HISTORY’S ANNIVERSERIES (25) Brookside Museum, 21 Fairground Ave, Ballston Spa, NY

Tuesdays, 1:30-3pm, October 7, 14 ,21, 28, November 4, 11

2025 offers an unusual number of anniversaries of important historical events in our nation. This course will illustrate how anniversaries provide opportunities to help us remember and preserve our 250-year history for current and future generations. Several historians will bring these national events to life by focusing on stories and people from our local communities.

Oct 7 - Chris Carola, former AP reporter and local historian – “1945: the Dramatic Conclusion of World War II” Monumental events marked the end of the war 80 years ago – the deaths of Mussolini and Hitler, the atomic bomb and the involvement of a local soldier in the capture of the former Japanese Prime Minister.

Oct 14 - John Scherer, Clifton Park Town Historian – “1825: Low Bridge: The Erie Canal in Saratoga County” This presentation will take class members on a tour of the Erie Canal from Rexford to Visher Ferry and beyond, meeting people who worked and lived there during the heyday of the canal era.

Oct 21 - Sean Kelleher, Saratoga Town Historian – “America’s Fighting Frenchman: The Marquis de Lafayette’s Quest for Liberty” explores Lafayette and his return to America and Saratoga 200 years ago, tracing how his farewell tour rekindled Revolutionary War memories and reinforced the enduring transatlantic ideals of freedom and friendship.

Oct 28 - Russ Van Dervoort, Waterford Town Historian – “The Shepard Family at Work and War.” The story of a local family whose lives were shaped by work on the Erie Canal and active service in the Civil War as told in letters back home to family in Waterford.

Nov 4 – Lauren Roberts, Saratoga County Historian – “The Noble Train of Artillery @ 250: Henry's Heavy Metal Tour” Saratoga250 is keeping history alive by bringing the inspiring story of Henry Knox’s transport of cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Dorchester Heights in the winter of 1775/76 to a new generation. By engaging community partners from high school students to teamsters, and local businesses, this year's 250th anniversary is sure to be a blast!

Nov 11 - David Brooks, Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site – “Ironhearted: The 115th NYS Volunteer Regiment in the Civil War.” In recognition of Veterans Day, the traumatic experiences of men in this regiment, recruited from Saratoga and neighboring counties, will be recounted from 1862 to their final battles in 1865 that helped end the conflict 160 years ago.

Leader: Jim Richmond