Johnson Hall State Historic Site will host a 5-part lecture series during the 2013 season to mark the 250th anniversary of the construction of the historic Johnson home.
On the first Saturday of each month, lectures that focus on the period surrounding the 1763 building of the home will be held in the first floor hall of the Johnson Hall, beginning at 11am. Refreshments will be available following each lecture in the Stonehouse. Regular public tours will be available after 1:00pm on these days.
On Saturday, June 1st, Ron Burch will present “In the English Manner: Pattern Books and Georgian Building Traditions in the Colonial Mohawk Valley”. Burch will examine the use and influence of architectural theses and books of designs published in England and readily available to American colonials in the 18th century. Men of stature – including Sir William and John Johnson, Nicholas Herkimer and Philip Schuyler – as well as the upwardly mobile middle class, had access to these publications and exhibited substantial “pattern book” influence in their mid-18th century houses.
Burch retired in September 2010 after 27 years as Curator of Art and Architecture at the NYS Museum in Albany. He was also a lecturer in U.S. Architectural History for over 10 years at the University at Albany. He previously served as Registrar at the Farmers’ Museum and Fenimore House in Cooperstown, as well as Director at the Fort Plain Museum. He received Masters degrees in US History from Duke University and in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program.
Saturday’s lecture is a Path Through History Weekend event.
Additional lectures will include:
Saturday, July 6 – “This Day I agreed with Mr. Samuel Fuller: Building Johnson Hall” presented by Walter Wheeler.
Saturday, August 3 – “Archeaology at Johnson Hall” presented by Lois Feister-Huey.
Saturday, September 7 – “Colonial Johnstown, According to the Daybook of Robert Adems, Sir William Johnson’s Bookkeeper” presented by Gayle Ann Livecchia
Saturday, October 5 – “Georgian Opulence – in the Wilderness, above the Hudson, and on the Seacoast” presented by Judy Anderson
For more information on this and other 250th anniversary special events, contact Johnson Hall at (518) 762 – 8712, visit the Site’s Facebook page, or visit www.nysparks.com.