Day 16- 6/9/14 Oak wood Cemetery/ Crematorium

Today was bad from the start. At 7:53 the fire alarm went off when I was trying to be productive in the morning and it really ruined my morning. The worst part is we did not pass because three people decided to stay in their rooms when they were not suppose to. Then we were late to our first stop at the cemetery. We then later found out there was a Hindu cremation going on so we could not get the tour we were scheduled to get. This day was just rough from the start.

Uncle Sam Marker

Uncle Sam Burial Site

 Even though we were able to see Uncle Sams burial site during our orientation weekend it was really cool to be able to see it again. Uncle Sam is so well known in troy it is nice to know that he is buried close by. I like how the grave had American Flags near it, it really symbolizes his involvement and decorates his grave. After seeing the grave I some how managed to break Andor's Umbrella. I did not mean to break it and I felt awful. I planned on buying him a new one until it decided to start working again.

Gravestone with Fern 

While we were driving around the cemetery Michael was explaining that different objects such as ferns on a gravestone represent something. While conducting research I found it was very popular in the 1850s to the 1890s. This plant was put onto gravestones to represent beauty and represented humility.

Model of Crematorium

Inside the Crematorium

Next we were allowed to go into the crematorium because the service finished just as we were about to leave. We did not get the full tour and we did not recieve as much information about the crematorium as we did during orientation but it was nice to see the inside of the building again. I think this building is so beautiful inside and was happy to see all the windows. After this we went back to Sage for lunch and went to our appointment at the historical society.

Popcorn Popper

Once we got to the historical society we were able to pick up and look at the artifacts we signed up for last time. I chose to research the popcorn popper above. I really enjoyed being their more this time because it was much more hands on and we were allowed to touch artifacts while wearing gloves. We had to take pictures of our object and prepare for our final drafts of the artifact for the collection that will be displayed. I thought this was really fun and felt like a researcher while examining my artifact. I cannot wait for the final project to be done because I am sure everyone will do an excellent job!

Day 15- 6/6/14 Who was Phillip Schuyler?

Representation of the Schuyler Mansion

Today we had a really busy day! We made so many stops I have a feeling this is going to be a very long blog. The picture above is a representation of what the Schuyler mansion would look like during the time period it was built. This picture above to me represents change, but what we saw of the house was a lot different. There were  not as many trees, more roads and the river is not in view anymore.

Phillip Schuyler was born into a powerful family but improved his family name even more with his career. Phillip did so many things with his life; He was a major-general in the Revolutionary war, both a United States and New York state senator, a delegate to the second Continental Congress, a businessman, and a landlord. Philip Schuyler married Catherine Schuyler who came from a wealthy family. This was a great addition to the Schuyler name. I was so surprised to here that Catherine miscarried two sets of twins and a set of triplets. During this time period it was very unusual for a women to survive a multiple birth or to go on and have children afterwards.

Mirror Located in a parlor in the Schuyler Mansion

This mirror above was in the main parlor of the Schuyler mansion. The main parlor was used for celebrations. Something I found interesting was their was a wedding held in this room and there was also a funeral. This mirror looks very similar to the mirrors we saw at the Peebles Island Art restoration site. The mirrors they had were from Johnson hall and were being restored. It had the same basic shape and it looked like it was made out of the same wood, and the gold on the frame was also very similar. I was wondering if these mirrors were made during the same time period.

One thing I really liked about the mansion was the different wallpaper that was used throughout the house, and the fuzzy wallpaper was my favorite. I was sad we could not touch the paper on the wall but at least the tour guide had a sample we were allowed to pass around and use. The cool thing about the mansion is the people who run the historical site now have many of the bills from the house. This "fuzzy wallpaper" Schuyler bought was almost enough to cover the whole mansion. The wallpaper on the wall is not the original but a replication of the wallpaper. After seeing the bill, they were able to conclude that this wallpaper was most common around the house. When we went upstairs I was shocked to see the wallpaper on the wall was very similar to the wallpaper in the front hall in the Rensselaer Historical Society. After examining the wall I saw that the brand name of the wall paper was on the wall just like in the historical society. I thought it was really cool that this paper was on the wall in the mansion because I thought it was really pretty, and it shows how many materials were common in the capital region area.

