When Exotic Plant Hunters Roamed the World
2025-09-28 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Join us Sunday, September 28 at 2pm for a presentation of When Exotic Plant Hunters Roamed the World. This will be followed by a dedication of the Victorian Shade Garden and a Day Lily and Plant Sale of the porch. Refreshments included.
Register HERE

Fourth Annual Public History Awards
2025-09-30 18:00 - 20:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
The Saratoga County History Center Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the winners of the fourth annual Saratoga County Public History Awards. The award recognizes individuals that have made a significant contribution to extending knowledge and understanding of the history of Saratoga County. A celebratory event will be held at Brookside Museum on Tuesday, September 30, beginning at 6 pm with a reception on the front porch of the Museum, 21 Fairground Ave, Ballston Spa.
The 2025 recipients of the award are Anne Clothier, Assistant to the Saratoga County Historian, and Russ Van Dervoort, Waterford Town Historian.
They were selected by a committee of previous winners Carol Godette and Jim Richmond, joined by Willam Allerdice, Vice Chair of the History Center’s Board of Trustees, Michelle Isopo, Director of the Saratoga Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, and Lynda Bryan, Halfmoon Town Historian.
Anne Clothier currently serves as Assistant to the Saratoga County Historian where she plays a leading role in the Saratoga 250 initiative, designing programs and presenting living history at a wide range of community events. Previous to her 2024 appointment, Anne was Director of Education at Brookside Museum where she created multiple hands-on school and senior programs. and has also worked at the Shaker Heritage Society, and the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown. Charlene DuBuque, current Education Director at Brookside, praised Anne’s selection for this award, saying “Anne is an engaging historian who has spent her life not only preserving history, but also bringing it to life as a reenactor and living historian. Her recently published book. Overhearing History brings the early years of the Revolution to life for a new generation.”
Russ Van Dervoort, Waterford Town Historian since 2018, has dedicated his life to sharing the history of his community. Central to his achievements has been the gathering and retelling of the stories of Waterford. As President of the Waterford Canal and Towpath Society since 2005, he has made the canals that weave through Waterford the centerpiece of his contributions. “It is not an empty statement to say that the Champlain Canal runs through Russ’ veins, as for over 100 years his Van Dervoort line has lived and worked on the canals in Waterford” says Dave Waite who has worked with Russ on several video projects. Van Dervoort has written numerous articles and several books, most recently Dear Mother, I am the only one left!, based on the Civil War Letters of Waterford resident Charles Shepard.
The public is encouraged to honor Anne and Russ by joining in the September 30 celebration.
Register HERE

Greenridge Cemetery Tour
2025-10-01 13:00 - 14:30 | NY
The Saratoga County History Center has announced an additional walking tour to conclude our 2025 season. Experienced tour guide Gloria Marceau will lead a fall walkabout of the Greenridge Cemetery on Lincoln Avenue in Saratoga Springs. This tour is focused on Civil War veterans and their stories and will include a ghostly tale appropriate for the season. Attendees will meet at the Lincoln Avenue gate.
This event is sold-out.

Automobiles of Saratoga County Pop-Up Exhibit Opening
2025-10-08 12:00 - 16:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Final Car Show Flyer 2025 – 1

Hudson View Cemetery Walking Tour
2025-10-15 13:00 - 14:30 | Mechanicville Hudson View Cemetery, 6 South St., Mechanicville, 12118, United States
Due to popular demand, local history buffs Tom Salvadore and Bob Murphy will lead a second walk through the historic cemetery, made even more beautiful by the fall colors. Beginning at the gravesite of Civil War hero Elmer Elsworth, they will tell stories of community leaders in the glory days of the city during the industrial age. Parking is available through the entrance to the cemetery on South Street. This tour is sponsored by the Saratoga County History Center.
Register HERE

Wheel of the Year - Herbs of Autumn
2025-10-18 13:00 - 15:30 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
In the Wheel of the Year, our ancestors celebrated the arrival of fall with Mabon on the autumn equinox in September and Samhain in October (that has led to modern day Halloween). Learn about these fall celebrations – the traditions, festivals, symbols, and their traditional plants. We will look closer at some herbs of autumn and their myth, magic and folklore, and how we can use them today for our own health and wellness. The first part of the workshop will be a presentation and in the second part of the workshop we will make a few herbal remedies to assist us in the darkening, cooling days of fall as we look inward and prepare for winter. Each person will make their own dream pillow with dried herbs for restful sleep, dreaming, and relaxation. You will also make your own signature essential oil scent perfume stick which can be used for relaxation, focus, mood enhancement, and to reduce feelings of stress. Then we will make an Easy Rest Tea to take home to also enhance relaxation and feeling good (and it tastes so good too)!

