Colin T. Naylor Jr. Archives

08/13/2022

HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

On Tuesday the 30th day of August, 2022, will be performed

A CONCERT of vocal and Instrumental music

To begin at 6 o’clock in the evening at the Field Library

Please join the Field Library for the musical stylings of Jim Keyes and Carla Lynne Hall as they perform the music of Early America on traditional instruments

04/14/2022

Interested in local history? Fill out this questionnaire to help us plan the events and programs you want to see!

Please fill out this form to help the Field Library plan programs, events and informational posts! If you have any questions, reach out to local history librarian Sarah Scott at [email protected] or (914) 737-4390.

04/04/2022

As of April 1st, 2022, the 1950 US Census is available for public viewing. Check it out at the link below:

https://1950census.archives.gov/

Interested in learning more about your family’s history in Peekskill or Cortlandt Manor? Set up an appointment to check out the Colin T. Naylor Archives. We have tons of books on local history and genealogy, and newspapers dating back to the 1830s.

The 1950 census records were released by the U.S. National Archives on April 1, 2022. This website provides full access to the 1950 census images, including population schedules, enumeration district maps, and enumeration district descriptions.

03/02/2022

As we enter Women’s History Month, the Field Library would like to take some time to recognize the incredible achievements of the women of our archives.

We’ll start today with Dorothy Frooks, who lived in Peekskill for several decades. Frooks was a renowned lawyer, suffragist, World War (I & II) Veteran, author, newspaper publisher, and actress. A child prodigy and orator, Frooks started advocating for a women’s right to vote at the age of 11. Later graduating from Hamilton College and New York University, she began an illustrious law career which included acting as legal counsel for the Salvation Army, creating a small claims court in New York City, and admissions to the Supreme Court and Bar of Puerto Rico. During Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency (the lawyer had an ongoing feud with Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor), Frooks was quoted as saying she was “quite sure a woman will sit in the president’s chair within the next 15 years.” Although Frooks herself never ascended to the presidency, she certainly left her mark on history.

In the Colin T Naylor Archives, we have two of Frooks’ books: Love’s Law and Lady Lawyer. The first is a romantic novel that deals with injustice, wrongful imprisonment, grief, and love. The latter is Frooks’ autobiography that details her life and her many impressive achievements.

Please note, that while she achieved incredible things, Frooks was still human and a product of her time. The language used in her novel, Love’s Law is at times inappropriate for the modern reader and she worked against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. Historical figures are still people, after all.

12/20/2021

Introducing the Peekskill History App! This free app uses mapping technology to allow you to tour around and learn the history of Peekskill at the actual places where history happened! The app was developed by Peekskill resident Trevor Noble in conjunction with Packed Canvas app developers. Check it out! https://www.packedcanvas.com/app/peekskill-history

12/20/2021

Learn about Christmas in the 1920s from our friends at the Staatsburgh State Historic Site.

Christmas as a holiday has continuously evolved over the centuries and decades, but many modern traditions have deeply seated historic roots...

12/17/2021

A piece of Revolutionary War history from our friends at the Van Cortlandtville Historical Society. The Peekskill and Cortlandt areas played a large role during the American Revolution.

This week marked the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. This would be a major point in the start of the American Revolution. During the war that would follow Cortlandt Manor was considered a no man's land during the Revolution the people living in our area were no strangers to soldiers marching and even clashing in their back yards. Even neighbors became pitted against one another as they chose their sides and bandits attacked and stole from travelers and homes. Many who enlisted to support the fight for America's independence lost their lives and the names listed here are those known to be buried in Van Cortlandtville Cemetery.

12/15/2021

REVOLUTIONARY CHRISTMAS
A special lecture by Dr. Iris de Rode, PhD
December 20, 2021 at 5:00 pm on Zoom
Zoom link in comments

During the American Revolutionary War, the Christmas tree, Santa Claus, and the Christmas Holidays, did not make their way to the Thirteen Colonies yet.

Celebrating Christmas depended on religious affiliation and which state one was in. While Puritans considered Christmas a dangerous “pagan tradition” and did not celebrate it, Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Moravians, went to church and decorated their home with holly and mistletoe to receive guests for splendid dinners and balls, and gave each other Christmas gifts. Especially in the Southern colonies, celebrations were grand and festive.

While some were celebrating, American soldiers and officers were fighting for their independence. During the war, for George Washington and his men, Christmas meant crossing the Delaware, fighting at Trenton, surviving at Valley Forge. For the French allies, this was different, they celebrated Christmas in America as they would have done in France. In the winters from 1780 to 1783, the French allied officers in America organized grand Christmas dinners, the soldiers got special meals, and some went on sleigh expeditions and squirrel hunts.

Join us Monday, December 20, 2021, at 5:00 pm, for a special online presentation by Dr. Iris de Rode.

This is a free program that is open to the public. Also, please feel free to share this invitation and invite a friend.

12/06/2021

Map of the Hudson River from Croton Point to Peekskill in New York. The map includes towns, mountains, rivers, lakes, railroads, ferry routes and important sites such as estates and locations related to Major John Andre from the Revolutionary War.

(State Archives)

12/04/2021

A slice of Town of Cortlandt history courtesy of our friends at the Van Cortlandtville Historical Society.

A map of Van Cortlandtville from 1869. J. Robertson home had formerly been a manor house of the Van Cortlandt family and still stands today as a nursing home. Across the street marked J. Simpson would later become the Mansion of Colonial Terrance catering and reception hall. The School was a one room schoolhouse that continued to be used by the Lakeland school district into the mid-20th century and is now the home of Van Cortlandtville Historical Society. Beside it, marked “Epis. Ch.” (Episcopal Church) is now known as Old St. Peter’s Church and the surrounding cemetery where many historical graves stand. Across the street from the school “M.E. Church” also remains in use today.

Do you recognize any other familiar names or places?

11/19/2021

An ode to Peekskill Bay. This poem was featured in "The Hudson and its Moods" by Walter Glen Springer", published in 1929. The book is described as "An illustrated “idyl of America's mightiest, most beautifully scenic, legendary, and historical of rivers.” A copy of the book is available for in-library use at The Field Library.

11/18/2021

Lake Oscawana is located in the heart of Putnam Valley though as shown in this 1921 letter, it once had a Peekskill mailing address. Until the 1940s, mail going into Putnam Valley would be addressed as R.F.D., Peekskill, New York. To learn more about Lake Oscawana, visit lakeoscawana.org. This letter was posted with permission from the Putnam Valley Historical Society.