2023 Events

When: Sunday, December 10, December 17, January 7, & January 14,  5:00 & 6:30 pm 
Where: Jacob Blauvelt House, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Price: Adults (non-HSRC members) - $10; Seniors and HSRC Members - $8; Children - $5
 
Spend an enchanting evening at the historic 1832 Jacob Blauvelt farmhouse, illuminated with candlelight and lanterns, fragrant with traditional sweets, and decorated with festive greenery. Experience Dutch American holiday traditions of the 1830s with nineteenth century music and song and seasonal refreshments. Prepaid reservations are required. Space is limited. Groups of 10-15 are welcome by prior arrangement. The reservation price includes admission to the Annual Holiday Exhibition.

When: Saturday, December 2: 10:30 am, 12:00 pm, 1:30 pm, & 3:00 pm; Sunday, December 3: 10:30 am, 12:00 pm, 1:30 pm, & 3:00 pm.

             Program duration: 45 minutes
Where: Jacob Blauvelt House, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Price: $5 per person (adults and children) for onsite program; $10 per box for at-home/pickup program (we recommend one box per child).

Visit the Historical Society of Rockland County for an unforgettable experience of wonder and fun! We're opening our 1832 Jacob Blauvelt House to welcome children of all ages to celebrate Saint Nicholas as we've done since 1961. This traditional program is a highlight of the holiday season, and many adults who enjoyed this event in the past, as children, now bring their own families. Why not begin your own tradition and join us? Each child receives a special treat in his or her shoe from Saint Nicholas, and everyone can visit with Saint Nicholas and his horse!

When: Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 11 a.m.
Where: Ramsey Country Club, 105 Lakeside Drive, Ramsey, NJ
Admission: $55 per person (cash bar)
 
Co-sponsored by the Historical Society of Rockland County and the Northwest Bergen History Coalition. We are privileged to have William M. Ferraro, Research Associate Professor and Editor of The Papers of George Washington, University of Virginia, as our guest speaker. Most recently, the Washington Study Group has been focused on the Yorktown campaign and British surrender during the Revolutionary War. Dr. Ferraro wrote to us: "Washington was at his best coordinating the logistics of the march from the New York Highlands, through New Jersey, and southward to Virginia. Your group will be hearing the freshest documentary scholarship on George Washington and this period of the Revolutionary War, and a good part of it takes place right in your area."

When: Thursday, October 26, 2023, 7 pm
Where: HSRC History Center, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Admission: $FREE (Donations toward restoration of the mail wagon are gratefully accepted!)
 
Since the 1970s, when it was donated to our collection by the late Dr. Anthony Pavia, D.C., of New City, the HSRC has had in our possession the horse-drawn wagon used by Postman Frank Eberling to carry mail on New City’s Rural Free Delivery routes at the turn of the 20th century. His grandsons Ray and Frank Eberling are now working with the HSRC to restore the wagon for display at the museum. In this special presentation, Ray and Frank will talk about the wagon’s history, the planned restoration, and how HSRC members and the wider community can get involved!

When: Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Where: Leaves the Historical Society of Rockland County parking lot at 20 Zukor Road, New City, at 9:30 am and returns to the HSRC around 3:30 PM (rain or shine)
Price: HSRC Members, $139 per person; Nonmembers, $149 per person (Includes all admissions and tour fees, tips, and lunch at the historic Hudson House River Inn)
 
We'll take a 45 minute to one hour tour of Boscobel, exploring the cultural and historical significance of its “million dollar view” overlooking the Hudson River and Highlands, Constitution Marsh, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. We will also visit the pollinator-friendly gardens and learn about the Neoclassical-style house and its outstanding collection of decorative arts from the Federal period, as well as the servants, farm, and outbuildings that supported it. After the tour, we'll take a short drive to Cold Spring for lunch in the Tavern Room at the waterfront the Hudson House River Inn. Built in 1832 and operated as a hotel ever since, the inn is truly part of the Hudson Valley’s history. The menu will offer a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert, along with unlimited coffee, tea or soda.

When: Sunday, October 15, 2023, 12-4 pm, rain or shine!
Where: 131 Germonds Road, adjacent to Germonds Park, West Nyack
Price: $FREE

We are very pleased to be co-sponsoring this festival with Heritage of West Nyack and the Town of Clarkstown. Join the Revolution, the glorious cause! See how militia men and camp followers of the American Revolutionary War lived in the 1770s. Heard's Brigade of the New Jersey Militia is seeking visitors to cheer on our encampment of 18th century tents, open-fire pit cooking, militia drills, musket firing and other living history demonstrations! Maybe we will come upon the British and those Loyalists! Enjoy, Music, Raffles, Craft Vendors and Demonstrations, Free Mini-Golf & more.

When: Saturday, September 30, 2023
Where: 2:00 pm screening, HSRC Community Room, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Price: $FREE (Reservations are required and donations are appreciated)
 
To commemorate the birthday of Rockland artist Henry Varnum Poor, the Rockland Center for the Arts and Historical Society of Rockland County will screen the new film The Murals. The screenings will take place on Saturday, September 30, at 2 pm at the HSRC and at 7 pm at RoCA. Each screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker, TG Jamroz. The Murals is a documentary about the New Deal-era Uptown Post Office Murals in Chicago. The film explores how and why they were made by Henry Varnum Poor; why they feature Carl Sandburg and Louis Sullivan; and how they inspire people today.