It was kind of ironic that the day before we were at the Erie Canal Lock system and the day after we were allowed to see where the idea all began. During the last few years of Schuyler's life he became involved with waterway transportation. In 1792 he became involved with the Northern Inland lock Navigation and in 1796 the company built a 4700 foot canal system with five locks near Little Falls. A year later a two mile canal system was created at Fort Stanwix and connected the Mohawk River to Wood Creek, which wasn't as successful. It was Schuyler's efforts that led to the ideas for others to make the Erie and Champlain canals possible. 

After we finished up at the mansion we went to the Stillwater Blockhouse for lunch. This is a replica of 18th century block houses used during the Revolutionary War. It was nice that we were allowed to get a tour of the blockhouse and look at the different artifacts inside the house. 

After lunch we traveled to the Schuyler house in Schuylerville, which was then called Saratoga. The estate was originally 168,000 granted to seven New Yorkers and Schuyler owned 24,000 acres. In the 1760s Phillip turned a ruined house into a very successful farm with milling and he sold merchandise. This was extremely successful but it was destroyed on October 10, 1777 when the British retreated from Saratoga. After the troops left, Philip began to rebuild the house on this property. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the house which was really upsetting, and I did not enjoy this house as much as the first one either. To me it just seemed like a bunch of stuff thrown in a room. It did not seem like some of the artifacts even belonged in the home or had any connection with Phillip. I also did not enjoy our tour guide, she wasn't too friendly either. Through this program I learned that the way you present information to someone really matters. If you are not that interesting, speak in monotones, and do not know your information then you will really lose interest of the group you are presenting to really fast. 

Saratoga Monument

After the Schuyler House we took an unplanned visit to the Saratoga monument. This monument is so tall it was hard to get a picture of it fully. This monument is a Gothic and Egyptian style build,  and stands more that 154 feet tall. This monument is located near the Village of Victory and has a great view of the Hudson Valley. We were all allowed to go inside the monument and climb to the top, which really scared me because I am terrified of heights. I moved so slow and I felt bad for Kassiana because she was behind me and when she asked to pass me I would not let her because I was scared of being alone so thanks Kassiana for being there for moral support without realizing it. I made it a little more than halfway up and began to have an anxiety attack. Growing up I have had issues with anxiety so this was no surprise to me. Going up I tried to just look at my feet but the stairs were see through so it did not help. The part where I really freaked out was when there was no flooring in between the staircases. Toby saw me having a hard time and tried to encourage me to keep going but I burst into tears so he let me go back down. I was a little disappointed that I did not go all the way to the top because I was so jealous of the "selfie" everyone took at the top and they said the view was amazing. I was proud of what part of the tower I did go up though. Maybe if I visit the monument again I can push myself to make it to the top. 

Dredging Site

The dredging site was the last place we went to today. It was really upsetting they were not working when we got there so there was not a lot to see. After this we went back to sage after a very exhausting day!

Day 14 6/5/14- Back to Peebles Island

Cloth Used to Restore a Couch

Today we had another easy day. We went back to Peebles Island but this time we did not play in the river or walk the nature trail. Instead we went behind the scenes of artifacts and visited Peebles Art Restoration. This was really cool to see and I was interested in what they had to say. They restore and preserve products for all different historical sites, many of which we have been to. The picture above shows the type of cloth that was used to restore a couch that was completely falling apart. It took many years to decide what type of cloth to use because they wanted the cloth to be very similar to the original cloth type. I think the cloth was really close to the original and I thought it was really pretty. The leaves on it made me think of the forest and nature.

