in their arsenal, cooks used to have to beat air into cakes in order to get them to rise. But pearlash works sort of like baking soda and baking powder, and it gets their cakes to come up. There was a large pearlash industry in Albany at the time this book was published.

You can try your hand at making recipes out of this book, but they might be hard to follow. There's a particular recipe in here for ‘cramberry tart’ in which there's just two sentences, and the second one is season 'till grateful.'  

[The camera zooms in on page 29 of American Cookery, where under a heading for ‘Cramberries’ appears the instruction ‘add spices till grateful.’ The Look At This logo reappears to close the video. Beneath it appears the URL oce.nysed.gov.] 

By incorporating accessibility practices in our day-to-day work, we ensure equitable access to information and services, and we can shift our culture more generally toward inclusivity. Accessibility is central to our public service mission, and we work to apply these strategies to our internal and external communications.  

Each month, the OCE Accessibility for All Committee shares a helpful digital accessibility tip to apply to our day-to-day work. This month, we’re talking tables. 

Tables Overview

Data tables are a great way to communicate information and relationships, but it’s important to make sure that this information is available to all users. Tables are accessible to all users when specific structural elements are included that allow assistive technology users to access and leverage this information. 

Accessible Tables

Tables can be helpful for visually communicating relationships and ideas, but it’s important to understand how assistive technology navigates a table. Screen readers, for example, read data from left to right, top to bottom, and rely on a properly structured table to communicate the information contained within.  

While it can be tempting to use tables for complex layouts of information, this can actually stretch the usefulness of a table, which is only meant to communicate basic data that can logically be displayed as a table.  

Instead, keep your data tables as simple as possible. Always avoid split or merged cells in your table, aiming instead to include an equal number of columns in each row, and rows in each column (this is called table regularity). When possible, avoid leaving cells blank. The next section includes additional details for structuring an accessible data table. 

Take Action

Use this checklist to ensure that your data can be used by everyone: 

1. Create a header row for your table. Do not leave any header cells blank.
2. Do not split or merge cells.
3. Be sure to include a descriptive title to introduce the table.
4. Include a table caption to describe the purpose and contents of the data.

Resources to Take This Further

Don’t forget that when it comes to creating accessible content, the Internet has your back! There are a number of great online resources to support inclusive content creation, but here are a few in particular that can help guide your work with data tables. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, checklists, and tips for specific platforms such as LibGuides and Microsoft Word:

• Getting Started with Accessibility: Tables (UNC Greensboro)
• Accessibility Toolkit for Open Educational Resources (OER): Tables (CUNY Library Services)

New York State is an apt setting for National Hiking Day, or National Take a Hike Day, celebrated on November 17. NYS boasts forests full of rich history and is home to the Adirondacks, the Catskills, a multitude of State Parks, and just under 90 miles of the famed Appalachian Trail.

New York wilderness was paramount in the literary imaginations of prominent writers like Washington Irving and James Fenimore Cooper. New York's Catskill mountains served as a backdrop to Irving's Rip Van Winkle when the titular character wanders into the forest and falls asleep; Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans takes place in Lake George and The Deerslayer draws inspiration from the area around Cooperstown and Otsego Lake. Embark on a trek through documents in the NYS Library's collections to explore the history of outdoor recreation in NYS. 

New York State Parks

New York's 180 state parks across every area of the state offer a multitude of experiences: visitors can explore inland marinas and beaches, interact with public art installations, or walk traditional hiking trails. A photograph from the pamphlet Young Women's Summer Camp, Helderberg Mountains, Altamont, N.Y., 1909 (NYS Library call number 267.59747 Y681 200-4194) shows a group of thirteen individuals, many of them in long skirts, ascending a tall ladder against a steep rock face (p. 25). The photograph is captioned "Indian Ladder." Climb into the geology of this region, now known as John Boyd Thacher State Park, in this State Museum publication from 1933. 

An 1876 guidebook for Watkins Glens State Park (NYS Library call number 917.4781 W33L) discusses the park's unique construction of bridges for visitors to access the gorge. The publication states:

In 1863 the Glen was first brought into public notice, and staircases, pathways, bridges, &c., were built, so as to render it accessible. Since then, improvements have been going steadily forward; and the present year many new staircases and bridges have been built, so as to ensure perfect safety to the thousands who pass through it (p. 13).

An illustration from the guidebook, captioned "Entrance to Cathedral" (p. 26), depicts an individual standing on a wooden bridge constructed over a section of the gorge. The geological features are striking with clear layers in the exposed rock. 

