Latest Dispatch & History Cats

by William P. Tatum III, Ph.D., Dutchess County Historian

The latest installment of the Dutchess History Dispatch is now online (click here). One of our featured announcements is for the Poughkeepsie Public Library District’s Local History Blog, which is one of several initiatives launched by the brilliant local history room staff.

In the Dispatch, we feature this photo as the announcement image, both because I love cats and because cats are nature’s #1 attention grabbers:

In the interests of accurate reporting, I must confess that the blog entry from which this image originates, Fun with Family Photo Albums, is not solely dedicated to feline friends.

As the title suggests, the PPLD local history blog post examines one of the family photo albums in deposit at the Local History Room in the Adriance Library on Market Street in Poughkeepsie. A product of the Konsier and Russell Families, who had a Poughkeepsie-Staatsburg connection, the album contains a treasure trove of views. Photographs range in topic from family members and pets to iconic historical structures, some of which have been lost to time. In the blog post, you’ll find interesting views of the 1888 Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge (now the Walkway Over The Hudson) and the Adriance Library. The post also features shots of St. Margaret’s Church and the long-disappeared Dinsmore Mansion in Staatsburg.

Check out the PPLD local history blog for the shots and schedule a visit for the post-COVID period to see the album in person. The Local History Room at the Adriance Library is a great first-stop for any Dutchess History researcher. A big thanks to Library District Director and City of Poughkeepsie Historian Tom Lawrence, Local History Librarian Kira Thompson, and Local History Staff Member Shannon Butler (who is also the Town of Hyde Park Historian).