COOPERTOWN – As this election cycle ends, it has become clearer that the fight for the right to vote did not end with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Claims of fraud, polling place closures and gerrymandering are rampant. Access to voting continues to depend on who we are, how we look and where we live. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in Shelby County v Holder that it was no longer necessary for states and local governments with a history of voter suppression to submit changes in their election laws for review; other outstanding Supreme Court cases threaten to erode voting rights even further. While New York itself has recently passed laws to protect the right to vote, de facto barriers, growing political animosity, and a feeling that one’s vote will not count continue to threaten voting in the state, clearly evidenced by the drop in voter turnout in this recent election cycle.
DRIVING WHILE BLACK – 7 – 9 p.m. Distinguished professor Gretchin Sorin presents on her seminal work ‘Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights’ about how the car gave some escape from the Jim Crow Laws. She will also be showing clips from the Emmy winning documentary based on her work. Free, open to the public. Lee Hall Great Room, SUNY Oneonta. Visit oneontanaacp.com
Stoddard Hollow String Band will be performing at the upcoming Hanford Mills Exploration Days on September 24, from Noon – 3 p.m.
The 2022 exploration days at Hanford Mills are designed to give visitors a chance to explore the mill and experience a variety of engaging activities and programs.
“Our Exploration Day, Metal at the Mill, will focus on the sustainable use of metals and a variety of other materials,” Kajsa Harley, Executive Director said. “Thanks to a generous sponsorship by NCYM Insurance, admission to this Exploration Day will be free.”
SUNY Delhi’s Sustainability Program and Green Team will have representatives on site, displaying a solar-powered battery system and giving visitors the opportunity to learn more about SUNY Delhi’s bachelor of science sustainability program and why sustainability matters.
The Cooperstown Graduate Program last week hosted popular Travel Channel host Don Wildman to kick off its new leadership role in New York’s National History Day competition.
“I went after it!” said Cooperstown Graduate Program (CGP) Director Gretchen Sorin. “The New York State Historical Association sponsored the History Day for many years. Everyone in the state wanted it in their backyard, but I think it’s important that the event stay in Central New York.”
National History Day is the culmination of a year-long series of history programs for middle- and high-school students; New York hosts regional contests throughout the year with winners competing in the year-end event, launched virtually this year from the State University of New York at Oneonta in Spring 2022.
For Cooperstown’s Gretchen Sorin, the only thing that might top the success she has had in the past two years is seeing one of her children share in and build off of that success.
Sorin, the director of the Cooperstown Graduate Program, author of the best seller, “Driving While Black, African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights,” and co-director of the PBS documentary based on the book, has had an amazing couple of years.
Bassett Healthcare to partner with museum studies program for inclusive artwork
STAFF REPORT • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
SUNY Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program, which focuses on museum studies, has partnered with Bassett Healthcare to create inclusive artwork which represents greater diversity for patient spaces.
Professor Cynthia Falk’s “Gender-Taste-Space” class selected art which depicts different racial, gender, ethnic and religious persuasions.
The Gender Wellness Center team selected pieces to be purchased for display.
“The principles of diversity, equity and inclusion are essential to good health care,” Dr. Carolyn Wolf-Gould, of the Gender Wellness Center, said in a press release. “Now we have images on our walls that reflect racial and ethnic diversity. If you’re a person of color, or if you use a wheelchair, or if you’re in the LGBTQ community, you’re going to see images that celebrate these groups of people. This artwork is one way to express our aspiration to be inclusive and to make everyone feel welcome.”
The Gender Wellness Center provides support for transgender specific issues such as mental health, education, legal advocacy, surgical procedures and other services.
TROLLEY TOUR – 1:30 – 3 p.m. Explore the architecture of Oneonta from it’s earliest days of European settlement to the exponential expansion of the Victorian era and the Railroad. Led by Dr. Cindy Falk, Cooperstown Graduate Program and professor of Material Culture at SUNY Oneonta. Registration required. Cost, $10/person. Proof of Covid-19 vaccination required. Presented by Otsego 2000. Pick-up and Drop-off at Riverside Elementary School parking log, 39 House, St., Oneonta. 607-547-8881 or visit www.facebook.com/otsego2000/
Star Alix Wilton Regan in a particularly horrifying moment in “A Nightmare Wakes,” filmed at Hyde Hall.