We look upward into the Glen and realize now the stupendous grandeur of this masterpiece of nature, and seem to draw inspiration from its wild magnificence. We feel new strength, and an eagerness to make the ascent. We seem to have forgotten the outer world that we have left behind us, and to be in a kind of fairy land, the work of some ancient race of giants (p. 15). 

Text accompanying the illustration "Rainbow Fall" (p. 33) explains that the space between the fall and the cliff, though narrow, allowed passage. Visitors walking in this area when the sun was shining into the gorge from the west were rewarded with a view of two rainbows. 

The section of the Appalachian trail that crosses through Bear Mountain State Park was the first section of the trail built, opening in 1923. A 1920 publication from the NYS College of Forestry at Syracuse University, called, "Guide to the Summer Birds of the Bear Mountain and Harriman Park Sections of the Palisades Interstate Park" by P.M. Silloway (NYS Library call number FOR 474-4 GUISB 207-1622) provides a guide for studying birds in the area, assuring that quiet walks along the "edges of woods along trails, roads, streams, and lakes" (p. 17) will often yield birdsong. The purpose of the publication, Silloway emphasizes, is not to act as a technical handbook, but to assist nature lovers in the identification of birds.

In my personal methods of field study, I am guided chiefly by the ear rather than by the eye. Whenever I hear the chirp of a bird or a call-note or song, I seek to get a definite impression of the sound so fixed upon my mind that I can recognize it again; then, and not until then, do I press forward to obtain a glimpse of the bird (p. 18). 

"By Dim Light of the Forest": The Adirondacks

Hikers in NYS participate in a variety of hiking challenges across all areas of the state, ranging from walks in preserves and state parks to hikes based around high peaks, fire towers, or lakes. Preeminent among them are the Adirondack Forty-Sixers, celebrating 46 high peaks that were originally surveyed to have an elevation of 4000 feet or higher. The NYS Library's Manuscripts and Special Collections maintain the Adirondacks Forty-Sixers Records (NYS Library call number SC19467) which includes questionnaire paperwork for individuals who completed the 46 high peaks, records specific to participants who completed the winter challenge, extensive correspondence between Grace Hudowalski and climbers, and summit logbooks. The summit logbooks were maintained in canisters on the summits of 24 of the high peaks and contain signed names and comments from climbers who scaled the peaks between 1946 and 2001. Note: This collection has restrictions on use. Please see the Research Use and Access note in the collection's finding aid for more information. 

Encompassing six million acres, the Adirondack Park is roughly the size of the state of Vermont and is the largest protected land in the lower 48 states. The Adirondack Park is larger, in terms of square mileage, than Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Olympic, and Isle Royale National Parks combined! State government documents provide insight into how the Adirondack Park was created and its unique mix of public and private land.

Government documents, especially reports from the 19th century, are often surprisingly literary in ways a modern audience may not expect. A Report on the topographical survey of the Adirondack Wilderness of New York for the year 1873 (NYS Library call number 917.4753 C727 85-35458) by Verplanck Colvin, surveyor and explorer responsible for early mapping of the region that led to the creation of the park, introduces the Adirondack wilderness as follows: 

Few fully understand what the Adirondack wilderness really is. It is a mystery even to those who have crossed and recrossed it by boats along its avenues, the lakes; and on foot through its vast and silent recesses, by following the long ghastly lines of blazed or axe-marked trees, which the daring searcher for the fur of the sable or the mink, has chopped in order that he may find his way again in that deep and often desolate forest. In these remote sections, filled with the most rugged mountains, where unnamed waterfalls pour in snowy tresses from the dark overhanging cliffs, the horse can find no footing... (p. 6). 

Colvin explains why he refuses offers of assistance in surveying, noting that individuals inexperienced or unfamiliar with the demands of the work and terrain may be a hindrance. Only those with a genuine interest would be able to enjoy the experience. He described the difficulty of the work: 

Were they to behold the observer on barometer at lower station at his work, upon his knees on the marshy shores of some dark, solitary, and lonesome lake of the wilderness, studiously and anxiously taking and recording--watch in hand--observations on the instruments at intervals of five minutes, from early dawn till the gloomy hour when the hoot of the owl tells the approach of night; day after day alone at his station, companionless, and inclosed by the deep awful silence of the wilderness; his lunch a crust of bread, baked a week or ten days previously... Kneeling in the wet moss of the woods day by day, keenly watching each oscillation of the quicksilver; now prostrate on the moss peering through the glass walls of the cistern, and by slow motion of the screw bringing the gleaming pool of mercury to the zero point--eyes strained by dim light of the forest... (p. 81) 

An illustration from the report depicts a sprawling view of the high peaks, some of whose names have changed since this time, looking east. In the bottom right, some members of a group scramble up the mountain in the foreground while others set up equipment at the top. 

