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Wonderful Season at Rose Hill Mansion
Reflections on the 2024 season at Rose Hill Mansion -
The Recent Past in Photos
In 2003 Historic Geneva gave disposable film cameras to fifth graders and asked them to take photos of their surroundings. -
2024 Rose Hill Intern
Our summer intern provides an overview of her experience at Rose Hill. -
Bringing the Inside Outside: Rose Hill Landscape Plan
Overview of Historic Geneva’s plan to interpret and rehabilitate the grounds at Rose Hill Mansion. -
Well House and Garden Shed Roof Project
Brief overview of the well house and garden shed roof project at Rose Hill Mansion. -
Geneva and the Underground Railroad
The question of whether Geneva was a station on the Underground Railroad has long been a subject of local debate and speculation. -
Four Years Working and Living at Rose Hill
Reflections on working and living at Rose Hill. -
Film Reels and Video Tapes
Overview of the film reel and video tape preservation project -
Join the Rose Hill Family: Volunteer and Make A Difference!
Volunteer opportunities at Rose Hill Mansion -
Unforgettable Memories and Valuable Opportunities: Interning at Rose Hill
Reasons why students should do an internship at Rose Hill Mansion -
Embrace the Hustle: Winter Projects at Rose Hill
Overview of various winter projects at Rose Hill Mansion. -
Mission Moments
Examples of Historic Geneva's mission in action. -
New Acquisitions
Overview of the newest exhibit at the Geneva History Museum, New Acquisitions. -
2023 Geneva Storytellers’ Awards
Honorees of the 2023 Geneva Storytellers' Awards. -
Another Year Living at Rose Hill
Reflections on the benefits and challenges of living at a historic site -
Online Collections in the Public Domain
Overview of museums with online collections in the public domain. -
Reflections on the 2022 Community Survey
As part of the strategic planning process, Historic Geneva rewrote it mission statement and conducted a community-wide survey. The article explores how the survey results are being addressed. -
Volunteering at Rose Hill
Volunteer opportunities at Rose Hill Mansion -
This Was Written By A Human
Musings on the latest technology and writing monthly blog articles. -
Call For Interns
Information about internship opportunities available at Rose Hill Mansion -
2022 Year in Review
Overview of 2022 in photographs. -
Where Would You Live During The Apocalypse?
Depiction of a historic house museum in the TV show, The Walking Dead. -
The 2022 Season At Rose Hill
Reflections on the 2022 season at Rose Hill Mansion. -
Listening and Learning
Overview of cassette tape transcription and audio reel digitization projects connected to oral histories in Historic Geneva’s collection. -
Community Day 2022
Overview of activities that will be at Rose Hill Mansion during Community Day. -
Looking Back At My First Year At Rose Hill
The Visitor Services and Program Manager reflects on her first year at Rose Hill. -
2021 By Number
Overview of Historic Geneva's activities in 2021. -
Spring at Rose Hill
Preparing Rose Hill for the 2022 season. -
Those Who Came Before Us
Overview of local historians who have chronicled and preserved Geneva's stories. -
Rose Hill Volunteers
Volunteer opportunities at Rose Hill Mansion. -
New Year, New Season at Rose Hill
New Year activities for the Swan family and Historic Geneva -
2021 Collections Year in Review
Artifact donation highlights in 2021. -
Hearing from You: The Rest of the Story
Examples of how our online viewers recently helped to fill in the gaps for some of Geneva’s stories. -
Keeping Your Archive With Us
How Historic Geneva can help community organizations with their collections -
Opening Rose Hill Mansion For The Season
A comparison between Historic Geneva staff preparing Rose Hill Mansion for the season and domestic servants preparing the house for the day during the mid-19th century. -
Twenty-first Century Collecting
Thoughts on collecting contemporary items. -
What’s Up with the Susan B Anthony Photo?
A discussion on accepting items in Historic Geneva's collections. -
My Geneva Is…Home Edition
In an effort to expand the photograph collection, all Genevans are invited to submit photos of houses around Geneva from any time period. -
Historians At Home: Jeanine Housman
Our fourth post in our "Historians At Home" series. -
What Is A Finding Aid And How Does It Work?