Example of Paintings Being Restored

 After we left the fabric room, we went to the room where they restore paintings. The picture above is a before and after picture of a painting being preserved. This picture was stored in a barn and was recently given to Peebles Island Art Restoration. The rip you see in the picture on the left is from a cow. The process needed to fix this tear is amazing. While working under a microscope they would try to stretch the fibers back out to close the rip. They also would use floss to fill in the spots that could not close. This must take a lot of patients and personally is not something I could do, I'm just not that patient. This picture to me shows that even if something appears as ruined or seems like garbage it is still fixable, it just takes time. A lot of the time I will get rid of something or simply just throw it away because there may be a minor break in it, which is a common trend in society today. For example I know when my parents' washer broke they just went and bought a new one. They claimed it was easier that way. Maybe if we as a society would fix appliances and even simple things we could save money for ourselves and help save the environment in the process by not contributing more garbage than we have to and not creating as much pollution by factories making more of these objects that could easily be fixed. This picture just made me realize that things are fixable. I understand that some things cannot be fixed and that is fine but our society seems to think it is easier to just throw the object out and the same thing new.

Gold Paper Used on Picture Frames

The next room that really interested me works very closely with the painting department and that is the frame department. When we first walked in we were watching a woman paint this gold paper onto the frame. What interested me was to make the gold look old like the rest of the frame she would use special aging chemicals, which amazed me how it could be done so quickly. Then it made me think of all the paintings I saw in places like Olana and just wondered how many of the paintings I saw there could have been restored and then made to blend in like the one she was doing in front of us today. We also were able to see two mirrors that were in Johnson Hall, a historical site we visited a few weeks ago. I liked how we were able so see how the artifacts are restored for places that we have been.

Gate on Lock 2

Boat In Lock 2

After the tour of the restoration center, Toby wanted to show us the lock system. This was not as exciting to me because I grew up around the locks and have seen this plenty of times. It was really nice to see others around me to get excited seeing something they have not seen before. This just goes back to my first blog, some people experience different things than others. I found this part boring because I have seen it so many times but to my peers around me it was an amazing experience. Although I was not super excited but I like learning about the lock system. The boat calls the lock system before they get there to let the lock master knows they are coming. When the boat arives the lock master will signal when it is safe to enter the lock with a green light. The boat will then hold onto a rope while the water is either drained or filled up. Once the water is at the appropriate level the boat will pay the fee and be on its way until the boat gets to the next lock. It will then go through the same process. One thing I learned that I did not know is that the fee for using the lock is priced by the length of your boat. The picture above shows the doors to the lock system, which symbolizes opportunity. Back when the locks were veey popular and were commonly used people would travel along the river to transport and sell goods. The lock system is still used today for trade and transporting goods but it is not used as frequently as it used to be.  It is cool to watch the water rise and drop but I really do not want to travel through the lock system. Toby was telling us that we would and I told him that I refused. I think this is because this would be a new experience for me and like I have stated before I am afraid of the unknown. I am really dreading the day we go through the lock system. 

Day 13 6/14/14 A Day in the Classroom

My Caterpillar  I Set Free

Michelle Examining Our Specimen 

 Today was really relaxing. For a change we were in a classroom setting discussing biodiversity with Toby. It was really nice to have a day to just relax after being on the go. Also I can not believe I am saying this but I missed sitting in a classroom! Prior to class we had to read an article about biodiversity and we had a really heated discussion in class. Us as humans are not trained to think in the long term and while thinking about biodiversity this is something you need to do. We discussed the topics of how many kids a person should have and questioned if it is okay to cause a species to go extinct to build a new business that would create so many jobs and cause the economy to prosper. Honestly I think there should be a limit on the amount of kids a person can have. I come from a family of 8 but I think there is not any reason to have that many kids. People try to use the religious beliefs as an excuse but the bible just says "be fruitful and multiply" and does not give a specific amount of people. After this discussion we examined our specimen under the microscope. I was surprised to see that my caterpillar was still alive after being in the refrigerator for two weeks. It was really hard looking at the caterpillar under the microscope because it kept moving and trying to get out of the dish. After we were done I brought him outside I set Herman (my caterpillar) on a leaf. He seemed so happy. After this we went to lunch and I was so happy because for once they had fruit! I ate strawberries and grapes which are my favorite.