A Shudder original, “A Nightmare Wakes,” premieres Feb. 4 on the horror-thriller-supernatural streaming platform.
The short was filmed at the Hyde Hall National Landmark on Otsego Lake by Wild Obscura, a “by/for/about women” producer.
Directed and written by Nora Unkel, the 90-minute film follows author Mary Shelley “as she creates her masterpiece (Frankenstein), she gives birth to a monster,” the IMDb page reads.
Shudder describes itself as “a subscription service for the horror, thriller and suspense genres.”
Alix Wilton Regan stars in the film as Shelley alongside Giullian Yao Gioiello, Philippe Bowgen and a host of Cooperstown talent.
COOPERSTOWN REFLECTS – 7 p.m. Library Anti-Racism series continues with “Cooperstown Reflects on Racism in Arts and Monuments.” Panel includes Eva Fognell, Thaw Collection of Native American Art, Fenimore Museum; Tom Heitz/Sharon Stuart, Otsego town co-historian; CGP Director Gretchen Sorin, and Glimmerglass Festival Art & General Director Francesca Zambello. Free, registration required. Presented by Friends of the Village Library of Cooperstown. 607-547-8344 or visit www.eventbrite.com/o/friends-of-the-village-library-23034666815
CELEBRATION – 1 p.m. Celebrate Dia De Los Muertos on Zoom with Coop Graduate Program. Features storytime & craft activity. Pick up materials at the Library during 11/5 & 11/6 (3-5 p.m.). During the week public is invited to place a copy of a photograph of a deceased loved one on the ofrenda (altar) to celebrate & honor loved ones who are no longer with us. Cooperstown Village Library. Visit diademuertoscgp.wordpress.com
Lonnie Bunch III, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, spoke to Cooperstown Graduate Program students on “A Vision for Museums” via Zoom this morning.
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – One afternoon, while walking through the Smithsonian’s exhibit of Emmett Till’s glass-topped casket, Secretary Lonnie Bunch III saw a young African-American woman sitting on a bench, sobbing.
“I was about to go over to her, but a white man approached her and said, ‘I’m crying too. Can we cry together?’ And they hugged. That’s what museums can do. Museums can help us come together, share our pain and take sustenance.”
Bunch, the first the first African American and first historian to serve as head of the Smithsonian, gave a Zoom presentation on “A Vision for Museums” to the Cooperstown Graduate Program this morning.
COOPERSTOWN REFLECTS – 7 p.m. Join panel on Zoom to for ‘Cooperstown Reflects on Racism: History, Demographics, and Current Issues’ discussion with representatives from Oneonta NAACP, Cooperstown Graduate Program, Say Their Names exhibit, & Opportunities for Otsego. Presented by Cooperstown Village Library. Visit fovl.eventbrite.com to register.
COVID-19 TESTING – 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Otsego County residents are invited for free rapid testing for Covid-19. Find out quick, help stop the spread. Pre-registration required. Foothills Performing Arts Center, 22 Market St., Oneonta. 607-547-4279.
Gretchen Sorin, director of the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies, reads from her newly published book “Driving While Black” at a reading at Roots Brewing Co. this evening. After an introduction from Jim Havener, owner fo the Green Toad bookstore, Sorin read from the prologue and the epilogue before taking questions from the audience. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
The Cooperstown Graduate program hosted a Dia de los Muertos event at the Cooperstown Library this afternoon celebrating Dia de los Muertos, The Day of the Dead. Children and their families would come and enjoy tamales, cookies, crafts, storytelling and more. Above, Cooperstown Graduate student Kirbie Sondreal helps Ciara Kaltenbach, Cooperstown make decorative paper marigolds which serve as a guide for spirits returning to the land of the living. At right, first year Cooperstown Graduate Program student Mary Horbiki and CGP graduate Viri Choy, Oneonta, teach children in Spanish and English about the tradition of leaving offerings for the dead on an alter decorated with flowers, food and images of loved ones who have passed on. The offerings are meant to attract the spirits to the alter so their memory can be kept alive. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
DAY OF THE DEAD – 10 a.m. – Noon. Experience Dia De Muertos and the Latinx community by telling stories in Spanish & English, participating in family activities, enjoy traditional food, more. Cooperstown Village Library. 607-547-8344 or visit www.facebook.com/VillageLibraryOfCooperstown/