Ahead of enlargement projects for the Erie Canal, Colvin was asked to report on the availability of Adirondack water sources to act as feeders for the canal. "The Erie Canal derives more than one-half of its supply from the streams originating in this wilderness, and the Champlain and Black River canals are fed almost entirely by Adirondack waters" (p. 105). Since its completion in 1825, the canal had transformed the economy of NYS forever. Learn more about the Erie Canal in NYS Library collections.

In 1891, the NYS Forest Commission published a Special Report of the New York Forest Commission on the Establishment of an Adirondack State Park. An 1890 map from the report, Map of the great forest of northern New York, shows the boundary of the forest in red and the smaller boundary, in blue, of the proposed Adirondack park. 

The NYS Library Digital Collections provides access to documents regarding the history of NYS land, from annual reports for the State Forest Commission in the late 1800s to annual reports for the Adirondack Park Agency from 1973 to the present. Use the NYS Library catalog to help guide your search! 

New York Nature as Muse

The William H. Bartlett Prints (NYS Library call number PRI5584) feature hand-colored illustrations of Lake George in the Southern Adirondacks, including the selections below, from Black Mountain (photo 39), on the eastern side of the lake, and a view from the Narrows (photo 42), a central portion of the lake near the Tongue Mountain Peninsula. 

A print from Currier and Ives shows Catterskill Falls, or Kaaterskill Falls, a renowned tourist destination for over a century (NYS Library call number PRI0003). The two-tiered waterfall is central in the print, with lush forests of greens and blues along either side. 

The area was popularized by artists from the Hudson River School, like Thomas Cole, who drew from the sublime beauty of the Hudson Valley and Catskill mountains for inspiration. Explore the NYS Library's Thomas Cole Papers (NYS Library call number SC10635) held by Manuscripts and Special Collections. Much of the collection is available to view in the NYS Library Digital Collections. 

For the Sheer Joy of Climbing

At the top of Esther, one of New York's 46 high peaks, a plaque reads: "To commemorate the indomitable spirit of Esther McComb, age 15, who made the first recorded ascent of this peak for the sheer joy of climbing." Pursue joy and explore the trails in your own community!

The New York State Literacy Trail provides an opportunity to link early literacy with NYS parks. The NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Division of Child Care Services and the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (Parks) collaborated to select 10 New York State parks and 10 picture books that feature the important relationships between children, their communities, and the outdoors.  

Continue the Erie Canal bicentennial celebrations by exploring the Canalway Trail. People of any level of fitness or ability can follow the route of the Erie Canal, stretching 423.7 miles across the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany, or explore the path of the Champlain Canal from Waterford to Whitehall.

Prefer to explore the outdoors while staying indoors? No problem! Explore the NYS Department of Conservation's magazine, The Conservationist. Issues are available in the NYS Library's Digital Collections dating back to 1946, the year the magazine was founded. Young adventurers can enjoy Conservationist for Kids. 

National Pickle Day (November 14th) honors the puckery, punchy, and pleasantly piquant pickle! From sweet to spicy, pickle fans can feast on their favorite brined bites in celebration.

Pickling is a practice as old as civilization itself, transforming fresh ingredients into preserved treats that could last through long winters, sea voyages, or simply from one harvest to the next.

The NYS Library’s collections include many old and interesting cookbooks. The historical recipes they contain show that creativity in the kitchen is nothing new.

Take, for example, the advice found in Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1765). Her “Rules to be Observed in Pickling” are both practical and enduring. Glasse recommends using stone or glass jars, noting that “vinegar and salt will penetrate through all earthen vessels.” She also cautions against using your hands to remove pickles, warning that doing so could spoil the batch.

In The Cook: A Weekly Handbook of Domestic Culinary Art for All Housekeepers (1885), readers could find recipes for Pickled Oysters, a delicacy steeped in vinegar, oyster liquor, and aromatic spices like mace and clove. Readers were even introduced to Pickled Grasshoppers, “as prepared in New Zealand,” steeped in brine and boiled “a la shrimp.”

