The Fall 2016 Lyceum lecture series at the Whallonsburg Grange Hall will focus on how people have shaped the landscape through work, recreation, conflict and experiences. “Living on This Land” features six presentations that will look at different aspects of how humans — through our lives and actions — impact and change where we live. The lectures are on Tuesday nights at 7:30 and a $5 donation is requested (students free).

The weekly series begins on Tuesday, September 27 with “Growing Up at the Grange.” Lakes to Locks Heritage Director Margaret Gibbs will moderate a conversation with three local residents who grew up in this rural community and were active in the Grange beginning in the 1940s.

The five presentations that follow are:

• October 4 Place of Resources, Labor, and Refuge: A History of Iroquoian and Algonquian Peoples’ Occupation in the Adirondacks. Speaker is Melissa Otis, post-doctoral fellow at Carleton University in Ottawa.
• October 11 Mapping the Landscape: Understanding Changes to the Land Through Cartographic Evidence. Speaker is Todd Goff, local historian and researcher.
• October 18 Country Riding: Cyclists’ Rural Rambles, 1880 to 1900. Speaker is Bob McCullough, Professor of Historic Preservation at the University of Vermont.
• October 25 The Landscape of Crown Point: An Overview and Recent Discoveries. Speaker: Michael Roets, Manager of the Crown Point Historic Site
• November 1 Essex County’s Immigrants: Names, Places & Stories. Speaker is Amy Godine, historian, author and longtime contributor to Adirondack Life magazine.

Lyceums flourished in the US in the 19th century, and were a feature of community life in the Champlain Valley from the 1850s. The Grange Lyceum was launched in 2010 and continues the tradition of bringing lectures, debates and classes to educate and engage a broad adult audience. More information about the lectures and presenters is on the Lyceum page at www.thegrangehall.info.

The Grange is located at 1610 NYS Route 22 in Whallonsburg, New York, 5 miles south of the Essex ferry dock. For more information, visit www.thegrangehall.info or call 518-963-4170.

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