Dutchess County Historical Society Yearbook Vol 059 1974

A LOCAL HISTORY CENTER IN DUTCHESS COUNTY

by Jesse Effron "To learn the abstractions of history and never to learn the concrete reality is to throw away local bread under the impression that imported stones are more nourishing."

Lewis Mumford, Amenia, N.Y., in an address to the Dutchess County Historical Society "If we understand that something more than antiquarianism is needed to give us a rounded picture of man in his environment, even though that environment be nothing more than a village of five hundred souls, we have gone far along the right road to the frame of reference which embraces mankind itself."

George Roach, Rhinebeck, N.Y., in an article: Final Report: Historical Records Survey in Upstate New York.

The mid-Hudson Valley has provided a natural setting of transcendent beauty for some of the most significant events and movements in American history. One cannot explore the Revolution, the Constitution, American art, architecture, horticulture, literature, sports, business or education without quickly finding oneself in the Hudson Valley, and quite likely in Dutchess County. Indeed, the names of Hudson Valley residents evoke every facet of American achievement from the 18th century to the present day. (As a curious aside, it is interesting to recall that in 1944 the American people were given a choice of two Dutchess County residents for President.) But local history is not concerned only with those who have achieved success and recognition. There have been countless figures of lesser frame whose fascinating personalities and careers typify the variety of American life.

Yet there is no museum or local history center for the mid-Hudson Valley. In a sense, this spirit of self denigration is a part of local history that requires explanation.

Lewis Mumford has said that you don't have to see the state markers to know when you are passing from Connecticut to New York State. On the occasion when he made that remark he was suggesting no invidious comparison, but one does not have to be unusually sensitive to notice that the difference does not flatter New York State.

The time is now ripe for the establishment of a center of local history in Poughkeepsie. This institution, concerning itself at first with Dutchess County would naturally and inevitably expand to become the chief center for collecting materials on the whole mid-Hudson Valley and would serve and attract scholars as well as general public interested in art, architecture, politics and literature, indeed, all aspects of life in the Hudson Valley.

Scholars in the colleges would use such a center, as would their students. So would teachers on the high school and elementary school level. Genealogists, antiquarians, newspaper reporters, free-lance writers, city planners, environmentalists 26