Blog » Tag: Karen Osburn

  • Bette Schubert

    August 6th, 2021
    A tribute to Bette Schubert.
  • My Geneva Is …..

    May 7th, 2021
    For the City Historian, Geneva is the people.
  • Zucchini: Its History and Uses

    September 11th, 2020
    An over abundance of zucchini, led to curiosity about its history.
  • Staying At Home

    June 12th, 2020
    The City Historian reflects on staying home during the pandemic.
  • The Romance of Rural Living vs the Reality  

    April 10th, 2020
    The pluses and minuses of living in the country
  • Why Does New York State Have Municipal Historians?

    October 4th, 2019
    The story of why municipal historians were established in New York State
  • Women’s Sports

    July 5th, 2019
    Discussion on the impact of Title IX on young women and sports .
  • Books and Reading

    April 5th, 2019
    An appeal plea to read books, newspapers, or magazines in print or electronic format. 
  • And, what do we have here

    December 7th, 2018
    Is Geneva undergoing gentrification?
  • Deer? Oh Dear!

    October 18th, 2018
    Discussion of white tail deer in the Finger Lakes.
  • Cookbooks Can Tell Many Stories

    September 21st, 2018
    Local history through cookbooks
  • The Finger Lakes: Descriptions for People Who Don’t Know, Aren’t Certain or Have Never Been

    August 24th, 2018
    Finger Lakes 101
  • Meet the Parker Family

    July 27th, 2018
    Brief biography of the Parker family including Ira, Stephen and Edgar Parker
  • Geneva 100 Years Ago

    June 8th, 2018
    Geneva in 1918 through the local newspaper
  • Symbols New and Old in Use in Geneva and Elsewhere

    May 18th, 2018
    Brief history of the use of symbols
  • The Irish in Geneva

    April 20th, 2018
    On the hunt for Irish history in Geneva, New York
  • Notable Geneva Women

    March 16th, 2018
    Overview of notable Geneva women
  • More Notable Genevans

    February 16th, 2018
    Notable people from Geneva's African American community
  • Geneva’s Famous Residents

    February 1st, 2018
    Overview of some of Geneva's famous residents
  • Gift Giving

    December 14th, 2017
    The tradition of gift giving on Christmas.
  • Traditions

    November 22nd, 2017
    Traditions for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day often revolve around food, decorations, and locations.
  • Research Libraries

    October 24th, 2017
    A discussion about public and private research libraries.
  • History is Really About the People

    October 13th, 2017
    It is the people who bring history to life
  • Adobe Houses in Geneva

    August 18th, 2017
    Overview of adobe houses in Geneva, New York.
  • Parting With “Stuff”

    July 21st, 2017
    The trials and tribulations of downsizing.
  • Starting Over

    June 29th, 2017
    Starting over in a new house.
  • Imagine if you were in her shoes….

    May 12th, 2017
    Evolution of women’s rights in the United States
  • Getting Back Our First Names

    April 21st, 2017
    Reclaiming women's first names through the historical record
  • Why a woman’s work is never done!!

    March 17th, 2017
    Discussion on how technology has changed women's work
  • 1907 and the New York Woman Suffrage Association Meeting

    February 24th, 2017
    Brief summary of the 1907 New York Woman Suffrage Association Annual Convention held in Geneva, New York.
  • Give Back to Your Community

    December 8th, 2016
    Advocating the need for volunteers around the community.
  • Autumn in the Finger Lakes

    October 19th, 2016
    An ode to autumn in the Finger Lakes
  • Modesty: Where Have You Gone?!

    September 16th, 2016
    When it comes to clothing and fashion, what does modesty mean.
  • Geneva 15 years ago

    August 19th, 2016
    Reflections on living in Geneva.
  • The Perfect Purse

    July 29th, 2016
    A brief history of purses.
  • Modern Medicine

    June 17th, 2016
    I recently had an opportunity to experience some hand surgery and thought what a different experience citizens of Geneva years ago must have had compared to mine.
  • Exhibits

    May 5th, 2016
    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
  • Yummy, Ice Cream!

    April 15th, 2016
    Let me start by saying that I LOVE Ice Cream! I guess I am not alone, either
  • Oh, those 1960s Cars!

    February 12th, 2016
    I am not a car buff. My vehicle doesn’t have to be sporty, exotic or sexy, but it just needs to get me from my home to my destination safely and comfortably.
  • Remembering the Days of the Neighborhood School

    January 8th, 2016
    In 1960 I was 8 years old. Back then everyone attended the neighborhood elementary school, either public or parochial.
  • 1960s – The Clothing We Wore

    November 20th, 2015
    There were more changes in 1960’s styles than I can begin to talk about here. I was a relatively conservative dresser, in part because my folks exercised control over my choices and my friends were also pretty conservative so there was not much peer pressure with which to deal. Still I remember it as a time of change in styles, rebellion demonstrated through clothing….or sometimes More »
  • Headed to the Drive-in

    October 22nd, 2015
    I love being able to revisit the past and our fundraiser focused on the 1960s (being held in March 2016) is giving me a wonderful opportunity to review one of the most interesting decades I remember.
  • Growing Up in the 1960s

    September 11th, 2015
    The 1960s were a decade that encompassed some of the worst and best events of my young age. Born in 1952, the 1960s covered my life from the ages of 8 to 18. In that time I went from playing with toys to being interested in boys.
  • Carriages and Wagons and Of Course, the Horse

    August 21st, 2015
    Almost everyone who knows me knows I am fascinated by horses. The way they move, how graceful they can be, and the fact that their history is so entwined with that of humans intrigues me.
  • Geneva’s Oldest Burial Grounds

    July 24th, 2015
    One of the oldest burial grounds in Geneva was the Pulteney Street Burial Ground. I say one of the oldest because the first burials appear to have taken place where Trinity Episcopal Church stands today.
  • Do you have …..?

