LIGHT ON NEW NETHERLAND

 a traveling exhibit produced by the New Netherland Institute

Light on New Netherland, a traveling exhibition of first-class quality, will be shown throughout the former New Netherland area and beyond, and will ultimately become a part of the permanent exhibit of New York City's New Amsterdam History Center. Its content goes far beyond what is currently offered on the subject in schools and presents material not readily available to the average person. No other institution to our knowledge has developed an exhibition on the scope of the seventeenth-century Dutch in the New World, from Connecticut to Delaware, including Beverwijck and New Amsterdam.

Designed by Adirondack Studios of Argyle, NY, and curated by Robert E. Mulligan, retired history curator at the New York State Museum, this two-dimensional panel exhibit encompasses about 1200 square feet of space and consists of fourteen free-standing, double-sided panels that are hinged together in two units. Each panel measures 4ft x 8ft and contains text and 2 – 3 graphics on a single topic.

Panel topics include:

• Introduction, Patria, Seaborn Empire, Ships and Sailing, the Atlantic world, the West India Company, and New Netherland
• New Amsterdam, Fort Nassau, Fort Orange and Beverwijck, Patroons, Wiltwijck, Long Island, New England, New Sweden, and Schenectady
• Zeewant, Agriculture, Personalities (Hudson, Minuit, Stuyvesant), the People of New Netherland, Family Life, Religion, Slavery, the Fur Trade, Relations with the Indians, Education, and the Dutch Legacy.

Many of the illustrations are the work of Len Tantillo, the premier artist of New Netherland.

All venues will be supplied with a list of Suggested Readings and other information for educational programming. A 15- minute video, a shortened version of Uncovering America's Forgotten Colony: the New Netherland Project, accompanies the exhibit, as well as a publication entitled Dutch Renaissance: The Story of the New Netherland Project, by Peter A. Douglas, Senior Librarian at the New York State Talking Book and Braille Library of the New York State Library, and co-editor for the New Netherland Institute's quarterly newsletter De Nieuw Nederlandse Marcurius, accompanies the exhibit, as does a bibliography.

In addition to the scheduled venues, the following is under consideration:

The Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum, Brooklyn, NY

The rental fee, which covers transportation to and from each venue as well as insurance throughout, is $ 5,000.

• All venues will be supplied with bibliographies and other information for education programming
• All text copy is in English
• Renderings of some of the panels can be provided electronically

To have the exhibit Light on New Netherland travel to your area, please contact James F. Sefcik, 2009 Project Coordinator, New Netherland Institute, at jsefcik@mail.nysed.gov / jfssrny@yahoo.com. Call 518-783-4251 or 504-508-1476 (Cell).