Mirror in the Historical Society

Wall Paper Found in the House

After lunch we walked over to the Historical Society in Troy located on Second Street. I really liked this tour because for once we were allowed to sit instead of standing the whole time. Also when we entered the house that had all the artifacts in it, we were allowed to go into each room and write questions about what we were interested in. I really liked this because most tours will ramble on about stuff we do not care about. Two things that really interested me were the mirrors located in the parlors and the wall paper found in the entrance hallway of the house. The tour guide explained that the mirrors were so big and there were so many because they were really good reflectors of light. I thought this was really creative and to me I just think of a mirror as something so I can see myself in, not a way to increase lighting. The wallpaper located in the hallway was so pretty. I liked the flowers because I am the type of person who loves flowers. The wallpaper represents different countries around the world which I though was really cool.

Day 12- Everyone is Miserable!

Water Wheel in Burden's Factory

Today was not as fun as I thought it would be. First we went to a historical site of the Burden Iron Works Company. When we we got there I was really hoping we could walk around and look at the historical items all around us, but we had to listen to our guide who seemed to ramble on, I did not like a lot of his comments. Coming from an all women college I have began thinking in a more feminist point of view. He made comments such as "hit it like a girl" and "I have a Y chromosome" which I think is inappropriate. Its these comments and his mono toned voice that made me not interested in what he was saying. Some points he would just keep rambling on and it made me fall asleep, but then again when don't I fall asleep? (haha) Even though most of the tour was boring the one part I found interesting was the wheel in the picture above. It amazed me how big it was especially during this time period. Being in the building was awful because it was musty, which irritated my allergies and it was so hot. I think it is because of the heat and the comments that caused everyone to be miserable. It takes one thing to ruin your whole day and you can tell some people were not as cheerful as they usually are. I am hoping tomorrow will be better.

Site in Troy

After we went to the Iron Works site, we went on a little hike in a place in Troy. I chose to take the easy way because I didn't want Precious to walk alone and the hill the rest of the group walked down was really steep. I have weaker ankles because I was a distance runner in track so I didn't want to chance hurting my ankle. After this we went back to Prospect Park! It was really nice because we ate lunch by a tree in the shade and it was really nice to have a girls day. Also we played on the swings and played in the fountain they had there. It was nice because it was so hot out and I really enjoy the heat. As we were leaving the park Andor did not realize his lunch was on the top of his car while he was leaving. It soon fell and Toby got out and picked it up. When Andor met at the van he asked "Who was the idiot who left the lunch on the ground?" He was so shocked to find out it was him. When Michelle checked her phone in the van it was 87 degrees Fahrenheit!

Where the Shakers Would Meet for Religion 

For the last part of the day we went to a historical site where the Shakers lived and practiced their religion. I did not hear about the Shakers until today. To me it would be so weird to live in a society where men and women are separated. They are not even allowed to marry. This would be hard for me because a lot of my best friends are guys and I always dream of my wedding day. The picture above shows where the shakers would assemble for their religious meetings. I really liked how big the room was. We were able to see the outsides of other buildings but sadly we were not allowed to go inside of them. After this we were asked if we wanted to see the cemetery but everyone was just so tired and did not feel as adventurous. I think having the bad tour in the morning and being on our feet in the heat all day just made us all miserable. I am surprised we haven't killed each other yet.

Day 11- 6/2/14 A Day in Albany

City Hall Albany

Today we spent some time in Albany. We went on a walk around town to look at old buildings admiring their architecture. After that we were able to go in and tour the capitol building. This first picture above is of city hall. I personally do not like this style building, to me it looks a little creepy but I think that's because it is a dark rusty color. City hall was built in 1883 in a Romanesque style, the building having lots of patterns and a clock tower with bells. This style has a lot of arches, it's a rustic style with fine carvings and it symbolizes stability.

Court of Appeals

The next building we saw on our walk that really stood out to me was the Court of Appeals building. I am a person who loves light and brightness and because the building was white it reflects light making it look really pretty. I also really like columns so  I personally think it makes a building look eloquent. This building was built in 1842 and is made out of marble, it represents honesty and justice. It is a neoclassical type of architecture. There are many buildings that are similar to this one such as the Bush memorial located on Russell Sage campus, the White House and many memorials in the nations capitol.

