Events

Oppression of the Oppressed is presented by Robin Caudell, award-winning journalist and videographer and staff writer at the Press Republican. For the past seven years, Robin Caudell ‘s back-burner book simmered about abolitionist martyr John Brown's memory and legacy in the Adirondacks. Placing him in the context of the Underground Railroad in the Borderlands, this presentation examines oppression of the oppressed and the adoption, captivity, and slavery practices of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Western Abenaki before, during, and after European contact. This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts.

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‍Join us!!

Our program opens with coffee and donuts at 9 am.

Morning presentation:

The Canadian Amended Citizenship ActC-3 with Canadian Immigration lawyer David Gervais.

In December 2025, Canada amended its Citizenship Act C-3 removing the “first generation limit” that had previously blocked Canadian citizens born abroad from passing citizenship to their children also born abroad. Mr. Gervais will provide an overview of the amended law and how it applies to Americans and go step by step through the process using an application he is currently making on behalf of a California resident with ancestors from Quebec.

Noon: bring your lunch and tour the NNYACGS Library.

Afternoon presentation:

Beyond the Orphan Trains: Life Journeys After the Home for the Friendless and Children’s Home of Northern New York, Plattsburgh, 1874–1967‍

What became of the North Country children who passed through Plattsburgh's Home for the Friendless of Northern New York — the two boys placed on an Orphan Train to NYC then on to Kansas in 1883, the three Mooers siblings who rode the rails to Missouri after being surrendered following their mother's sudden death in 1928, or young Rita, who recounted going to the Children's Home alongside her siblings in a life-history interview decades later? These children's families shared a common thread: roots that stretched across both sides of the Quebec–New York border, where French-Canadian and American lives were deeply intertwined. Join presenter Beth Ivimey, NNYACGS member, as she traces these deeply personal journeys with their families across poorhouses, orphan trains, and institutions from Plattsburgh and beyond — and reveals what the records show about the children that history nearly forgot. If your family tree reaches into Clinton County, Northern NewYork, or across the border into Quebec, you may discover a connection you never expected.

Between 9 and 3 pm:

The Village of Dannemora Museum is located next to the NNYACGS Library. The museum contains information and artifacts from the local history, history of Clinton Correctional Facility, and more. 

Also available will be special sales on reference books and information tables hosted by the Saranac Chapter, NSDAR and the Clinton County Historical Association. Contact NNYACGS President Pat Buckley for more information: call 518-593-2271 or email nnyacgs@gmail.com

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Join CCHA Tour guides Maribeth Dunajski and Richard Caudell for a 1.5 hour narrated walking tour of Peace Point and the Historic District with historic photos letting you visually compare today to the past. The tour begins at the Commemoration Bridge at the foot of Green Street and covers the history of the city and the Plattsburgh Train Depot ending with a walk to the historic Peace Point.  Call 518-561-0340 to register. Walk-ons also welcome. Free and open to the public. 

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Focusing on the architecture and importance of Plattsburgh buildings destroyed by fire or willful act, and picking up where Allan Everest left off in Our North Country Heritage (1972), the presentation discusses how their loss has left a lamentable gap in our nineteenth and twentieth century history. With Dr. James M. Lindgren,Professor Emeritus, SUNY, Dept. of History

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