2022 Events

When: Thursday, December 15, 2022, 7:00 PM
Where: HSRC History Center, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Admission: $8/person (HSRC members); $10/person (non-members)
 
HSRC Education and Outreach Coordinator Jennifer Brooks traces the line between the traditions of early Dutch settlers in Rockland County and surrounding areas to the growth of our modern American Christmas. Step back in time with us and explore the history behind our holiday traditions. Where did they come from? Who is Saint Nicholas, and how did he become Santa Claus? Why is the December season known for gift-giving and charity? What’s with the tree and the chimney? And what does any of this have to do with religion? We’ll cover this fascinating history and share some Dutch recipes and festive crafts to bring Rockland’s Dutch heritage to your home for the holidays.

When: Sunday, December 11, December 18, January 8, & January 15, 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 3: 10:30 am, 12:00 pm, 1:30 pm, & 3:00 pm; Sunday, December 4: 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.

When: Thursday, November 10, 2022
Where: Luxury motorcoach leaves the Historical Society of Rockland County parking lot at 20 Zukor Road, New City, at 7:30 am and returns to the HSRC at 5:30 PM (rain or shine)
Price: HSRC Members, $149 per person; Non-members, $159 per person. (Includes museum admissions, tour fees and tips, and a delicious catered buffet lunch)
 
Join us on a daytrip to Philadelphia, "The Cradle of Liberty," as we visit the Museum of the American Revolution. We'll start with the one-hour guided "Stories of the Revolution" highlights tour, learning how soldiers, women, African Americans, Native Americans, children and others experienced the tumultuous events of the Revolution through the stories and objects they left behind. After an hour of exploration on our own, we'll reconvene at noon at the museum's Alan B. Miller Theater for a viewing of George Washington's War Tent, a treasure of the collection. After a delicious catered buffet luncheon in one of the museum's private dining rooms, we'll have plenty of time to keep exploring the exhibits and visit the gift shop before boarding the bus at 3 pm for the journey home.

When: Sunday, November 6, 2022, 1:30-3:30 pm — rain or shine!
Where: Meeting place provided with confirmed reservation
Price: $5/person (inonrefundable reservation fee; advance reservations are required)

Join us for a guided tour of Nyack’s beautiful Oak Hill Cemetery. Enjoy the sweeping vista of the Hudson River while visiting the graves of the celebrities Helen Hayes, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur; the famous American artists Edward Hopper and Joseph Cornell; as well as the renowned author Carson McCullers. Local historical figures will also be featured, as will examples of graveyard art and the varied materials used. The walk is rated moderate. It will cover about one mile, round-trip, with some uneven and uphill terrain. Sturdy footwear is required, and all participant should bring water and a snack.

When: Wednesday, October 19, 2022, 1:30-3:30 pm — rain or shine!
Where: Meeting place provided with confirmed reservation
Price: $5/person (inonrefundable reservation fee; advance reservations are required)
 
We'll take a walk at the historic Rockland Cemetery in Sparkill with Joe Barbieri, local history librarian at the New City Library. Organized in 1847 by Eleazar Lord, the first president of the Erie Railroad, the cemetery was a contender for America's national cemetery in the late 19th century. (That honor, of course, went to Arlington, near Washington, DC.). On this walk, we'll learn about a number of notable people who chose Rockland Cemetery as their final resting place. The walk will cover about one mile, round-trip, with some uneven and uphill terrain. Sturdy footwear is required, and all participant should bring water and a snack.

When: Sunday, October 16, 2022, 12-4 pm, rain or shine!
Where: 131 Germonds Road, adjacent to Germonds Park, West Nyack
Admission: $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!

When: Saturday, October 8, 2022, 3 pm sharp
Where: 235 North Broadway, Nyack, 10960 (street parking only)
Price: $75 per person (Space is extremely limited, and prepaid reservations are required)

This event will include the dedication of a special marker designating Pretty Penny as a Literary Landmark. Special guests will share fond memories of Helen Hayes, Charles MacArthur, and their beautiful Nyack home. The marker will be dedicated, and a Champagne Reception will follow. Literary Landmarks is a program of United for Libraries, a Division of the American Library Association. Net proceeds benefit the Historical Society of Rockland County. Special thanks to the Araders for their support of this special event benefiting the HSRC. (Please note that the interior of Pretty Penny will not be accessible during the event.)

