Dr. Gerald Zahavi

 

 

Department of History Social Science 060R University at Albany, State University of New York Albany, New York 12222 Phone: (518) 442-5427 E-mail: [email protected]

[Updated:9-19-2023]

SHORT BIO:

      I'm a professor of History and Director of the Documentary Studies Program at the University at Albany, State University of New York, where I have been since 1985. I completed my undergraduate education at Cornell (with a BA in European Intellectual History), and received my MA (in European Cultural History) and Ph.D. from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University (the latter with a specialization in modern U.S. economic, social, and labor history).

      From a fairly young age, while attending White Plains High School, I became interested in audio, radio, multimedia, and film production – including 16mm filmmaking, concert recording, sound and slide shows, and theatrical soundcraft (in fact, I headed my High School theater department's sound crew). While I put these interests aside as I worked toward my doctorate in history, they never left me. In 1996, perhaps reflecting my long-term interest in the use of media – old and new – to communicate history to a wide audience (I was very frustrated by how insular my field had become, with professors essentially writing for other professors), I founded Talking History, an aural history production center with a weekly FM radio program that was broadcast over the Internet (www.talkinghistory.org) for almost two decades (till 2016). A year later, in 1997, I co-founded the Journal for MultiMedia History, and in 2006 – after close to three years of effort – I helped establish an interdisciplinary Documentary Studies Program at the University at Albany, a program which I now direct. I also helped inaugurate, in 2009, an innovative History and Media M.A. track within our History department that offered research and production training for history graduate students interested in cutting-edge work in history and hypermedia authoring, photography and photoanalysis, documentary video/filmmaking, oral/video history, and aural history and audio documentary production; that track has since been incorporated into our broader Public History Program.

     At the University at Albany, I teach courses in documentary studies, oral/video history, public history, quantitative methods for historians, historical radio/audio documentary production, film/video documentary production, as well as U.S. social and economic history, American labor and modern U.S. business history, U.S. local and regional history, and a number of general American. history courses.

     My academic research interests are diverse. They focus on such topics as: welfare capitalism; the history of General Electric (projects include an oral history of the corporation and the GE Research Laboratory, as well as a documentary on the history of GE); labor and political radicalism in modern America; Cold War science and politics; and oral/aural history.

     I'm the author of Workers, Managers, and Welfare Capitalism: The Shoemakers and Tanners of Endicott Johnson, 1890-1950 (University of Illinois Press, 1988) and a number of articles on the history of labor and radicalism – as well as the producer and audio engineer of a 2-CD oral history of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. I've also been heavily involved in several document and media preservation and publication projects, serving as the editor of over half-a-dozen labor and business history related microform publications. I'm nearing the completion of another book on the local and regional history of American communism titled Embers on the Land; several chapters have already been published as articles ( one was the cover article of an issue of The Journal of American History and a second won the Frederick C. Luebke Award for the best article of the year published in The Great Plains Quarterly as well as the Western History Association's Ray Allen Billington Award for best article of the year on Western history). As a media producer for over twenty years, I was engaged weekly in the production of broadcast content – including radio segments of Talking History. I now consult for North Country Public Radio. Most recently -- since 2016 -- I have been heavily involved in museum work as a member of the Executive Committee of the Essex County Historical Society & Adirondack History Museum -- working as co-curator on a variety of museum exhibits, as media consultant, and as oral/video history project director.

      On a personal note: I have a carpentry shop and a recording studio/production center at my home in the Adirondack Mountains, near Elizabethtown, New York, where I work on various non-academic and academic projects. My hobbies include carpentry, electronics – including building and repairing computers, painting, guitar, poetry & song writing, photography and cinematography, kayaking, sailing, fly fishing and fly tying, and hiking.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

CURRICULUM VITAE

TEACHING AND RESEARCH AREAS:

·        Modern U.S. Labor, Business, and Social History
·        U.S. Local and Regional History
·        Digital History
·        Computing and Quantitative/Statistical Methods in History
·        Oral and Videohistory
·        Media and History
·        Documentary Studies (film, radio, photography, hypermedia, text/narrative)
·        New York State History

EARNED DEGREES / EDUCATION:

·        Syracuse University (Maxwell School): Ph.D. in Modern U.S. Social and Labor History, December, 1983. [Minors: Afro-American History; Modern European Social and Intellectual History; Early American Intellectual History]. Dissertation: “Workers, Managers, and Welfare Capitalism: The Shoeworkers and Tanners of Endicott Johnson, 1880-1950.” Winner of the 1984 Syracuse University Doctoral Prize. Advisors: Prof. David H. Bennett and William C. Stinchcombe.

·        Syracuse University (Maxwell School): M.A. in Modern European Social and Cultural History, 1978. Advisors: Cissie C. Fairchilds and Robert J. Bezucha.

·        Cornell University (College of Arts and Sciences): B.A. in Modern European History (concentration in European Intellectual History), 1973. Advisors: Dominick LaCapra.and Edward W. Fox.

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION:

·        Certificate in Documentary Film Production, Maine Media Workshops, Rockport, Maine. Summer, 2005.
·       Certificate in Digital Video Editing, Maine Media Workshops, Rockport, Maine. Summer, 2007.

EDUCATIONAL EMPLOYMENT:

·        Director, Documentary Studies Program, University at Albany, State University of New York, 2006-present.
·        Director, Public History Program, University at Albany, State University of New York, 2014-2016.
·        Professor. University at Albany, State University of New York. 2002-present.

·        Associate Professor. University at Albany, State University of New York. 1991-2002.
·        Assistant Professor. University at Albany, State University of New York. 1985-1991
·        Faculty Adjunct. Syracuse University. 1984-85.
·        Visiting Assistant Professor. Syracuse University. 1984.  

SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES:

Books:

·        Workers, Managers, and Welfare Capitalism: The Shoemakers and Tanners of Endicott Johnson, 1890-1950. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1988. [261 pp]. Now available on line at: http://ejhistory.org/.

Books / Documentary Projects [in progress and under contract]:

·    "Red Montana." Video and WWW documentary . [In post-production]. Based on my award-winning article, "Who's Going to Dance With Somebody Who Calls You a Mainstreeter": Communism, Culture, and Community in Sheridan County, Montana, 1918-1934," The Great Plains Quarterly, 16 (Fall/Winter 1996): 251-286. Winner of the Frederick C. Luebke Award for the best article of the year published in The Great Plains Quarterly; also winner of the 1997 Western History Association's Ray Allen Billington Award for best article of the year on Western history. Funding from the University at Albany and Humanities Montana.
·     Embers on the Land: Local and Regional Studies in Culture, Community, and Communism, 1918-1955. Under contract with the University of North Carolina Press.
·      The Open Hand of Capital: Welfare Capitalism in 20th Century America. Under contract with Ivan R. Dee Press/Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group (part of the American Ways series).
·        From Alabama to the Adirondacks: The Life and Times of Robert F. Hall. [With John Tisdale, Associate Director, Schieffer School of Journalism]. Under contract with the University of Georga Press. A biographical and autobiographical volume containing the oral memoirs and autobiographical writings of Robert F. Hall, former district organizer of the American Communist Party in the South, and later an avid conservationist and newspaperman in the Adirondacks (he founded Adirondack Life). Based on Hall's private papers and extensive oral interviews conducted from 1989 through 1992.

CD/DVD Productions:

·        The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University: An Oral History, 1949-1999. Audio CD (2 CD set). Producer and audio editor/engineer. Columbia University, 1999.

Articles/Chapters/Short Publications:

·    "Oral History in the Digital Era: Notes from the Field," in Mary Larson and Douglas Boyd, eds., Oral History and Digital Humanities: Voice, Access, and Engagement. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
·    "Ensinando História Pública No Século XXI,” in Juniele Rabêlo de Almeida e Marta Gouveia de Oliveira Rovai, eds., Introdução à História Pública. Sao Paulo: Letra e Voz, 2011.
·        "Teaching Global and Comparative Public History," with on-line bibliography. Public History News, National Council on Pubic History. Vol. 31, no. 2 (March, 2011).
·        "The Cold War and Labor: Frank Fiorello" in Chapter 4: 1945-65, of the oral history reader Speaking History: the American Past through Oral Histories, 1865-present, edited by Sue Armitage and Laurie K. Mercier (Palgrave, 2010).
·        "Uncivil War: An Oral History of Labor, Communism, and Community in Schenectady, New York, 1944-54." Chapter in Labor and the Cold War at the Grassroots: Unions, Politics, and Postwar Political Culture. Edited by Robert W. Cherny, Bill Issel, and Kerry Taylor. Rutgers University Press, 2004.
·        Helen Quirini, Helen Qurini and General Electric: A Personal Memoir of World War II, (self-published by Quirini, 1997)   (editorial assistance by Gerald Zahavi).  Helen Quirini's WWII Memoir.
 ·        “The Trial of Lee Benson: Communism, White Chauvinism, and the Foundations of the 'New Political History'." History and Theory (October 2003).  
·        Co-author, with Susan McCormick, "Digital Scholarship, Peer Review, and Hiring, Promotion and Tenure: A Case Study of The Journal for MultiMedia History," chapter in Digital Scholarship in the Tenure, Promotion, and Review Process: A Primer (M.E. Sharpe, 2003).
·        "Who's Going to Dance With Somebody Who Calls You a Mainstreeter": Communism, Culture, and Community in Sheridan County, Montana, 1918-1934" The Great Plains Quarterly, 16 (Fall/Winter 1996): 251-286. Winner of the Frederick C. Luebke Award for the best article of the year published in The Great Plains Quarterly; also winner of the 1997 Western History Association's Ray Allen Billington Award for best article of the year on Western history.
·        "Passionate Commitments: Race, Sex, and Communism at Schenectady General Electric, 1932-1954." The Journal of American History, 83 (Sept. 1996): 514-48.
·        Introduction ("The Research Value of Business Records") to Documenting Change: Industry and Business in Troy and Rensselaer, NY: 1945 to the Present, Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, N.Y., 1996. [1-2]. [Copy available at http://www.rchsonline.org/ind-biz.htm].
·       "Comment" on the Enola Gay Exhibition at the Smithsonian, The Journal of American History. Vol. 81 (Dec., 1995).
·        "Fighting Left-Wing Unionism: Voices from the Opposition to the IFLWU in Fulton County, New York," in Steven Rosswurm, ed., The CIO's Left-Led Unions (a Volume in the Class and Culture Series, Milton Cantor and Bruce Laurie, series editors). Rutgers University Press, 1992. [pp. 159-81 & notes].
·        “‘Communism is No Bug-A-Boo’: Communism and Left-Wing Unionism in Fulton County, New York, 1933-1950.” Labor History 33 (Spring, 1992): 165-89.
·        "Negotiated Loyalty: Welfare Capitalism and the Shoeworkers of Endicott Johnson, 1920-1940," The Journal of American History 70 (Dec., 1983): 602-20. 

