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The Magazine
of the
New York VOL. 1 • NO. 2
State Museum FA L L 2 0 0 5
INSIDE:
Two Sports
Exhibitions
New York's
Diverse Fishes
Albany and
the French
and Indian War
Fabulous Fossilscontents VOL. 1 • NO. 2
FA L L 2 0 0 5
Salmo salar, Atlantic salmon
features
One Fish, Two Fish, … by Dr. Robert A. Daniels
10 With nearly 900,000 specimens, the State Museum’s
extensive fish collection has unlimited scientific value.
Albany as a Military Headquarters by Dr. Charles L. Fisher
13 The State Museum’s archaeological collections are a source
for learning about military and civilian life 250 years ago,
during the French and Indian War.
Drawn to Nature by Maria C. Sparks
Artifacts from the French and
14 Natural science artists connect with the environment and
the community through the COM.EN.ART residency program.
Gretchen Halpert, Queen Anne’s lace
Indian War period
departments
Director’s Note
2
Museum News
3
Discovery Now
7 Secrets of stone flakes found in Wayne County and the
evolution of a Jamesville mill by Stephen Shoemaker
Hidden Treasures
8 Fabulous Fossils—The State Museum’s Trilobites
by Dr. Ed Landing
Bill Baker’s Team U.S.A. hockey
jersey from the 1980 Olympics in
New York Stories
16 A New Home for a Prized Possession by Geoffrey N. Stein
Lake Placid. The hockey jersey will
be on display in Sports: Breaking
Records, Breaking Barriers. The
exhibition opens October 15.
On the Cover
www.nysm.nysed.gov Trilobites from the Devonian age. Photos by
Ron Barber, NYSM.The Magazine of the
New York State Museum
Maria C. Sparks, Managing Editor
director’s note Janice Kissick, Design Consultant
Christine Carpenter, Copy Editor
Design
I
2k Design
f you haven’t visited the Museum over the past few months, I hope
you’ll visit soon. Your donations, as membership fees and voluntary Contributors
donations at the gallery doors, have helped us continue the transforma- Nina F. Caraco
tion of our public spaces. The Museum has been able to take advantage Robert A. Daniels
of a challenge in this year’s state budget to multiply the impact of your Penelope B. Drooker
contributions. Each dollar donated by our members and visitors is Charles L. Fisher
matched, dollar for dollar, allowing us to advance our plans for making William Kelly
Patricia Kernan
the Museum a more engaging experience.
Ed Landing
One of the first projects undertaken with the matching funds program
Robert E. Schmidt
was the re-carpeting of about 75,000 square feet of gallery spaces. Since
Rose Schulze
the last carpet replacement, the Museum has entertained more than
Stephen Shoemaker
6 million visitors—that much foot traffic is guaranteed to wear out carpets! Geoffrey N. Stein
We will also be installing a new orientation system, to make finding
your way around three acres of exhibition galleries more convenient. We Advisory Board
have begun planning additional exhibits and orientation areas for the main Harry M. Rosenfeld
lobby. Your visit will begin with an inviting, enriching overview of the Clifford A. Siegfried
Museum and its collections, research, galleries and programs. John P. Hart
Your donations are also making it possible to install several video Mark Schaming
projectors in the galleries and in the lobby. The projectors, along with Jeanine L. Grinage
additional video monitors and computer interactives, will help us share Robert A. Daniels
more of our collections and research and make the galleries more lively. Penelope B. Drooker
We’ve also been able to move forward with exhibition case design
Editorial Board
and fabrication. This has allowed us to highlight more of our collections
Carrie Bernardi
and to share information, documents and objects from the collections of
Penelope B. Drooker
our sister institutions, the State Archives and State Library. We continually
Cecile Kowalski
bring in new collections and want to devote space for sharing these
Geoffrey N. Stein
acquisitions with visitors. Chuck Ver Straeten
Thank you for your support—it’s helping us transform your Museum!
Legacy is published quarterly by the
New York State Museum Institute,
Third Floor, Cultural Education
Center, Albany, NY 12230. The
New York State Museum Institute,
a private single-purpose 501(c)(3)
Cliff Siegfried
charitable organization, supports the
Director, New York State Museum exhibitions, research and programs
of the New York State Museum.
The magazine is sent to members
of the New York State Museum as
a benefit of their membership. For
information about membership,
www.nysm.nysed.gov call 518-474-1354 or send an e-mail
to membership@mail.nysed.gov.
2 Legacymuseum news
Sports:
More than Just a Game
T
wo exhibitions opening on By showcasing 35 athletes The goggles that New Yorker
October 15 capture how and their performances, Sports: Gertrude Ederle designed for her
1926 swim across the English
individual achievement in B reaking Records, Breaking Barriers
Channel will be shown in the
sports impacts society at large. explores women’s changing roles, upcoming Sports: Breaking Records,
Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking racial and ethnic integration, Breaking Barriers exhibition.
Barriers, an exhibition developed nationalism, perceptions about Other native New Yorkers featured
by the Smithsonian’s National physical disabilities, the rise of in the exhibition are Bonnie Blair,
Michael Jordan and Sandy Koufax.
