The Vanderheyden and Lansing Project

by Don Rittner

A little knowledge of history can be healthy. It’s like a person who climbs a mountain for the first time. He who forges ahead without studying the experiences of previous climbers is asking for trouble. Those who study the footpaths of successful climbers often do not repeat mistakes. In other words, those who fail to appreciate history are often the same ones who repeat the unpleasant parts of it.

Former city manager Steve Dworsky loved to tell the story when E.G. Marshall and company came to Troy in 1976 to film a Bicentennial Minute featuring Uncle Sam’s House.

Marshall and crew flew in and were taken to Wilson’s house on the corner of Short 7th and Ferry Street. The only problem was that the house was torn down shortly before he arrived. Without missing a beat, Marshall found an old brick lying nearby, picked it up as a prop, and continued his mission. The show must go on.

That little episode always struck me as ironic. How many times do we destroy an important symbol only to realize it was a huge mistake afterwards.

We can’t undo what has been done but we can certainly celebrate what we have left and that is what the Vanderheyden-Lansing Project is all about. It’s a Public History/Archeology Program initiated by The Learning Factory to locate, study, and promote the rich human and natural history of Troy and Lansingburgh.

The project will attempt to locate and study all existing buildings that were built when Troy and Lansingburgh were founded, along with writing the personal histories of those families who helped create both settlements. A complete history of each building built before 1900 and its occupants will be researched. It’s an ambitious goal.

Public archeology will allow kids (and adults) to learn first hand the field techniques of uncovering the past. Combined with classroom and field work, students will come away from the experience looking at Troy in a much different and more positive manner.

One component of the project will reveal women of the 18th and 19th century who contributed much but have been lost from the history books because their contributions were not admitted. Surely, there are many more women than union activist Kate Mullany, educator Emma Willard, and author Mary L. Parmelee (aka Lynde Palmer) that have contributed to Troy’s history.

There were over 1000 freed slaves living in our area before the Civil War. What happened to them? Their story must be told.

We will restore the Troy Historic Marker Program, which I began in 1985. You may see previously completed ones on many downtown buildings. After a building’s history is researched, a cast bronze plague (cast in Troy) is placed on the building. There will be four different kinds of plagues. One for early Troy when it was known as Ashley’s Ferry, or Vanderheyden. One for the Village of Troy. One for all structures built after 1816 (to 1900) when Troy became a city, and one for the Burgh .

There are many seniors in Troy who worked for the collar, iron, or other past industries. This is a part of Troy’s labor history that continues to disappear as our seniors pass on. A coordinated oral history project utilizing the students of Troy could be very important and will be explored.

A picture is worth a thousand words. The project will attempt to locate old photos of Troy to supplement the collections that already exist (do you have any?). Moreover, we will create a database of repositories of Troy history so students and researchers will spend more time actually conducting research instead of trying to locate those resources. This database will be put on the Internet for all to access.

Another benefit of having family and architectural histories will be utilizing the information to develop local history curricula for the city school system. It seems to me that students who learn to appreciate local history will grow up with the attitude to preserve it. Much of the existing body of knowledge will also be placed on the Web site of the Capital District Preservation Task Force (column on that due soon).

We will create a volunteer group of archaeologists who will work alongside professionals to help uncover the rich archeological heritage of the city. This includes bringing back to life the rich heritage of the Mohican Nation that occupied the land before European settlement.

As Mohican representative Steve Comer explained to me, in response to most people’s ideas that his people died out with Uncas and the Last of the Mohicans, "They Mohicans are not dead. They simply forgot to give a forwarding address." The Mohican Nation is currently settled in Wisconsin. The original area they inhabited included the upper Hudson Valley up to Lake Champlain, west to Fort Hunter, southwestern Vermont, the Berkshires, and northwest Connecticut.

One of the most important things the average Trojan can do is preserve any artifact of Troy they may have or acquire. We are fortunate in that there are two agencies dedicated to preserving Troy’s past, The Rensselaer County Historical Society and the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway. Both are non profit tax exempt organizations and donating items offers a tax break.

Along with the wonderful architecture of Troy there are thousands of artifacts that can help us understand the lives and culture of early Trojans. For example, at the Troy Pub they have a showcase or two with beer bottles from old Troy breweries, as well as old Troy pictures, bills of laden, broadsides, certificates, and other mementos from Troy hanging on the wall. In some of the older establishments of Troy you can find other artifacts or photos of the city on display. Many Trojans have an item or two handed down by their family, or simply have picked up an item of Troy, or other symbol of industry past. But what happens to these items when the current owners are no longer around, and the surviving family members don’t share that love of history?

Recently, one of my readers contacted me after her grandmother had passed away. After going through her belongings she found an old diary of her great grandfather who was a constable in Troy at the turn of the century. Like so many other people, she could have thrown it in the trash but had the wisdom to see its historical value. Indeed, that diary will become a future column here and then turned over to the Rensselaer County Historical Society for perpetuity, with her blessing.

We need to locate, catalog, and even photograph the body of artifacts still in existence for future scientific study.

Another avenue to explore is putting any artifacts in your Will and left to the Society or Gateway insuring that they will find a proper home when you join Troy’s history.

In the coming weeks I hope to meet with teachers in local schools, professors at RPI, HVCC, Sage, Emma Willard, professional staff at the Lansingburgh and Rensselaer County Historic Society, local government officials, and others to solicit their help in providing a coordinated approach to make Troy’s history the present and future.

We are always looking for volunteers!

©1999 Don Rittner

Got History? Contact Don at drittner@aol.com or 251 River Street.