Upcoming Events and Programs

New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center
Upcoming Events and Programs

Reception set at Military Museum for 'Coming Home' Painting
Artwork by Saratoga Springs Artist Honors Area Servicemembers

SARATOGA SPRINGS NEW YORK , NY (07/23/2010)(readMedia)-- Members of the public are invited to a reception next Friday, July 30 at the New York Military Museum and Veterans Research Center in Saratoga Springs to mark the museum's latest exhibit, a painting by a local artist called "Coming Home."

"Coming Home" is an original painting from Saratoga Springs-based artist, Rumara Jewett. It is 72 by 80 inches, oil on canvas depicting a homecoming parade for local members of each of the nation's service branches and is currently on display at the museum through the summer.

Participating in the reception and included in the painting is Lieutenant Colonel Robert Mitchell who commands the New York Army National Guard's 501st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Battalion based in Scotia and Col. Kim Terpening, formerly of the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing in Scotia and now serving on assignment with the Air National Guard at Andrews Air Force Base in MD.

The painting can be viewed here:http://www.rumara.com/

The reception will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm and the artist will be joined by many of the military models who posed for the painting. Admission is free and open to the public.

For additional information, contact the DMNA public affairs office at (518) 786-4581 or Mr. Michael Aikey, director of the NYS Military Museum in Saratoga Springs at (518) 581-5101.

New York State Military Museum Shares in Award with Saratoga Springs Library
Honoring Saratoga Veterans website Recognized by History Channel
by New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs

LATHAM, NY (07/14/2010)(readMedia)-- An online project created by the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center and the Saratoga Springs Public Library has won one of two First Prize awards in a contest sponsored by the History Channel.

Honoring Saratoga Veterans, a page available at the library website, features interviews with six Saratoga County residents who served in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and Iraq. The videos, recorded as part of the museum's Veterans Oral History Program, help tell the story of Saratoga residents in America's wars.

The webpage can be seen here: http://www.sspl.org/research/local_history/veterans

The History Channel prize, awarded in conjunction with the Institute for Museum and Library Services, recognizes libraries which created local programs, exhibits or media projects to tell about the role of their communities in the larger American story.

The contest was created in conjunction with the History Channel series: "America: The Story of Us."

"The New York State Military Museum is honored to share this nationally important award with the Saratoga Springs Public Library, " said Museum Director Michael Aikey. "This successful collaborative effort between the library and the state's military museum is a terrific use of interviews from the museum's Veteran Oral History Program."

"The partnership between the library and the military museum illustrates the importance of the Veteran Oral History Program in documenting a New York State community's participation in one of our country's greatest conflicts," Aikey said.

The contest was open to libraries around the country recognized 13 winners, which shared $35,000 in prize money.

The Grand Prize Winner-the Lower Macungie Library in Macungie, PA-received a $15,000 prize for an exhibit on the impact of the Apollo 13 flight, on the local community.

The Saratoga Springs Public Library will receive $5,000 in prize money which library director Issac Pulver says will be shared by the museum. The other First Prize Winner was the Erie Community Library of Erie, Colorado, with a project called " Erie: From Working Coal Town to Suburban Boom Town."

Ten second prize winning libraries received ten $1,000 prizes.

The New York State Military museum houses over 10,000 artifacts dating from the Revolutionary War to the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that relate to New York State's military forces, the state's military history and the contributions of New York's veterans. The artifacts include uniforms, weapons, artillery pieces, and art. A significant portion of the museum's collection is from the Civil War.

The museum also owns the largest collection of state battle flags in the country and the largest collection of Civil War flags in the world. Of the over 1700 flags in the collection, more than 60% are from the Civil War.

The library and archive holdings in the Veterans Research Center include a 2000 volume library of military and New York State history, over 6,000 photographs, unit history files, broadsides, scrapbooks, letters and maps.

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