Museum of American History sports celebrities and the effect
Blair, a native of Cornwall, wore
and the Smithsonian Institution of technology on performance these speed skins (at left) when she
Traveling Exhibition Service, and participation. All the artifacts won the gold in the 1,000 meters
explores the connection among in the exhibition are from the at the 1992 Albertville Olympics.
famous athletes, sporting events, Smithsonian’s National Museum Koufax, originally from Brooklyn,
used this glove (at bottom) during
and American values. In Miracles: of American History.
a celebrated career with the Los
New York’s Greatest Sports The events chosen for Miracles: Angeles Dodgers that included
Moments, Times Union (Albany, New York’s Greatest Sports pitching a perfect game and four
N.Y.) columnist Mark McGuire Moments include moments from no-hitters.
identifies 25 memorable moments baseball, horse racing, boxing, IMAGES: ERIC LONG/SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
in New York sports history. football, basketball, and hockey,
and share a common theme.
“The improbable is probable,
Fall Museum Series Focuses and the impossible never is,”
says McGuire. “There’s always
on the Adirondacks hope. The unexpected can
happen at any moment, provided
the moment is right.” Miracles:
T
he Museum’s Research and life. Topics include: the geologic New York’s Greatest Sports
Collections staff discusses history of the Adirondacks, the Moments includes artifacts from
various aspects of the effects of stocking largemouth the New York State Museum,
Adirondacks in the upcoming bass and other non-native fishes, other museums and private
Museum Series. The 10 pro- the mining history of the region, collections.
grams, scheduled for Wednesday the pen-and-ink sketches of
evenings throughout the fall, are Canajoharie drawing instructor
free and open to the public. Rufus Alexander Grider, the
“The Museum has a long his- structures and furnishings of
tory of research and collections Adirondack Great Camps, facts
work in the Adirondacks,” says and myths about acid lakes, the
Dr. John P. Hart, director of beauty of wild orchids, little-
research and collections. “This known facts about black flies,
lecture series covers much of the the composition and evolution of
research being done in the fluids in the Earth’s crust, and
Adirondacks by current Museum 500 years of Adirondack wildlife.
scientists and historians.” For complete event information,
Each of the programs focuses refer to The Museum Calendar or
on a specific area of Adirondack www.nysm/nysed.gov/calendar/.
Fall 2005 3museum
news
The State Geological Survey,
the geological research arm of A Look Back
the State Museum, and the
The New York
New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation’s State Museum and
division of mineral resources are the Capitol Fire
delving into geologic and engi-
Entrances to underground iron
T
neering reports from the past he disastrous “Capitol Fire”
mines in Mineville, c. 1915
150 years to compile a database of March 29, 1911, is widely
of information about the under- known for the destruction
ground mines. Since starting the it wrought on the State Capitol
project in 2004, researchers have
Lost Mines, located 255 underground mines
building and the contents of the
State Library housed there. Far
that were excavated for com-
Hidden modities ranging from arsenic to
less widely known is the impact it
had on the State Museum.
zinc. The majority of these are
Danger iron mines, reflecting New York’s
Before what we now call the
“old” Museum was installed in
past prominence in this industry. the State Education Building
B Y D R . W I L L I A M K E L LY Abandoned underground mines beginning in 1913, artifacts and
AND ROSE SCHULZE occur across the state, but are natural history specimens from its
most prolific in the Adirondacks collections were on exhibit and
M
ines large, small, shallow and Hudson Valley. Metal mines in storage at several locations in
and deep have been are the deepest and extend more Albany. In 1910, a large proportion
opened across New York than 2,000 feet underground. of the ethnographic and archaeo-
State and, over time, abandoned The mines with the largest areal logical collections was put on
and forgotten. extent are in central and western display along the fourth floor
Forgotten, yes, but they didn’t New York where salt and gypsum corridor of the Capitol building.
go away. Mined-out cavities mines stretched for miles. For a few months an
remain, often overgrown with The database includes facts unparalleled group of objects
barely any surface indication of such as the mine name, location, was available to the public—
the cavern below. Often, there is owner, commodity and opera- thousands of archaeological
no information regarding the tional dates. Descriptions of the artifacts and hundreds
exact location of mine openings style of mining, ore body names of ceremonial
or underground voids. This and information on the geometry and utilitarian
becomes a problem when homes, of the mine, where known, are Iroquois
indust r i e s , and communication also included. If available, old items collect-
and transportation systems expand photographs of the mines and ed between
into these sparsely developed surface structures are linked to 1848 and
Dr. William Kelly heads areas. Worse, collapses have the mine records. 1906,
the State Geological Surv e y occurred under structures built More than 1,300 maps associ-
at the New York State over mined-out areas. To date, no ated with underground mines in
Museum. Among his injuries have occurred in New York New York have been located to Small salt
research interests are due to mine collapse. However, date. The paper maps, which are bottle,
economic geology and the potential for personal injury or often fragile, have been scanned charred
mining history. Rose Schulze, property damage is considerable into digital format for preserva- from the
the manager of the since no law has ever required Capitol
tion and ease of distribution. The
fire
underground mine program, mining companies to provide mine locations will be transferred (NYSM
also studies the oil and maps to a governmental agency to modern maps for easy use by cat. no.
gas re s o u rces of New York. when mines were closed. the public. 37105)
4 Legacyincluding most of the famed
Lewis Henry Morgan Collection Volunteers:
(www.nysm.nysed.gov/morgan/).
Then came disaster. Heat, smoke The Heart
and, finally, the collapse of the
corridor ceiling destroyed or of the
damaged 85 percent of the esti-
mated 10,000 objects on display. Museum
Luckily, exhibits of fossil Museum Volunteers
sponges and mineral specimens
installed along the Senate gallery
Joan and F r a n k
corridor and botanical specimens Pomellitto
stored in the basement were
F
largely undamaged in the fire, but rom the vantage of the
the collections described by the f ront lobby desk, volunteers Frank and Joan Pomellitto have been Museum members since 1992
director as “the most complete Joan and Frank Pomellitto and volunteers since 2002.
assemblage of Iroquois materials make it their mission to welcome
in existence,” had sustained major each person who walks through “If you’re not having fun, you
irreplaceable losses. the Museum’s doors. can’t relate to the people you
And sometimes their greet- are trying to help,” says Frank.
