For countless generations, the Lenape People relied on the Hudson River and its tributaries for their survival. Join us for this presentation by ethnoecologist Justin Wexler and learn about the day-to-day life of local Native Peoples five centuries ago. Justin Wexler of Wild Hudson Valley is an independent scholar who has studied Hudson Valley indigenous culture, languages, and history for over twenty years. He regularly works with members of their displaced federally-recognized communities, hosting tribe members on visits to their ancestral homeland and helping to connect the past with the present.

This presentation will be presented entirely online via a link sent after registration.

$8 General Access

$5 Discounted Access for HHS members, seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, and veterans

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

For more information about Justin Wexler’s work, please visit Wild Hudson Valley.

Historic Huguenot Street and The Netherland-America Foundation invite you to an unforgettable evening of history, culture, and culinary exploration in celebration of the launch of Russell Shorto’s latest book, “Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events that Created New York and Shaped America”.

The event will take place on March 6, 2025, at 6:00- 9:00 pm at The Explorers Club, 46 East 70th Street, New York, NY. Space is limited.

Admission: $150 per person|$250 per couple. Includes Shorto’s presentation, wine, and a three-course dinner.

Author of the internationally acclaimed “The Island at the Center of the World”, Russell Shorto’s work has been described as “astonishing” (New York Times) and “literary alchemy” (Chicago Tribune). His compelling storytelling invites readers to see history in a new light.

In his fascinating new work, Shorto unveils the dramatic story behind the English takeover of Manhattan and the New York colony. The evening will feature an engaging Q&A session with Russell Shorto, along with the opportunity to purchase signed copies of his book.

Bristling with vibrant characters, “Taking Manhattan “reveals the founding of New York to be an invention, the result of creative negotiations that would blend the multiethnic, capitalistic society of New Amsterdam with the power of the rising English empire. But the birth of what might be termed the first modern city is also a story of the brutal dispossession of Native Americans and of the roots of American slavery. The book draws from newly translated materials and illuminates neglected histories   of religious refugees, Indigenous tribes, and free and enslaved Africans.

Despite the region’s transfer to English control, Dutch traditions endured throughout the region. The vibrant Dutch culture flourished in the Mid-Hudson Valley, particularly in the settlement of Die Pfalz (now New Paltz), where French-speaking Protestants, seeking refuge from European religious conflict, as well as economic opportunity, established a community in 1677. Here they intermarried with Dutch Colonists and adopted the Dutch language, customs, and architecture, the persistence of which remained strong well into the post-Revolutionary era, offering a rich contrast to Manhattan’s more rapid Anglicization.

Respected Dutch-American Culinary Historian, Peter G. Rose has curated a menu for the event using recipes from hand-written cookbooks belonging to Dutch settlers that remain in various archives, which she has gathered in her latest book History on Our Plate (Syracuse University Press, 2019), and the gradual incorporation of English influences into the Dutch culinary traditions of the Mid-Hudson Valley.

The Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Center and Historic Huguenot Street will honor and remember the lives of Anthony and Susanna, enslaved in Ulster County during the seventeenth century.

Anthony and Susanna were purchased by Louis DuBois, a French Protestant founder of New Paltz, in 1673. Their purchase is the earliest record of enslavement associated with a New Paltz patentee. While being among the first people of African descent enslaved in Ulster County, they notably resisted their enslavement in the primitive backwoods of Ulster County. 

The Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Center, in partnership with Historic Huguenot Street, will honor and remember the lives of Anthony and Susanna at the site of the commemorative Witness Stone installation. During Black History month, we are spreading the word of the courage and agency of Africans in Ulster County. Please join us for this free, public commemoration.

Please register by clicking the button below.

The snow date for this event is March 1st.

This project was initiated in 2024 with the Witness Stones Project, Inc, and was supported by the DuBois Family Association. The production of the memorial markers was funded by Andreas du Bois, a direct descendant of Louis du Bois' brother.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Garret DuBois and Lilly DuBois, two formerly enslaved “people of couler,” were married at the Reformed Church of New Paltz in 1828 and purchased three acres a year later, making them the earliest known African Americans to own land in what was then New Paltz. Garret’s story is illuminated by several documents from the period, most notably in a manuscript entitled the “Society of Negroes Unsettled,” also known as the Bounty Hunters’ Agreement. This virtual talk presented by Josephine Bloodgood, HHS Director of Curatorial and Preservation Affairs, explores the life and experiences of enslaved men named in the Agreement (especially Garret) and what it meant to their futures in terms of resistance and negotiation. Following the slide presentation, Josephine will be joined by Kate Hymes, Vice President of the Margaret-Wade Lewis Black History Cultural Center (MWLC), for discussion and Q&A. Audience Q&A will follow.

Josephine Bloodgood is the HHS Director of Curatorial & Preservation Affairs and is active with the MWLC Building and History Committees. She is the Project Director for the New Paltz Historic Documents Project (www.NewPaltzHistory.org), which, thanks to funding from the National Endowment for Humanities, has made free online over 24,000 documents related to the early history of New Paltz and surrounding towns. Josephine is the author of the online exhibit “Never was a slave,” Jacob Wynkoop, Free and Black in 19th-Century New Paltz and other exhibits, talks, and a walking tour app related to Black history in the community.

$8 General Access

$5 Discounted Access for seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, and veterans

Free for HHS members

This program is hosted in partnership with the Dr. Margaret-Wade Lewis Black History Cultural Center. All access fees and additional donations will be split evenly between HHS and MWLC.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

This year marks the 5th Annual Holiday Hoopla Parade and Winter Carnival Celebration in New Paltz. “Holiday Hoopla” is not highlighting a particular religious or spiritual celebration… Together, we are committed to bringing ‘light’ and good cheer, as well as reminding folks they are cared for and not alone. 

