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Hudson Valley Residency

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE: APRIL 16 – 17, 2011

April 16: Saturday

9 - 9:30 a.m. : Registration and Refreshments

9:30 - 9:40 a.m. : Welcoming Remarks/Introduction of Keynote Speaker

9:40 – 10:45 am: Keynote Address: John Cronin
John Cronin is the director and chief executive officer of the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries and co-author of The Riverkeepers with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For 35 years, John Cronin has dedicated his career to environment and innovation. For his accomplishments, Time magazine named him a “Hero for the Planet” and People magazine described him as “equal parts detective, scientist and public advocate.”

11 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. : Concurrent Workshops:

Yawping: Walt Whitman In The Hudson Valley: Steve Lewis
At the risk of sounding a little provincial and maybe more than a little star struck, I was thrilled to discover that America's poet, Walt Whitman, not only spent some time in our neck of the woods, he even wrote about it in his wonderful book Specimen Days. In this workshop we will not only look at ‘Uncle Walt’ as a poet and how he managed to make the cliffs seem more dramatic or the river flow deeper, but the ways in which this "Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, drinking and breeding,/ No sentimentalist, no stander above men and women or apart from them,/ No more modest than immodest…" man captured so well the natural life of this valley in the late 19th Century.

History Of Baseball In The Hudson Valley: Lisa Neilson
In the early 1900s, Kingston, New York was a city that relied on its location along the railway line and the banks of the Hudson River for much of its livelihood; farms, open brickyards, and cement plants served as additional sources of revenue for its inhabitants at that time. In their leisure, though, residents took to the game of baseball, creating a city with a baseball tradition richer than many twice its size. Town leagues, city leagues, and even semi-pro squads ferociously formed in the Hudson Valley hamlet in the early 20th century as the sport exploded in popularity, providing local fans with real live heroes who could be admired up close. Many of these local teams played small town ball on a big town level. This talk will discuss the presence of baseball in this area at that time, demonstrating the solidarity of some of these clubs with the local community and how they brought pride, worth, and character to their neighborhoods. It will also reflect on baseball historian Harold Seymour’s Baseball: The People’s Game, reinforcing Seymour’s notion that the foundation of Major League Baseball begins in our own backyards.

FDR and World War II: Anna Bates
This "hands-on history" study begins at the Hudson Valley Residency with a tour of the FDR Library. Students will focus on exhibits pertinent to Roosevelt and World War II. Students will select a topic pertinent to Roosevelt and World War II, and write a research paper. Students will read Warren F. Kimball's Forged in War: Roosevelt, Churchill and the Second World War, and Joseph Persico's Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage, and other sources pertinent to the topic they choose.


1 – 2 p.m. : Tour of FDR Home – Optional
(ticket valid for two days; complete and send in the registration form before the residency)

12:30 – 2:30 p.m. : Lunch Available

2:30 – 4:30 p.m. : Concurrent Sessions

The Effects Of War In The Hudson Valley: Larry Winters
Author of The Making and Unmaking of a Marine, subtitled One Man’s Struggle for Forgiveness, Larry Winters is a Vietnam Vet, a therapist at Four Winds Hospital and a principle member of Soldier's Heart, a national project addressing the emotional and spiritual needs of veterans, their families and communities. In this workshop participants will address the cost of war on veterans in the Hudson Valley, their families and the society they live in. Larry Winters maintains a regularly updated website on these issues: http://www.makingandunmaking.com/index.html

Writers Of The Hudson Valley: Larry Carr
“Writers of the Hudson Valley” is both a discussion and a hands-on writing workshop that addresses how the Hudson Valley has been and remains one of the country’s most vibrant literary regions in the country. Two texts, Riverine: An Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers and WaterWrites: A Hudson River Anthology, both published by Codhill Press, will be used to illustrate a variety of literary treats in regional memoir, fiction and poetry. The session will also explore writing from one’s own Hudson Valley experiences, creating deep and interesting reflections and narrating past events. Though a series of easy writing exercises, group discussion and mentor lecture, participants will learn how to select subject material, organize it, and write a working draft ready for professional submission for publication. Laurence Carr is on the faculty of the SUNY New Paltz Creative Writing Program and is widely published.

Hudson River School Of Painters: Keiko Sono
This presentation will highlight the major artists of this movement, its historical and social background, and its impact on the course of the art world. These artists’ strong affinity to this region will enrich the experience to those who live, visit, and study in the Hudson Valley.


4:30 p.m. : Optional Visit to Library and Museum

7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. : Evening Event: To Be Announced


April 17: Sunday

9:30 - 10 a.m.: Registration/Refreshments

10 - 11 a.m.: Featured Speaker: Jessica DuLong
Jessica DuLong is a journalist and USCG-licensed chief engineer aboard the NYC fireboat John J. Harvey, ret., the 1931 vessel now operating as a living museum. DuLong and the rest of the crew were recognized in the Congressional Record for valor in aiding FDNY’s rescue efforts in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. DuLong is the author of My River Chronicles, for which she won the 2010 American Society of Journalists and Authors Outstanding Book Award for memoir.

11:15 a.m. – 1 p.m. : Discussion of Readings and Lunch

1 - 3 p.m.: Concurrent Workshops

Art and Architecture in the Hudson Valley: Leontine Temsky
We will be looking at historic homes (including Lyndhurst and Sunnyside) within a social and historical context. We will be examining the stylistic characteristics of American architecture from the Colonial period to the late Victorian period. We will also discuss resources for the study of the arts in the Hudson Valley.

Local Land-Use Battles: The Promise and Reality of Democracy in the Contemporary Hudson Valley: David Porter
We will examine common political obstacles and opportunities for local citizen participation in land-use decision-making in the Hudson Valley. While emphasizing environmental impact review, other critical political, economic and social issues also will be discussed. We will explore particular case-studies drawing from experiences of the workshop leader and students alike. As well, we will compare realities from such examples with models of participatory democracy.

Washington Irving in Time and Place: Sabrina Fuchs Abrams
Washington Irving is one of the legendary writers of the Hudson River valley. His “Sunnyside” home in Tarrytown, New York stands as a living monument (open to public tours) of life in the Hudson River valley in the mid nineteenth-century. We will explore the cultural and historical context surrounding his memorable tales, “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” from The Sketchbook (1819) and discuss the influence of Irving’s tales on our perception of the Hudson River valley today. Please read “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” before attending the session.


3 p.m. : Optional Tour of Val-Kill (Eleanor Roosevelt Retreat; complete and send in the registration form before the residency)

Last tour is at 4 p.m. – 45 minute tour