Submitted by Dr. Penelope B. ings lead to conversations and “The secret to volunteering is to
Drooker, curator of anthropology memorable moments. Like be enjoying it.”
and assistant director, research the time they asked a group of A former surgical nurse, Joan
and collections division preschoolers to sing a song also gives her time to Concerned
and the children kept right on Action for Parents, Teens And
singing, song after song. Or like Interested Neighbors (CAPTAIN),
the many times that Frank has a not-for-profit human services
Biodiversity joked with young children who agency in Clifton Park. Frank,
stop by the desk. If you’ve been who is retired from business,
Lecture Series good for two days, he tells them, enjoys restoring old cars and
the mastodont [exhibited in the building furniture in addition to The New York
A new lecture series highlights lobby] will wag its tail when volunteering at the Museum.
State Museum offers
research and conservation efforts you touch the interactive kiosk. “Joan and Frank serve as
to pre s e rve the biodiversity of New The Pomellittos, married for models for what the Museum many interesting
York State. The series includes 46 years, have been bringing looks for in our volunteers,” says
and educational
lectures on the migration of their own sense of fun to the Cliff Siegfried, director of the
Adirondack loons, the results of a Museum for the past three years. Museum. “Frank’s humorous and opportunities for
six-year inventory of the biology By volunteering at the f ront outgoing personality and Joan’s
volunteers, interns
of the state parks, the identifica- desk each Tuesday morning from never-ending smile make the New
tion of important bird areas, and May through November, they York State Museum a fun, engag- and those interested
an overview of the New York meet people from all over ing experience for each visitor.”
in community service
Flora Project. The New York State the world and enjoy the few On a recent Tuesday, the
Biodiversity Research Institute, minutes they spend with them. Pomellittos were training a volun- placements. For
housed within the Museum, The couple also brings positive teer new to the lobby desk. As
more information
funds research projects in these energy to the membership part of the training, they talk
areas and sponsors this noontime office, while ushering at Museum about how to draw visitors into on how to become
lecture series on Wednesdays in c o n c e rts and when participating the Museum. As Joan says, “If
involved, please call
October. For more information, in the committee that plans they have a good experience the
visit www.nysm.nysed.gov/bri/. programs and performances. first time, they will be back.” 518-402-5869.
Fall 2005 5museum
news
World Cultures on View A New York
Experience
A
n exhibition from the collection of Egyptian and Islamic
Brooklyn Museum brings art as well as its collection of arts
A
new Metropolitan Hall
masterpieces from many of the Americas, Africa, and Asia.
exploration station
cultures to the State Museum. The exhibition will also draw
explores emigrating to
The World in Brooklyn: Selections from the museum’s collections
the United States, tenement life,
f rom the Brooklyn Museum opens in decorative arts, European and
and sweatshop work at the turn
November 19 as the next install- American painting, contemporary
Tupac Yupanqui, Peru, of the 20th century. The items on
mid-18th century. Oil on canvas, ment of the Bank of America art, prints and drawings, and
the new station range from the
23-1/8 x 21-1/4 inches. Great Art Series. feminist art. “It represents the
Brooklyn Museum 1995.29.11 games cats cradle and hopscotch
Works included in the exhibition diversity of the Brooklyn commu-
to a washboard, flat iron, shoe,
include a rare mid-18th century nity and the Brooklyn Museum,”
collar, suitcase, milk jug, and
Peruvian painting of the legendary says Kevin Stayton, curator of
button hook from the Museum’s
Inca ruler Tupac Yupanqui and decorative arts at the Brooklyn
collections.
the famous Emancipation Cane, Museum, the second-largest
Cathy Cozzens of Visitor
a work of 19th century folk art museum in New York City.
Services developed the new
that chronicles the most important The World in Brooklyn:
exploration station expecting to
moment in African American Selections from the Brooklyn
share these objects from the
history. The Brooklyn Museum also Museum runs through February
early 1900s with young people.
shares works from its renowned 26, 2006, in West Gallery.
Instead, the objects have also
attracted attention—and
prompted stories and reminis-
cences—from their parents and
grandparents. “It brings out
different reactions in different
people,” says Cozzens, who
includes her own family history
by using her grandmother’s
button for the hopscotch game.
Cozzens, originally from
Scotland, also shares her story
of becoming a U.S. citizen to
contrast with the early 20th
century experience.
The New York Metropolis
and other exploration stations
promote discussion about the
Museum’s exhibits. Other stations
focus on mastodonts and
mammoths; sea life and fossils;
minerals; moose, beavers, bears,
and other Adirondack mammals;
and Native Peoples. In addition,
a “welcome” station used in
Cathy Cozzens discusses immigration, tenements and sweatshops at the tenement scene in the main lobby introduces visitors
New York Hall. to the Museum.