From 1 pm to 3 pm, HHS will be hosting the "Winter Carnival," with live music, children’s costume contest (theme to be announced), food vendors, and numerous activities for children of all ages and families (i.e., arts & crafts, bouncy houses, face painting, outdoor carnival games, petting zoo, etc.).

The rest of the merriment will be conducted in other parts of the town. Please also note that the parade will not end at our site this year.

The rain/inclement weather date will be December 15th. 

This event is hosted in partnership with Town of New Paltz Office for Community Wellness, New Paltz Police Department, New Paltz Youth Program, Thriving Together Town of New Paltz, and SUNY New Paltz Union Programming Council.

The Huguenots were the earliest European settlers of New Paltz in the late 17th century, homelands for millennia of the Indigenous Munsee-speaking Lenape. As later generations spread out in the valleys west of the Hudson River, they contributed to the agricultural and industrial prosperity of the region by use of enslaved labor, building homes that resonate today. This talk will explore the stories and houses of several 18th- and 19th-century descendants of the Patentee families of New Paltz: LeFevre (Kettleborough), DuBois (Marlboro), Hasbrouck (Bonticou), Deyo (Libertyville), and Freer (Eddyville).  

Vals Osborne is the vice-chair of Historic Huguenot Street and Editor of the new publication, Legacies on the Land: Historic Houses, Hamlets, and Landscapes of Southern Ulster County, based on WVLTs decade of popular house tours in ten communities. Her career in New York City ranged from art gallerist to director of education at Young President’s Organization and Sotheby’s, as well as real estate broker specializing in 19th-century townhouses. Since 2014 she has focused on her lifelong passions for historic preservation and land conservation as chair of the historic house tours.

This program will be presented entirely online via a link provided after registration.

This program will be recorded, and access to the recording will be provided to registrants the following day.

$8 General Admission

$5 Discounted Admission for seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, and veterans

FREE for HHS members

To purchase “Legacies on the Land: Historic Houses, Hamlets, and Landscapes of Southern Ulster County,” edited by Vals Osborne, you may do so by visiting HHS’s online Museum Shop or clicking here.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

At 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, November 17, 2024, in the French Church at Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, the chamber ensemble "Hudson Valley Baroque" will present a concert entitled “Birds and Bells:  Imitative Music of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras.”  An especially entertaining feature of seventeenth- and eighteenth- century music was its frequent use of imitation.  Composers often used musical instruments to imitate nature and various phenomena, with delightful results.  This concert will feature music by Willaim Byrd (1540 – 1623), Jacob von Eyck (1590 – 1657), William Williams (1675 – 1701), and Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767).  The performers will be Joel Evans (oboe), Gregory Bynum (recorder), Christiana Fortune Reader (violin/viola), Susan Seligman (cello), and Ruthanne Schempf (keyboard).

$12 General Admission

$8 Discounted Admission for HHS members, seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, veterans, and children under 13

Free for children under 6

Musician Bios:

Christiana Fortune-Reader, violist, teaches violin and viola in the Music Department at SUNY New Paltz as Assistant Professor of Music, and conducts the College Youth Symphony. Prior to this appointment, she taught at Illinois State University, where she also served as the Assistant Principal Viola of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.  She performs regularly with the Minnesota and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras and the Innigkeit Quartet, and has held positions with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the contemporary music ensemble, “American Wild,” a septet dedicated to commissioning new works by American composers inspired by the outdoors and National Parks sites around the United States. She earned a doctoral degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Carol Rodland, and is completing a doctorate in music education (ABD). She graduated from the University of Southern California (BM) and the Cleveland Institute of Music (MM), studying with Jeffrey Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, Donald McInnes, and Karen Ritscher.

Gregory Bynum, recorder player, has studied with Marion Verbruggen, Han Tol, and Mattias Weilenman. He has performed with members of the Mannes School of Music and SUNY New Paltz music faculties, and with Yale music faculty including Jaap Schroeder.  Mr. Bynum has taught at the Bloomingdale House of Music in Manhattan and has performed at many venues including the Morris-Jumel Mansion, the Middletown Thrall Library, and the Old Stone House in Brooklyn.  As a guest performer with Brooklyn Baroque, he can be heard on the ensemble’s recordings Northern Lights, The Pleasures of the French, and a recording of Beth Anderson’s music entitled The Praying Mantis and the Bluebird (MSR Classics).  He has appeared on WKCR and appears on the Quill Classics YouTube channel with Ensemble Luini.  Mr. Bynum is Associate Professor in the School of Education at SUNY New Paltz, and the founder of the Music at Morris-Jumel chamber music series.

Joël Evans, oboist and solo English hornist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, has been a familiar musical voice in the valley for many years.  He is oboist with the Poné Ensemble and plays baroque and classical oboes with Hudson Valley Baroque, the resident historic ensemble at SUNY New Paltz where he also serves as Emeritus Professor of music.

Dr. Evans has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Atlantic Chamber Orchestra, and was principal oboist of the Albany Symphony from 1982 to 1985.  He leads a busy teaching schedule and has played numerous TV and radio advertisements.  Joël has recorded for Philo, Rounder, Koch International, CRI, New World, and his playing has been heard all over the US, Canada, Europe, Russia and the Far East.  He has appeared as a featured soloist at Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, Saratoga, the Charles Ives Center, and Carnegie Hall.  Joël retired as principal oboist of the West Point Band after nearly thirty years of service. Dr. Evans holds degrees from the University of Maine, Columbia University and the City University of New York.