Join Janis Fallon a Renssealer County Master Gardener, herbalist, and mostly retired environmental attorney and engineer. Her lifelong passion for working with plants has included several 10 month intensive herbal apprenticeships with Rosemary Gladstar, continuing plant and herbal education, and decades of growing and making fun herbal projects. Come celebrate the fall and changing seasons in a fun afternoon of magic and herbs!

This class is $25 per person.

Register HERE

Trunk or Treat
2025-10-25 14:00 - 16:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Get ready for a spooktacular afternoon of family fun at Brookside Museum! Our Halloween celebration will take place on Saturday, October 25th from 2-4pm (rain date of Sunday, October 26), will feature treats, games, and learning adventures for kids of all ages. Live Halloween music will be provided by the Scotties Quartet, a talented string ensemble from Ballston Spa High School. Join us for:

Trick-or-treating
Halloween-themed games and crafts
Spooky story time and scavenger hunt
Costume Parade at 3:30PM
Awards for best costumes
On-site pumpkin decorating (small fee for pumpkins – registration strongly encouraged – see form below)

Free family event. Parental supervision required.
Parking available in the village on Front and Charlton Streets.

The Rise and Fall of Victory Mill
2025-11-11 19:00 - 20:00 | Village of Victory Hall, 23 Pine St, Victory Mills, New York, 12884, United States
The Saratoga County History Center and the Village of Victory invite the public to a special presentation by Skidmore College student Nicholas Sisto on “The Company and its Town: Textile Production in Victory Mills and the Community Built Around It.” The program will be held on Tuesday, November 11, at 7 p.m. at the Village of Victory Hall, 23 Pine Street, Victory Mills, NY 12884.
Sisto’s presentation explores how industry shaped both the economy and identity of this small mill community along Fish Creek. Founded in 1846, the Victory Manufacturing Company transformed the landscape, employing hundreds and fostering a self-contained village of homes, schools, and gathering spaces. His research examines the factory’s rise, decline, and the lasting impact on local families whose stories remain woven into Saratoga County’s industrial heritage. The talk offers a window into the social, economic, and environmental forces that defined 19th-and 20th-century life in upstate New York. The program is free and open to the public.

Register HERE

Saratoga in the Gilded Age
2025-11-13 19:00 - 20:30 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
During the Gilded Age Saratoga Springs, the Queen of America’s Spas, was a major thread in the social fabric of America. The obvious question is in an era before instant communication what was life like here? That question is for both those who were seasonal guests of the village and equally important, those who were year round residents. Noted local author Hollis Palmer, will explore what it must have been like to spend the “season” or even a day at the spas. There will be special pricing on all six of Hollis’ books about Saratoga.
This event is sold-out.

Sounds in Winter III Concert
2025-11-15 15:00 - 16:30 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
On November 15, the third season of the “Sounds in Winter” concert series will debut with a performance by Stringwynde in the historic Long Room at Brookside Museum. This musical duo features flautist Melanie Chirignan and harpist Darhon Rees-Rohrbacher, who have performed together for many years and embrace a wide variety of music. Stringwynde has been showcased in many performances across the Capital Region.
The afternoon’s program will include selections from American Folk music as well as waltzes from the “Gilded Age.” These concerts are sponsored jointly by The Ballston Spa Committee on the Arts, and The Saratoga County History Center with funding provided by The American Federation of Musicians Music Performance Trust Fund and a grant from Saratoga Arts.
This event is sold-out.

Annual Members Meeting
2025-11-16 14:00 - 15:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
On November 16 at 2:00 PM, Saratoga County History Center is hosting our annual members’ meeting. At this meeting, members will have the opportunity to meet our new Executive Director, Anne Hollmuller, Ph.D. and to learn more about her vision for Brookside and our goals for the coming year. At this event, we will also be debuting a new and enhanced experience of our permanent exhibition, Saratoga County: Our Home! Visitors can now use a series of QR codes to access videos and recordings to enhance their visiting experience, and help them learn more about the diverse histories of Saratoga County. During our annual meeting, we will share some of these videos and explore the stories they tell. During the business portion of the meeting, members will be asked to vote on the proposed budget and board members for 2026.