Articles/Chapters [under revision for publication]:

·        "The Aural and Visual Dimensions of Corporate Culture Building: General Electric’s Association Island, 1906-1956" [text and hypermedia article; includes analytical textual analysis, archival film excerpts, oral histories, photographs]. Draft available on line until recently; now under preparation for formal publication.

Long Term Publication Projects:

·       General Electric and the World. A history of the General Electric Corporation. This project encompasses many of my oral history, research, and archival projects of the last decade (see above and below); it will culminate in a three-volume history of the corporation (vol 1, 1880s-1922; vol. 2, 1922-1961; vol. 3, 1961-present), a comprehensive multimedia Web site and virtual museum on GE history, and a multi-part audio documentary series.
·        A Community of Capital: An Oral History of the General Electric Company. A history of the General Electric Corporation as told by the managers, engineers, scientists, and blue- and pink-collar workers who built and sustain it.

Museum Exhibits/Public History Projects:

·       "'Gone Fishin' ~ A History of Fishing in the Adirondacks." Curator. Exhibit overview: With more than 3,000 lakes and ponds, and 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, the Adirondacks have drawn anglers to the region for hundreds of years. From the first visitations and settlements of Native Americans, to the annual sojourn of tourists and fishing enthusiasts, to satisfying the food and recreational needs of residents, fishing has always played a vital role in the economy and culture of the Adirondacks. In this exhibit, we explore the history of fishing in the Adirondack Mountains from the pre-Colonial era to the present, with a special emphasis on Essex County - focusing on the natural and human transformation of Adirondack lake, river, and stream fisheries as well as the science, art, and traditions of sport fishing in the region. Adirondack History Museum. (2020-2021).
·       "Women and the Temperance Movement," Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. Summer 2019. Designer, researcher, writer.
·       Summer 2019 Film Series. Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. Planner and curator.
·       "Adirondack Suffragists: Celebrating 100 Years of Votes for Women." Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. Summer 2017. Co-designer, researcher, writer, and co-producer with Margaret Bartley. Updated -- phase 2 (summer, 2018) -- Suffrage, Women, and the Peace Movement.
·       World War I Film Series. Summer 2018. Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. Planner and curator.
·       "A History of Hiking in the Adirondack High Peaks." Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. Phase 1 formally opened May 2018. A permanent exhibit exploring the history of hiking in the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains of New York from the colonial era to the present. The project highlights the exploration, early surveying and mapping of the region, the development of the area's trail system(s), the various organizations and individuals who helped define and preserve the region's wilderness character, and the NYS agencies and individuals who help manage it. Co-producer, researcher, and writer -- with Sharp Swan and Museum Director Aurora McCaffrey.
·      Suffragist Film Series. Summer 2017. Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. Planner and coordinator.
·      Pleasant Valley Theater. Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. Elizabethtown, New York. Designer and construction coordinator of the theater.

Encyclopedia and Reference Publications:

·        The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Business, Labor, and Economic History. Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

-      Welfare Capitalism
-      Shoe Industry
-      General Electric

·        New York State Encyclopedia. (Syracuse University Press. 2005).

-       Communists
-       Association Island 
-       International Union of Electrical Workers (IUE) 
-       Charles P. Steinmetz
-      General Electric
-      General Electric Research Laboratory
-       Endicott Johnson Corporation"
-       Boots and Shoes
-       Cold War in New York State

·        Encyclopedia of US Labor and Workingclass History (Routledge, 2006).

-      West, Donald
-      International Fur and Leather Workers Union
-      Trade Union Unity League
-      Foster, William Z.
-      Employee Representation Plans/Company Unions
-      Welfare Capitalism

Book and Media Reviews:

  
·   Review of Studs Terkel Radio Archive. The Oral History Review, Vol. 46, issue 2, Summer /Fall 2019, pp 444-47.
·   Review of Michael Zakim, Accounting for Capitalism: The World the Clerk Made. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018, in The Journal of American History. ol. 106, Issue 2, Sept., 2019.
·    Review of John Biewen and Alexa Dilworth, eds., Reality Radio. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2010, in Oral History Review, Volume 39, Number 1, Winter/Spring 2012 pp. 182-185.
·    Review of Mickey Friedman, A Red Family: Junius, Gladys, and Barbara Scales. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009, in Oral History Review, Volume 38, Number 2, Summer/Fall 2011.
·      Exhibition Review, "'Action, and Action Now.’ FDR's First Hundred Days.”William J. vanden Heuvel Gallery, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Journal of American History 95:3 (Dec., 2008).
·        Review of James R. Barrett, William Z. Foster and the Tragedy of American Radicalism, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999, in American Communist History (July 2004).
·        Review of Charles Perrow, Organizing America: Wealth, Power, and the Origins of Corporate Capitalism, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002, in The American Historical Review (April, 2004).
·        Review of Stephen H. Norwood, Strikebreaking & Intimidation: Mercenaries and Masculinity in Twentieth-Century America, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002, in New York History (Winter, 2003).
·        Review of Cecelia Bucki, Bridgport's Socialist New Deal, 1915-36. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2001, in The Journal of American History (March , 2003).
·        Review of Laurie Mercier, Anaconda: Labor, Community, and Culture in Montana's Smelter City. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2001, in Indiana Magazine of History (Spring, 2003).
·        Review of Joseph Dorman's film, Arguing the World. First Run Features. 109 Minutes, Color & B/W. 1997. For Oral History Review, 2002.
·        Review of Stephen B. Adams and Orville R. Butler, Manufacturing the Future: A History of Western Electric. Cambridge University Press, in Enterprise and Society 1 (March 2000): 229-31.
·        Review of Sanford M. Jacoby, Modern Manors: Welfare Capitalism Since the New Deal. Princeton University Press, 1998, in The Journal of American History, (Sept. 1999): 162.
·        Review of Gloria Garrett Samson, The American Fund for Public Service: Charles Garland and Radical Philanthropy, 1922-1941. Greenwood Press, 1996, in International Labor and Working-Class History, Vol. 52 (Fall, 1997): 236-39.
·        Review of David P. Shuldiner, Aging Political Activists: Personal Narratives from the Old Left. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 1995, in The Oral History Review, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Summer 1997), 161-63.
·        Review of Elizabeth Fones-Wolf, Selling Free Enterprise: The Business Assault on Labor and Liberalism, 1845-60. Urbana, Ill.: Univ. of Illinois Press, 1994, in International Labor and Working-Class History, Vol. 50 (Fall, 1996): 222-25.
·        Review of Ronald L. Filippelli and Mark McColloch, Cold War in the Working Class: The Rise and Decline of the United Electrical Workers. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1995, in The Journal of American History, Vol. 81 (Dec., 1995):1272-73.
·        Review of Michael E. Brown et al., eds., New Studies in the Politics and Culture of U.S. Communism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1993, in International Labor and Working-Class History, Number 47 (Spring 1995): 137-41.
·        Review of Steven Meyer, Stalin Over Wisconsin: The Making and Unmaking of Militant Unionism. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1992, in Labor History, Vol. 34 (Spring-Summer 1993): 384-85.
·        Review of Rhonda F. Levine, Class Struggle and the New Deal: Industrial Labor, Industrial Capital, and the State. Lawrence, Kansas: Univ. Press of Kansas, 1988, in TheJournal of American History, Vol. 76 (March, 1990) 1310-11.
·        Review of Howard M. Gitelman, Legacy of the Ludlow Massacre: A Chapter in American Industrial Relations. Philadelphia: University of  Pennsylvania Press, 1988, in American Historical Review, Vol. 94 (Dec., 1989): 1497-98.
·        Review of Edwin Gabler, The American Telegrapher: A Social History, 1860-1900. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1988, in Labor History, Vol. 30 (Summer 1989), 472-73.
·        Review of Ronald L. Lewis, Black Coal Miners in America: Race, Class, and Community Conflict 1780-1980. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of  Kentucky, 1987, in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 499 (Sept. 1988), 177.