Susan Seligman has been principal cellist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 1984.  She is a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Quartet, the piano trio Innisfree, the Poné Ensemble featuring new and American chamber music, Hudson Valley Baroque, and the Hudson Consort.  In 1999, Ms. Seligman was favorably reviewed in the New York Times for her performance in works of Robert Starer.  In the summer, Ms. Seligman is on the faculty of the Chamber Music Institute at Ithaca College.  During the academic year, she is on the faculty of SUNY New Paltz and has a busy private cello studio as well.  Her discography includes CDs on the Albany, Soundspells, and Parnassus Records labels.  A recent recording with Innisfree of the music of Henry Martin includes Sonata No. 1 for Solo Cello, written for her by the composer.

Ruthanne Schempf, harpsichordist, is an active chamber and solo musician in the Hudson Valley. She is on the faculties of SUNY-New Paltz and Interlochen Arts Camp, and is a member of the Poné Ensemble for New Music.  She is also a co-founder of the non-profit Hudson Valley Society for Music which produces Potluck Concerts and an annual Hudson Valley BachFest.  Dr. Schempf maintains a busy piano teaching studio and is the organist and choir director at the Cornwall Presbyterian Church. She earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from Michigan State University and a D.M.A. from the Manhattan School of Music.  Her solo piano recording, An American Mirage: Exotic Piano Images, was released in March of 2009 on the MSR Classics label.  In her spare time, she likes to ski, garden, and dabble in various domestic activities.  She is married to oboist, Joël Evans.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Enslavement and racism defined important aspects of Isabella, “Bell’s,” childhood and young womanhood in Ulster County. In the face of these powerful forces, Black assertiveness shaped her identity, sense of self, and sense of community. Isabella observed, participated in, and took advantage of socio-economic change in Ulster County. She made the most of change and opportunities to pursue personal growth, family formation, religion, self-emancipation, and abolition. The Black family, Black culture, and Black resistance shaped the early life of the woman who became Sojourner Truth.

Margaret Washington is the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History, Emerita, at Cornell University. She joined the Cornell history department in 1988 as associate professor specializing in African American history and culture; African American women; and Southern history. 

Dr. Washington authored the prize-winning definitive biography Sojourner Truth’s America, published in 2009 by University of Illinois Press. Washington presents Sojourner’s life within the broader panorama of American history, slavery, antislavery, women’s rights, and other reforms in the turbulent age of Abraham Lincoln. Sojourner Truth’s America notably provides a unique lens into the unlikely ascendancy of an unschooled formerly enslaved New Yorker who became an activist preacher, political orator, and suffragist.

Registration is FREE, but space is limited. Please let us know you’re coming in advance!

If you are interested in purchasing Dr. Margaret Washington’s book, Sojourner Truth’s America you may do so on HHS’s online Museum Shop by clicking here.

This is a community partnership program between the Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Center, the Elting Memorial Library, Historic Huguenot Street, and the New Paltz Historical Society.

Trick-or-Treat on Huguenot Street

The beloved community tradition of Trick-or-Treat on Huguenot Street returns to New Paltz, Thursday, October 31st from 3:30 – 5:30 PM. Children and families are welcome to gather on Huguenot Street and seek goodies from the residents of the historic homes, both past and present.

This event is free and open to the public.

Let us know you’re coming! Please RSVP so that we don’t run out of treats!

A portion of Huguenot Street will be closed to vehicular traffic during this event, from the 1799 LeFevre House (54 Huguenot Street) up to Mulberry Street. Broadhead Avenue will be closed from the Huguenot Street intersection, to the gravel parking lot. Please note that addresses located beyond the 10-acre National Historic Landmark District are private residences that may or may not be participating in the event. Please be respectful and considerate of our neighbors and their properties. Thank you.

New Paltz Halloween Parade After Party

For the third year, the New Paltz Halloween Parade will conclude on the grounds of Historic Huguenot Street. This beloved community tradition, which begins at the New Paltz Middle School Parking Lot (196 Main Street) at 6 PM on Halloween night, will make its way down Main Street, veering right onto North Front Street at The Elting Memorial Library. The jubilant jaunt will cross Route 32 with the support of the New Paltz Police Department and continue past the iconic Jean Hasbrouck House. Participants will be invited to collect water bottles and apples from the New Paltz Rotary Club. From 6:30 - 7:30 PM, folks may enjoy a live band, photo opportunities with a real hearse, and more. Activities will conclude immediately at 7:30 PM.

Post-parade activities are hosted in partnership with Historic Huguenot Street, the New Paltz Rotary Club, the New Paltz Police Department, and the Village of New Paltz.

Thank you to Minard's Family Farm

Thank you to Shoprite of New Paltz

Thank you to Hannaford of Highland

Thank you to Binnewater Ice Co.

Thank you to Wallkill View Farms

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

At 4:00 P.M. on Sunday, October 13, 2024, in the French Church at Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, the chamber ensemble "Hudson Valley Baroque" will present a concert entitled “Music of France.” The program will feature music from the artistic flowering in France in the kings’ royal courts and elsewhere during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The program will include music by François Couperin (1668 – 1733), Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689 – 1755), Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (1674 – 1763), and Philibert Delavigne (c.1700 – 1750). The performers will be Joel Evans (oboe), Gregory Bynum (recorder), Christiana Fortune Reader (violin/viola), Susan Seligman (cello), and Ruthanne Schempf (keyboard).

$12 General Admission

$8 Discounted Admission for HHS members, seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, veterans, and children under 13

Free for children under 6

Musician Bios:

Christiana Fortune-Reader, violist, teaches violin and viola in the Music Department at SUNY New Paltz as Assistant Professor of Music, and conducts the College Youth Symphony. Prior to this appointment, she taught at Illinois State University, where she also served as the Assistant Principal Viola of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.  She performs regularly with the Minnesota and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras and the Innigkeit Quartet, and has held positions with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the contemporary music ensemble, “American Wild,” a septet dedicated to commissioning new works by American composers inspired by the outdoors and National Parks sites around the United States. She earned a doctoral degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Carol Rodland, and is completing a doctorate in music education (ABD). She graduated from the University of Southern California (BM) and the Cleveland Institute of Music (MM), studying with Jeffrey Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, Donald McInnes, and Karen Ritscher.

