A is for Albany

Albany had the same mayor, Erastus Corning 2nd, for over 40 years, from 1941 until his death in 1983.

Albany, New York has a long history, going back to at least 1624, when it was called Fort Orange, then later Beverwyck, under Dutch rule. From the city’s webpage: “In 1664 when the Dutch surrendered to the British without a battle, King Charles II granted territory… to his royal brother James, the Duke of both York and Albany. Thus Beverwyck became Albany and New Amsterdam became New York… It was on July 22, 1686, that Governor Thomas Dongan representing the British crown granted a charter recognizing Albany as a city.” It became the permanent capital of New York State in 1797.

As a city on the Hudson River, the city was important in trade. That song The Erie Canal has a line about it running “from Albany to Buffalo.”

One of the more controversial situations in 20th century Albany history was the razing of dozens of buildings to build the South Mall. It changed the skyline but cut off one side of the city from the other.

My own history in Albany, I believe, started in 1970. I was selected to participate in something called The Governor’s Conference on Children and Youth. I flew with a half dozen other people from Binghamton to Albany, only 150 miles away, in a little plane, maybe a 12-seater, during a thunderstorm; I was terrified. I did, however, get to meet Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

I moved from New Paltz, my college town, to Schenectady, not far from Albany, at the end of 1977, and then to Albany in August 1979.

I must admit that sometimes Albany can be quite parochial. I blame it in part on a long series of one-party rule, the Republicans around the turn of the 20th century, but the Democrats since the early 1920s. Albany had the same mayor, Erastus Corning 2nd, for over 40 years, from 1941 until his death in 1983.

I noted here that most folks have to be here 30 years before one’s REALLY from Albany. One somewhat derisive term for the place is Smallbany, which basically means that folks you meet in one set of circumstances you’d likely run into another. There’s a certain snarkiness by Albanians about the city touting the fact that it is about equidistant to NYC and Boston, rather than discussing the city’s many virtues, including two universities, one of which I attended.

ABC Wednesday – Round 12

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

27 thoughts on “A is for Albany”

  1. Albany was one of my favorite places for lobbying. Easy access to all reps. Once, State Sen. Dale Volker had promised a meeting with a bunch of kids we’d bussed in from Buffalo (loooong ride, that). When we got there, “Senator Volker is in an important meeting about Homeland SEcurity.” (Yeah, he’s THAT important.)

    I told the kids, “We can’t see Senator Volker right now, but come on in and look at this office.” Suddenly there were fifteen or so middle-schoolers, mostly kids of color, running amok, TOUCHING THINGS. The staff were scared to death of the inner-city youth, which made me laugh. We never saw him, and all of us (kids included) wrote him a scolding letter about keeping promises.

    I think Q’iana’s gum is still under the receptionist’s desk. Amy

  2. Interesting post about Albany. I didn’t know some of the interesting history you gave us and add interest for it to have personal history in your life.

  3. Flying in a small 12-seater and then meeting Governor Nelson Rockefeller AS a scholar… I knew you were awesome!!!!

  4. I hope you don’t personally know any “Albanians” as they might take offense at your reference to “snarkiness.” lol

    Leslie
    abcw team

  5. When my family first moved to Muncie, hardly anyone was born here; a good amount moved here for the big factories from Tennessee and Kentucky. That’s no longer true, of course, since factories have closed.

  6. I have cousins that live in Ghent, but that’s as close to Albany as I’ve ever been. FYI, I’m sitting this round out but plan to pop in every week to see what you come up with! 🙂

  7. quite an interesting post about Albany.
    just recently, i learned from a local game show that the Rockefeller Foundation provided significant funding to the International Rice Research Institute, located here in Laguna province.

  8. You are a true educator, always giving us good information. Your smalbany moniker reminded me of ours: St Paul Small, because everyone knows everyone else…or so it seems. Kate, ABC Team

  9. Nil points for geography for me, I thought Albany was a suburb of New York, must have been that skyline. I liked the photo of Mayor Corning et al on the link, it fits nicely to all the elements of your post.

  10. The Dutch still lament centuries later about their most grievous error to trade New Amsterdam for (now) Surinam, or Dutch Guyana!
    Even though I’ve never been in that area, I can imagine that it was largely Republican, because middle and upper class Dutchmen would be of a similar world view (beyond political!) as that of the Republicans.Also, it’s in the nature of the Dutch to hold on to the same for a very looong time!
    Can you tell, I’m Dutch, lol!

  11. What a great history of Albany. Have driven through but never really stopped. Will have to do that next summer.

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