OHA Museum Unveils New Book!

Onondaga Historical Association

Museum & Research Center

321 Montgomery St.

Syracuse, NY 13202

For More Information Contact:

Dennis J. Connors

Curator of History

(315) 428-1864, ext. 310

djcoha@juno.com

OHA Museum Unveils New Book

Crossroads In Time: An Illustrated History of Syracuse!

Syracuse, NY - Crossroads in Time: An Illustrated History of Syracuse is the most ambitious publication in Onondaga Historical Association’s 145-year history! This 208-page, large-format, hardcover book features over 225 images, many in color. Most images are drawn from OHA’s collections and several have never been published before. This publication presents the engaging story of Syracuse’s expansion and development over the past 200 years. Beyond its chronological narrative, the book is filled with sidebars detailing unique locations, characters and events, that collectively give Syracuse its distinctive identity.

Crossroads in Time: An Illustrated History of Syracuse is the long-needed general history of Syracuse that will appeal to residents and visitors alike! It also provides an invaluable resource for local social studies teachers and librarians looking for engaging content for New York State and American history. The book provides a local history context that area students can utilize and better appreciate.

This handsome book is authored by Dennis J. Connors, Curator of History at the Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center. A Syracuse resident, Dennis has worked professionally with local historical agencies for over 30 years.

Crossroads in Time: An Illustrated History of Syracuse is published by the Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center, and produced in cooperation with Syracuse University Press, along with the generous financial support of several corporate and institutional sponsors. OHA is a private, non-profit local history organization in downtown Syracuse. The museum features eight exhibit galleries focusing on the history of Syracuse and Onondaga County.

OHA will unveil Crossroads in Time: An Illustrated History of Syracuse at a public reception and book signing at the museum, 321 Montgomery St., Syracuse, NY 13202 from 5-7PM on Tuesday, 12 September 2006. The price of the book is $49.95; $42.45 for members. Anyone purchasing a book has an opportunity to meet the author and get his or her books signed that day. OHA’s Museum Gift Shop will continue to be the exclusive outlet for the book until later this fall. In addition to visiting the museum, phone orders may be placed by calling (315) 428-1864, extension 321, or by visiting OHA’s website at www.cnyhistory.org.

Testimonial to Excellent Programs offered by OHAM&RC!

Here’s a testimonial that was received after Dennis Connors’ Creekwalk Crawl on Sunday:

Dennis: thank you for a truly excellent Creek Walk(ing tour) of that six blocks of history. You obviously did a tremendous amount of research to come up with all the interesting historical notes, pictures, and facts cultural, business, industrial, personal, educational, and transportation (did I leave anything out?) of our historic downtown area. It was well-planned and executed, informative, and really interesting. It would be fascinating to do it again ten years (perhaps that is too long, and five years would be preferable, though not likely, I suppose) from now.

Anyhow, again our thanks for a wonderful two hours.

Sincerely, Lida and Peter B.

A Creekwalk Crawl: The Unexplored History of Downtown Syracuse’s Forgotten Waterway

Walking Tour

A Creekwalk Crawl: The Unexplored History

of Downtown Syracuse’s Forgotten Waterway

Join OHA curator of history Dennis Connors at 10 a.m. on Sunday, August 20, 2006 for the Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center’s first walking tour along the downtown portion of Onondaga Creek.

For 200 years, downtown Syracuse has sat astride a waterway that most residents would have a hard time finding today. Yet it has long been a factor in shaping our local history. Many industries were once located along its banks and it still is spanned by three historic, 19^th century stone bridges.

Onondaga Creek is about to become more accessible with the construction of an addition to the Creekwalk pathway that will run from Armory Square to Franklin Square. Get a sneak preview of the Creeks heritage on a guided walk with the OHA.

Tour participants will walk along street level, but with many opportunities to see the creek at various points. They will learn about the various industries that bordered the creek, including where one of the very first water mills was located that helped create the settlement that would eventually grow into Syracuse.

Walkers will also discover the amazing survival of three historic masonry structures that still bridge Onondaga Creek in the very heart of downtown. One carried a turnpike over the waterway, a second was constructed for a railroad and the third is a 168-year old culvert or aqueduct that allowed the Erie Canal to cross the stream. This last structure is not visible from any public right-of-way but special arrangements have been made for this tour to view it from private property.

The tour departs from the front of the OnTrack Station in Armory Square, but pre-registration is required. Reservations can be made by calling the OHA Museum at 428-1864. Admission is $12, $10 for OHA members.

Missing Masterpieces!

By Michelle Stone

While you are enjoying the current “Enriching History Through Art” exhibit at the Onondaga Historical Association Museum, please keep in mind that some “missing masterpieces” of historical Onondaga County art are still at large. Could they be in your own home, attic, garage, church, clubhouse closet, or storage space?