Gregory Bynum, recorder player, has studied with Marion Verbruggen, Han Tol, and Mattias Weilenman. He has performed with members of the Mannes School of Music and SUNY New Paltz music faculties, and with Yale music faculty including Jaap Schroeder.  Mr. Bynum has taught at the Bloomingdale House of Music in Manhattan and has performed at many venues including the Morris-Jumel Mansion, the Middletown Thrall Library, and the Old Stone House in Brooklyn.  As a guest performer with Brooklyn Baroque, he can be heard on the ensemble’s recordings Northern Lights, The Pleasures of the French, and a recording of Beth Anderson’s music entitled The Praying Mantis and the Bluebird (MSR Classics).  He has appeared on WKCR and appears on the Quill Classics YouTube channel with Ensemble Luini.  Mr. Bynum is Associate Professor in the School of Education at SUNY New Paltz, and the founder of the Music at Morris-Jumel chamber music series.

Joël Evans, oboist and solo English hornist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, has been a familiar musical voice in the valley for many years.  He is oboist with the Poné Ensemble and plays baroque and classical oboes with Hudson Valley Baroque, the resident historic ensemble at SUNY New Paltz where he also serves as Emeritus Professor of music.

Dr. Evans has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Atlantic Chamber Orchestra, and was principal oboist of the Albany Symphony from 1982 to 1985.  He leads a busy teaching schedule and has played numerous TV and radio advertisements.  Joël has recorded for Philo, Rounder, Koch International, CRI, New World, and his playing has been heard all over the US, Canada, Europe, Russia and the Far East.  He has appeared as a featured soloist at Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, Saratoga, the Charles Ives Center, and Carnegie Hall.  Joël retired as principal oboist of the West Point Band after nearly thirty years of service. Dr. Evans holds degrees from the University of Maine, Columbia University and the City University of New York.

Susan Seligman has been principal cellist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 1984.  She is a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Quartet, the piano trio Innisfree, the Poné Ensemble featuring new and American chamber music, Hudson Valley Baroque, and the Hudson Consort.  In 1999, Ms. Seligman was favorably reviewed in the New York Times for her performance in works of Robert Starer.  In the summer, Ms. Seligman is on the faculty of the Chamber Music Institute at Ithaca College.  During the academic year, she is on the faculty of SUNY New Paltz and has a busy private cello studio as well.  Her discography includes CDs on the Albany, Soundspells, and Parnassus Records labels.  A recent recording with Innisfree of the music of Henry Martin includes Sonata No. 1 for Solo Cello, written for her by the composer.

Ruthanne Schempf, harpsichordist, is an active chamber and solo musician in the Hudson Valley. She is on the faculties of SUNY-New Paltz and Interlochen Arts Camp, and is a member of the Poné Ensemble for New Music.  She is also a co-founder of the non-profit Hudson Valley Society for Music which produces Potluck Concerts and an annual Hudson Valley BachFest.  Dr. Schempf maintains a busy piano teaching studio and is the organist and choir director at the Cornwall Presbyterian Church. She earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from Michigan State University and a D.M.A. from the Manhattan School of Music.  Her solo piano recording, An American Mirage: Exotic Piano Images, was released in March of 2009 on the MSR Classics label.  In her spare time, she likes to ski, garden, and dabble in various domestic activities.  She is married to oboist, Joël Evans.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT WILL NOW BE ONE DAY ONLY! SUNDAY OCTOBER 13th HAS BEEN CANCELLED!

Get ready for some festive fall fun on Huguenot Street! This year, Historic Huguenot Street’s popular “Halloween Craft Workshop” has transformed into the “Harvest Craft Workshop.” Celebrate the bounty of the season with a fun-filled day of crafts, tasty treats, and more!

Each kid will get to make three seasonal crafts, earn prizes in a nature scavenger hunt, and enjoy free popcorn and apple cider. There will be also be face painting and even more fun surprises, dependent on weather conditions. 

PLUS, the Elting Memorial Library will be hosting an autumn story time tent! On Saturday, the 12th, at 1 pm, local children’s author Julie DeLeo will be reading her book: “Halloween Magic!! A Little Pumpkin's Adventure."

Julie DeLeo taught elementary school for over thirty years in Hyde Park. She resides in the beautiful Hudson Valley with her husband John. Her favorite Halloween memories are of watching her two children dressed up in the New Paltz Halloween Parade!

Admission is $10 for all children and adult guardians are free of charge.

Pre-registration is required for this event. Register for a time slot at 10AM, 11AM, 12PM, 1PM, 2PM, or 3PM.

All ticket sales are final and non-refundable!

Sponsored by Adobe and America’s Best Value Inn

Thank you to Wallkill View Farm Market for their generous donations

Thank you to Bjorn Qorn for their generous popcorn donations

Thank you to Hurd's Family Farm for their generous apple cider donations

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

In honor and recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, HHS is pleased to host this virtual presentation, “Natural Medicines,” with Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians’ herbalist, Misty Cook. In this program, Misty will be talking about her family history, as well as the gathering, drying, preservation, and uses of the medicinal plants used by the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans Tribe, both past and present.

This program will be presented entirely online via a link received after registration.

Misty Cook, M.S., studied medicines in-depth for over seven years in preparation for the completion of her book, “Medicine Generations.” This included identifying, gathering, drying, preserving for use throughout the year, preparing, and making them available to those in need. She is a cultural consultant with a Masters in Management, providing diversity trainings on many topics, including Native American students in education, Native American history, Native American games, and of course, medicines.