When: Sunday, September 18, 2022, 12-5 pm
Where: HSRC, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Price: Grounds admission, $FREE; wristbands to participate in activities, $5/person



We're planning a day filled with family fun and local history on the beautiful grounds of the Historical Society of Rockland County! As a special feature of the day, living-history actors Sean Grady and Gary Petagine of Historical Drama will perform their latest play, Guns at the Gateway! to mark the 242nd anniversary of the Arnold-Andre Affair. The play recounts the story of the two Continental Army Officers who unwittingly foiled American General Benedict Arnold’s plot, with accomplice British Major John Andre, to surrender West Point and betray our country during the Revolutionary War. The performance will start at 2 pm SHARP; bring a lawn chair or blanket. The $FREE grounds admission includes the Guns at the Gateway! performance.

When: Thursday, September 8, 2022
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 at 4:00 PM (rain or shine)
Price: HSRC Members, $129 per person; Non-members, $139 per person. (Includes museum admission, tour fees and tips, and a delicious lunch at Tarrytown's riverfront Washington Irving Boat Club)
 
Visit a fairytale castle right in our backyard! HSRC Trustee Jennifer Rothschild, who is also a guide at Lyndhurst Mansion, will lead a behind-the-scenes tour of this National Historic Landmark, highlighting not only the storied history of the site, but also revealing the locations where HBO’s popular “Gilded Age” series was filmed there. We will also have a detailed tour of the exhibition “Women’s Work,” which consists of more than 150 pieces of artwork created by female artists, from this century and the past, when “women’s work” such as quilting and needlepoint weren’t considered art. After visiting the mansion, the group will walk through the rose garden (weather permitting), followed by a delicious riverfront luncheon at the Washington Irving Boat Club in Tarrytown.

When: Thursday, April 20, 2023, 7:00 pm SHARP
Where: Community Room, HSRC History Center, 20 Zukor Road, New City
Admission: $FREE (Reservations are required and donations are appreciated)
 
Before the industrial revolution, fiber and textile arts were a vital part of farmwork for families like the Blauvelts. Celeste Sherry, an expert spinner and living historian, as she discusses the history of spinning and textiles from the Stone Age to the 19th century. Following a demonstration of fiber spinning on her antique and reproduction spinning wheels, attendees can try their hand at wool picking, combing, carding, and spinning with a variety of natural fibers.
 
About the presenter: Celeste brings more than forty years of experience in history and fiber spinning, as well as a career teaching English literature at two local Rockland County colleges. She is a member of the Palisades Guild of Spinners and Weavers; Mid-Atlantic Fiber Association (MAFA); 4th Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers, Living History Unit; and the Brigade of the American Revolution Living History Organization. She lives in West Nyack.

When: Wednesday, April 13, 2022, 11 a.m.
Where: Ramsey Country Club, 105 Lakeside Drive, Ramsey, NJ (for directions, click here)
Price: $50 per person (cash bar)
 
Co-sponsored by the Historical Society of Rockland County and the Northwest Bergen History Coalition. Many have heard of A. P. Smith, the African American publisher of The Landscape, a four-page monthly that he wrote and printed in his home at the top of East Allendale Road on the corner of Chestnut Ridge Road in Saddle River. Smith wrote in later years that when he started his little paper in 1881, it was “the only newspaper in Bergen County north of Hackensack.” Smith also claimed to be descended from the same family in Rockland County as the noted abolitionist Garret Smith. This year's special guest speaker, Arnold Brown, has been exploring the history of African Americans in Bergen County for many years, with a special focus on A. P. Smith. He has filled in the profile of this talented man. Come and hear what Mr. Brown has discovered,

When: Monday, April 4, 2022, 7 pm
Where: ZOOM
Admission: $FREE and open to everyone!
 
The order of business will include reports of the committees and elections of Trustees. All members of the public are invited. To view the report online as a digital flipbook, click here.
 
The Nominating Committee offers the names of the following Historical Society members:
 
Term 2025: Stephen Beckerle, Stony Point; Thom Kleiner, Sparkill; Jennifer Lorenzo, Stony Point; Lea Wolinetz, Suffer
 
Term 2023: Anthony Benedict, Airmont; Veronica DeMeo Boesch, Airmont; Daniel J. Garcia, Congers; Joseph Holland III, New City; Philip C. Roventini, New City

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