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A Walk in the Park
by Erin Doane, CuratorIt takes less than ten minutes to take a leisurely stroll from one end of the Mark Twain Riverfront Park in Elmira to the other, but there is a lot of history in the six-acre...
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Easy as Pie
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorThis spring, I’ve shared artifacts, documents and stories from our museum with more than 1,500 students. They’re developing a better understanding of what’s inside a...
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Take Pride: Charles Tomlinson Griffes
By Rachel Dworkin, ArchivistJune is national LGBTQ Pride Month. For those who aren’t familiar with the acronym, the L stands for lesbian (women attracted to women), the G for gay (men attracted to...
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Steaming Up the Chemung
by Erin Doane, CuratorIn the 1890s, a steam-powered sternwheeler named Bertha Taylor would cruise up and down the Chemung River ferrying passengers from a small dock at the foot of Columbia Street in...
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A Puzzling Response
by Susan Zehnder, Director of EducationRecently, I presented the topic of immigration to second graders, and asked “who is an immigrant?” Ever since, I’ve been thinking about one response I heard....
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America’s Wildest Goose Chase: The Hunt for Pancho Villa
By Rachel Dworkin, archivistWhile the rest of the world was slugging it out in Europe, the United States invaded Mexico in the spring of 1916. You know, like you do. At the time, Mexico was embroiled...
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That Time the Town of Baldwin Almost Dissolved
by Erin Doane, CuratorAs I was researching the Town of Baldwin for its upcoming exhibit (on display August 1, 2019-January 31, 2020), the town historian showed me an article written in 1959 about how...
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To the Moon
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorFifty years ago, an invention by a man in Horseheads, New York, helped us see our world in a new way. That summer on the evening of July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil...
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Skunk Hill Ranch Road
by Andrea RenshawAndrea is a new Education Volunteer at the Chemung Valley History Museum, coming to us with a history degree from Troy University, and experience in education. She has lived in Chemung...
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The Summer Stage at Rorick’s Glen
By Rachel Dworkin, archivistIn 1900, the newly consolidated Elmira Water, Light & Railroad Company got the brilliant idea to drum up ridership by opening an amusement park at the end of their Water...
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Superman at the County Fair
by Erin Doane, Curator“Look! Up in the sky!” “It’s a bird!” “It’s a plane!” “No, it’s Superman!”That’s what people were saying in Horseheads when tv’s Superman, George Reeves, made an appearance at the...
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Bank or Canal?
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorThis summer, groups of local students visited the Chemung Valley History Museum. They looked for museum artifacts and documents on a scavenger hunt; heard the true...
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The 1619 Project
by Rachel Dworkin, archivistIn August 1619, a ship carrying more than 20 enslaved Africans arrived at Point Comfort, Virginia. It would be the first of many to arrive in what would become the United...
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The Kanaweola Bicycle Club
by Erin Doane, CuratorIn the 1890s, the bicycle craze swept the nation. There were some 9,000 bicycles in Elmira alone in 1898. With a population of around 35,000, that was roughly one bicycle for...
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When the Nazi flag flew over Harris Hill
By Andrea Rozengota, education volunteerIt was the summer of 1938, during the two-week annual National Soaring Competition, when a Nazi flag was seen flying over one of Chemung county’s Harris Hill...
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How Does Your Garden Grow?
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorLast year Southside Community Center planted a community garden. They grew and harvested strawberries and cabbage.Strawberry harvest from Southside Community...
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Tell Me a Story
By Rachel Dworkin, ArchivistWe tend to think of history as being paper-based, but some of the most interesting stories never make it onto the page. Newspaper accounts can’t tell us what it felt like to...
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Who works at a museum?
by Malachi Doane, museum helperAll buildings have a certain amount of internal infrastructure. Electrical, Plumbing, and Air Conditioning are all present in our homes businesses and at the museum as...
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This Photo of a Dirigible Over Elmira is Fake!
by Erin Doane, Curator“The Pageant of Decision” was a massive theatrical production that celebrated the Sesquicentennial of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign. On September 28, 1929, 2,000 local...
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Ghost Stories
by Susan Zehnder, Education DirectorFor the past thirteen years, the Chemung County Historical Society has joined forces with the talented Elmira Little Theatre and Friends of Woodlawn Cemetery to...
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