All Over Albany

Historical houses and anarchy

The title of this upcoming talk sponsored by the Rensselaer County Historical Society makes us smile: "The Anarchist's Guide to Historic House Museums."

Franklin Vagnone, director of the Historic House Trust of New York City, will be giving the talk June 22 at the Sage College's Bush Memorial. Blurbage:

In his dynamic presentation, Mr. Vagnone lays out a series of systemic changes that he thinks historic house museums need to enact in order to survive.

Controversial, provocative, thought provoking and inspiring, Mr. Vagnone encourages those who love historic house museums to change the way museums operate in order to re-invigorate them and re-engage with the communities they serve.

The talk starts at 10 am on the 22nd (a Saturday) and it's free. Later that day RCHS has two "anarchy in action" events:

+ The Hart-Cluett House will be open for a light lunch, allowing people to "spread the anarchy by leaving notes of what you would like to see or do in the house." And Vagnone will be there for an informal session on shaking up the house tour. noon-2 pm - $20

+ And that evening the Hart-Cluett House's courtyard will be hosting a four-course dinner catered by Sweet Sue's. (That first link at the top includes the menu.) 6 pm - $125

More events, anarchical and otherwise

A few more events:

+ The annual RCHS deck party is this Thursday from 5-8 pm in Troy. It's $20 per person and includes "live music and refreshing treats."

+ This Saturday RCHS an Underground Railroad history walk lined up. Blurbage: "Troy was at the forefront of abolitionism. Learn about the commitment Trojans made to freeing slaves, including a visit to the location on State Street where Charles Nalle was forcibly freed by citizens, in violation of the Fugitive Slave Law." 10:30 am - $5

photo: Matt H. Wade at Wikipedia / CC-BY-SA-3.0