Michael Andersag was once a well-known artist and painter in Syracuse. A native of Austria born in 1799, he showed great natural artistic talent at an early age. Helped by others who recognized his gift, he studied art and painting in Graz, Vienna, and Rome. He had many commissions for paintings (altarpieces, frescos, portraits) in the areas of the North and South Tyrol and Bavaria until 1852, when he emigrated to the United States.

By 1853 he was living in Onondaga County, where he filed the paperwork to become a U.S. citizen. Subsequently he had an art studio on the third floor of the Everson Block (1857), and in 1862 had both his home and studio at 207 North Salina Street. In Europe he had mostly painted religious pieces, landscapes, and portraits. In Syracuse he continued the trend, completing a portrait of fellow Syracusan John Thurwachter wearing the uniform of the 51st Regiment of the New York State Militia (1859).

When the Civil War broke out and Onondaga County was recruiting men to fight for the Union, Michael Andersag volunteered, enlisting as a private in Company B of the 149th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment—despite being 62 years old at the time! He managed to keep pace with his regiment as they fought their way south, lending his artistic talents to whatever was needed, including adding gold lettering to captured Rebel battle flags. He made the ultimate sacrifice for his adopted country, however, when he was killed in battle near Resaca, Georgia on 15 May 1864.

His studio paintings, which he had left behind in Syracuse, were mentioned in his will—he had directed that if he died in battle, they should be sold to provide money for Onondaga war widows and orphans. But to this day, these paintings have not been found. Who were they sold to, and where did they go? Who knows what portraits of his may yet surface, portraits of Onondaga’s prominent citizens of the 1850s and 1860s?

Could you have a clue as to the whereabouts of one or more of Michael Andersag’s lost paintings? To learn more about his story and to see a selection of his known paintings, see “The Andersag Monument” webpage

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mstone/andersagmon.html

at Michelle Stone’s “German Immigrant Ancestors in Syracuse and Onondaga County” website:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mstone/index.html

Enriching History Through Art Exhibit: Captain Philip Eckel

Here’s another fine example of what you will find when you visit the Enriching History Through Art temporary exhibition at the OHAM&RC:
In the second half of the 19^th century, “crayon portraits” were made by deliberately underexposing a photograph and drawing on top of it. What does this say about people’s attitudes toward photography at that time? Do you consider either a painted or photographic portrait superior?

Chief Philip Eckel
Charcoal on Paper
Unknown Artist
Unknown Date

Philip Eckel was born in Germany on August 11, 1827. Eckel came to Syracuse in 1841 and became a fireman in 1848 with the position of assistant foreman–a position that he held until 1854, when he became a member of the Syracuse police force. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted as first lieutenant in Company B, 149th New York Volunteer Infantry regiment. Eckel was badly wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863 and was discharged from military service.

In 1863, Eckel was elected as Chief Engineer of the fire department and served until he was superseded in 1877 by a full-time, paid fire department and replaced by Chief Wood. At this time he took on the position of assistant chief. Three years later, however, he was re-elected as chief when Wood resigned and remained so until his death in 1886.

On 1 June 1886, Eckel sat on the side of Central City Hook and Ladder No. 1 as it responded to a fire on East Washington St. As the horse-drawn fire engine approached the New York Central railroad tracks, the driver noticed a freight train approaching on the track. The engine driver lashed the horses into a full gallop to clear the railroad tracks. The fire engine hit the tracks and Eckel either jumped or was thrown from the vehicle that ran over him. Eckel was still conscious and bystanders carried him into a nearby barbershop and summoned a doctor. From there, Eckel was transported by ambulance to his home where he later died from his injuries. A few days later Eckel’s body was laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery. Thousands of mourners lined the route the funeral procession took to the cemetery. Over 1,000 firemen comprised the cortege. The Board of Fire Commissioners adopted a set of resolutions honoring the late Chief Engineer Philip Eckel. A statue commemorating Eckel’s life and career stands in Fayette Firefighters Memorial Park between E. Fayette and E. Genesee Sts.

Enriching History Through Art Exhibit: Ursula Ann Elliott Fitch

 

This is a sample of what you will find when you visit the temporary exhibition at the OHAM&RC Enriching History Through Art.

In the 19^th century, many Americans revered the great democracies of the past. Portrait painters might even show political figures wearing Roman togas. Here the classical column and urn are used to associate this young woman with the great civilizations of past. Is there anything else in this portrait that might allude to the spirit of the young American democracy?

Ursula Ann Elliott Fitch
Oil on Canvas
Charles Loring Elliott
1840

Ursula Elliott Fitch, who was the sister of Charles Loring Elliott, was born in 1818 and died in 1907. She was educated at seminaries in Owasco and Geneva before marrying Syracuse merchant Thomas B. Fitch in 1834.

Ursula Fitch was the founder and director of the Syracuse Home Association in 1853.

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