6 Legacydiscovery now BY STEPHEN SHOEMAKER
Secrets of
Stone Flakes
T
he Crusoe Creek site, in
Wayne County between
Syracuse and Rochester,
was a seasonal camp during the
Late Archaic (4,000 –1,500 B.C.)
and Early Woodland (1,000 –100
B.C.) periods. Archaeologists have
worked at the site in previous
Continuously drawn kilns, like this lime-kiln battery located directly across the street from
decades, and staff of the Museum’s
the Alvord Plaster Mill, functioned from 1860 to 1917 to burn limestone. The oxide of lime
remains behind as a powdery or lumpy substance that is often white calcined lime. The Cultural Resource Survey Program
burned limestone was taken to the mill’s “cracker” room, where it was crushed in machines (CRSP) were there in fall 2004.
and reduced to fragments and grains in the production of cement and plaster. The site has yielded large
amounts of stone flakes that are
the chips off a piece of stone
A Mill’s Savvy Business Skills being worked into a tool such as
a projectile point (“arrow head”).
By analyzing these flakes—
N
ew York experienced a were suffering economically, the which have certain diagnostic
boom in the production E.B. Alvord Co. mill remained a features—CRSP’s Daniel E. Mazeau
of natural cement during viable business venture. and other archaeologists were
the construction of the Erie Canal. Through research, Robert Dean able to assemble information
The product was in high demand of the State Museum’s Cultural about stone tool production at
for hydraulic structures for both Resource Survey Program (CRSP) the site.
the canal and other navigable hopes to shed light on changes The vast majority of the flakes
waterways. Extensive excavation in the mill’s layout as new tech- show that during the Late Archaic
and mapping surveys of the E.B. nologies and power systems were Period, the occupants of the site
Alvord Co. plaster mill in Jamesville, adopted, as well as the mechanics were bringing in “blanks” that
Chipped stone tools and projectile
just outside of Syracuse, have of those power systems. The had already been worked and
points from the Crusoe Creek site
yielded a great deal of information most important change was a needed only limited processing
on the operation of a representa- shift in production from the to be turned into formal tools.
tive plaster mill. manufacturing of flour to natural This trend continued into the
The site—which dates back cement. Information about the Early Woodland Period when a
to the early 1800s—is unique in various stages of plaster produc- more diverse group of tools was
that it offers clues as to how tion and where this took place manufactured. During this period,
it was able to survive for more at the mill can also be gleaned there is also evidence that the
than a century. The mill was from the excavations. Assorted site’s occupants were bringing raw
converted from producing flour structural remains found above materials, including unworked
to producing natural cement and and below ground, including cores, to the site to be worked
plaster in the mid-19th century. a sluice associated with a water into projectile points, scrapers
The mill also remained competi- control feature, a turbine pit, and bifaces. Why this transition in Stephen Shoemaker
tive by using new technologies lime-kiln, remains of a dam, and tool manufacturing tasks at the is a cultural education
and nearby transportation interior and exterior walls will site took place is still unknown. specialist in the Museum’s
routes. In an era when regions help aid in the discovery of the Cultural Resource Survey
located away from the canal evolution of the site. Program.
Fall 2005 7hidden treasures
Fabulous Fossils—The State Museum’s
BY DR. ED LANDING
C
Dr. Ed Landing curates the omplexity, elaborate fea- the first illustrated of these.
Paleontology Collection at tures and great antiquity Thus, they are important in
the New York State Museum. make trilobites a most evolutionary and taxonomic
“Alpha paleontology,” or interesting fossil group. They studies (e.g., “Do I really have
documenting the variety of are common in ancient sea the New York species here
ancient life, is one aspect deposits worldwide. The earliest in Morocco?”). On-site visits
of his geologic research on publication on trilobites in and loans make these fossils
New York’s ancient sea levels the United States included available to researchers
and climates. New York specimens now in worldwide. Access to histori-
the State Museum. cally important specimens,
Dipleura dekayi, Middle Devonian age, The 15,000 specimens in often from sites now built
c. 380 million years ago. Headless specimen the Paleontology Collection’s over or otherwise lost, is only
from Madison County; described by Jacob one reason why the Museum’s
“trilobite wing” come from
Greene in 1832 in the oldest report on
American trilobites, and donated to the New York and 14 other states, fossils must be preserved
Museum by the natural history enthusiast as well as 21 foreign countries. through the centuries.
Governor DeWitt Clinton. Many trilobites were first Modern paleobiologic
described from New York, and studies of trilobites focus on
many of the Museum’s were how they lived, are related
Isotelus gigas, Late Ordovician age, c. 460 million years ago. Small, young specimen from
Trenton Falls. Trilobites, as do lobsters and crabs, molted their hard parts with growth.
Molted skeletons fall apart, so the recovery of a complete trilobite fossil means that the
fossil likely represents a live animal that was buried in sediment and died. Complete trilo-
bites at Trenton Falls are found upside-down. They were turned over by storms, could not
right themselves, and were smothered by sediment.
8 LegacyTrilobites
and evolved. State Museum resulted from the ability of Phacops rana, Middle Devonian age, c. 380 million years
specimens are used to quantify most to enroll and protect ago. Specimens from Stafford that enrolled during a
storm and were buried alive. The black color of New York
the evolutionary relationships their soft undersides with
trilobites indicates the specimens were buried deep in
of trilobites and also show their mineralized (limy) dorsal rocks, heated and baked into graphite (carbon). Areas
that they are closely related to skeletons. However, trilobites where black trilobites are found never have petroleum.
arachnids (spiders and kin). declined with the rise of fish. Compare these specimens with the light-brown
Trilobites originated 519 million The appearance of spiny Dicranurus from petroleum-producing Oklahoma (below).
years ago—quite late in the trilobites during the evolution
“Cambrian radiation,” the of jawed fish may have been
Dicranurus elegantulus, Early Devonian age, c. 415 million
evolutionary modernization of an anti-predation strategy. years ago. A form with large spines, from Haragan
marine animals. They were a The last trilobites died out County, Oklahoma; specimen illustrated in The Trilobites
successful group for the next somewhat before a mass- of New York (Cornell University Press, 2002) and purchased
300 million years. extinction 230 million years from G.J. Kloc of Rochester.