Register for this free event HERE

Artisan's Market
2025-11-29 - 2025-12-24 | NY
The Saratoga County History Center at Brookside Museum is celebrating the 25th year of our annual Artisan’s Market, which will be open between November 29 and December 24, 2025.
This annual market features exclusively handmade and handcrafted products created by local artisans. Items featured at the market will include soaps, lotions, ornaments, jewelry, syrups, scarves, ceramics, hats, and much, much more!
As Beth Silvestri, the Museum Retail Manager, tells us, “Every year, the Artisan’s Market gets better! This one-of-a-kind shopping experience offers a variety of unique items, making holiday shopping simple. And each item sold supports both SCHC @ Brookside Museum and local artisans!”
The Artisan Market is held at SCHC at Brookside Museum, located at 21 Fairground Avenue., Ballston Spa, NY 12020
The 2025 hours are:
Tuesdays-Thursdays, 12pm-4pm
Fridays 12 pm-5pm
Saturdays & Sundays, 11am-5pm

Christmas Eve, December 24 open 12-3pm

Artisan’s Market Raffle
Many of this years artisan’s have generously donated items to the raffle to benefit Brookside! Single raffle ticket are $2 or get 6 raffle tickets for $10. Winner will be drawn and contact on December 21, 2025. This years raffle winner will win all of the items listed below, worth over $545! Tickets can be purchased in the gift shop.
Raffle winner will receive all of the following:

Bar soap, lotion and lip balm set from Cobble Hill Farm Soap Co.
Tea light candle and knitted tree from jo marie frances
Embossed ceramic dish from 509 Handworks
Set of two white ceramic stoneware mugs from Jan Sohns
Decorative pillows from Just For You Gifts
Hand-embellished framed mini print “Frozen Eyes” from Lady Reborn Art by Donna Tura
Framed “The Lake is Calling” print from Patty LaFountain
Cozy Cabin scented candle from a Thistle Moon Candle co.
Recipe card holder, grocery pad and cutting board from DM Homecrafts
Hot fudge from Sundae’s Best Hot Fudge
Pair of miniature framed beaded trees from Marjorie Ward
Felted tree from Goode Trees
Hand-knitted hat and fingerless mittens from Seasons Change
Set of 2 crochet top Christmas towels, dishcloth & heart ornament from Karen’s Designs
Vase from Cigal Studio
Soap bar and $50 Brookside Gift Certificate from Caz Acrez
Chai Tea and Hawthorne Elixir from Moon Garden Herbals
Card and ornament from Lydia Lynch

Opening of the 25th Annual Artisan's Market
2025-11-29 11:00 - 17:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
From “Small Business Saturday” November 29 through December 24, 2025.
Like its predecessors, the 25th installment of the market will feature only handcrafted products created by local artisans. Everything from natural soaps and lotions to unique ornaments and jewelry to pottery and photography – simply the best that our community has to offer.
Brookside Museum, headquarters of the Saratoga County History Center, is located at 21 Fairground Ave, Ballston Spa, NY 12020.
The 2025 hours are as follows:
Tuesday – Thursdays 12pm – 4pm
Friday 12pm – 5pm
Saturday & Sunday 11am – 5pm

Vendors interested in being put on this years wait list or on the contact list for next years Artisan’s Market, please email bsilvestri@brooksidemuseum.org.

Shop & Sip at The Artisan's Market
2025-12-19 16:00 - 18:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
The Saratoga County History Center presents a special evening of sipping. strolling and shopping at our 25th Annual Artisan’s Market. This holiday event will be held on Friday December 19 from 4:00 – 6:00PM. Shop the creations of local artisans while enjoying sparkling water, hot cocoa, or soft drinks, and treating yourself to some complimentary sweets. Enjoy the opportunity to meet some of our amazing artisans, complete your holiday shopping, and see historic Brookside Museum decorated for the holidays. Shop a wide variety of handmade products, including ceramics, soaps, jewelry, knitwear, and holiday ornaments to knitted goods and more! Find something special for this holiday season, and savor this special night at Brookside!
Bring in a non-perishable food item for Lifeworks Community Action and receive one free Artisan’s Market Raffle ticket (limit to one free raffle ticket per person).