Meanwhile, Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell’s New System of Domestic Cookery (1807) offers an early glimpse of what we’d recognize as pickled cucumbers, or “young gherkins.” Rundell instructs her readers to avoid brass or glazed vessels, warning that acids “dissolve the lead in the tinning of saucepans.”

Not everyone was quite so enthusiastic. Sarah J. Hale, in The Good Housekeeper (1844), cautioned that “pickles are very hard indigestible things” and suggested their value lay mostly in creating “flavored vinegar for seasonings.” It’s okay to be wrong sometimes, Sarah.

From oysters to gherkins to grasshoppers, these recipes preserved by the NYS Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections show that pickling was never a one-size-fits-all affair. It was chemistry, creativity, and culture in a jar.

So this National Pickle Day, as you crunch into a dill spear or experiment with your own brine, take a moment to appreciate the centuries of experimentation and preservation that brought us here.

Want more historical recipes? Check out Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery in our Digital Collections! Published in 1796, this 64-page book has some early American treats including a recipe to pickle cucumbers!  

On November 7th, State Librarian Lauren Moore visited the Capitol Pressroom studio to talk about the New York Red Book, including a copy from over 100 years ago, and to make the case for investing more in the preservation efforts at the NYS Library.  

Tune in to Lauren’s interview for the nitty-gritty on the Library’s historic collections and ongoing preservation efforts. Additionally, we invite you to read on to explore the Library’s long history of preserving materials for New Yorkers’ continued use. 

Black and White and Red All Over

The New York Red Book has been privately published since 1892 and presents pertinent facts concerning New York State, its political subdivisions, and the officials who administer NYS affairs. The book includes pictures and brief biographies of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, all members of both houses of the legislature, the Judges of the Court of Appeals and Court of Claims, and department heads and other officials in executive positions in various departments and divisions. It also includes lists of county officials and officers of recognized political parties.

Since 1892, three different publishers produced the Red Book, and it likely enjoyed wide distribution. It was used by government officials, lawyers, lobbyists, and the public as a guide to networking with government representatives. Copies of the New York Red Book remain extremely useful today as a resource for conducting research on legislative intent.

The NYS Library has digitized Red Books published between 1892 and 1923 available to explore in our Digital Collections. 

Lasting Impacts of the Capitol Fire

Early installments of the New York Red Book were likely part of the NYS Library’s expansive research collections at the time of the 1911 Capitol Fire. As with most items in the Library’s collection at the time, these copies were also a total loss.

As one of the most destructive fires in the history of libraries, the Capitol Fire destroyed about 450,000 books, 270,000 manuscripts, and 300,000 pamphlets. The Library’s essential administrative records and its catalogs were lost as well.  

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, the NYS Library received a flood of letters from other libraries offering condolences as well as support. This support often came in the form of gifts to replace rare collections lost in the fire. It’s likely that the Library’s run of early Red Books were replaced this way. Other replacements would have to wait years.

You can explore the story of the 1911 Capitol Fire—including information about lost items, photographs of the aftermath, and moving letters from supporters—on our Capitol Fire collection guide. 

Preservation at the NYS Library: The Work Continues

Since its earliest days in 1818, the NYS Library has seen a tremendous amount of use across its collections. Much of the behind-the-scenes work in any library involves maintaining collections to ensure their availability. While this work has changed considerably at the NYS Library in the past two centuries, some themes remain constant and connect us to our past.

One of the great challenges that emerged early in the Library’s history was a shortage of shelf space for the growing collection. In the years leading up to the Capitol Fire, the NYS Library stored duplicate volumes in the nearby McCredie Malt House. While the Malt House is no longer in use, duplicate copies still factor into today’s preservation practices. Duplicate copies allow the Library to provide access to a title while maintaining a preservation copy as a backup.  

Repair also helps to keep collections in use.  Repairs can be applied to volumes with torn or loose pages, worn spines, detached covers, and minor damage. For repair to be an option, the item's pages should be flexible and not brittle—ongoing assessment is a must.  Constant assessment around an item’s condition and use patterns allow Library staff to respond with strategies to protect an item and prolong its usefulness to New Yorkers.

One copy of the 1911 Red Book includes a sticker with the following note: “This volume has been rebound in the Conservation Laboratory of the New York State Library using archival materials and conservation techniques.” The note is dated 1995, and the book remains in circulation today.