Early trilobite species existed ago just before the “Age of
only an average one million Dinosaurs.” Their ecologic role
years, and their fossils are used in marine settings was taken
to give an approximate age of over by isopods (a group
rocks. Their success may have known on land as pill bugs).
Coronura myrmecophorus, Early Devonian age, c. 410 million years ago. Pygidium (tail) from
one of the largest-known trilobites; Kingston.
Fall 2005 9Catostomus catostomus, longnose sucker
Sander vitreus glaucus, blue pike
One Fish, Two Fish,
The fish collection holds
The hundreds of fishes in the useful, interesting and even
collection were a sufficient
number of specimens from the
economically important answers 1930s, 1970s and 1990s.
state collection hold answers to to important questions. With a My working hypothesis was
collection as vast as the State that environmental conditions as
important scientific questions Museum’s at researchers’ disposal, reflected by the growth of the
finding these answers often sunfish were worse in the 1970s.
requires just a little bit of effort I found no difference in growth
BY DR. ROBERT A. DANIELS and ingenuity. Researchers from in the 1930s and 1970s. What I
around the world use specimens did find was that redbreast sunfish
T
o the casual visitor, a fish from the collection, or informa- grew larger and lived longer in
collection can elicit mixed tion about those specimens, in the 1990s. Degraded conditions
feelings—most people many different types of studies existed over a longer period than
don’t find 5,015 feet of shelving (see sidebars). Of course, the I had initially expected, but in
crammed with jars of specimens collection is crucial for research recent years the better growth
in preservative an attractive vista. done at the Museum as well. statistics suggested that conditions
Reactions to the State Museum’s I used specimens in the in the river had improved.
fish collection have ranged from collection to examine change in
abrupt about-faces to unbridled environmental conditions in the Regional Focus,
enthusiasm. However, the value Hudson River over the past several Worldwide Implications
Dr. Robert A. Daniels is
assistant director of research
of specimens often transcends
their appearance. Each specimen
in the Museum’s collection, like
decades. Growth in redbreast
sunfish reflects habitat conditions—
the assumption is that increased
T he State Museum’s collection
is a regional one. Most of the
specimens in the collection are
and collections and curator those in all other natural history growth is related to better environ- from New York or the Northeast.
of ichthyology. He studies collections, is an archive of the mental conditions. To undertake This is by design and follows long-
interrelationships among species and the environmental this study, I needed several established collections’ policies
species and between species conditions in which it lived. individual redbreast sunfish from of the Museum. At this writing,
and their habitat. Beauty truly is in the scientific value. different time periods. In the the State Museum’s collection
10 LegacyAbout the
Collection
• Number of lots: 58,474
Catostomus utawana, summer sucker (a lot includes all specimens
of one species collected at
one site at one time)
contains 877,921 cataloged the 20 largest fish collections in in 2005. Comparative material • Number of lots from New
specimens of fish. These specimens the country. That means, for is also extensive; the collection York: 55,078
include representatives from 861 some species, there are many holds representatives of most
• Largest lot: 4,282 bay
taxa (including species, hybrids specimens from many different of the other species within the
anchovy larvae from the
and unidentifiable specimens) sites across many years. For sunfish family, for example.
Hudson River, collected
collected from 14,467 sites in example, there are 24,098 speci- The fish collection is dynamic
in 1988
four oceans and on six continents. mens of pumpkinseed collected and grows with additions from
Specimens are from 16 countries from 2,618 sites spanning 151 research projects conducted by • New York county with
and 32 states within the United years. The oldest pumpkinseed the Museum staff, acquisitions fewest lots: Yates, with 52
• New York county with
…
States. specimen in the collection was from other state and federal
Despite its regional focus, the collected in 1854; the most recent greatest number of lots:
Museum’s collection is among specimen was collected Orange, with 8,068
• Oldest specimen: Blind
cavefish collected in 1843
in Kentucky
• Oldest New York specimen:
Just what is the Yellow perch collected in
mudminnow in Manitou Marsh? Umbra pygmaea, eastern mudminnow
1848 from Lake George
• Largest specimen:
B Y D R . R O B E R T E . S C H M I D T, S I M O N S R O C K C O L L E G E Lake sturgeon, 1,558 mm
in length from the
Saint Lawrence River
I have been studying fishes in
the Hudson River for 25 years.
In 1998, mudminnow—a small,
Hudson River, and they are distin-
guished by color pattern. The
eastern mudminnow (native
and specimens from neighboring
drainages. I found several speci-
mens of eastern mudminnow
• Smallest specimen:
Spot, 2 mm, from the
rather secretive fish—was found species) has horizontal lines on its from the type locality in Sparkill Hudson River
in Manitou Marsh, Putnam side, and the central mudminnow Creek, Rockland County, in the • Number of 19th century
County. I surveyed fishes in (probably not native) has vertical collection. I took measurements specimens: 1,243
Manitou Marsh in 1992, and blotches. The Manitou Marsh of several head and body dimen- representing 123 species
during my time there, I never mudminnow did not display sions and counted fin rays and
• Family best represented:
caught mudm i n n o w. For this either pattern. Some specimens scales on 124 mudminnows.