Experts Next Door: Write, Fold, Seal: Letter Writing in the Victorian Age with Catherine Golden
2026-01-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Long before e-mail, Facebook, and Instagram, letter writing was the only way to communicate. The recipient, not the sender, had to pay to receive a letter at the time of delivery. Postage rates in early Victorian Britain were so high that many people dreaded the postman’s knock. But all that changed in 1840 with the Penny Post. Letter writing—no longer a privilege for the wealthy—became an affordable way to connect with family, friends, and professional associates. In this Zoom presentation, we will journey to Victorian England to learn about the first adhesive postage stamp, called the Penny Black, and a method for prepayment, which quickly became the model for other nations including the United States. We will consider, too, how the Penny Post promoted many forms of anticipated as well as unsolicited missives that still plague us today. For the second part of this presentation, we will examine Victorian artifacts that accompanied letter writing in the Victorian age. I will demonstrate writing with nibbed pens and ink on a Victorian writing desk, cross-writing, letter folding, sealing, addressing a letter, and affixing a postage stamp. If they wish, audience members can learn to fold a letter along with me.
Catherine J. Golden is professor of English and Tisch Chair in Arts and Letters (2017-22) at Skidmore College. She is author of Serials to Graphic Novels: The Evolution of the Victorian Illustrated Book (2017), Posting It: The Victorian Revolution in Letter Writing (2009), and Images of the Woman Reader in Victorian British and American Fiction (2003). She is editor or coeditor of five additional books on topics ranging from Charlotte Perkins Gilman to Victorian illustration, literature, and culture. Golden is a Pedagogy Consultant for COVE (Collaborative Organization for Virtual Education) and an Editorial Advisory Board member and regular contributor to Illustration Magazine, a British arts journal.
Your support powers everything we do. All donations are welcome, and enable us to continue offering the highest quality programming. For this event, there is a suggested donation of $5.
Register HERE

An Evening with Clothing Scholar Henry Cooke “Civilian Clothing of Continental Soldiers, 1775–1777”
2026-01-30 19:00 - 20:30 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Photos Credit: DrawingsWatercolor shown are by Friedrich von Germann in The New York State Public Library
This talk examines how Continental soldiers often wore civilian clothing during the early Revolutionary War years (1775–1777), exploring the styles, materials, and regional influences of these garments, and how they reflected the soldiers’ backgrounds and the logistical challenges of outfitting an army in its infancy.

This program is FREE and open to the public.
Brought to you by Campaign for Saratoga 250th, His Majesty’s 24th Recreated, and SCHC at Brookside Museum.

Experts Next Door: Captain Cook’s Hei Tikî Material Culture, Gift Exchange, and Looting in New Zealand During the Endeavour Voyage, 1768-1771 with Tillman Nechtman
2026-02-05 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The specter of empire haunts European museums. The correlation between museological collecting and imperial ideology is now widely taken for granted in academic circles, but the question of what is to be done with and in western museums that hold colonial collections persists. This essay takes one small Māori hei tiki (RCIN 69263) from the Royal Collection as a case study to understand what the decolonization of imperial collections might look like. To date, RCIN 69263 has been labeled as a gift from the Māori to Captain James Cook and then from Cook to King George III. Using a range of manuscript sources from Cook’s crew onboard the Endeavour, innovative Māori sources, and traditional Māori crafting technologies to “listen” to the hei tiki, this essay uncovers a new story for RCIN 69263. Accepting that colonial objects can still “speak” in pre-museological epistemes allows us to re-write the museum label for this single object, correcting errors that were inscribed upon it by empire and the carelessness of imperial collecting. Moreover, “listening” to this particular colonial object offers insights into the broader history of the indigenous Pacific that Europeans both missed and misunderstood in the eighteenth century. This case study, thus, promises to rectify the specific narrative damage perpetrated on RCIN 69263 by flawed (even fabricated) museum labels even as it offers a roadmap for the bigger project of decolonizing colonial museums more generally.
Tillman Nechtman is a professor of history at Skidmore College. He is the author of two books, Nabobs: Empire and Identity in Eighteenth-Century Britain and The Pretender of Pitcairn Island, both published with Cambridge University Press.