Non-Historical Research Projects:

·      Co-Investigator (statistician). "Survey of Health Workers’ Opinions on Health Policy Issues." PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Paul Sorum, MD, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Albany Medical College, A-130, [email protected]. CO-INVESTIGATORS: Andrew Coates, MD, Department of Medicine, Albany Medical College, and Capital District Psychiatric Center; Marvin Malek, MD, MPH, Hospitalist, Central Vermont Medical Center, Barre, VT 05641;  Gerald Zahavi, PhD, Professor of History, SUNY Albany, Albany, NY.

On-line Projects:

·        Global and Comparative Public History: A Selective Bibliography: https://www.albany.edu/history/comparativepublichistory/ (Initiated 2010)

·        Labor and Industry in Troy and Cohoes: A Brief History. Co-editor and Website creator. Updated and revised (2015) -- based on original text by James S. Corsaro and Kathleen D. Roe: https://www.albany.edu/history/Troy-Cohoes.

·        Founder, Director, Executive Producer (1996-present). Talking History: Aural History Productions <http://www.talkinghistory.org>. Talking History (TH) is a production, distribution, and instructional center for all forms of "aural" history; it seeks to enlarge the tools and venues of historical research and publication by promoting production of radio documentaries and other forms of aural history. In addition to a weekly radio program and a radio WWW archive, TH sponsors numerous aural history projects.

·        Editor and Co-Founder (1997-2002). The Journal for MultiMedia History <https://www.albany.edu/jmmh>. I served, as well, as chief multimedia producer and designer. The JMMH was a pioneering peer-reviewed electronic journal that presented, evaluated, and disseminated multimedia historical scholarship. It offered scholars opportunities to present and analyze materials impossible to incorporate into traditional text articles and monographs, and to deliver them to both professional and lay audiences around the world. Journal publication was suspended in 2002 as we looked for production partners to revive it. The JMMH will soon be reborn -- to be edited by Kwinn Doran. A new editorial board is currently being organized.

·        Author. Life and Labor in a Corporate Community: An On-Line Multi-Media History of the Endicott Johnson Corporation. (July 2001; updated 2010) <https://www.albany.edu/history/ej> and at <http://www.ejhistory.org>. [In progress]

·        Attica Revisited. This is an on-line multimedia archive and resource site focusing on the history of the 1971 New York State Attica prison uprising. See work-to-date at: http://www.talkinghistory.org/attica.\ [In progress]

·        The Glovers of Fulton County, New York. This is an on-line virtual museum, archive, and resource site on the history of the Fulton County, NY glove industry. When completed it will include thousands of pages of text and documents, over 1200 photographs and images, biographies of manufacturers, streaming video and audio interviews with workers and managers, as well as extensive descriptions of work processes. See work-to-date at: https://www.albany.edu/history/glovers/ [In progress]

·        U.S. Labor and Industrial History World Wide Web Audio Archive.[https://www.albany.edu/history/LaborAudio/index.html] An on-line archive of recordings documenting major events and personalities related to U.S. labor history. The collection is regularly updated. Recordings are drawn from numerous audio archives, though most come from -- or are processed at -- the University at Albany. They are organized by topic. Some sub-series are supplemented with text and transcript records. See, especially the Nathan Spero: A Life in the UE [http://www.talkinghistory.org/spero/index.html] collection.

·        Sisters in the Brotherhoods Web site. [2012]. Project Director. With Carolyn Wavrin (coding and design work) and Jane LaTour. Oral history Web site complementing Jane LaTour's Sisters in the Brotherhoods: Working Women Organizing for Equality in New York (Palgrave Studies in Oral History, 2010). The site profile LaTour's oral histories with " women who, against considerable odds, broke the gender barrier to blue-collar employment in various trades in New York City."

Broadcast and Internet Radio & Film Productions:

·  Consultant and interviewee, "Association Island" (film) by Timothy W. Lake, Lake Productions, 2013.
·  "Allen B. Ballard: An African American Life," Parts 1 and 2." Produced and hosted by Gerald Zahavi. Broadcast 3/24 and 3/31/2011 on Talking History.
·  "George F. Johnson and the Square Deal," Produced for NPR by Joe Richman and Radio Diaries / NPR broadcast. [Dec. 2010]. Interviewee and oral historian. Resource Web site: http://ejhistory.org/
·  "Turkish Radical Poet Nazim Hikmet Recalls Hiroshima: The story of 'The Little Girl'/'I Come and Stand at Every Door.'"
Many events in American and world history have stimulated the composition of commemorative songs and poems. On this anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, we look back at one event and how writers and poets reacted to it -- through a close examination of ONE poem/song: recited by Hema Manicka. "The Little Girl" was written by Turkish Communist poet Nazim Hikmet in the 1950s, and originally titled "Kiz Çocugu." It is aso known in English by various titles -- in addtion to "The Little Girl" -- including "Hiroshima Girl" and "I come and Stand at Every Door." Nazim Hikmet (1901-1963) was one of Turkey's best know modern poets ane novelists; he was also a Communist and a political activist. In the 1940s, he was imprisoned in Turkey for his political activities, but freed in 1950s after a world-wide campaign on his behalf. Soon afterward he left Turkey and lived in exile in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe for the rest of his life. In the mid-1950s, he wrote the poem/song "The Little Girl."
In this segment of Talking History, aired on 8-6-2009, I examine the origins and evolution of Hikmet's poem and how it was re-shaped by later singers and song-writers, including Pete Seeger. Researched, hosted, and edited by Gerald Zahavi.
·      "Sam Adams Darcy on the San Francisco Strike of 1934." (July 23, 2009).
Selection from talks delivered by former U.S. Communist Party activist and leader Samuel Adams Darcy (1905-2005) at Cornell University in November of 1975. The talks were delivered to students in Professors Roger Keeran's and Cletus Daniels' classes. Edited and introduced by Gerald Zahavi.
·  "Claire Parham on the Construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway." (June 25, 2009). Hour-long interview. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the completion of the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project, one of the great infrastructural construction projects of the 20th century. In this interview I explore the history of the Project with Claire Puccia Parham, author of the recently published The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project: An Oral History of the Greatest Construction Show on Earth (Syracuse University Press, 2009). In our conversation, we delve into origins of this bi-national undertaking, dealving especially into lives of the workers who made it possible. Parham, a native of Watertown, NY, currently teaches history at Siena College. She earned a BA degres from St. Lawrence University, received her master's degree from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and completed her Ph.D. in American history at SUNY Binghamton. She's also the author of From Great Wilderness To Seaway Towns: A Comparative History of Cornwall, Ontario, and Massena, New York, 1784-2001 (SUNY Press, 2004). Conducted, recorded, and edited by Gerald Zahavi.
·      "An Interview with Stetson Kennedy (From the Oral History Association 2008 Meeting, October 16, 2008)." Filmed and edited by Gerald Zahavi.
Stetson Kennedy, born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1916, is a writer, journalist, social and political activist, and a former administrator of the Florida Federal Writers Project (1935-39). Influenced by the documentary tradition that was emerging with and without federal government sponsorship during the Great Depression, and by such books as Erskine Caldwell and Margaret Bourke-White's You Have Seen Their Faces (1937), he sought to insure that on his state's level, the Florida Writers Project would contribute to that emerging tradition. After his years with the Project, he became an investigative journalist and established a strong reputation for his anti-racist writings, writings that came to include: Southern Exposure (1946), Forced Labor in the United States (1953), I Rode With the Klan (1954), Jim Crow Guide to the U.S.A. (1959) and The Klan Unmasked (1990). In his battles with the southern Ku Klux Klan, Kennedy not only exposed their violent work in print, but also through radio. He successfully encouraged the producers of The Adventures of Superman, an enormously popular radio show, to shift Superman's enemies from the WWII Nazi's and Japanese, to more domestic targets, like the Klan. This program was presented as an audio broadcast (edited for length) on Talking History. Stetson was introduced and interviewed in front of a large audience by David A. Taylor, head of Research and Programs with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and director of the Center’s annual field school for cultural documentation.
 ·      The Story of Sosua: A Tale of Two Racisms. (August, 2008). Sosua: Haven in the Caribbean is a 1941 film produced by the Dominican Republic Settlement Association. It tells the (incomplete) story of a Jewish war refugee community established in the late 1930s in the Dominican Republic, with the blessings of its dictator, Rafael L. Trujillo. Trujillo, hardly known for his human rights record, took advantage of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's call for an international conference to address the plight of European refugees -- particularly Jewish refugees. A 32-nation conference to address the problem was convened in Évian, France in 1938. Only the Dominican Republic made a firm commitment to admit refugees, and soon afterwards took in around 500 Jews. Trujillo's motives were hardly humanitarian: he was not only trying to redeem his reputation as an ethnic cleanser (the term was not used then), but he also sought to racially transform his people. Trujillo had adopted a policy that strove to "whiten" the Dominican population and had practiced a vicious policy of racial discrimination against mostly-black Haitians -- one that came to be known as "antihaitianismo." In 1937 he ordered the massacre of thousands of Haitians residing in the Dominican Republic. The admission of white Jews -- the victims of racism in Germany and Austria -- served Trujillo's racist goal of "whitening" his own nation. Here, we present the sountrack from this archival film as a springboard to tell the story of Trujillo's racial policies and the fate of the lucky 500 Jews who were ironically saved by it.
·       Christine Ehrick on Radio Femenina.
Prof. Susan Gauss of the University at Albany, SUNY, interviews Christine Ehrick (MA, Phd UCLA), Associate Professor of History at the University of Louisville, about Radio Femenina and women and radio in the Puerta del Sol. Ehrick's first book, The Shield of the Weak: Feminism and the State in Uruguay, 1903-1933, which was published in 2005 by the University of New Mexico Press, is a comparative study of feminist political organizations across the political spectrum and their relationship to the emergence of Latin America's first "welfare state." She is currently researching women and citizenship in "golden age" of Latin American radio (1930s-1950s), and is interested in intersections of gender and technology in Latin America. Dr. Ehrick teaches courses in Colonial and Modern Latin America, the History of Mexico, Latin American Women, and Media History. Recorded (5/11/2008), edited, and produced by Gerald Zahavi.
·     Ann Pfau and David Hochfelder on World War II Radio Propaganda (April 2008).
Historians Ann Pfau and David Hochfelder discuss their recent research into real and imagined World War II propaganda broadcasts from Japan and Germany made by Iva Toguri, William Joyce, Mildred Gillars,and Rita Zucca. Our conversation with them explores such varied topics as wartime rumors, popular legends about World War II radio propaganda, oral history, British and American wartime propaganda monitoring, soldier surveys, and popular histories and Hollywood depictions of Tokyo Rose, Lord Haw Haw, and Axis Sally. Pfau holds a Ph.D. in United States history from Rutgers University and is author of Miss Yourlovin: GIs, Gender, and Domesticity during World War II (forthcoming as an e-book from Columbia University Press in May 2008). She will begin researching a book about World War II radio traitors later this month. David Hochfelder is assistant professor at SUNY at Albany. He is currently finishing a book on the history of the American telegraph industry. His interest in WW2 radio propaganda arose from his work in public history and oral history. Produced and hosted by Gerald Zahavi and Susan McCormick.
·       The Miracle Case.
Prof. Laura Wittern-Keller, author of Freedom of the Screen: Legal Challenges to State Film Censorship (University Press of Kentucky) and visiting professor of History at the University at Albany, SUNY, tells the story of the attempt in the early 1950s to block the showing of Roberto Rossellini film 'The Miracle,' and film distributor Joseph Burstyn's battle against film censorship. Recorded at the University at Albany's History and Documentary Studies Sound Studio, April 11, 2008.
BACKGROUND: "In 1950 the Roberto Rossellini film 'The Miracle,' part of a trilogy called 'Ways of Love,' was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency and censored by the New York State Motion Picture Division (the state censor board). The Miracle's" distributor, Joseph Burstyn, fought back through the New York courts and finally at the United States Supreme Court, claiming that his First Amendment rights had been violated by the state. Burstyn won and in 1952, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that movies were entitled to the free speech protections of the First Amendment. The story did not end there, though, since the Court allowed state censorship statutes to stand provided they were "narrowly drawn." The fight over the right of states to pre-approve movies continued until 1965 when all states but Maryland stopped censoring movies." For more information on this story, see Laura Wittern-Keller's Freedom of the Screen and the forthcoming Burstyn v. Wilson: The Miracle Case by Ray Haberski, Jr. and Laura Wittern-Keller (Landmarks Law Cases series of the University Press of Kansas). Recorded, edited, and produced by Gerald Zahavi.
·       D. Graham Burnett on Maurice, v. Judd.
On Friday, November 16, 2007, Dr. D. Graham Burnett, a historian of science from Princeton University, was the keynote speaker at the annual Researching New York conference at the University at Albany, SUNY. He delivered this talk about an 1818 New York trial, Maurice, v. Judd, that raised public debate about the order of nature, and how we understand it. The trial dramatized the transformations that were taking place in the years of the early Republic, when Americans' understanding of the natural world was being challenged -- often in courts of law. Burnett explores the root question of Maurice, v. Judd: Is a whale a fish? The question was important economically, scientifically, and culturally. If indeed the courts ruled a whale a fish, whale oil was taxable as fish oil and subject to state inspection. But there was more at stake: arguments based on the new science of taxonomy challenged accepted Biblical interpretations and drove the debate. Burnett is the author of Trying Leviathan: The Nineteenth-Century New York Court Case That Put the Whale on Trial and Challenged the Order of Nature (Princeton University Press, 2007).
·       "Kevin Willmott on CSA: Confederate States of America." (2007). Interview conducted by Gerry Zahavi with Kevin Willmott on May 3, 2007. Willmott, who is an Associate Professor in the Film Studies Department of the University of Kansas, produced the film "C.S.A - THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA," as a counter-factual faux documentary -- modeled after a Ken Burns-style documentary -- about an America in which had the South won the Civil War. The film was selected for the 2004 Sundance Film festival and later sold to IFC Films (the film was also backed for distribution by Spike Lee). CSA has played in film festivals in Denver, Colorado, Stockholm, Sweden, Locarno, Switzerland and the Hamptons, New York and had its theatrical release in February of 2006.
·       "Songs from General Electric's Association Island" (2007).
Association Island is situated just off the coast of the northeastern edge of Lake Ontario in New York State near the outlet of the Great Lakes and the beginning of the St. Lawrence River. From 1907 until the mid-1950s it served as a summer retreat and conference center for managers and engineers from the National Electric Lamp Company and later the General Electric Company (GE), the National's corporate parent. The Island is perhaps more widely familiar to avid modern fiction readers as the satirized "Meadows" in Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano (1952). In Vonnegut's novel the "flat, grassy island" located on the St. Lawrence River, was a corporate playground that also served as a rite-of-passage to status and power within a technocratic dystopia. There, in Vonnegut's fictional realm-as in real life-managers and engineers, all male, "spent a week each summer in an orgy of morale building." Through "team athletics, group sings, bonfires and skyrockets, bawdy entertainment, free whiskey and cigars; and through plays, put on by professional actors, which pleasantly but unmistakably made clear the nature of good deportment within the system, and the shape of firm resolves for the challenging year ahead," the Island worked "its magic" on its temporary inhabitants, helping to forge a male-centered brotherhood of managers. Yet, ironically, Association Island in 1952, when Player Piano was published, was entering the final years of usefulness to the corporation. Soon, a new corporate structure and ethos emerged and swept away the seemingly quaint fraternalism of the serene Island. In 1959, the company turned the Island over to the YMCA.
The two songs featured in this selection come from the GE archival collection of the Hall of History at the Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY and were digitized for the Museum some years ago in an attempt to preserve these very rare recordings of the "Island Chorus" which reflect the culture of the Island during its heyday.
·       "Mark Klempner on Dutch Rescuers of Jews During WWII." Mark Klempner, an oral historian and folklorist who recently published a book on Dutch rescuers of Jews during World War II (The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage, 2006) discusses his research and book in this lengthy interview. Klempner began as a research project during his senior year as an English major at Cornell in 1996-97. The interview includes audio excerpts from some of the individuals Klempner interviewed. Go to Talking History to listen to the interview. April 20, 2006. [Producer/editor/inteviewer].
·       "Agrarian Movements in Nineteenth-Century New York." Thomas Summerhill, Associate Professor of History at Michigan State University, and author of Harvest of Dissent: Agrarianism In 19th Century New York (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2005), joins Gerald Zahavi in a discussion of agrarian movements in nineteenth-century central New York. Summerhill explores Northern farmers’ complex attitudes toward a spreading capitalist market and their tendencies to both embrace and resist it. Zahavi and Summerhill focus on such topics as the Anti-Rent Wars, the debate over the construction of the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad, and the rise and significance of the Grange. Go to Talking History to listen to the interview. March 30, 2006. [Producer/editor/inteviewer].
 ·        "Reginald Jones on GE's Jack Welch." Reginald Jones died on December 30, 2003 in Greenwich, Ct. He began his career at General Electric in the 1930s, and worked his way up the corporate ladder until, in 1972, he was selected as President and CEO of the firm. He headed the company from 1972 through 1981, implementing various innovative strategic planning initiatives and driving the corporation further into a global marketplace. Under his watch, the company's sales more than doubled; its profits did even better. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, several business publications acknowledged him to have been one of the most influential business leaders in America. In fact, in 1981, the year of his retirement, U.S. News & World Report ranked him as the most influential man in business. Not surprisingly, three presidents had relied on his counsel. In this short selection from a day-long interview conducted by Gerald Zahavi on June 12, 2000, Jones speaks about how he went about selecting his successor, Jack Welch. Aired Sept. 15, 2005. [Producer/editor/interviewer]
·       "Howell Harris, Chad Pearson, and Gerald Zahavi Discuss Business Ideology and Labor-Capital Relations in American History." Historian Howell Harris from Durham University (England), Chad Pearson, a doctoral student at the University at Albany, SUNY and Talking History's Gerald Zahavi discuss the evolution of business ideology and labor-management relations in the 19th and 20th centuries. [Producer/editor/interviewer]. 2005.
·        “"Sharra Vostral on Julia Dent Grant and the Moveable Homefront." An interview with Prof. Sharra L. Vostral about the multiple, complex, and important roles that Julia Dent Grant played before and during the Civil War. Vostral is a member of the faculty of the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a specialist in gender history, medical history, and the history of sexuality. She is the author of "Julia Dent Grant and the Moveable Homefront: Maintenance of a General's Family," published in Gateway Heritage (the magazine of the Missouri Historical Society) in 2003. [Producer/editor/interviewer]. 2005.
·        “Diggers.” [Documentary]. A short-form audio documentary on the Bennington Cloverleaf Archaeological dig of the late 1990s. 5 minutes. 1998. [A longer 30 minute version is currently in production].
·        "Leon Carl Brown and the Study of Middle Eastern History." Prof. Karl Barbir of Siena College interviews Leon Carl Brown, the Garrett Professor in Foreign Affairs Emeritus at Princeton University and a specialist on Middle East history, about Brown's career and perspectives on Middle East history. [Producer/editor]. 2004.
·        "Black Inventors." Gerald Zahavi interviews Rayvon David Fouché, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, on African American inventors in American history. Fouché is the author of Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), co-editor of Appropriating Technology: Vernacular Science and Cultural Invention (University of Minnesota Press, 2004), and is currently editing a manuscript for Perdue University Press titled Race and the Machine: Technology and Black Cultural Experience (forthcoming). [Host/Producer/Editor]. 2004.
·        "A History of Menstruation and Menstrual Technologies in America." Gerald Zahavi interviews Sharra L. Vostral, Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Vostral is a specialist in medical history and the history of sexuality and is the author, most recently, of "Masking Menstruation: The Emergence of Menstrual Hygiene Products in the United States" in Andrew Shail, ed. Menstruation: History and Culture from Antiquity to Modernity (Palgrave, UK., forthcoming), and "Reproduction, Regulation, and Body Politics," Journal of Women's History 15-2 (Summer 2003): 197-207. Vostral is currently working on a monograph titled Red Marks: Menstruation, Menstrual Hygiene Products, and Women's Rights in the United States.
·        "White Boy: A Conversation with Historian Mark Naison." Gerald Zahavi interviews Mark Naison, Professor of African and African-American Studies and Director of the Urban Studies Program at Fordham University. Naison is the author of White Boy: A Memoir (Temple University Press, 2002), Communists in Harlem During the Depression (University of Illinois Press, 1983), co-author of The Tenant Movement in New York City, 1940-1984 (Rutgers University Press, 1986), and the author of several articles on African-American culture and contemporary urban issues, including "Outlaw Culture in Black Culture" (Reconstruction, Fall 1994). In this interview Naison reviews his life and career as a specialist in African American history -- and his participation in some of the most significant social and political movements in recent American history: the Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-War Movement, SDS, and the Weathermen.
·        "Howard Blue on World War II Radio Dramas and the Post-War Blacklist." (Part 1 and 2). Produced: October 2003; original interview date: May 14, 2003. [Host/Producer/Editor]. 2003.
·        " From the Archives series: dozens produced in 2003-2005. [Host/Producer/Editor].
·       "Robert Snyder on September 11th and the Response of New Yorkers." Edited talk delivered at the annual Researching New York conference in November of 2002. [Producer/editor]. 2002.
·       "James W. Loewen on Historical Lies and Distortions." Interview of sociologist James Loewen about historical lies and distortions -- by omission and commission -- in textbooks, historical markers, and monuments. Loewen, now retired from the University of Vermont, is the best-selling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong and Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong. [Interviewer and producer/editor]. 2002.
·       "Benjamin Filene Recalls Alan Lomax. Benjamin Filene, author of Romancing the Folk: Public Memory and American Roots Music, recalls the life and contributions of Alan Lomax.[Producer/editor]. 2002.
·       Eric Foner on "The Abolitionist Movement and the Idea of American Freedom." Recorded in Elizabethtown, New York, August 11, 2002. [Producer and editor]. 2002.
·       "Joshua B. Freeman on New York City Workers."  Professor Joshua B. Freeman of CUNY is interviewed by Gerald Zahavi about the history or New York City unions and workers. Freeman is the author of Working-Class New York: Life and Labor Since World War II (2000), In Transit: The Transport Workers Union in New York City, 1933-1966 (1997, revised ed., 2001), and a co-author of Vol. 2 of Who Built America?: Working People and the Nation's Economy, Politics, Culture, and Society: From the Gilded Age to the Present. [Interviewer, editor, and producer]. 2002.
·      "A Brilliant Solution." Professor Carol Berkin, City University of New York, is interviewed by Professor G.J. Barker-Benfield about the "invention" of the American constitution. [Producer and editor]. 2002.
·       Dr. John Stauffer on "Timbuctoo and the Origins of an Integrated America." 50 minutes. Recorded in Elizaberthtown, New York, August 5, 2001.
·       “The Myth of the Violent West.” Gerald Zahavi interviews historian Robert Dykstra about his revisionist scholarship on Western violence. 30 minutes. 2001.
·        "I'm a Hobo, Not a Bum." Greg Giorgio talks about the life and history of tramps and hoboes with IWW minstrel Mark Ross. 45 minutes. 2001.
·        Peter Kornbluh on "The Bay of Pigs Declassified." 30 minutes. 2001. [Producer and editor].
·        Richard S. Wortman on Nicholas II. 30 minutes. 2001. [Producer and editor].
·        Timothy Gilfoyle on City of Eros: New York City, Prostitution, and the Commercialization of Sex, 1790-1920. 30 minutes. 2000. [Producer and editor].
·        Mary Beth Norton on "Sex, Religion, and Society in Early America.” 60 minutes. 2000. [Producer and editor].
·        Ossie Davis on John Brown and his Legacy. Reading from Frederick Douglas' 1881 address on John Brown. 60 minutes. 2000. [Producer and editor].
·        Alex Lichtenstein on "Labor On the Move: Current Perspectives and Historical Contexts." 60 minutes. 1999. [Producer and editor].
·        Daniel Horowitz on "Betty Friedan and the Making of The Feminine Mystique." 60 minutes. 1999. [Producer and editor].
·        Pauline Maier on “The Making the Declaration of Independence.” 60 minutes. [Producer and editor].
·        Rachel Bliven on "Looking for Kate Mullaney: Documenting the Story of An Irish Working Woman." 45 minutes. 1999. [Producer and editor].
·        Mark Solomon on The Cry Was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 1917-36. 60 minutes. 1999. [Producer and editor].
·        “Frank Capra’s Populism.” Historians Robert Brent Toplin (U.N.C. at Wilmington), Lawrence W. Levine (George Mason University), and Dan T. Carter (Emory University), present assessments of Frank Capra's cinematic works.  Recorded at the American Historical Association (AHA) meeting in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1999. 60 minutes. 1999. [Producer and editor].
·        Thomas J. Sugrue on history, race, and urban crises. 60 minutes. 1999. [Producer and editor].
·        Daniel J. Walkowitz on the Labor Movement in Troy, New York. 45 minutes. 1999. [Producer and editor].
·        Scott Christianson on the History of American Prisons. [Producer and co-editor]. 1998.
·        Spencer Crew, Director of the National Museum of American History, on “New Challenges for History Museums.” 60 minutes. 1998. [Producer and editor].
·        Douglas Brinkley on Pres. Jimmy Carter's foreign policy. 40 minutes. 1998. [Producer and editor].
·        D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus on the art of cinema verité. 60 minutes. 1998. [Producer and editor].
·        Richard Hamm on "Animals and Cannibals on Trial." 60 minutes. 1998 [Producer and editor].
·        Filmmaker Laurie Kahn-Leavitt on the making of A Midwife’s Tale. 30 minutes. 1998. [Producer and editor].
·        "Nuclear Disarmament Activism in the 1950s and 1960s.” Andrew Feffer, Lawrence Wittner, David McReynolds, and Ursula Franklin examine the history of the nuclear disarmament movement. 60 minutes. 1998. [Co-producer and editor]