$8 General Access

$5 Discounted Access (For HHS members, seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, and veterans)

To purchase Misty’s book Medicine Generations in advance of the program, you may do so via our online Museum Shop below.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Kick off the school year with HHS! On September 16th, homeschool families are invited to enjoy a day full of learning and fun at our 10-acre National Historic Landmark District. Come take a tour of an 18th century stone house, visit the replica Esopus wigwam, search around for scavenger hunt clues, and make your own crafts to take home. 

Homeschool Open House Day will take place from 10AM – 2PM on Monday, September 16th. Free house tours for event registrants will be offered at 10:30AM, 11:30AM, and 1:00PM. 

Children's tickets are $20 each, adults' tickets are $5, children under 5 years will be admitted for free.

This is not a drop-off program; all children must be accompanied by their adult(s) at all times. 

For more information, email the School Programs Manager at education@huguenotstreet.org 

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Enslavement and racism defined important aspects of Isabella, “Bell’s,” childhood and young womanhood in Ulster County. In the face of these powerful forces, Black assertiveness shaped her identity, sense of self, and sense of community. Isabella observed, participated in, and took advantage of socio-economic change in Ulster County. She made the most of change and opportunities to pursue personal growth, family formation, religion, self-emancipation, and abolition. The Black family, Black culture, and Black resistance shaped the early life of the woman who became Sojourner Truth.

Margaret Washington is the Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History, Emerita, at Cornell University. She joined the Cornell history department in 1988 as associate professor specializing in African American history and culture; African American women; and Southern history. 

Dr. Washington authored the prize-winning definitive biography Sojourner Truth’s America, published in 2009 by University of Illinois Press. Washington presents Sojourner’s life within the broader panorama of American history, slavery, antislavery, women’s rights, and other reforms in the turbulent age of Abraham Lincoln. Sojourner Truth’s America notably provides a unique lens into the unlikely ascendancy of an unschooled formerly enslaved New Yorker who became an activist preacher, political orator, and suffragist.

Registration is FREE, but space is limited. Please let us know you’re coming in advance!

If you are interested in purchasing Dr. Margaret Washington’s book, Sojourner Truth’s America you may do so on HHS’s online Museum Shop by clicking here.

This is a community partnership program between the Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Center, the Elting Memorial Library, Historic Huguenot Street, and the New Paltz Historical Society.

At 4:00 P.M. on Sunday, September 8, 2024 in the French Church at Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, the chamber ensemble "Hudson Valley Baroque" will present a concert entitled “Baroque Sonatas.” The performers will be Joel Evans (oboe), Gregory Bynum (recorder), Christiana Fortune Reader (violin/viola), Susan Seligman (cello), and Ruthanne Schempf (keyboard).  Solo instrumental sonatas will be featured in this program, highlighting diverse approaches to the composition of sonatas by Baroque composers. The program will include music by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 – 1788), George Frederic Handel (1685 - 1759), and Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767). 

$12 General Admission

$8 Discounted Admission for HHS members, seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, veterans, and children under 13

Free for children under 6

Musician Bios:

Christiana Fortune-Reader, violist, teaches violin and viola in the Music Department at SUNY New Paltz as Assistant Professor of Music, and conducts the College Youth Symphony. Prior to this appointment, she taught at Illinois State University, where she also served as the Assistant Principal Viola of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra.  She performs regularly with the Minnesota and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras and the Innigkeit Quartet, and has held positions with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the contemporary music ensemble, “American Wild,” a septet dedicated to commissioning new works by American composers inspired by the outdoors and National Parks sites around the United States. She earned a doctoral degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Carol Rodland, and is completing a doctorate in music education (ABD). She graduated from the University of Southern California (BM) and the Cleveland Institute of Music (MM), studying with Jeffrey Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, Donald McInnes, and Karen Ritscher.

Gregory Bynum, recorder player, has studied with Marion Verbruggen, Han Tol, and Mattias Weilenman. He has performed with members of the Mannes School of Music and SUNY New Paltz music faculties, and with Yale music faculty including Jaap Schroeder.  Mr. Bynum has taught at the Bloomingdale House of Music in Manhattan and has performed at many venues including the Morris-Jumel Mansion, the Middletown Thrall Library, and the Old Stone House in Brooklyn.  As a guest performer with Brooklyn Baroque, he can be heard on the ensemble’s recordings Northern Lights, The Pleasures of the French, and a recording of Beth Anderson’s music entitled The Praying Mantis and the Bluebird (MSR Classics).  He has appeared on WKCR and appears on the Quill Classics YouTube channel with Ensemble Luini.  Mr. Bynum is Associate Professor in the School of Education at SUNY New Paltz, and the founder of the Music at Morris-Jumel chamber music series.

Joël Evans, oboist and solo English hornist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, has been a familiar musical voice in the valley for many years.  He is oboist with the Poné Ensemble and plays baroque and classical oboes with Hudson Valley Baroque, the resident historic ensemble at SUNY New Paltz where he also serves as Emeritus Professor of music.

Dr. Evans has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Atlantic Chamber Orchestra, and was principal oboist of the Albany Symphony from 1982 to 1985.  He leads a busy teaching schedule and has played numerous TV and radio advertisements.  Joël has recorded for Philo, Rounder, Koch International, CRI, New World, and his playing has been heard all over the US, Canada, Europe, Russia and the Far East.  He has appeared as a featured soloist at Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, Saratoga, the Charles Ives Center, and Carnegie Hall.  Joël retired as principal oboist of the West Point Band after nearly thirty years of service. Dr. Evans holds degrees from the University of Maine, Columbia University and the City University of New York.