Minnows (family Cyprinidae)
reason, this new observation had faint horizontal lines, others The result of this was that I
with 111 species
was very interesting. were blotchy, and still others could now distinguish the two
A colleague, Tom Lake, and were indistinctly colored. Our mudminnow species without • Body of water best
I visited Manitou Marsh in theory was that we’d found resorting to color pattern. represented: Hudson River,
October 1998. Typically mud- hybrid variations. When I compared measure- with 375,808 specimens,
minnow in the tidal Hudson To examine this hypothesis, I ments of the three groups, representing 144 species
River inhabit supratidal pools, needed different characteristics, Manitou Marsh fish fell between • Specimen from the site
which are pools slightly above preferably morphological, to the two species. This as a strong farthest from New York:
the high tide line. A large separate the species. The State indication that the Manitou trunkfish from the Indian
supratidal pool occurs just south Museum fish collection has Marsh mudminnow is, in fact, a Ocean, near Travancore
of the causeway that crosses the substantial holdings of both hybrid. The tidal Hudson River is (Trivandrum), India
marsh. We caught 31 mudm i n- mudminnow species from New the only place where these two
nows with one haul of the seine. York and elsewhere. I gathered species are sympatric, and I find
Two closely related mudmin- all the specimens I could find it fascinating that upon meeting
now species occur in the from the Hudson River drainage each other, they hybridize.
Fall 2005 11Alosa aestivalis, blueback herring
agencies such as their growth rates, about the specimens are made
and the occasional diets, age, health and identity. by a variety of researchers across
donation from a citizen. Since the specimens also shed the globe. All that is needed is a
Large size, continued growth and light on the environment in which question!
the variety of species represented they lived, they are valuable for
Lepomis auritus,
are key characteristics that define toxicologists, pathologists, redbreast
a collection and determine, to natural historians, sunfish
some extent, its importance to ecologists, zoo-
the scientific community. geographers,
The fish collection at the State taxonomists
Museum is a valuable scientific and many
tool. Specimens provide informa- others. Requests
tion on the organisms themselves, for information
What is the effect of an invasive mussel on native fishes?
B Y D R . N I N A F. C A R A C O , I N S T I T U T E F O R E C O S Y S T E M S T U D I E S
S ome studies require speci-
mens for comparisons. I am
studying a key question in
or resident fish. The invasion of
the exotic zebra mussel may be
responsible for this difference.
inputs are greatest. Because the
Hudson River fish populations
support important sport and
aquatic science: what is the rel- Zebra mussel invaded the lower commercial fisheries, it is important
ative importance of autochtho- Hudson River in the early 1990s. to be able to explain changes in
nous (from within the river) and It feeds by filtering plankton, the number of fish.
allochthonous (from outside which are small plants and animals. To test if the source of food
Rick Morse, fish collection the river) sources as food for Because it is such an efficient for young fish has changed since
manager, adds a recently fish and invertebrates? The filter-feeder, phytoplankton the invasion of zebra mussel, I
cataloged specimen to the
growing state fish collection.
Hudson River offers a perfect (plant) biomass in the Hudson need to compare diets from fish
set of circumstances to under- decreased, which means there was caught before and after the
take this study. less food from in-river sources invasion. Post-invasion fish are
Natural abundance isotopes for young fish. Zebra mussel even easy to secure, but only museum
can be used to trace the relative more dramatically lowered zoo- collections hold specimens
importance of these different plankton (animals) biomass. In caught before the invasion. I will
food sources. Studies suggest the Hudson food web, zooplank- examine young blueback herring
that external carbon is dominant ton consumes allochthonous and striped bass from similar
in the Hudson River, but is not material and is, in turn, eaten by locations and times of year in
as important as food for young young fish and invertebrates. the pre-zebra mussel period and
herring, striped bass Dr. David Strayer and colleagues the post-zebra mussel period.
Salmo salar, Atlantic salmon
found that after the zebra mussel Without museum collections, key
invasion there was a decline in studies examining changes in the
young fish; this decline was more Hudson River fish communities
severe in wet years, when extern a l would not be possible.
12 LegacyAlbany
Brass pocket sundial, A87.5.136.19,
as a Military
KeyCorp, 1.5 inches in diameter
Headquarters
BY DR. CHARLES L. FISHER
Archaeological collections
contain evidence of cooperation
and conflict 250 years ago
D
uring the French and Indian city wall and buildings such as made, or repaired, by off-duty
War, the city of Albany guardhouses, barracks, a hospital, soldiers. In the city, the soldiers
was the staging ground for stables, magazines and store- had access to a variety of material
the British army in their annual houses. About 1,400 officers and goods and food not always
campaigns against the French troops were quartered in the present in the frontier forts and
in Canada. Since 1986, archaeo- homes of nearly 1,500 city resi- on the battlefields.
logical excavations in downtown dents, and many other soldiers Rum was in great demand and
Albany and along the Hudson were encamped outside of the city. large quantities were purchased
riverfront have produced thou- Approximately 30,000 soldiers by the military. The army used rum
sands of artifacts from that time passed through Albany during as a reward for extra duty, and it
period. The examination of these this conflict, and many civilian was believed that rum contributed
material remains from the soldiers’ refugees came to live within the to the health of the soldiers.
off-duty lives, and identifying secure, walled city. The first rum distillery in Albany
their impact on civilians, helps Archaeological collections was constructed just outside the
us to understand the events that illustrate the impact of the British north wall of the city during
shaped our modern world. on the traditional Dutch population the French and Indian War. This Top: Buff earthenware chamber
pot, slipped, trailed and dotted
The British built new fortifica- of Albany at this time. The pres- location enabled the distillery
A87.05.500.2, KeyCorp, 6.5 inches
tions in Albany following the ence of large numbers of soldiers to ignore the city ordinance of in diameter at rim, 5 inches high
French victory at Oswego in 1756. with money to spend was an 1756 that prohibited selling rum.