Microfilm Publications

·        GE Commercial Files Collection. Initiated and headed project of filming the General Electric commercial files archived at the Hall of Electrical History, Schenectady Museum. The collection contains over 30,000 items relating to GE's commercial and advertising activities. 12 reels. 16 mm microfilm. 1998.
·        Hammond Collection. Initiated and headed project to microfilm the Hammond Collection, primary and secondary sources pertaining to the history of GE collected by John Winthrop Hammond while preparing his now classic histories of General Electric. The collection contains thousands of rare documents that have been extensively used by previous historians. 8 reels.16 mm microfilm.1997.
·        George Wise Biographical and Oral History Collection. Hall of Electrical History. Schenectady Museum. Organized, microfilmed, and produced finding aid to the collection. [Finding aid revised and completed by archivist Brian Keough]. 3 reels. 16 mm. Microfilm. 1997.
·        Gerard Swope Papers, Series 118 (Corporate Welfare Work and Benefits, Medical and Industrial Hygiene Files). Part of the Downes Collection, Hall of Electrical History, Schenectady Museum. Organized, produced finding aid, and supervised filming of this series containing over 9,000 documents. 4 reels. 16mm microfilm. 1996.
·        Schenectady General Electric Works News, 1917-1960 [Company employee magazine]. Organized and filmed as part of the Schenectady General Electric in the 20th Century Project. 6 reels. 16mm microfilm. 1995.
·        NAACP Schenectady (New York) Branch Records, 1949-1982. Archives of Public Affairs and Policy Department of Special Collections & Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany. Acquired records, organized, and supervised filming and preparation of finding aid by Jeanne Manton. Conducted six interviews with former NAACP officers to supplement the records. Part of the Schenectady General Electric in the Twentieth Century Project. 1995.
·        New York State Board of Mediation and Arbitration Hearings. Gloversville, NY. 1914 (Glove Cutters Strike of 1914). Filmed for Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archive of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. 1 reel. 16 mm. Microfilm. 1995.
·        People's Press. [1936-1940]. Acquired, organized, and filmed Schenectady Edition and UE Edition. Schenectady General Electric in the 20th Century Project. 4 reels. 35 mm microfilm. 1994.
·        Gerard Swope Papers, Series 113 (Labor-Relations Series). Part of the Downes Collection, Hall of Electrical History, Schenectady Museum. Organized, produced finding aid, and filmed this valuable series containing over 7,000 documents dating from the 1910s through the 1930s dealing with labor relations policies of the General Electric Corporation. 1993. 5 reels. 16 mm microfilm. 1993.
·        General Electric Apprentice Alumni Association 1901-1991 Papers. University at Albany Library/Schenectady Museum. Acquired papers and directed the project of microfilming and producing a finding aid of the collection (by Matt Williams, a graduate M.A. student). Schenectady General Electric in the 20th Century project. 11 reels. 35mm and 16 mm microfilm. 1992.
·        Endicott Johnson Realty Company. Cash Books and Ledgers, 1905-1948. Microfilm edition. 2 Reels, 1992.
·        California Surveillance Files, Subversive Activities Committee of the American Legion. Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute. Organized and filmed collection of papers dealing with the surveillance of California radical and labor groups during the 1930s. 1 reel. 16mm microfilm. 1991.
·        Electrical Union News (UE), Local 301 News (IUE), and Misc. Document Collection. University at Albany Library. Acquired, organized, produced finding aid, and filmed this collection of rare local union papers. Schenectady General Electric in the 20th Century Project. 3 reels. 35mm microfilm. 1991.

