AIHA CELEBRATES ARCHAEOLOGY MONTH (OCTOBER) 

The Albany Institute of History & Art is celebrating Archaeology Month with a closer look at what is beneath the surface of modern-day Albany with a series of lectures by Hartgen Archaeological Associates and the exhibition, Albany Underfoot: Archaeology in the City.

For two consecutive Thursdays during the month of October, from 6:30 – 8:30pm, the public is invited to slide-illustrated talks on local projects presented by Hartgen staff archaeologists and hosted by J. William Bouchard.  These lectures are FREE to the public and will be preceded by light refreshments. Topics include:

Thursday, October 3:Andre Krievs will present Public Archeology for Public Television: CRM, PBS, and FCR at the WMHT Site in North Greenbush and Adam Luscier will present, A Learning Experience: Precontact Sites at the DEC Five Rivers Environmental Education Center.

Thursday, October 10: Walter R. Wheeler will present From the Ground Up: Reconstruction of Three Urban House Types in Albany and Kevin Moody will present “...Not from Caprice or Ostentation...”: The Albany Female Academy, 1813-1821.

Thursday, October 17: Justin DiVirgilio will present “Still” Crazy After All These Years: The Rum Distillery at Quackenbush Square and Matthew Kirk will present Making Tracks: The Archeology of America’s Pioneering Railroad, The Mohawk and Hudson.

In addition to the lecture series, Albany Underfoot, on exhibition at the Albany Institute until March 2, 2003, examines a selection of artifacts and the stories they tell from four local sites: the Vereberg Tavern site, an 18th -19th century rural tavern/homesite that served as a stopping point between Albany and Schenectady; the Fondey site, an urban warehouse that was destroyed in a fire in 1797, located in downtown Albany on Broadway; a boarding house at 40 Howard Street from the mid-19th century that hosted middle- and lower-class temporary residents in an urban residential setting and the Yates-Lansing site , the urban homesite of Abraham Yates, Jr., the great political leader of late 18^th century Albany, and his daughter’s family.