Susan Seligman has been principal cellist with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic since 1984.  She is a member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Quartet, the piano trio Innisfree, the Poné Ensemble featuring new and American chamber music, Hudson Valley Baroque, and the Hudson Consort.  In 1999, Ms. Seligman was favorably reviewed in the New York Times for her performance in works of Robert Starer.  In the summer, Ms. Seligman is on the faculty of the Chamber Music Institute at Ithaca College.  During the academic year, she is on the faculty of SUNY New Paltz and has a busy private cello studio as well.  Her discography includes CDs on the Albany, Soundspells, and Parnassus Records labels.  A recent recording with Innisfree of the music of Henry Martin includes Sonata No. 1 for Solo Cello, written for her by the composer.

Ruthanne Schempf, harpsichordist, is an active chamber and solo musician in the Hudson Valley. She is on the faculties of SUNY-New Paltz and Interlochen Arts Camp, and is a member of the Poné Ensemble for New Music.  She is also a co-founder of the non-profit Hudson Valley Society for Music which produces Potluck Concerts and an annual Hudson Valley BachFest.  Dr. Schempf maintains a busy piano teaching studio and is the organist and choir director at the Cornwall Presbyterian Church. She earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from Michigan State University and a D.M.A. from the Manhattan School of Music.  Her solo piano recording, An American Mirage: Exotic Piano Images, was released in March of 2009 on the MSR Classics label.  In her spare time, she likes to ski, garden, and dabble in various domestic activities.  She is married to oboist, Joël Evans.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The Office for Community Wellness (OCW) for the Town of New Paltz, in partnership with Historic Huguenot Street, The Margaret Wade Lewis Center, Elting Memorial Library, and the Ulster Prevention Council, is happy to announce the next in its series of FREE outdoor movies will be Disney Pixar’s Luca, showing on Saturday, August 3, 2024.

In addition to the movie, the “Town of New Paltz’s 4th Annual Community BBQ” will take place at the same time. The BBQ will include hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers and more! There will also be outdoor games, a bouncy house, and face painting!

The BBQ and outdoor games will start at 6:00pm, free popcorn begins at 7:45pm, and the evening’s featured presentation starts at sundown.

Our FREE summer movie series is an opportunity for the New Paltz community to come together, meet each other, and engage in a family-oriented, fun-filled event. 

This year’s series is designed to bring together community members interested in exploring and engaging in topics concerning diversity, race, and inclusion. For those wanting to take a deeper dive into these themes, “Continue the Conversation” cards will be provided for individuals to reflect upon, answer, and participate in a larger discussion either at home or in their community.

What to bring: Lawn chairs, blankets, a water bottle, snacks, and bug spray (a limited supply will be available for those who forget). Water, snacks, and bug spray are also available for purchase at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center Museum Shop, which will be open until 9:00pm.

We are excited to have the opportunity to design a program series that not only brings community together, but also gives individuals a chance to dive deeper into important topics of concern. 

We invite you to join the fun and be part of the change, as we co-create a happy, healthy, vibrant New Paltz where we can thrive together. 

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Walloons settling in the New Netherland colony. A few decades later the Walloon and Huguenot families who would become known as the founders of New Paltz, would voyage to the colony and, eventually, establish a village on the banks of the Wallkill River.

Who were the Walloons and the Huguenots?  What is the difference?  What were their Protestant beliefs?  Why and how were they persecuted?  

Join HHS and Sandra Robinson for an illustrated talk set in the 16th century Low Countries (today's Netherlands and Belgium) and 16th-17th century France, complete with heroes, villains, and the invention of the word 'refugee'.

Sandra Robinson is a UK-based genealogist who specializes in Huguenot ancestry. She speaks French, Dutch/Flemish, and German, having lived in The Netherlands and Belgium, including working in these languages. Sandra is on the Council of the Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and is consultant genealogist to the Huguenot Museum in Rochester, UK. She was the Huguenot ancestry expert for the BBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" TV episode with Joe Sugg, broadcast in November 2021. Sandra works for private clients and also regularly publishes articles on Huguenots, often co-authored with art historians or other subject specialists.  

This program will be presented entirely online via a link provided after registration.

This program will be recorded, and access to the recording will be provided to registrants the following day.

$8 General Admission

$5 Discounted admission for HHS members, seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, and veterans

Sponsored by Marshall & Sterling.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

On Juneteenth, Historic Huguenot Street will be offering two special opportunities to take a walking tour of the Broadhead-Church-Mulberry Street neighborhood where Black carpenter and Civil War veteran, Jacob Wynkoop, constructed a number of homes for the free Black community of New Paltz in the 19th-century. In addition to telling the story of Jacob and his family, the tour will reveal stories of other African-American families who made the neighborhood their home in the late 19th and first decades of the 20th century, including Margaret Hasbrouck Clow, daughter of John Hasbrouck, one of the first African Americans eligible to vote in New Paltz. The tour also introduces members of the Oliver, Freer, Rose, Banks, and LeFevre families, as well as former slave Judy Jackson.

Tours will begin at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center at 1:00 PM and 2:30 PM. Tours last approximately one hour and span a distance of approximately one mile. Please note that this tour will require participants to be on their feet for the entirety of the program. This program is not recommended for individuals with mobility restrictions.

$8 General Admission

$5 Discounted Admission for HHS members, seniors, students, active-duty military personnel and their families, veterans, and children under 18

Free for children under 13

This Program is Sponsored by RentHop

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

A celebration of triumph and history and learning about Juneteenth with the New Paltz community. This all-day extravaganza will include story-telling, musical performances, a commemoration ceremony, tours, and a parade to help honor and remember the formerly enslaved Africans that are integral to the Village of New Paltz’s history. Juneteenth events will start at 10:00 am and end at 4 pm with walkable locations in New Paltz. 