Your support powers everything we do. All donations are welcome, and enable us to continue offering the highest quality programming. For this event, there is a suggested donation of $5.
Register HERE

Brookside Explorers Club: Fun with Chocolate
2026-02-06 16:00 - 18:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Join us for the next meeting of the Brookside Explorers Club, a new history and learning club for kids! This month, we’re celebrating the Ballston Spa Chocolate Fest with a deliciously fun lineup of activities.
Kids will:

Learn about the history of chocolate, including local connections, through a hands‑on learning activity
Design their own chocolate label
Create a cocoa powder art project
Taste test different types of chocolate

Date: Friday, February 6
Time: 4–6 PM — come early, then head downtown for Chocolate Fest afterward!
Kids of all ages are welcome. Parental supervision is required.
Cost: $5 per child (REGISTRATION REQUIRED so we have enough supplies)
For more information, email Education Director Charlene DuBuque at charlene@brooksidemuseum.org
Register HERE

Historian Tea Talks: Chris Leonard, National Bottle Museum
2026-02-11 15:00 - 16:30 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Chris Leonard will reminisce on his first year as Executive Director of the nearly 50-year-old National Bottle Museum. His talk will cover stories of some of his favorite bottles from the museum’s collection, including one dating to the early 18th c. These 10-15 bottles will be on site and part of the discussion allowing attendees to get a close-up view of the technologies, embossing, and other details involved in creating these works of art.
Chris Leonard is the Executive Director of the National Bottle Museum and the City Historian of Schenectady. The son of two history professors, it is not a stretch to say that history is in his blood. While his childhood friends were reading about Spiderman and Batman, Chris was reading biographies of Abraham Lincoln and Richard the Lionhearted. Chris is the author of Schenectady’s General Electric Realty Plot and the series editor of Schenectady Genesis: How a Dutch Colonial Village Became an American City. He is a trustee of the Schenectady County Historical Society, a trustee emeritus of Historic Vale Cemetery, and chaired the Schenectady Lafayette Committee, which celebrated the 200th anniversary of the general’s return to Schenectady in 1825.

Your support powers everything we do. All donations are welcome, and enable us to continue offering the highest quality programming. For this event, there is a suggested donation of $10.
Register HERE

Sounds in Winter: A Touch of Woodwinds
2026-02-14 15:00 - 16:30 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Join us for an afternoon of romantic woodwinds!

Tune in for the third and final edition of the third season of the Sounds in Winter concert series. On February 14, Brookside welcomes A Touch of Woodwinds, who will play music for Valentine’s Day. Enjoy the performance of this classical group within the wonderful acoustics of our historic Long Room.
These concerts are sponsored jointly by The Ballston Spa Committee on the Arts, and The Saratoga County History Center with funding provided by The American Federation of Musicians Music Performance Trust Fund and a grant from Saratoga Arts.
Your support powers everything we do. All donations are welcome, and enable us to continue offering the highest quality programming.
Register HERE

Sounds in Winter Concert: Eribeth Trio
2026-02-21 15:00 - 16:30 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Now in it’s third year, the “Sounds in Winter” Concert Series will continue with a January 17, 2026 appearance of the Eribeth Trio. Based in the Capital District, the Eribeth Chamber Players have performed throughout the Northeast, as well as in Germany. With flexible instrumentation, the group presents a variety of programs, from string quartet and piano trio concerts to collaborations with actors and dancers. The Eribeth Trio is made up of local, well-known musicians Elizabeth Silver on violin, Erica Pickhardt, cello and Kristen Tuttman on the piano. Founding members, Silver and Pickhardt are members of the Albany Symphony and have performed chamber music together for more than 30 years. This performance will feature “Music for a Victorian Tea.” All audience members are encouraged to bring “that beautiful unused teacup from your china closet” as tea and cookies will be served as part of the event.“Sounds in Winter” is a very unique partnership between the Village of Ballston Spa, the Ballston Spa Committee on the Arts, The Saratoga County History Center at the Brookside Museum, with funding from a generous grant from Saratoga Arts and matching funds from the Music Performance Trust Fund of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 506.The concert will begin at 3:00pm in the Long Room of the Brookside Museum, 21 Fairground Avenue, Ballston Spa. The performance is free, however registration is required as seating is limited.
This event is sold-out.
Your support powers everything we do. All donations are welcome, and enable us to continue offering the highest quality programming.

Tavern Night: Eve of Revolution
2026-02-26 19:00 - 20:00 | NY
Join us for a Revolutionary meal at Brookside Museum!

