Upcoming Events

This locally-produced video is based partly on recently-discovered 16 MM film of the years 1938-40 in the communities  of Burnt Hills and Ballston Lake and their school district, BHBL.  That original footage, edited and annotated, is followed by some of the same scenes in the year 2025. A must-see for anyone who loves to see how this community and school life have changed over time.  The video documentary was produced and directed by Ballston Town Historian and retired BHBL teacher Rick Reynolds with videographer and editor Dave Waite from Charlton. Space is limited! Arrive early! Free! This event takes place at the Ballston Community Public Library, 2 Lawmar Lane, Burnt Hills NY

The National Bottle Museum: A Members Tour| March 18 2pm

The National Bottle Museum was created to preserve, research, and exhibit bottles and objects related to bottle making. Visitors can view displays of bottles and glassmaking tools, learn about the local bottle history, and the history of bottle production. With Executive Director Chris Leonard, members of Saratoga County History Center will explore the museum’s diverse collection and view current exhibitions, including Bottles & Baseball, Lost Regional Sodas, and more. Come mingle with fellow members, and learn more about our museum neighbor! This members-only event takes place at the National Bottle Museum, 76 Milton Ave, Ballston Spa.  This event is sold-out.

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Henry Knox: Resolve Forged by Revolution| March 18 6pm

Join us for public screening of the new Saratoga 250 documentary! In the winter of 1775–1776, hope for a free America was nearly frozen by the British occupation of Boston. One patriot—Henry Knox—answered the call, leading a dangerous, expedition through snow, mountains, and doubt to move the legendary Noble Train of Artillery. This is a story of courage, conviction, and resolve—one that helped liberate Boston and forged an enduring legacy of Americans’ resolve. Register HERE

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Historian Tea Talks: Women of Schuyler Mansion| March 19 3pm

The “Schuyler Sisters” cause quite a stir in the Broadway musical Hamilton: An American Musical, but did you know that there were really five sisters? Born and raised in Albany, they were the daughters of Revolutionary War General and United States Senator, Philip Schuyler, and his wife, Catherine Van Rensselaer of patroon lineage. This event is sold-out.

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END: African American Women and Expatriate Life in Independent Senegal| March 23 7pm via ZOOM

Sylvia first set foot in Senegal in 1966 thanks to a personal invitation from the country’s president, Leopold Sedar Senghor. Originally from Washington D.C. and a graduate from Dunbar High School, Sylvia went to Trinity College for women in 1954 just months after the Brown v. Board of Education decision integrated the college, making Sylvia one of the first four African American women to attend the school. This presentation shares Sylvia’s story as an African American woman in independent Senegal’s cosmopolitan capital city of Dakar. Register HERE

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SCHC Reads: The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773-1783| March 26 6pm

Join us for a new History book club at the Saratoga County History Center at Brookside Museum.This year, in honor of America’s 250th, we will be reading books that explore the unfolding and impact of the American Revolution. This event is sold-out.

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Indie Film Fundraiser: Her Self Inflicted Decapitation| March 27 6pm

Meet the filmmakers and stars of a new short film, filmed in the galleries and archives of SCHC! In 1842, Sarah Aldridge murdered her Father then removed her own head; a century and a half later, a curious filmmaker digs through Sarah’s writings seeking inspiration, but finds her life and Sarah’s bound across time and space in mysterious ways. Learn more and register HERE.

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Near The Forest, By The Lake With Angela E. Douglas| April 2 6pm

Meet Angela E. Douglas, the biologist and author of Near the Forest, By the Lake, a collection of essays about the natural world, and the wonders of life in her little corner of Upstate New York. Learn more and register HERE.

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END: Iroquoia: Haudenosaunee Life and Culture, 1630-1783 With Kelly Hopkins| April 9 7pm via ZOOM

Kelly Hopkins is an Assistant Professor of early American history at the University of Houston. Her book, Iroquoia: Haudenosaunee Life and Culture, 1630-1783 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2025), highlights the innovative strategies of Haudenosaunee men and women to retain their culture, sovereignty, and control of their homelands through more than seven generations of unprecedented social and environmental change that followed European contact and the settler invasion. Register HERE

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A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things: A Natural History of the Sea from the Bottom Up| April 15 6pm

From sea serpents to seaweed, slimy things have long tended to lurk among the frontiers of natural knowledge, reflecting not only the anxieties of each age but also, in many cases, new possibilities. At once generative and destructive, mysterious and manifest, and masculine but sometimes feminine, slime flowed through oceanic understanding and welcomed new people to contribute to it, thereby producing natural knowledge both literally and figuratively “from the bottom up.” Across an expanding Atlantic world Africans, Native Americans, women, and even pirates described the ocean’s currents, creatures, and coastal environments, adding their observations to the growing body of knowledge about the physical and biological makeup of the sea. Indeed, as this presentation posits, close focus on the sea’s slimy things and the curious people drawn them may even provide new ways of imagining the ocean’s present and future. Register HERE

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John Brown in New York, with Author Nancy Weber| April 25 6pm

Historian and author Sandra Weber presents a compelling talk about her newest book, John Brown in New York: The Man, His Family, and the Adirondack Landscape. Weber offers a fresh and intimate look at the famed abolitionist, focusing on the years of the Brown family’s connection with North Elba, Essex County (1848–1863). The intertwining story of sublime Adirondack scenery, farm life, and racial justice explores John Brown not only as a national figure but as a husband, father, neighbor, and man of moral fiber. Weber’s insightful narrative bridges the myth and the man, revealing the tender and tragic heart of the Brown family story. Register HERE

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END: I Ride to Win: Isaac Murphy and Civil War America| April 29 7pm via ZOOM

Isaac Murphy won three Kentucky Derbys and every other major American stakes race of the nineteenth century. He was among the jockeys inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in its inaugural class. He was also born enslaved in 1861, the son of a Civil War widow, and he lived through the violent conflicts of Reconstruction to become the first true superstar Black athlete in the United States. This talk examines Murphy’s life and career and the light it sheds on his sport and the history of his country. Register HERE

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