The Great Estates Consortium
presents Below Stairs In Service to the Great Estates
An all day symposium Saturday, April 1, 2006 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Below Stairs In Service to the Great Estates
When Saturday, April 1, 2006 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Where Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site Route 9, Hyde Park, New York Registration fee $50 per person Includes Box Lunch and Wine & Cheese Reception Presented by The Great Estates Consortium Hosted by Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site Sponsored by The Great Estates Consortium With additional funding provided by:
Hudson River Valley Greenway
Stair Galleries & Restoration, Hudson, New York
Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation
Cover: A Wilderstein caretaker, with his family, sitting on the front stairs of their residence on the estate. Circa 1891. Courtesy photograph. ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM
Below Stairs: In Service to the Great Estates, a symposium organized by the Great Estates Consortium in cooperation with the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, will be held on Saturday, April 1, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This conference will focus on the "downstairs" side of life on a Hudson Valley estate and bring to life those people who worked behind the scenes to support the activities of the country house. Symposium attendees may also participate in an optional tour of Springwood, the home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The tour will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will depart from the multipurpose room of the Henry A. Wallace Center.
Dr. Robin D. Campbell, Supervising Curator for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, will open the symposium with a general examination of service entitled, "Life in the Shadows." Professor Myra Young Armstead of Bard College will follow with an examination of the free and enslaved African-Americans who toiled in service to the valley's great estates prior to the mid-19th century. Dr. Armstead's presentation will be based on case studies of black workers at Mt. Gulian and in Saratoga Springs.
Following lunch, Dr. Margaret Lynch-Brennan will examine Irish immigrant women and their lives as domestic servants. The topic is the subject of her Doctoral dissertation. Frank Futral, Curator of Decorative Arts at the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites will continue the afternoon's presentations with an in depth look at how the architects of Vanderbilt Mansion incorporated domestic spaces into the overall plan to facilitate the management of the household and the work of the service staff.
After a brief break J. Winthrop Aldrich, Advisor to the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, will conclude the symposium with a fond look back at the individuals who lived and worked at Rokeby, his Hudson Valley ancestral home. A wine and cheese reception will follow the final presentation.
The symposium will take place in the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center. Space is limited, and meals and refreshments are included in the conference fee, so pre-registration if strongly recommended. For additional information please call (845) 889-8851.
Below Stairs: In Service to the Great Estates is made possible through the generous support of the Hudson Valley Greenway and Stair Galleries and Restoration of Hudson, New York. Additional funding has been provided by Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation. The Great Estates Consortium is an alliance of the following museum properties in Dutchess, Columbia and Greene Counties: Olana State Historic Site, Thomas Cole's Cedar Grove, Clermont State Historic Site, Montgomery Place, Wilderstein Preservation, Staatsburgh State Historic Site, Vanderbilt National Historic Site, Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill National Historic Site and Samuel F. B. Morse's Locust Grove. AGENDA
Saturday, April 1 8:30 - 9:30 am Optional tour of Springwood, Home of FDR National Historic Site
9:30 - 10:00 am Registration and coffee 10:00 - 10:15 am Welcome Remarks Cynthia Koch, Director, FDR Presidential Library Sarah Olson, Superintendent, NPS, Home of FDR 10:15 - 11:00 am Life in the Shadows Robin Campbell, Supervising Curator NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation
11:00 - 11:15 am Coffee Break 11:15 - Noon African-Americans in Service on the Great Estates Myra Young Armstead, Ph.D., Professor Of History Bard College
Noon - 1:00 pm Lunch 1:00 - 1:45 pm The Servant’s Slant: Irish Immigrant Women, Domestic Servants and Historic House Museums Margaret Lynch-Brennan, Ph.D. NY State Education Department
1:45 - 2:30 pm Keeping House, Vanderbilt Style: The Domestic Management of a Gilded Age Mansion Frank Futral, Curator of Decorative Arts Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites
2:30 - 2:45 pm Break 2:45 - 3:30 pm The Big House and The Place: Remembering Those Who Made Them Work J. Winthrop Aldrich Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
3:30 pm Wine & Cheese Reception
Conference attendees will receive free admission to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum throughout the day, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. REGISTRATION FORM
Name ______Address ______City ______State ______Zip ______Telephone ______Email______
The registration fee is $50 per person. This includes coffee and tea in the morning, a box lunch at the Wallace Center and a wine & cheese reception after the conference. Checks should be made out to Friends of Mills Mansion.
Please charge $______to my Mastercard Visa
Card #______Expiration Date______
Name (as printed on card)______
Signature ______
Mail payment with this form to:
Country House Symposium c/o Friends of Mills Mansion Staatsburgh State Historic Site P. O. Box 416 Staatsburg, NY 12580
For Additional Information call (845) 889-8851. Staatsburgh Olana Locust Grove
FDR Presidential Library Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Wilderstein Cedar Grove Val-Kill
Clermont Montgomery Place Vanderbilt Mansion THE GREAT ESTATES
Located in the heart of the historic Hudson River Valley, these magnificent properties offer great art, architecture, gardens, landscapes, hiking trails, special events, astonishing views, house tours, picnicking, museum shops, and more.
Staatsburgh State Historic Site Staatsburg, New York (845) 889-8851 www.staatsburgh.org
Olana State Historic Site Hudson, New York (518) 828–0135 www.olana.org
Locust Grove Poughkeepsie, New York (845) 454-4500 www.morsehistoricsite.org
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum Hyde Park, New York (800) FDR-VISIT www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site Hyde Park, New York (845) 229-9115 www.nps.gov/hofr
Wilderstein Rhinebeck, New York (845) 876-4818 www.wilderstein.org
Cedar Grove Catskill, New York (518) 943-7465 www.thomascole.org
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site (Val-Kill) Hyde Park, New York (845) 229-9115 www.nps.gov/elro
Clermont State Historic Site Germantown, New York (518) 537-4240 www.friendsofclermont.org
Montgomery Place Annandale-on-Hudson, New York (914) 631-8200 http://www.hudsonvalley.org/web/mont-main.html
Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site Hyde Park, New York (845) 229-9115 www.nps.gov/vama The Great Estates Consortium c/o Friends of Mills Mansion P.O. Box 416 Staatsburg, NY 12580
Below Stairs In Service to the Great Estates
April 1, 2006
Presented by the Great Estates Consortium