Travel back in time and enjoy a tavern-inspired feast featuring traditional recipes and historic ambiance at Brookside Museum. Partake in a delightful three course meal, served by historians in 18th-century attire, as they discuss their lives and the events of the day. One drink of beer or water is included in your ticket, courtesy of Speckled Pig Brewing Co. Join us for an immersive evening of food, music, and storytelling in the historic Long Room.

Co-produced by Saratoga County History Center and The Campaign for Saratoga 250, net proceeds will benefit our combined efforts to preserve Saratoga’s heritage.
MENU:
Course 1: Freshly Baked Bread & Butter, Assorted Pickled Vegetables
Course 2: Hearty stew or meat pie, provided by a local sponsor
Course 3: Gingerbread, Pumpkin Bread, Assorted Fruit Tarts
We will have two seatings: February 26 (snow date: February 27) at 7:00 PM and March 12 (snow date: March 13) at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $45.
The February date is sold-out, but there are tickets available for the March date.
Register for the March event HERE

Experts Next Door: American Women and Expatriate Life in Interwar Paris
2026-03-05 19:00 - 20:00 | Online
This event has been rescheduled to March 16 at 7pm.
Since the founding of the United States, France and its capital have held a singular place in the American imagination. The trans-atlantic conversation that flourished throughout the 19th century between America and its oldest ally was uniquely important to the development of American identity. After WWI, this Franco-American relationship only deepened as thousands of Americans flocked to Paris.
This discussion will consider an important segment of expatriates to Paris post-WWI: American women. What drove so many American women out of their own country after 1918, and what, in particular, did they hope to find in Paris? To what extent did American women who felt constrained and limited by life at home find freedom in expatriation? Through tracing the lives of women such as the Harlem Renaissance poet Gwendolyn Bennett, and the founder of the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, Sylvia Beach, this presentation will explore the gendered experience of expatriation in this new, modern era of mobility.
This talk forms part of a two-part Women’s History Month series, Women in Migration: Epistemologies and Expatriation from the United States to the Francophone World.

Bio: Caitlin O’Keefe is a PhD Candidate in History and French Studies at New York University. She received her BA in History from Fordham and holds a MA in Women’s History from Sarah Lawrence College. Caitlin’s current project considers the feminist roots and revolutionary reading culture of the Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris. Caitlin’s writing on Shakespeare and Company has previously appeared in The New York Review of Books, the Journal of Cultural Analytics, and Modernism/ Modernity.
Your support powers everything we do. All donations are welcome, and enable us to continue offering the highest quality programming. For this event, there is a suggested donation of $5.
Register HERE

Saratoga Opera: Stone Soup
2026-03-07 13:00 - 14:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
STONE SOUP pairs composer Joe Illick and librettist Mark Campbell for an operatic retelling of the classic European folk tale. Their reimagining will transport audiences to Blessing, Texas for a rocking-chair view of the comings and goings at Max’s General store. From the opera’s opening notes representing a young girl’s stomach rumblings, through the whimsically collaborative creation of the title meal, to its uplifting ending, Stone Soup imparts a timeless message: we all have something to contribute and sharing makes things better for everyone.
STONE SOUP was commissioned by Fort Worth Opera by arrangement with The Barbara Hogenson Agency, Inc. STONE SOUP is 35 minutes long and sung in English.
Recommended for Grades K-6
Free with registration.
Register HERE

Tavern Night: Eve of Revolution
2026-03-12 19:00 - 20:00 | NY
Join us for a Revolutionary meal at Brookside Museum!

Travel back in time and enjoy a tavern-inspired feast featuring traditional recipes and historic ambiance at Brookside Museum. Partake in a delightful three course meal, served by historians in 18th-century attire, as they discuss their lives and the events of the day. One drink of beer or water is included in your ticket, courtesy of Speckled Pig Brewing Co. Join us for an immersive evening of food, music, and storytelling in the historic Long Room.

Co-produced by Saratoga County History Center and The Campaign for Saratoga 250, net proceeds will benefit our combined efforts to preserve Saratoga’s heritage.
MENU:
Course 1: Freshly Baked Bread & Butter, Assorted Pickled Vegetables
Course 2: Hearty stew or meat pie, provided by a local sponsor
Course 3: Gingerbread, Pumpkin Bread, Assorted Fruit Tarts
We will have two seatings: February 26 (snow date: February 27) at 7:00 PM and March 12 (snow date: March 13) at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $45.
Register HERE

Doing Our Part, Presented by Nancy White
2026-03-15 14:00 - 15:00 | NY
Learn from Nancy White as she describes the development and purpose of her many gardens within The Healing Garden – a unique property certified as a United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary, with an environment rich in biodiversity, including endangered native medicinal plants and wetlands. The house was built with a focus on sustainability, i.e., to conserve fossil fuels and water, and with great attention to clean air and renewable materials. Nancy will share practical and economical ways we too can enact environmental improvements in our own backyards. Reservations for tours will be available on the day of the presentation.
Register Here

The National Bottle Museum: A Members Tour
2026-03-18 14:00 - 15:30 | The National Bottle Museum, 76 Milton Ave, Ballston Spa, New York, 12020
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 event is sold-out.