    June 12th, 2015
    “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

    May 15th, 2015
    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!
  • Geneva Food Uncovered

    May 1st, 2015
    Recently a nice article about one of our local restaurants, The Deluxe, was published in the Life in the Finger Lakes magazine’s March/April 2015 issue. The woman, who wrote the article, Margueite Abbott, did a lot of research at the Geneva Historical Society and we have put that information in a file for anyone to look at by coming to our archives. It was a More »
  • March!

    March 13th, 2015
    The month of March is upon us with wildly unpredictable weather. March is the month of wind, sun, snow, rain, sleet, and it usually has a complete temperature rollercoaster. I have a real love/hate affair with March. The days get longer; the sun comes out more and then just as I begin looking for crocuses, daffodils, primroses and violets in the garden we get socked More »
  • Ah, The Movies!!

    February 13th, 2015
    Movies in the 1940s seemed glamorous and provided their viewers with the opportunity to escape from the stress of war, rationing, worry, fear and anger. Ah, the movies. What a wonderful thing they are!
  • Family Memories of War

    January 16th, 2015
    Family stories can still bring World War II to life and make history a personal thing.
  • Christmas Musings

    December 11th, 2014
    What did you ask for on your Christmas list as a child? People who know me well won’t be surprised to know that every year I asked Santa, and later my parents when it became apparent that Santa didn’t get the message, for a pony. I scoured the Christmas “Wish Book” for rocking horses and asking for one of those with the idea that Santa More »
  • Rationing and Recipes

    November 7th, 2014
    When I was in high school girls took “home economics” classes and boys took “shop” classes. I remember coming home from the first cooking class in home economics and showing my mom what foods they were going to teach us to prepare. My mother was not impressed, for that matter I wasn’t either. I only remember 3 or 4 of the recipes, but one was More »
  • World War II in the Eyes of a “Boomer”

    October 13th, 2014
    Since I was born in the early 1950s World War II was very fresh in the memories of my parents and their friends so by process of osmosis I became more familiar with that war than some of the more recent ones during my own life.
  • Marian Cruger Coffin

    September 12th, 2014
    Brief biography of landcape architect Marian Cruger Coffin
  • Festival Time

    August 15th, 2014
    By Karen Osburn, Archivist Cruisin’ Night 2006 It is that time of year again.  Festivals are everywhere.  If there is anyone who can’t find something to do on a weekend in the Finger Lakes they must have their eyes closed and their cell phone glued to their ear.  Just recently in the area surrounding Geneva there was a garlic festival, a sauerkraut festival and the More »
  • Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer

    July 11th, 2014
    Those fans brought to mind the old song about the “Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer” and how very glad I am summer days are here.
  • A “Tisket” a “Tasket” I love my Picnic Basket

    June 13th, 2014
    By Karen Osburn, Archivist As usual, when I write an article I search for something from my own experience as a starting point.  This time it is picnics.  I love picnics, not that I manage to go on many of the stereotypical “tablecloth on the grass picnics”.  I love the image of that type of picnic, but mine seldom work out that way.  I have More »
  • Without a Story it is All Just “Stuff”!

    May 9th, 2014
    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.
  • Looking Back on Chocolate Almond Coffee Cake and Department Stores

    April 11th, 2014
    Brief history of J. W. Smith Dry Goods Co.
  • Reading Old Handwriting

    March 12th, 2014
    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.
  • Thinking Spring

    February 12th, 2014
    An ode to spring
  • Radio in the 1920s

    January 14th, 2014
    Brief history of radio during the 1920s.
  • Clubs, Associations, Organizations: Networking in the 1920s

    December 13th, 2013
    Brief overview of community organizations in Geneva during the 1920s.
  • Grocery Shopping in Geneva 1957

    November 15th, 2013
    Grocery shopping in Geneva in 1957.
  • Garbage

    October 25th, 2013
    History of dumps in Geneva.
  • Crafts Then and Now: Godey’s Ladies Book

    September 13th, 2013
    Chronicling women's handwork through 19th century national magazines and local newspapers.
  • Stain Removal, Now and Then

    August 13th, 2013
    19th century stain removal tips
  • Swine Driver and Pound Keeper for Geneva in 1852

    July 24th, 2013
    Chronicling the problem of loose animals in Geneva, New York during the 1800s through newspapers and government records.
  • Museum Volunteers

    June 14th, 2013
    Ode to the Geneva Historical Society's volunteers
  • “Kid” Collectors

    May 8th, 2013
    Reflections of a collector.
  • So, what does an Archivist really do? (Or Spelunking in the Basement of Doom)

    April 8th, 2013
    Being the archivist for the Geneva Historical Society.
  • From Lake to Table (Fish Dinner from Catch to Table)

    March 15th, 2013
    The Swan family's experience with muskellunge
  • The Helpful Horse

    February 11th, 2013
    The rise of the automobile and the decline of using horses for transportation in Geneva, New York.
  • Will Your History Be A Mystery?

    January 16th, 2013
    Tips on preserving personal photos and documents
For more posts, please choose from the categories on the left.