Unpublished and Other:

·       An Oral Historian's Guide to Digital Video Recording (in progress. Draft on line. To be published on line and in print.
·       A Comprehensive Guide to the New York State Non-Criminal Investigation Case Files, Bureau of Criminal Investigations, New York State Division of State Police. Completed approximately 230 pages of an anticipated 450-page guide (with folder- and case-level descriptions).
·        Guide and Finding Aid to the Downes Collection [Gerard Swope and Owen D. Young Business Records]. Hall of Electrical History. Schenectady Museum. Organized, microfilmed, and produced finding aid to the collection. [Finding aid revised and completed by archivist Brian Keough].1997.
·        Endicott Johnson Company. Employment Records. Endicott Office Files. Microfilm edition [in progress].

Grants, Fellowships, and Awards:

Grants:

·            Lake Champlain Basin Program Grant. Development of a Lincoln Pond Aquatic Plant Management Plan and related educational projects. 2019. [$13,800]
·             Humanities Montana. Film and Digital Production Grant, Stage 2 grant (production). In support of "Red Montana," a documentary film project based on my award-winning article, "Who's Going to Dance With Somebody Who Calls You a Mainstreeter": Communism, Culture, and Community in Sheridan County, Montana, 1918-1934," The Great Plains Quarterly, 16 (Fall/Winter 1996): 251-286. 2010-2011. [$7,000]
·       Humanities Montana. Film and Digital Production Grant, Stage 1. In support of "Red Montana," a documentary film project based on my award-winning article, "Who's Going to Dance With Somebody Who Calls You a Mainstreeter": Communism, Culture, and Community in Sheridan County, Montana, 1918-1934," The Great Plains Quarterly, 16 (Fall/Winter 1996): 251-286. 2010-2011. [$8,000].
·        SUNY Faculty Research Award Program, "Category A" Project grant in support of "Red Montana," a documentary film project. 2010 [$8,520].
·        University at Albany, SUNY. Institute for Teaching, Learning & Academic Leadership. Instructional Innovations Grant. "Documentary Studies Fieldwork and Collaborative Learning Initiative" project. Director / program-level grant. 2008 [$7,000].
·        University at Albany, College of Arts and Sciences Research Grant. Research Development grant for “Communities of Capital: An Oral History of General Electric." 2005 [$4200].
·        National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Media consultation grant for the development of a model regional radio history documentary series, "Capital Voices ~ Capital Soundscapes," and specifically, a pilot radio documentary, "Tales of Cold War Albany." 2002-2003. [$10,000].
·        University at Albany Office for Research Journal Support Grant. The Journal for MultiMedia History. 2001-3. [$12,000].
·        Smart Classroom Renovation Grant. State University of New York. 1999-2000. [$152,000].
·        Support Grant for MultiMedia History Training, Research, and Production Center. State of New York/United University Professions Joint Labor-Management Committee on Technology. 1998-99. [$13,900].
·        University at Albany Office for Research Journal Support Grant. The Journal for MultiMedia History. 1998. [$10,000].
·        NYS/UUP PDQWL professional Development Award Grant (1998-99). For CD-ROM Instructional Development. [$900].
·        SUNY Faculty Research Award Program, "Category B" Project grant in support of "History and Media Project: Pilot Project on the Glove Industry of Fulton County, New York." (1996-97) [$3000].
·        SUNY Faculty Research Award Program, "Category A" Project grant in support of "Schenectady General Electric in the 20th Century Project" (1992-93) [$10,000]
·        NYS/UUP PDQWL Faculty Development Award Grant: 1986-87[$2070]; 1987-88 [$3000]; 1988-89 [$2500]
·        SUNY Research Foundation Grant (1986-87).

Fellowships:

·        National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Fellowship for University Teachers (1991-92) [$30,000].
·        John Ben Snow Memorial Trust Foundation Fellowship (1982-83).
·        Rovensky Fellowship in Business and Economic History (1981-82).
·        Syracuse University Fellowships (1980-81/1981-82)

Awards/Honors:

·       Capital District Archives Dinner Committee/Capital Area Archivists Award (October, 2008) -- for regional labor/business records collection and preservation initiatives.

·        Winner, College of Arts and Sciences "Innovations in Teaching Award," 2007.
·        Winner of the Western History Association's 1997 Ray Allen Billington Award for the best article on Western history published in the preceding year.
·        Winner of the Luebke Award for the best article of the year published in the Great Plains Quarterly (1996).
·        Syracuse University Graduate School Doctoral Prize (1984).

Scholarly Presentations / Conferences:

Refereed:

· "Colvin: Hero of the North Woods." Film showing and discussion. Session organizer. Researching New York History Conference, University at Albany, SUNY, November 23, 2019. Discussion leaders: Prof. Gerald Zahavi and Prof. Phillip Terrie.
· "Woodstock in History and Memory. A panel discussion." Researching New York History Conference, University at Albany, SUNY, November 23, 2019. Moderator and panel participant. The panel discussed some of the lesser known history of Woodstock and how it is remembered today by those who were there. Panel: Gerald Zahavi, UAlbany History Professor and 1969 Festival attendee; Julia Fell, Assistant Curator, the Museum at Bethel Woods; Mark Berger, 1969 Festival attendee and author of the book Something�s Happening Here: A Sixties Odyssey from Brooklyn to Woodstock; and Julie Lomoe, creator of some of the original artwork associated with the festival, and 1969 Festival attendee.
·  "Bringing Oral History Into Museums: General Thoughts and a Case Study," New England Museum Association Annual Conference, Burlington, Vermont, November 8, 2019.
· "Policing the Wilderness: An Oral History of Wilderness Rangers in New York State's AdirondackMountains,� presented at the"Narrating Environmental History" paper session, Annual meeting of the Oral History Association, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, October 13, 2018.
·   "Adirondack Suffragists: 100 Years of Votes for Women," co-presenter with Margaret Bartley, Researching New York Conference, University at Albany, Nov. 17, 2017.
·   " Marx and Luther on the Prairie: Radicalism and Faith in Sheridan County, Montana (1920-1934)."
The Histories of American Capitalism Conference, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2016).
·   "Uncovering Women’s Shop Floor Activism at General Electric: The Oral Interrogation of a Female Shop Steward’s Work Diary (1946-1954)," Oral History Association Meeting and Annual Conference, Tampa, Florida (October 14-18, 2015)
·   "Video Oral History Recording Workshop" (with Susan McCormick), Oral History Association Meeting and Conference, October 14, 2015, Tampa, Fl.
·   "Oral History and Globalization: Lessons from General Electric." Oral History Association Meeting and Annual Conference, Madison, Wisconsin (October 8-12, 2014).
·   "Cross-Dressing Lamp Salesmen, Loyal Brazilian and Japanese Test men, a Communist Business Agent, Foreign Service Wives, and an Engineer's Attempt to Understand the Arab Mind: Underexplored Dimensions of Strategy, Structure, Culture, and Globalization at the General Electric Company in the 20th Century." The Histories of American Capitalism Conference, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (Nov. 6-8, 2014).
·      "Comments submitted at the conference “Researching New York: Religion in New York.” (11-15-2013).
·      "Red Montana: One Documentary Project; Many Audiences." National Council on Public History, Ottawa, Canada. (4-19-2013).
·      "The Use and Abuse of Visual Oral History." Oral History Association Annual Meeting. Cleveland, Ohio. October 13, 2012.
·      "Autobiographical Elements in Documentary Filmmaking." Oral History Association Annual Meeting. Denver, CO. October 14, 2011.
·      "Bouquet 556 ~ Alexander Michael and the Preservation and Adaptive Reuse of a New York Cold War Missile Silo," Researching New York Conference, November 18, 2011. Universtiy at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY.
·      "The Battle over Assessment and Ranking of History Departments. American Historical Association Meeting and Conference, Boston, MA. January 7, 2011. Panel participant.
·      Video Oral History Recording Workshop (with Susan McCormick), Oral History Association Meeting and Conference, October 27, 2010, Atlanta, GA.
 ·    "Aggressive and Temperate Editing of Oral Histories for Print, Radio, and Hypermedia," Oral History Association Meeting and Conference, October 17, 2009, Louisville, Kentucky. [Presenter].
·    A Look Back at Radio Documentaries on New York State History," in session "Broadcasting New York State History." 2009 Conference on New York State History, New York State Historical Association, Plattsburgh, NY. June 6, 2009. [Presenter and session organizer].
·        "Oral History Field Recording (Digital Audio)" and "Oral History Field Recording (Digital Video)" workshops (with Susan McCormick), Oral History Association Meeting and Conference, October 15, 2008, Pittsburgh, PA.
·        "They Said it Couldn’t Be Done: Oral History and Distance Education" Presentation delivered in session, "Oral History, Digital Technology and Education", Oral History Association Meeting and Conference, October 15, 2008, Pittsburgh, PA.
·        "Roundtable: Disparate Voices, Conflicting Responsibilities: Reflections on the History of Oral History and the Implications of the Digital Age", Co-chair (with Bruce M. Stave)," Oral History Association Meeting and Conference, October 15, 2008, Pittsburgh, PA.
·        "Regionalism and Revolution: Don West, Robert F. Hall, and the Communist Party in Appalachia, 1928-1948." Paper delivered in session, "Conscience, Conflict, and Communism: (Anti)Communism and Biography." Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting and Conference, March 25, 2004, Boston, MA.
·        "Sounding Out American History: Recording and Documenting the Voices and Soundscapes of America’s Past and Present", Conference panel chair and discussant. American Historican Association Annual Meeting, Friday, January 9, 2004, Washington D.C.
·        Workshop (full day) Leader (with Susan McCormick). "Oral History and Documentary Radio Production: A Workshop." Oral History Association Meeting, October 8, 2003. Bathesda, Maryland.
·        "Site and Sound: Aural History as Public History." Session organizer, moderator, and participant. A roundtable session with Prof. Charles Hardy, III (West Chester State University) and Susan L. McCormick (University at Albany, SUNY). Joint Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians & The National Council on Public History, April 11-14, 2002, Washington D.C.
·        “The Trial of Lee Benson: Communism, White Chauvinism, and the Foundations of the 'New Political History'." Paper. Researching New York Conference, The University at Albany, November 16, 2001.
·        Workshop (full day) Leader. "Oral History as Public History: A Workshop on Multi-Media Presentations." Oral History Association Meeting, October 11-15, 2000. Durham, North Carolina.
·        "The Value of Harmony Among Business Associates": Masculinity, Management, and Play at General Electric's Association Island, 1906-1956." Conference paper in "Workers, Managers, and Struggles over Corporate Culture at General Electric in the 20th Century" session (organized by Zahavi) at the American Historical Association (AHA) in Chicago, Illinois, January 6-9, 2000.
·        "MultiMedia History at the Department of History, SUNYA." CHC99: 6th International Conference on Computers in the History Classroom, "Beyond the Millennium: Teaching and Learning History in the 21st Century." Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs NY, June 30 - July 3, 1999.
·        "The History and MultiMedia Project." Presentation in workshop session "New Media and New York History at the University at Albany." Conference on New York State History, Hartwick College, Oneonta. June 10, 1999.
·        "Sound Scholarship: Aural History, Pedagogy, and Technology in the Classroom." Chair and presenter. State University of New York Annual Conference on Instructional Technologies, Oneonta College-SUNY, Oneonta, NY, June 9, 1999.
·        "The Audio Dimensions of History: Documentary Production on the WWW." Roundtable presentation at the American Historical Association Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C., January, 6-10, 1999.
·        "Expanding the Boundaries of Oral History: Voices in MultiMedia." Organizer and leader. One-day workshop. Oral History Association Annual Meeting, Buffalo, NY, October 14-18, 1998.
·        "History and MultiMedia: Exploring New Pedagogical Paradigms," Chair and presenter. State University of New York Annual Conference on Instructional Technologies, Cortland, NY, May 26-29, 1998.
·        "Who's Going to Dance With Somebody Who Calls You a Mainstreeter": Communism, Culture, and Community in Sheridan County, Montana, 1918-1934," Conference paper, OAH Meeting, March 31, 1995, Washington D.C.
·        "Passionate Commitments: Race, Sex, and Communism at Schenectady General Electric, 1930-1954." Conference on New York State History, Seneca Falls, June 4-5, 1993.
·        "Brothers, Sisters and `Reds': Labor and Communism at Schenectady General Electric." Paper. October 16, 1992. Oral History Association Annual Meeting and Conference, Cleveland, Ohio.
·        "Working-Class Culture, Communism, and Labor, 1919-1950: A Local and Regional Perspective." Paper. North American Labor History Conference. Detroit, Michigan, October 19, 1990.
·        "Left-Wing Unionism and Working-Class Culture in Upstate New York: Fulton County Leather Workers, 1933-1950." Paper. Conference on New York State History, Colgate University, June 10 and 11, 1988.
·        "Shoeworkers and Welfare Capitalism," September, 1983. American Historical Association (AHA) Central New York Graduate History Forum. Cortland, New York.

Invited:

·  "Radical Union Activism in the Fulton County Tanneries, 1930s-1950s," The Year of the Glove Event Series, Fulton County Historical Society, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, October 19, 2019.
·  "Dry Women, Wet Men: Gender, Temperance, and Prohibition," ADK History Museum/ Essex County Historical Society, August 29, 2019.
·  "Glove Making and Tanning: Workers Recall Their Working Lives," The Year of the Glove Event Series, Fulton County Historical Society, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, July 9, 2019.
·  "Red Scare on Main Street: The Post World War I Red Scare in Upstate New York," New Sciotland Historical Association. Dec. 4, 2018.
·  �World War I and Social Conflict,�-- exploring some of the divisions that plagued the nation during WWI as various institutions and individuals supported and protested against America�s military engagement in �The Great War.� July 26, 2018. Adirondack History Museum.
·   "The History of Woman's Suffrage: Explored and Underexplored Dimensions."Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. June 6, 2017.
·    "Crossing Borders: Immigration, Emigration, and Cultural Conflict in US History.” Essex County Historical Society, Adirondack History Museum. July 7, 2015.
·        "The Acoustic Cold War." Presentation at the "Prospects for Digital Humanities and the Arts ~ A Clark Colloquium," April 10-11, 2015, Sponsored by the Council for Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The Clark Art Institute, Williamtown, MA.
·        "Fighting for Racial and Gender Equality at Schenectady General Electric: A Historical View." The Massry Residence, Albany, NY (2-26-2014).
·        Schenectady County Historical Society Lecture Series. “‘A Major Target for Organization’: The Communist Party in Schenectady, 1930s-1950s.” (11-21-2013).
·        "Plenary Speech, "If men cannot play well together, it is probable that they cannot work well together": The Aural, Visual, and Material Dimensions of Corporate Culture Building at General Electric’s Association Island, 1906-1956." Capital District Archives Dinner, October 6, 2010.
·        Lecture. "Ideological Rigidity and Cultural Adaptation in American Communism: Local, Regional, and Comparative Perspectives." March 2, 2010. The Honors College, University at Albany.
·      Talk. "Teaching, Researching, and Publishing Visual and Aural History: A Personal View." Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, March 16, 2007.
·        Paper. "Exploring Business, Labor, and Economic Change in Late 19th and Early 20th Century America: Case Studies from Upstate New York," 2nd Annual American History Day Conference, The Desmond Hotel and Conference Center, Albany, New York, May 8, 2004.
·        Panel presenter (“Digital Scholarship, Peer Review and Hiring, Promotion and Tenure: A Case Study of the Journal of Multimedia History") in session 2, "Valuing new models of Scholarship in Promotion and Tenure Decisions," of "Symposium on the Transition to Open Access Scholarship: Can the Reward Structure for Faculty Publishing Change Fast Enough?" University at Albany, April 19, 2004.
·        "The Capital Voices ~ Capital Lives New York Capital Region Aural History Project," session 6: Oral History and Archival Programs, Upstate New York Archives Conference (Lake Ontario Archives Conference and Skimore College), Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY. June 12-13, 2003. .
·        "Workshop in Oral History and Industrial History." Chapman Historical Museum, Glens Falls, NY. February 7, 2003.
·        ""The Exodus of History: Digital Technology, Democracy, and the Study of the Past." Presentation for HumaniTech Semester: Humanity and Culture in An Age of Technology, University at Albany, Feb. 5, 2003.
·        "Reading and Writing MultiMedia History." Department of History, University of Maine, Bangor, ME. April 26, 2002.
·        “Access” expert. "Folk Heritage Collections in Crisis Symposium." Symposium focusing on “access,” “preservation,” and “intellectual property rights” issues related to the unpublished ethnographic audio recordings in the nation's archives and collections. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the American Folklife Center. December 1-2, 2000, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
·        Roundtable/Meeting participant, "Electronic Publishing, The Future is Here." Oral History Association Meeting, October 11-15, 2000. Durham, North Carolina.
·        "The Paper Record and Beyond. Building a Real History of Labor." Session presentation at the Upstate New York Archives Conference sponsored by The Lake Ontario Archives Conference, University at Albany, June 16, 2000.
·        "The Historian as Archivist." Presentation before the Capital District Archivist Group, University at Albany, May 4, 2000.
·        Panelist in session on documentaries and multimedia, and co-workshop presenter (on aural history documentaries). "From Today: A Conference on Electronically Mediated Documentary Work." March 15-17, 2000, Brown University. Sponsored by Brown University's Multimedia Lab and Scholarly Technology Group, Brown's Computing and Information Services, and the Rhode Island Historical Society.
·        Planning Conference of The Encyclopedia of New York State, Syracuse, N.Y, May 20 and 21 1999. Presentation and demonstration on "Electronic Encyclopedias and the Electronic Encyclopedia of New York State History."
·        "Making Labor's Stories Public on the World Wide Web (WWW)." Presentation at the Mixed Media session of the New York Labor History Association Annual Conference, "Making Labor's Stories Public: Part II." Saturday, May 9, 1998, Cornell University Metropolitan District Office, New York, New York.
·        "A Historian Looks at Archival Finding Aids and Creates His Own."  Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference/ Lake Ontario Archives Conference, May 8, 1998, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
·        "Publishing MultiMedia History on the WWW: Learning from the Journal of MultiMedia History." Presentation at "Intellectual Innovation or Career Suicide? The Efficacy of Academic Publishing on the Web," seminar held at CUNY, May 4, 1998.
·        Moderator. "Public Markets and Pushcarts in New York City," Conference on New York State History, June 7, 1997, Saratoga Springs, New York.
·        "Virtual Museums and Archives on the WWW: The Glovers of Fulton County, NY" Project. Joint presentation with SUNYA graduate student Susan McCormick at the 19th Annual Conference of the National Council on Public History, Albany, N.Y. May 3, 1997.
·        "Critical History and Public History: Embracing Conflict and Cultivating Critical Audiences." Short presentation as roundtable participant in a session on "Who's in Charge of Museum Interpretation?" at the 19th Annual Conference of the National Council on Public History, Albany, N.Y. May 2, 1997.
·        "Making Labor's Stories Public: Why and How We Make Working People's Stories Public." Plenary speaker at the New York State Labor History Association, May 17th, 1997, New York, NY.
·        Commentator. "The Culture of Communism," at the "Reworking American Labor History Conference," sponsored by the Historical Society of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, Wisconsin, April 9-11, 1992.
·        "Studying Working-Class History on a Local and Regional Level: Themes and Sources." Regional Council of Historical Agencies, Syracuse, New York, Sept. 13-14, 1990.
·        Commentator. “Public History in New York State.” Conference on New York State History, Bard College, June, 1990.
·        "Labor and Communism in Upstate New York: A Case Study of Fulton County Leather Workers." Department of History, Syracuse University. Research Seminar Presentation. March 22, 1990.
·        Participant and resource person for "Symposium on the History of Labor in Massachusetts," Westfield State College, Westfield, Mass., April 15, 1989. [Sessions: "Artisans and Mill Workers: 1878-1845"; "Varieties of Leadership in the Late 19th Century," and "The Path to Deindustrialization."]
·        "Corporate Culture, Community Culture: Corporate Paternalism at Endicott Johnson." Speech/presentation in series, "An Upstate Mosaic," organized by the Regional Council of Historical Agencies. Roberson Center for the Arts and Sciences, October 13, 1988.
·        Symposium Commentator. "Work Organizations and Managerial Capitalism" session. Conference on Historical Perspectives on American Labor: An Interdisciplinary Approach, April 21-24, 1988, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