Henry Knox: Resolve Forged by Revolution
2026-03-18 19:00 | Brookside Museum, 21 Fariground Ave., Ballston Spa, NY, 12020, United States
Join us for a 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.

This event is presented by Saratoga County History Center and the Campaign for Saratoga 250, Inc. The program includes an introduction, film screening, comments from project partners, and a look ahead to Saratoga 250 programming in 2026 and 2027. The film was produced with 32 Mile Productions and made possible by the Champlain Hudson Power Express.

Register HERE

Historian Tea Talks: Women of Schuyler Mansion
2026-03-19 15:00 - 17:00 | NY
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. Coming of age during the country’s formative years, the sisters lived in a pivotal time in history. George and Martha Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Benedict Arnold, Horatio Gates, and Dolley Madison were just a few of their friends, associates, and adversaries. In the lives of this large, vigorous family, we find stories of power, romance, tragedy and intrigue.
Learn what it was like growing up as a Schuyler with an in-depth look at the history of the Schuyler sisters and the life of their mother, Catharine. Hear about their daily lives, and their role in shaping their family’s story. This talk also explores the experiences of women enslaved by the Schuylers, as well as an inside peek at the process of uncovering their untold stories. With Maria Karasavidis, Lead Interpreter, Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site.
Your support powers everything we do. All donations are welcome, and enable us to continue offering the highest quality programming. For this event, there is a suggested donation of $10.
This event is sold-out.

Experts Next Door: African American Women and Expatriate Life in Independent Senegal
2026-03-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Online
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. At Trinity, Sylvia’s scholarly interests in French and Latin flourished, sending her on a path to becoming a Fulbright scholar in France, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and PhD candidate at Fordham University. However, Sylvia’s life transformed one night in 1966 when meeting Senegalese President Senghor at a Howard University happy hour. Sylvia impressed President Senghor with her scholarship on his poetry, the subject of her dissertation, and he invited Sylvia to teach in Senegal for one year. One year became thirty years, and Sylvia Washington became Sylvia Washington Bâ.
This presentation shares Sylvia’s story as an African American woman in independent Senegal’s cosmopolitan capital city of Dakar. She taught comparative French and African literatures, Black feminism, and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade at the large public university in Dakar before many American universities had such classes. While Sylvia’s story is singular in its uniqueness, she fostered a community of numerous other African American female expatriates in Senegal, many of whom did important work to bring both sides of the Atlantic together through professional life, academia, and kinship. Following the questions posed in the first part of this series on female expatriates in Paris: how did race, nationality, and gender morph the experiences of African American women living in Dakar, Senegal since 1960? What epistemologies did these women create that put life as African Americans and colonized Africans into conversations? How did their private lives, marriage to Senegalese men, and blended families transform their expatriate experience?
This talk forms part of a two-part Women’s History Month series, Women in Migration: Epistemologies and Expatriation from the United States to the Francophone World.
Julia Woods is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint program between the History Department and the Institute of French Studies at New York University. She received a B.A. in French and History with a concentration in African Studies from Kalamazoo College (2020) and an M.A. from NYU’s Institute of French Studies (2022). As a doctoral candidate, Julia studies Senegal as a political foothold to West Africa for France and the United States between colonialism and the Cold War. In her dissertation, she brings her research close to home by asking how Midwesterners came to know about Africa and Africans in the 20th century, and vice versa. Originally from Michigan, Julia traces generations of individuals in migration between the unlikely geographies of the American Midwest and the Senegambia. In doing so, she finds vast networks of scholarly, artistic, humanitarian, familial, and friendly exchange that bound these two regions together.
Your support powers everything we do. All donations are welcome, and enable us to continue offering the highest quality programming. For this event, there is a suggested donation of $5.
Register HERE