When: Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Where: Leaves the Historical Society of Rockland County parking lot at 20 Zukor Road, New City, at 9:45 AM and returns to the HSRC around 3:00 PM (rain or shine)
Admission: HSRC Members, $119/person; Nonmembers, $129/person (Includes all admissions and tour fees, tips, and an elegant luncheon at the historic Thayer Hotel)
 
We’ll take a combined bus and walking tour of the West Point Campus with a special on-board guide who will tell us about the U.S. Military Academy’s role in the Revolutionary War and other famous conflicts and about many of the graduates who have shaped our nation. The tour will stop at Trophy Point, overlooking the Hudson River, and the Plain. Depending on availability, it may also include the main Cadet Chapel, with its beautiful stained glass windows; a drive by Blaik Field at Michie Stadium and Holleder Center; the Air Flight Memorials; and the American Soldier Statue Following the tour, we’ll enjoy an elegant luncheon at MacArthur’s Riverview Restaurant at the historic Thayer Hotel, a national treasure since it opened in 1926 and visited by past U.S. presidents, international leaders, and celebrities.

When: Sunday, September 10, 2023, 6-10 pm
Where: Nyack Seaport Restaurant, 21 Burd Street, Nyack
Price: $125 (listing at the Friend level) * $150 (enhanced listing - Patron level) * $200 (enhanced listing - Sponsor level)

Honoring Marjorie H. Johnson, editor, South of the Mountains, Lifetime Service Award; Judge Victor J. Alfieri Jr., Congers, Community service Award; Dr. Arlene Clinkscale, Nanuet, Living Landmark Award

And celebrating the winners of the 2020/2023 Historic Preservation Merit Awards:

• Preservation Leadership: Haverstraw Brick Museum Center for Historic Preservation
• Preservation/Restoration: Town of Clarkstown and Stephen Tilly, Architect, for the Onderdonck-Tallman-Budke House, West Nyack
• Rehabilitation: Andrew Asgar, CPA, for the former St. Stephen's Episcopal Church/Sitzmark Ski shop, Pearl River
• Commendation: Justin Duerr on the publication of Herbert Crowley: The Temple of Silence

When: Saturday, July 8, 2023, 1 pm
Where: The Lustron House, 421 Durie Avenue, Closter, NJ
Price: $FREE (donations are greatly appreciated)

Come meet up with other history/historical architecture lovers to tour the Lustron House in nearby Closter, New Jersey. Jennifer Rothschild, the HSRC's director of public programming, will greet you at the house, which is set up as a mid-century-styled house museum. The tour is free of charge. The Lustron House was an innovative solution to the housing shortage that followed World War II, when returning GIs needed homes that were affordable for their families. The engineer Carl Strandlund came up with a solution that used steel that had been saved for the war effort. He imagined that the porcelain-enameled steel panels previously used for gas stations and White Castle hamburger restaurants could be put to use to create modest housing. Thus, the Lustron House was born.

When: Thursday, June 22, 2203, 7 pm
Where: Community Room, HSRC History Center, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Admission: $FREE (Reservations are required and donations are appreciated)
 
The multiple murders of James (Husted) Germond; his wife, Mabel; and their two children, Bernice and Raymond, at their Dutchess County farm in November 1930 is one of the most famous crimes ever committed in the Hudson Valley. Despite contemporary attention from President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself and from Pinkerton Detectives, and more recently from amateur sleuths and the press, the crime went unsolved for decades. In this special presentation, Dr. Vincent Cookingham discusses his forensic investigation into this long cold case, which resulted in the publication of The Germond Family Murders: A Forensic Conclusion to a Cold Case.

When: Monday, April 3, 2023. 6:30 pm
Where: HSRC, 20 Zukor Road, New City, NY 10956
Price: $FREE and open to the public
 
Weather and temperature permitting, we will hold the meeting outdoors, under the History Center's patio roof. In case of inclement weather, the meeting will be held in the lower-level Community Room. The order of business will include reports of the committees and election of Trustees.
All members of the public are invited.

Nominating Commitee

Trustees nominated for a three-year term (Term 2026): Anthony Benedict, Airmont; Hon. Veronica DeMeo Boesch, Airmont; Sue Ferreri, New City; Hon. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Nyack; Hon. Alfred J. Weiner, Wesley Hills

Trustee nominated to fill vacant term (Term 2025): Renee Weiner, Wesley Hills

Trustees continuing in office:

Term 2024 : Hon. Victor J. Alfieri Jr., Congers; Andrew Glikin-Gusinsky, Monroe; Janet Oravec, Pearl River; Jennifer Rothschild, South Nyack

Term 2025: Stephen Beckerle, Stony Point; Thom Kleiner, Sparkill; Jennifer Lorenzo, Stony Point; Lea Wolinetz, Suffern

With gratitude for their Board service to Daniel J. Garcia, Joseph Holland III, and Philip C. Roventini!

When: Sunday, March 26, 2023, 10 am-1 pm
Where: Suffern-Bear Mountain Trail trailhead, Route 106, Stony Point
Admission: $15/person (prepaid reservations are required, Price includes hike and choice of Rockland history book or HSRC T-shirt)
 
his history-rich hike led by Gordon Wren and Tony Benedict will take you to a 200-year-old cemetery inside Harriman State Park. Due to the sensitive nature of the site, the location of our ultimate destination will be revealed only once your reservation has been confirmed.

When: Thursday, February 23, 2023, 7 pm
Where: Community Room, HSRC History Center, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Price: $FREE (Reservations are required and donations are appreciated)
 
Robert R. Meehan (1930-2004) served as the District Attorney of Rockland County from 1965 to 1974. He would later go on to become New York State's Special Assistant Attorney-General for Medicaid Fraud and a Rockland County and New York State Supreme Court Judge until his retirement in 2000. He chronicled aspects of his career in a manuscript that was edited by Kathleen Do, his daughter, and published in 2022 as Confessions of a Hayseed D.A.