Talks
Jane is available to speak at your group’s meeting or conference in person or via the internet. Contact her or call her at 845-430-9582 to make arrangements.
The following topics can be customized to meet your group’s needs:
Up the North River: An Overview of Pre-1800 Hudson Valley Ethnic Groups and Religions.
The Hudson (North) River valley was an ethnic and religious melting pot long before the late nineteenth century immigrant influx. Find out who was in New York in the beginning. (General interest topic)
Finding American Women’s Voices through the Centuries: Letters, Journals, Newspapers, and Court Records.
Women from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries are challenging to uncover, but we may hear their voices in the documents that recorded their lives. (Beginner and general interest topic)
A Tale of Woe: An Eighteenth Century Woman’s Story Using Primary and Secondary Sources.
Placing someone in historical context can be done for anyone. See how 1714 unwed mother Margaret Wilcockson’s story unfolds with original documents and secondary sources. (Topic under development, general interest and intermediate audience)
Early Nineteenth Century New York City Research: Using Available Records to Identify Ancestors.
Using census, vital and church records, city directories, OCR, and maps, find out how to identify New York City ancestors between 1800 and 1850. (Topic under development, intermediate audience)
A Soldier’s World War II Story
Using letters from the front, local newspapers from home, audio interviews, NARA regimental histories and more, learn how you can reconstruct your soldier’s war-time experience and hear the story of one tank driver from Long Island. (Topic under development, general interest and beginner-intermediate audience)
Praise for Jane
“Jane gave a talk called ‘Up the North River: An Overview of Pre-1800 Ethnic Groups and Religions in the Hudson Valley.’ The audience was captivated by the presentation on who preceded us to the Hudson Valley, the variety of religions that held sway here, and the number of nations that were represented far earlier than any of us thought. Jane kept the informative talk lively and patiently answered many, many questions. Programs like this keep people coming back for more history. Thank you, Jane.”
~Vivian Yess Wadlin, Town of Lloyd Historical Preservation Society, Highland, New York