IBM Building Albany

The last building I want to mention from our architecture walk is the IBM building. This building interested me because it shows how budgets have changed over time and how many businesses cannot afford to build the beautiful buildings they once did. This building is unique because it reflects other buildings around the area. The building isn't as intricate as the rest, it's very simple in design. It really does not fit in with the beautiful buildings around it. Precious mentioned how the building looked very fragile, which I totally agree with.

Old Stone Road

Michael was explaining how at one point Albany had very narrow streets made of stone. I wish I could have seen how the streets looked during that time, cobblestone arrangements are pretty to see. It's amazing to see how much can change in time. Now Albany is made up of huge highways and hectic streets.

Empire Plaza

Million Dollar Staircase

Engravings on the Million Dollar Staircase

Turtle Engraved on the Assembly Staircase

After our walk, we could not wait to get into the capitol building to cool off. It was so hot and being on the pavement walking around we could not get away from the heat. The building is shown above in the picture of the Empire Plaza. This building looked like a castle in my opinion and it looked a lot taller than it actually is, the steep staircase in the front adding to it's height. There are many arches like the city hall building and it had a French influence while it was being built. The ceiling is made up of terracotta and slate which is really heavy. It took over 30 years to complete this building and later on the tour we found out it's not actually complete yet. There are spots in different rooms where the engravings are not complete, they were fired because so much money was already spent building the capitol building and it wasn't complete yet. It took over 25 million dollars to build the capitol and in today's economy it would cost over half a billion . The tour was very interesting, and my favorite part was being able to see the stair cases and the engravings on them. The first stair case we saw was the Assembly Staircase. This was really pretty and I saw an engraving of a turtle on it. Naturally I would take a picture of this because I am a turtle lover. The next stair case I saw that I absolutely loved is called the million dollar staircase. Do not let the name fool you because it actually cost a lot more than a million dollars to build. There are so many beautiful engravings you can see on the stair case. Walking along it I kept feeling how well it was built because the staircase felt so soft, the sand stone adding to the quality. This was really cool to see. I was really happy to see what the capitol building looks like on the inside after passing it many times riding the bus and driving in the car.

Day 10- 6/1/14 Bannerman Island Tour

A view of the Castle Coming up to the Island

Today we woke up bright and early to be at the van by 8:21. Yes the professors interrupted our Sunday, but on the bright side at least we can sleep in tomorrow. To get to the Island, we traveled by boat. It seemed like it was taking forever and it was a perfect time for me to take another quick nap. When we were approaching the island you can see the beautiful castle that we later learned on the tour was a warehouse filled with lots of ammunition and products such as wagon wheels. Our tour guide told us how Frank Bannerman was from Brooklyn. He had a very successful ammunition business. At the time Brooklyn wanted to become part of New York City but they were afraid of Bannerman's ammunition exploding and ruining the town. So this is when Bannerman found this island and bought it. He built this wear house to store his products. Ironically, there was a huge warehouse explosion two years after Frank Bannerman passed away. At this time the family was not spending much time on the Island because they were grieving over their loss. This explosion destroyed one building and blew out the windows. With the windows blown out this allowed for the decomposition of the building to begin. Another tragic event that occurred to this castle was in 1969 when a fire started. With both of these events, people are not sure what caused the fire or the explosion. Looking at the picture above you can notice metal polls coming from the building. These were put up to stabilize the castle because in 2010 the island lost half of the building because of it decomposing and collapsing. If the Island lost the rest of the castle that would most likely cause the tours to stop. This building is so beautiful it would be so tragic to see it fall.

Home of the Bannermen Family

This home was built originally as one floor building. As time progressed, Bannerman drew a picture of what he wanted the second floor of the building to look like and his servants and workers built it just like that picture. Bannerman would frequently draw pictures and want his servants and workers to build exactly what they see. If they did not build it as well as the picture, he would tell his workers to tear it down and start again. If I was one of his workers I would be very frustrated with his requests because I can not imagine how hard it was to build the buildings and benches exactly how he liked them.

Part of Mrs. Bannerman's Garden

One part of the tour that I really enjoyed was the Gardens. I am a big flower fan and every year I have my own flower garden. This is a tradition I started with my grandmother and still continue it every year in her memory. I thought the gardens were really pretty and I loved the different color flowers.