Schedule of Events

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM:

Commemoration Ceremony at the New Paltz Rural Cemetery

12:00 PM – 12:15 PM:

Community Drum Procession from the Ann Oliver House to Historic Huguenot Street

12:15 PM – 4:00 PM:

Lunch, Performances, Tours, & Kids’ Crafts

1:00 PM and 2:30 PM:

Historic Huguenot Street will be offering two special opportunities to take a walking tour of the Broadhead-Church-Mulberry Street neighborhood where Black carpenter and Civil War veteran, Jacob Wynkoop, constructed a number of homes for the free Black community of New Paltz in the 19th-century. In addition to telling the story of Jacob and his family, the tour will reveal stories of other African-American families who made the neighborhood their home in the late 19th and first decades of the 20th century, including Margaret Hasbrouck Clow, daughter of John Hasbrouck, one of the first African Americans eligible to vote in New Paltz. The tour also introduces members of the Oliver, Freer, Rose, Banks, and LeFevre families, as well as former slave Judy Jackson.

Tours will begin at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center. They will last approximately one hour and span a distance of approximately one mile. Please note that this tour will require participants to be on their feet for the entirety of the program. This program is not recommended for individuals with mobility restrictions.

$8 General Admission

$5 Discounted Admission for HHS members, seniors, students, active-duty military personnel and their families, veterans, and children under 18

Free for children under 13

 1:30 PM:

Don’t miss Historic Huguenot Street take the stage with students from the Center for Creative Education (Kingston) to honor and commemorate Susanna and Anthony, the first two individuals on record to have been enslaved by a New Paltz Patentee, Louis DuBois.

The Jubilee is free and open to the public. Please let us know you’re attending by registering in advance.

Jacob Wynkoop Neighborhood Walking Tour are sponsored by RentHop.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

This project has been developed in partnership with the Witness Stones Project, Inc. The production of the memorial markers has been funded by Andreas du Bois, a direct descendant of Louis du Bois' brother.

This event is made possible in part through support from the County of Ulster’s Ulster County Cultural Services & Promotion Fund administrated by Arts Mid-Hudson. For more information on programs, services, grants, and opportunities, or to sign up for their eNewsletter, visit: www.artsmidhudson.org

Local Partners: 

Arts Mid-Hudson; Ulster BOCES Center of Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) at Port Ewen; Elting Memorial Library; Historic Huguenot Street; Master’s Touch Ministries; New Paltz Rural Cemetery; New Paltz United Methodist Church; SSIP; SUNY New Paltz Black Studies Department; Unison Arts Center; Village of New Paltz.

HHS is excited to offer free tours on June 16, 2024. During a tour of Historic Huguenot Street, visitors will explore the multicultural history of a unique American settlement, known today as New Paltz, New York. While touring three of the street’s historic structures, visitors will consider how individuals of each cultural group were affected by their physical environment and social status.

• The replica wigwam represents the strength and sacrifices of this region’s Indigenous peoples, the Esopus Munsee, from pre-colonial America to the present day.

• The reconstructed 1717 French Church teaches the Hudson Valley’s multicultural beginnings, including the history of Huguenot persecution in France leading to their immigration to North America.

• The early 18th-century Jean Hasbrouck House shares colonial life for both the free and enslaved members of the community, as well as the critical historical events that shaped the nation.

Tours will be offered 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 12 pm, 2:30 pm and 3:00 pm. Each experience lasts approximately one hour.

Space is limited. Pre-registration is highly encouraged!

Tours will begin at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center, promptly at the specified tour time. If you are not present at the start of the tour, your spot may be given to another visitor.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

On June 6, 2024 from 7 pm to 8 pm, HHS will present a virtual program by author, historian, and journalist Russell Shorto as he discusses the complexity of our region in the mid-1600s. 

The Dutch established their colony of New Netherland in a geography that was already long settled by a variety of Native peoples. Shorto will talk about the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) and their constituent nations, as well as the Lenape Delaware Munsee people. He will elaborate the relations between the Indigenous peoples and talk about how each collaborated or came into conflict with the Dutch. His presentation will explore how “Dutch” is a bit of a misnomer in this case, since New Netherland was itself comprised of a mix of nationalities. Finally, he will talk about the African presence in the colony: what slavery was and was not in New Netherland, who some of the enslaved were, how they obtained freedom, and what it meant. 

This program will be presented entirely online via a link provided after registration.

Russell Shorto is the author, most recently, of Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob, and of six earlier books, including Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City and the national bestseller The Island at the Center of the World. He is the Director of the New Amsterdam Project at the New-York Historical Society and Senior Scholar at the New Netherland Institute in Albany, New York. From 2007 to 2013 he was Director of the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam. In 2009, he was awarded a knighthood from the Dutch government for his work in increasing historical understanding between the Netherlands and the United States. In 2018, he was inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame.

$10 General Admission

$7 Discounted Admission for HHS members, seniors, students, active-duty military personnel and their families, and veterans

This program will be recorded. Access to which will be made available to all registrants the following day.

Support for this program was generously provided by HHS Board Chair Mary Etta Schneider.

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Join Historic Huguenot Street and Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians’ author, consultant, and medicine practitioner, Misty Cook, on an evening walk exploring diverse native plants and their traditional medicinal uses. This in-person program will guide visitors from the DuBois Fort Visitor Center through the Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary, where Misty will share her community’s knowledge and understanding of the indigenous plant life that still thrives in our region.

Misty Cook, M.S., studied medicines in-depth for over seven years in preparation for the completion of her book, “Medicine Generations.” This included identifying, gathering, drying, preserving for use throughout the year, preparing, and making them available to those in need. She is a cultural consultant with a Masters in Management, providing diversity trainings on many topics, including Native American students in education, Native American history, Native American games, and of course, medicines.