A quick tutorial on finding aids -
My Geneva Is …..
For the City Historian, Geneva is the people. -
Historians At Home: Becky Chapin
Our third post in our "Historians At Home" series. -
Archives In The News
A few current stories about archives in the news. -
Historians At Home: Anne Dealy
The second post in our "Historians at Home" series. -
Voices From the Archives
Excerpts of oral histories with members of local African American community. -
Why Don’t We Just Digitize Everything?
Reflections on the digital age in the context of archiving -
Historians at Home: John Marks
The first post in our "Historians at Home" series. -
Looks Like We Made It
Reflections on how the Historical Society has been able to remain open virtually and physically. -
2020 Collection Reflections
Artifact donation highlights in 2020 -
My Geneva is…
For a commuter, Geneva is its built environment, especially the roadways. -
My Geneva Is …
For our archivist, her Geneva is cold Sunday mornings at the Geneva Rec Center -
My Geneva Is….
For our curator his Geneva is Geneva History Museum and Lake Drum Brewing. -
#museumalphabet, Part 2
Suggestions from the social media campaign #museumalphabet. -
#museumalphabet, Part 1
Suggestions from the social media campaign #museumalphabet. -
Geneva’s Stories
A collection of the Historical Society's digital content that explores Geneva’s diverse stories. -
We Are Ready, Are You?
Re-opening plans for the Historical Society properties. -
Things I Miss
Musings on things missed during the pandemic. -
At the Intersection of Public History and Public Health: My Pandemic Experience
When public history meets public health. -
What is an Archivist Without Their Archives?; or Why Archivists are Up on their Tetanus
Our archivist working from home during the pandemic -
Living in a Digital World
A public historian adjusts to working in the new "normal." -
2019 By Number
Overview of the Historical Society's 2019 activities -
A New Year’s Wish for More Artifacts
An appeal for artifacts. -
A Christmas Wish for More History
An appeal for photographs. -
Why Does New York State Have Municipal Historians?
The story of why municipal historians were established in New York State -
Take a Chance on History
Support the Historical Society by purchasing 50/50 tickets. -
The Novelty of a Find
A box found in the Archives provides insight into village politics during the mid-1800s. -
New staffer at Rose Hill and Johnston House
Introduction of a new staff member -
2019 Community Survey
Fill out the 2019 Community Survey and have a voice in planning the Historical Society’s future. -
Panthers & Saints: High School Sports in Geneva
New exhibit explores 120 years of high school athletics in Geneva. -
Storymaps
The Historical Society finds a new way to tell Geneva's stories. -
Exploring Cemetery Stories with School Children
What can you learn from a cemetery? Every autumn Geneva's second and fifth grade students get to find out. -
Dove’s Geneva
In conjunction with the exhibit opening of "Dove's Geneva, the Geneva Historical Society and the Arthur Dove Tribute Group are hosting a special event celebrating the importance of Dove and his work to Geneva. -
Help Curate the Historical Society’s Fall Exhibit
Building off of its 2017 crowdsourced exhibits, Stuff: A Material History of Geneva and Tell Me A Story, the Geneva Historical Society is asking the public to help curate the fall 2018 exhibit at the Geneva History Museum. -
Creativity Incubator
Help the Historical Society reinterpret its collection through the Creativity Incubator. -
Research Libraries
A discussion about public and private research libraries. -
History is Really About the People
It is the people who bring history to life -
Getting Back Our First Names
Reclaiming women's first names through the historical record -
Images from the Collection
Stories behind six images from our photo collection -
Exhibits
Many years ago, most museums did exhibitions using the time tested tool of the diorama. Dioramas, both life size and in miniature, were used to tell a story -
Explaining the 1960s
Each year before college begins, Beloit College in Wisconsin puts out “The Mindset List” for the incoming freshman class. Originally compiled as a lark, it’s become a valuable tool for professors (and other adults) to understand an 18-year old’s perspective. -
When you move something, is it still the same?