This victory made Albany the opportunity for the merchants. The Dutch residents of Middle: Wampum, shell beads,
obvious target of the next French A consumer revolution took place Albany were never completely approximately .25-inch in length
from Albany excavations
advance from the west and also as mass-produced English goods “Anglicized,” and maintained
from their post at Fort Carillon were acquired, used and discarded. their language and many of Bottom: Stone foundation of rum
( F o rtTiconderoga) about 90 miles Ceramics, glass, clay tobacco pipes, their customs. Their material distillery with wooden vats and
to the north. The French success buckles, buttons and shoes—what world, however, changed during the stone base for the still in the
at Fort William Henry in 1757, Samuel Adams referred to as the the French and Indian War to background
which placed the French army less “Baubles of Britain”—increased include many more English items.
than 60 miles north of Albany, in number during the 1700s. Ironically, the increase in British
only heightened the residents’ The soldiers were actively goods did not help to maintain Dr. Charles L. Fisher is
fear of an imminent attack. engaged in the local economy control over the colony; instead, the curator of historical
The military buildup in Albany through cottage-production. it helped to shape a rebellion archaeology at the New
included the construction of a new Wampum, shoes and baskets were among the new consumers. York State Museum.
Fall 2005 13Time in the field
connects natural
science artists with
the environment
and the commu n i ty
Manbu Saito, mushrooms
Drawn to Nature B Y M A R I A C . S PA R K S
W
hile it’s difficult for west of Albany. The not-for-profit usually receive a preserved
natural history artists preserve, one of the oldest specimen from which to work.
to find a place in biological research stations in the In order to imagine and recreate
the field to work for extended United States, offers artists 2,000 an image of the living organism,
periods, an artist-in-residency acres of diverse ecology for their they must have some field
program co-sponsored by the two-week sabbatical. The artists experience on which to base their
New York State Museum and are provided with housing and art. Natural history artists, just
the Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve studio space at the preserve and like biologists, need concentrated
has offered such an opportunity have the option of working with time to work outdoors to gain
for 10 years. scientists or conducting studies this experience.
COM.EN.ART (COMmunity. for their own work. “There is no substitute for
ENvironment.ART), begun in Scientific and natural history being in direct contact with and
1995, offers scientific and natural illustrators depict the results of having time to observe nature,”
history illustrators time and space scientists’ work for reproduction says Patricia Kernan, the State
to work at the Huyck Preserve in in scientific journals, textbooks, Museum’s scientific illustrator
Rensselaerville, 28 miles south- and educational materials. They and co-founder of COM.EN.ART.
14 LegacyAndrea Sulzer, hemlock forest
“The appeal and the challenge of the COM.EN.ART experience landscape
the program is time away from represent a record of what has
the usual demands of making a happened at the Huyck Preserve,
living. It can be very daunting and each of the images produced
as well as exhilarating to face and donated generates a story
two weeks with no excuses not about biological conditions there,
to work and none of the says Kernan. “There are similar
comforts of home.” The idea for programs that invite nature
COM.EN.ART came to Kernan artists to come to a specific place
and Virginia Carter, a resident of to work for a period of time,”
Rensselaerville, from their own she says. “This one is unique in
field experiences, independently that it is based on the idea of
and on grants, in many parts of exchange to the benefit of all
the world. and that it focuses on the science
Two-time participant Scott as much as the art. The experience
Rawlins, a professor at Arcadia has been terrific for everyone
University in Glenside, Pa., says concerned: the artists, the com-
that with so much to study and munity and the preserve.”
learn at the preserve, it was
necessary to set parameters during
his two weeks there. “In both
Mary-Ellen Didion, three insects
cases, it was really a great oppor-
tunity for the first time in my
life to think about what the tradi- Through artistic work, a natural history artist tells the biological story of a
tional artist has to do in terms of
juggling time.” The COM.EN.ART place over time. The original works completed during the COM.EN.ART
experience also enabled him to
better communicate to his students experience represent a record of what has happened at the Huyck Preserve.
the importance of developing
discipline when working as a
freelance artist. Three of his s t u-
dents are among the more than
40 artists who have participated to a portfolio of scenes from
in COM.EN.ART. the preserve.
Each year, up to six natural Since the start of the program,
history artists are selected to par- approximately 50 original works
ticipate in the program, and they have been donated to the preserve.
may schedule their stay anytime Many of those works will be
from May through October. In displayed at the State Museum
exchange for living and working in 2006 in conjunction with the
space, the artists give a work of Focus on Nature IX exhibition. The
art to the Huyck Preserve with biennial Focus on Nature exhibition
the State Museum having limited showcases illustration as a way Maria C. Sparks is managing
reproduction rights. The artists to communicate the observations editor of Legacy. Patricia
also make a contribution to the of scientists and artists. Kernan, the New York State
community, usually by conducting Through artistic work, a natural Museum’s scientific illustrator
an hour-long presentation or history artist tells the biological and the co-founder of
Jessie Salmon, green frog
workshop at the Huyck Preserve story of a place over time. The COM.EN.ART, contributed to
or by contributing an illustration original works completed during this article.
