Browse Items (1267 total)

In 1784, a grateful New York state legislature granted to the important American revolutionary Thomas Paine a farm seized from Tory supporter. Paine lived here between 1802 and 1806, surviving one attempt upon his life. Eventually the saltbox house…

Anti-Irish sentiment in America had dated to the early 1800s, when immigrants arrived to work on major infrastructure projects like canals and railroads. This only accelerated during the Great Famine (1845-52) and afterwards. Frederick Opper was the…

This poem, by Ophelia Bailey, shares her wishes that she could do more with her life like going to school to be a nurse or teacher. Bailey states that she wants to go into those occupations so that she can help people no matter their age or other…

An original copy of an insurance policy (including receipt) purchased from the Ontario and Livingston Mutual Insurance Company by James Wadsworth of Geneseo, N.Y. on "His Custom Flouring Mill" in Livingston County, N.Y. (probably on Conesus Creek in…

Repeating design is roughly based upon a hexagon, with wedge-shaped objects at the vertices and a distinctive geometric pattern along each edge. At one vertex is a radiant heart with "I Love Pati" inscribed inside, and attached to the other elements…

In 1853 after extensive study, the New York City Common Council approved a site surrounding the Croton Reservoir for a Manhattan park. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and designer Calvert Vaux were winners of a design competition, and in…

This pocket map was made for the land rush participants. It shows Oklahoma north of the Canadian River. The map has directions for locating a claim are on the map, as well as an ad for the Kansas City Times, and distances from Kansas City to various…

Beginning in the late 1920s, O'Keeffe began spending much of her time in the American southwest, painting its sensuous landscapes. This image is in OpenValley for the purposes of comparison to Philip Cheney's Rocky Mountain Highway, likewise…

According to the East Rochester Local History Office, the planned town of Despatch originally was named as such due to its proximity to railroad lines and a transportation company. Its land rights were purchased by entrepreneur Walter Parce between…

The familiar phrase “peak color” receives an ecstatic new meaning in Nordell’s transcendentalist vision, where sun illuminates woodland foliage in fiery hues, then doubles them in a reflecting pool. His figurative rendering of the scene edges toward…