Robert Spiegelman, sociologist, multimedia artist and writer, will give a New York Council on the Humanities lecture titled "Cooling Mother Earth: New York's Footprint in Nature, Then and Now," on Monday, Feb. 16, at noon in the Science Center's Kennedy Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Spiegelman presents widely on New York, Iroquois, Irish and environmental themes. The founder of SullivanClinton.com and Derryveagh.com, he revisits hidden histories that link past and present, and foster indigenous values of peace, democracy and nature-in-balance.
Spiegelman will address the question, "Are New Yorkers stewards of nature or lords of nature?" This lecture/ multimedia presentation probes the question by revisiting key moments in the Empire State's development history - especially its Indian, infrastructure and conservation legacies; then linking them to today's environmental crises. To find answers, he unearths the hidden roots of New Yorkers' conflicting views of nature, development and civilization – both then and now.
Part one reviews the first encounters of explorers and settlers with the Iroquois of Central New York and the Delaware Lenape of the Hudson Valley. It explores the dream that drove development in the Empire State – an East-West Hudson River-to-Great Lakes passage; and how the dream impacted key moments in the Dutch-Indian encounter, the French & Indian Wars, and revolutionary New York's forgotten stormy frontiers. It traces how all paths lead to the all-important Erie Canal and the rise of Syracuse as America's Salt City; and how – in reaction – Adirondack State Park became our last-stand against runaway de-forestation, as well as how the Onondaga people continue to defend the toxic sacred lake that bears their name.
Part two shows how a call to stewardship also drove the core beliefs and urgent warnings of New York's great forgotten Naturalists. It celebrates the forgotten, lasting impact of our first environmentalist, George Perkins Marsh;" the empowering vision of John Burroughs, America's first nationally-revered naturalist; and the living gift of William Pryor Letchworth, who helped preserve our brilliant "Grand Canyon of the East."
Spiegelman presents widely on New York, Iroquois, Irish and environmental themes. The founder of SullivanClinton.com and Derryveagh.com, he revisits hidden histories that link past and present, and foster indigenous values of peace, democracy and nature-in-balance.
Spiegelman will address the question, "Are New Yorkers stewards of nature or lords of nature?" This lecture/ multimedia presentation probes the question by revisiting key moments in the Empire State's development history - especially its Indian, infrastructure and conservation legacies; then linking them to today's environmental crises. To find answers, he unearths the hidden roots of New Yorkers' conflicting views of nature, development and civilization – both then and now.
Part one reviews the first encounters of explorers and settlers with the Iroquois of Central New York and the Delaware Lenape of the Hudson Valley. It explores the dream that drove development in the Empire State – an East-West Hudson River-to-Great Lakes passage; and how the dream impacted key moments in the Dutch-Indian encounter, the French & Indian Wars, and revolutionary New York's forgotten stormy frontiers. It traces how all paths lead to the all-important Erie Canal and the rise of Syracuse as America's Salt City; and how – in reaction – Adirondack State Park became our last-stand against runaway de-forestation, as well as how the Onondaga people continue to defend the toxic sacred lake that bears their name.
Part two shows how a call to stewardship also drove the core beliefs and urgent warnings of New York's great forgotten Naturalists. It celebrates the forgotten, lasting impact of our first environmentalist, George Perkins Marsh;" the empowering vision of John Burroughs, America's first nationally-revered naturalist; and the living gift of William Pryor Letchworth, who helped preserve our brilliant "Grand Canyon of the East."