Misty's book, “Medicine Generations,” is available for purchase both in-store and on our online Museum Shop. You may pre-order and pick-up when you arrive for the program, by buying online and selecting "pick up" at checkout. 

$20 General Admission
$17 Discounted Admission for HHS members, seniors, students, active-duty military personnel and their families, and veterans
FREE for children under 13.

Space is limited. Pre-registration is highly encouraged. All ticket sales are final and non-refundable.

The rain date for this program is Wednesday, June 5th, 7:00-8:30 PM (eastern daylight time).

The Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary is owned by the Wallkill Valley Land Trust and is forever protected by a conservation easement.

This program is sponsored by Devine Insurance and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The Office for Community Wellness (OCW) for the Town of New Paltz, in partnership with Historic Huguenot Street, The Margaret Wade Lewis Center, Elting Memorial Library, and the Ulster Prevention Council, is happy to announce its FREE Outdoor Summer Movie Series, starting off with Disney Pixar’s Elemental, on Saturday, June 1st (rain date June 2nd). 

Our FREE summer movie series is an opportunity for the New Paltz community to come together, meet each other, and engage in a family-oriented, fun-filled event. 

This year’s series is designed to bring together community members interested in exploring and engaging in topics concerning diversity, race, and inclusion. For those wanting to take a deeper dive into these themes, “Continue the Conversation” cards will be provided for individuals to reflect upon, answer, and participate in a larger discussion either at home or in their community.

Outdoor games will be offered on the grounds of Historic Huguenot Street starting at 7:00pm. Free popcorn begins at 8:00pm. The evening’s featured presentation starts at 8:45pm.

Set in Element City, where Fire-, Water-, Earth- and Air-residents live together, Elemental introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted, and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in. 

Directed by Peter Sohn, and written by Sohn, John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh, the film draws inspiration from Sohn's youth, growing up as the son of immigrants in New York City during the 1970s. The film highlights the city's distinct cultural and ethnic diversity, and asks the viewer to explore whether or not diverse elements can thrive together. 

What to bring: Lawn chairs, blankets, a water bottle, snacks, and bug spray (a limited supply will be available for those who forget). Water, snacks, and bug spray are also available for purchase at the DuBois Fort Visitor Center Museum Shop, which will be open until 9:00pm.

We are excited to have the opportunity to design a program series that not only brings community together, but also gives individuals a chance to dive deeper into important topics of concern. 

We invite you to join the fun and be part of the change, as we co-create a happy, healthy, vibrant New Paltz where we can thrive together. 

Image Credit:
Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios

In late 1673, Louis Dubois purchased two enslaved Africans named Anthony and Susanna from the Dutch sheriff in what is now Kingston, NY. This is the earliest recorded purchase of enslaved Africans by a European founder of the community we now call New Paltz. However, Anthony and Susanna fled from Dubois in early 1674, crossing the Hudson River and returning to the plantation of their former enslaver, Col. Lewis Morris, in what is now the Bronx. Over the following 6 years, Dubois and Morris engaged in a drawn out and bitter legal dispute over ownership of Anthony and Susanna. In this presentation, Historic Huguenot Street’s Tour & Interpretation Manager, Eddie Moran, will guide attendees through an array of 17th century documents to reveal Anthony and Susanna’s powerful story of agency and resistance. 

This program will be presented entirely online via a link provided after registration.

Eddie Moran currently serves as the Tour & Interpretation Manager at Historic Huguenot Street, and as a historical researcher for the Dr Margaret Wade Lewis Center, in New Paltz. He graduated with a B.A. in History from SUNY New Paltz in the Spring of 2020. Eddie began work as a tour guide at Historic Huguenot Street in 2017 and has overseen guided tours and interpretation full-time at HHS since January of 2022. He is a lifelong resident of the New Paltz area, and a descendant of New Paltz’s Huguenot and Dutch colonizers.

$8 General Admission

$5 Discounted Admission for seniors, students, active-duty military personnel and their families, and veterans

FREE for HHS members

This program is sponsored by Jim DeMaio, State Farm Insurance Agent and is, additionally, made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Please join us for a discussion of Historic Huguenot Street’s (HHS) three-year NEH-funded project to preserve and digitize significant historical documents from its own archival collections and those of project partners the Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection at Elting Memorial Library, the Reformed Church of New Paltz, and the Town of New Paltz. These include legal, financial, and religious records, as well as a wealth of personal letters, which together provide detailed insight into the lives of New Paltz residents and how their communities overlapped and evolved.

Curatorial staff Josephine Bloodgood, Director of Curatorial and Preservation Affairs, Donna Dixon, Digital Librarian and Project Manager, and Beth Patkus, Archivist and Librarian, will give an overview of HHS and the NEH project and its significance in local, state, and national history, discuss the grant process, and demonstrate how to navigate and search the New Paltz Historic Documents online collection, including documents that have been recently translated. 

This presentation will be presented entirely online via a link provided after registration.

The New Paltz Historic Documents Project encompasses documents ranging from the mid-1600s to about 1830. With the help of professional conservators and digital imaging technicians, the project partners have conserved, digitized, and made available online at NYHeritage.org more than 24,000 pages of documents. To complement the project, HHS also commissioned translations of Dutch documents (most of which had not been previously translated) by Dr. Jaap Jacobs and Julie van den Hout, supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.  

$8 General Admission

$5 Discounted admission for seniors, students, active military personnel and their families, and veterans

FREE for HHS members

The preservation and digitization of these documents has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The translation of Dutch language documents is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.

 Sponsored by HKM Employment Attorneys

This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.