Fall 2005 15new york stories
A New Home for a Prized Possession
BY GEOFFREY N. STEIN
C
harles E. Lipe (1850–1895) grew up on a Fort The Lipe patent text notes, “The person in using
Plain farm. As a teenager, he designed and built the device places the longer leg or foot a of the
a prototype hand corn planter. Constructed box on the ground, where the seed (a dropping
of wood, with some leather and metal parts, the of corn) is to be deposited, and pushes down the
device resembles planters used in much of the 19th handle F, which causes the slide B to be forced
and 20th centuries. The U.S. Patent Office awarded out from the box A in the direction indicated
Lipe patent No. 68,760 in 1867, acknowledging a by arrow 1 in consequences of the connection
“new and improved device for dropping corn, and it formed between the slide and the handle by the
consists in a novel construction and arrangement of strap H passing over the roller I, and the slide B
parts, … whereby the desired work may be done very in being thus moved causes the seed-opening
expeditiously and in a perfect manner.” c to pass out from the box A, underneath the
Charles Lipe left his father’s farm for cut-off brush D, which takes off the superfluous
industrial Syracuse, where he opened a seed, so that a number of grains or kernels which
machine shop. The C.E. Lipe Company did may only be contained in c[e?] flush with the
development work on broom machines, upper surface of the slide B will be discharged,
cigar manufacturing equipment, a milling and these grains or kernels drop upon a beveled
machine, rock drills, bean and rice hullers, or wedge-shaped projection, f, which may be
and more. Lipe’s prototype corn planter, an extension of the bottom b, said projection
however, remained on the farm. For almost scattering the seed. On raising the handle F the
150 years after he left, it hung in a spring E throws back the slide B to its original
farmhouse storeroom. position so that the seed-opening c will pass
In 1891, Charles Leneker arrived within the box A and be re-filled with seed for
at the Lipe farm as a sharecropper and in a succeeding operation.”
1917, he purchased the property. Leneker’s
son, Arthur (1899 –1978), was the next
farmer. He told his daughter, Evelyn Koval,
that the planter prototype always hung in
the second-floor storage room during his
lifetime. Evelyn and her husband Joseph
Koval were the last of the Leneker family to
reside on the farm. They eventually remodeled the
storeroom into living space, and when they left for
Herkimer in 2003, they took the Lipe prototype with
them. Recently, the Kovels gave the Lipe planter to
the State Museum, where the artifact—except for a
deteriorated leather strap—remains just as Charles
Lipe made it.
Geoffrey N. Stein, a senior
historian at the New York Patent drawings or models don’t have to resemble products
State Museum, curates New eventually available for sale. What’s important is that the drawings
York State Museum collec- or models demonstrate the mechanism for which a patent is
tions related to agriculture, sought. Comparing the Lipe planter (above) and the patent drawing
(at right) reveals identical objects. Each piece in the drawing has its
transportation, communica- counterpart in the actual machine. While unmarked, the prototype
tions, industry, firefighting planter is the design for which Charles Lipe was awarded his
and medicine. patent. The patent drawing reflects every facet of the prototype.
16 LegacyWhen the sun goes down,
the Museum comes alive!
Camp out at the Museum and imagine what life was like as an immigrant
a rriving at Ellis Island or a member of an Iroquois longhouse. Experience the
awesome, interactive programs Once Upon a Time in New York and Life in
a Longhouse as fun-filled, unique ways of learning at the Museum. Perfect
for scout troops, community groups and school classes, the Camp-In adven-
tures take place on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the school year.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CAMP-IN,
send an e-mail to nysmpp@mail.nysed.gov
or call 518-402-5019.calendar highlights
EXHIBITIONS
Bank of America Great Art Series
The World in Brooklyn: Selection from
the Brooklyn Museum of Art
November 19, 2005 – February 26, 2006
Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers
October 15, 2005 – January 8, 2006
Miracles: New York’s Greatest Sports Moments
October 15, 2005 – March 26, 2006
MUSEUM SERIES
The Adirondacks: Research and Collections
at the State Museum
Wednesdays, September – December
(No programs on October 12 and November 23)
7 p.m. in the Museum Theater
• 1.3 Billion Years of Adirondack Geology
• Summer Sketches: Rufus Grider at
Piseco Lake
• Largemouth Bass: The End of Angling
as We Know It
• Obscure Beauty: Wild Orchids in the
MUSEUM TOURS
Adirondacks
Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers
• Mining History of the Adirondacks
Gallery Tour
• The Adirondack Great Camps Selected Saturdays and Sundays, October – December
and Their Furnishings
Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Research Labs
• Adirondack Lake Acidification: and Collection Areas
Fact and Fiction Wednesday, September 21
• Top 10 Little-Known Facts About Black Flies Museum Members Only
• Minerals––Tools to Determine the Composition
and Evolution of Fluids in the Crust F A M I LY P R O G R A M S
• Adirondack Wildlife––500 Dynamic Years Furry Tales and Touchables
Saturdays—September 17, October 1 and 15,
Biology and Conservation November 5 and 19, December 3 and 17
Wednesdays, in October * Children only
Noon in the Museum Theater Creative Art Days at the Museum
• Science on the Fly! Loon Migration: Linking Saturdays—September 17, October 15,
People and the Environment November 19, December 17
• From Montauk to Niagara Falls: Biodiversity, Trash to Treasures
Threats and Conservation in State Parks Sundays—September 11, October 9, November 13,
• Important Bird Areas of New York: December 11
The Second Edition Family Fun Weekends
• The New York Flora Project October 1–2, November 5–6, December 3–4
For a complete schedule of exhibitions, programs and events, see The Museum Calendar or visit
www.nysm.nysed.gov/calendar/
The New York State Museum is a program of The University of the State of New York/The State Education DepartmentYou can also read