I wrote in March about cleaning out the house in which I grew up. We needed to “de-clutter” it anyway to put it on the market so we did the bulk of the removal at the same time. All the dishes, books, cereal boxes, knick knacks, records, and “what is this and why did they save it?” left the house. It was a huge feat More » -
Keeping Up With The Times
There’s a great line in the first Men In Black movie. Tommy Lee Jones is showing Will Smith alien technology, including a tiny compact disc, and says, “Looks like I’ll have to buy the White Album again.” Whether or not you liked the Beatles, it resonated with anyone who saw the change from vinyl records to tape (8-tracks and cassettes) to compact disc. In the More » -
Do you have …..?
“Do you have…..” the words following that inquiry can stir any number of emotions in an archivist. For example, confidence, “yes, I have ‘that’ and know right where it is”; or confusion, “do I have anything on ‘that’, have I ever even heard of ‘that?!’” to outright fear, “oh dear, I haven’t been able to find ‘that’ in three years and I have no idea More » -
Road Maps, Wish Books and Cartography
I like maps! There, I said it! I am one of those folks who will happily try to navigate with a few lines on paper rather than a nifty GPS with a sexy voice that tells me which road to turn down …NOW! -
“My Kids Don’t Care About This Stuff”
I’m cleaning out my parents’ house as we get ready to sell it. Mom passed away last fall and Dad left the house a week later to move into assisted living. Like many houses, the attic is packed with...stuff. For years before this, “what to do with the attic” periodically came up in conversation. Mom didn’t want to talk about it, Dad wrung his hands More » -
World War II Revisted
In 1995 we opened a major exhibit, Close to the Heart of the War: Geneva and World War II, and published a companion book. We conducted “history harvests” to identify people with stories, artifacts and photos. A researcher recorded many hours of oral history interviews and scoured local newspapers and records. So, why do World War II again? Is there anything left to say? -
The Evolution of Museums and the Geneva Historical Society
By John Marks, Curator of Collections and Exhibits Charles Willson Peale is considered the father of American museums. (A painting by his son Rembrandt hangs in the main hallway of Rose Hill.) In 1786 he opened a museum of natural history in Philadelphia, which included an extensive portrait gallery; Peale justified this by saying man was at the top of the natural order. He charged More » -
A Basket of a Tale
When people donate objects to the museum, we always ask if they know anything about the history of the items. Sometimes there is a family story about who made or owned a piece, and we take those stories seriously. Once in a while, though, when we look into the story, we find that there may have been some misunderstanding as the tale was passed down. More » -
Community Stories
Some of the best history is given to us as stories from the community. -
Without a Story it is All Just “Stuff”!
As you can see, “stuff” has as many meanings as it has forms. For the sake of this blog post I will just refer to two or three dimensional, inanimate materials that take up space in our lives, mostly my life. -
Every Now and Then
A Historical Society staff member shares a mission moment. -
Reading Old Handwriting
We have some very interesting old letters, journals and diaries in the archives at Prouty Chew House and I love reading some of the entries. It isn’t always easy for a variety of different reasons. -
Doing Research
Tips on doing research -
Balmanno Cottage Closing Friday, August 23
The Historical Society's explanation for the sale of Balmanno Cottage. -
Stain Removal, Now and Then
19th century stain removal tips -
When Hobby Meets Work
How music has been incorporated into various activities of the Geneva Historical Society. -
Honeybees: A Brief Overview and the Bees at Rose Hill
Brief history of honeybees and how a colony was removed at Rose Hill Mansion -
Writing Exhibits
The exhibit creation process at the Geneva Historical Society -
Museum Volunteers
Ode to the Geneva Historical Society's volunteers -
My Geneva
Mini version of the Geneva Historical Society's exhibit Geneva A to Z.
Historic Geneva is a history museum in the Finger Lakes region of New York State which focuses on the history of Geneva, NY, historic architecture, genealogy, and the area's industry and agriculture. The Society maintains four historic 19th century properties, an archive and library, a museum and runs programs and events related to the history of Geneva and the Finger Lakes area.