·       "Open Access -- the World of Research Within Reach." Panel discussion -- participant. University Libraries, October 21, 2010. University at Albany.
·       "A History of the Struggle for Racial and Gender Equal Opportunity at General Electric," Dept. of History Faculty Seminar. (09-11-2013).
·       "Understanding 'the Arab Mind': A century of Economic Globalization by General Electric, 1890s-1990s," History Faculty Research Colloquium presentation, Department of History, U-Albany, April 14, 2010.
·       "Dangerous Waters: Pirates and Piracy on the Hudson, 1600-1954." Talk delivered at U-Albany as part of the University at Albany's Hudson 400 Talks and Concert series, October 27, 2009, University at Albany - University Hall. An overview -- based on original research -- of the history of river piracy on the Hudson River since Henry Hudson’s exploration led to the river’s growth as a major commercial conduit for Euro-American trade. Like all such corridors, the Hudson drew its share of plunderers. The lecture examined the many colorful and sometimes violent individuals who transformed the river into “dangerous waters,” even into the 20th century.
·       "George F. Johnson, Endicott Johnson, and the Legacies of Corporate Paternalism." Benefit lecture for Goodwill Theater restoration project and the Goodwill Theater & School of the Creative Arts (the first in a quarterly series concerning issues in history and art). Sarah Jane Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church, 308 Main St., Johnson City. April 29, 2006.
·        "Capitalism and Its Critics: Local and Regional Case Studies." Center for Teaching American History, Binghamton University. April 29, 2006. (Dept. of Education's Teaching American History Grant Project).
·        "Industrialization in America, 1870s-1940s: Upstate New York Case Studies." BOCES, Scotia-Glenville High School (Dept. of Education's Teaching American History Grant Project). April 28, 2003.
·        "From Monochrome to MultiMedia." Homecoming 2001 Academic Showcase (presentation to alums). University at Albany, SUNY. October 20, 2001.
·        Chair, conference session. "Jews of Northeastern New York" conference. University at Albany, SUNY. October 17, 1993.
·        "Researching the Local and Regional History of American Communism: Case Studies from Eastern Montana, Upstate New York, and Southern California." April 15, 1993. Faculty/Student Seminar presentation.
·        "Uncovering the Hidden Histories of Corporate America: General Electric as a Case Study." April 23, 1992. Faculty/Student Seminar presentation.
·        "The Schenectady General Electric in the Twentieth Century Project." Presentation. Capital Area Archivists meeting. SUNY at Albany, Dec. 10, 1991.
·        "Unity and Rupture: The Impact of Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Identity on U.S. Labor Struggles, 1870-1940." Part of lecture series "Side by Side: Cultural Pluralism in America." Albany Institute of History and Art, March 25, 1990.
·        "Labor, Communism, and Community Conflict in Cold War America: Fulton County Leather Workers, 1945-1955," February 1987. Faculty Colloquium.

Consultancies:

·        StoryScape Hudson Valley. A weekly radio program to be broadcast throughout the Hudson Valley region from WNYC, WJFF and WAMC. Four to five minute programs will focus on personal narratives that impart a sense of place woven together with historical and cultural context from humanities scholars and signature regional sounds. Consultant on selection of appropriate content, reviewing content, research and methodology.
·        Advisory Board, documentary film "Divine Discontent: Charles Proteus Steinmetz." (2007-).
·        Advisory Committee and consultant, ExplorePAHistory/ ExplorePAHistory is an online resource providing extensive resources on Pennsylvania History and linking those resources to the nearly 2,000 historical markers that the state's official history agency, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), had been placing on the Pennsylvania landscape since 1946. (2004-)
·        Oral Historian/Videographer and Consultant on National Science Foundation Grant, "The R/V Alpha Helix and the 1971 'Symbios' Expedition to Eniwetok to Explore Coral Reef Metabolism and Ecological Function." Principal Investigator: Dr. Christopher D'Elia. (1994).
·        Media preservation consultant for "Living U.S.Women's History: Voices from the Field, 1960-2000: an oral history archive." A Collaborative Project by Sherrill Redmon, Head, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College. and Kathryn Kish Sklar, Distinguished Professor of History, State University of New York, Binghamton, and Mary Rothschild, Professor of History and Women's Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe (2003-)
·        Audio/Aural History digital conversion and preservation project. New York Folklore Society. Schenectady, NY. (2001-2002)
·        Consultant, Chapman Museum, Glens Falls (2000-)
·        Consultant, Schenectady Museum Associates (1997-)
·        Mohawk Valley Historical Corridor Commission (appointed by Schenectady County Legislature) 1996-2000.
·        Project consultant and contributor, "The History of Labor in New York State: A Poster Map of the Most Important Events in Labor History from 1600 to present-day." New York Labor History Association (1997-98).
·       Consultant. Business records documentation project: "Documenting Change: Industry and Business in Troy and Rensselaer, NY 1945 to the Present," Rensselaer County Historical Society. (1996).
·       "Workers and Managers in the Capital District" exhibition project. Albany Institute of History & Art (1993-4).
·       Editorial consultant for the Minnesota Historical Society on Radicalism in Minnesota, 1900-1960: A Survey of Selected Sources (1992-94).
·       Advisory Committee, Bureau of Archival Services, New York State Archives and Records Administration (1992-present).
·        Member, Historical Consultants Group, "Made in New York" Exhibition Project, Regional Council of Historical Agencies (1989-91).
·        Member, Advisory Committee, Capital District Labor History Committee (Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. Labor Documentation Project, 1989-90).
·        Consultant, New Audiences for the Year 2000" Program, Albany Institute of History & Art (1988-1991).

Other Scholarly Activities:

·      "The Tailor from Lipsko" -- documentary film under development, with Galina Evtushenko. Film focuses on my father�s history as a Polish tailor and communist (Trotskyist) party district leader, Siberian labor camp prisoner, Anders Army member, early Israeli soldier and government member, and finally � immigrant to the United States.
 ·      "Policing the Wilderness" -- an oral history project focusing on the history of DEC rangers active in the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Park specifically examining issues pertaining to policing and enforcing �wilderness� regulations. (2018 - )
·      "The Wide Open." Film script consultant for Wolf Point Productions on a film focusing on the Communist Party in Northeastern Montana in the 1920s and early 1930s.
·        Director. Schenectady General Electric in the 20th Century Oral History and Documentation Project. Collection of oral interviews and archival sources; includes identifying, collecting, and pre-processing of various collections directly and indirectly pertaining to Schenectady General Electric history. [1991-present].

Courses:

·        Honors Tutorial (U.S. History, 1600-1865).
·        U.S. History Survey (1865-Present).
·        U.S. History Survey (1600-1865).
·        Workshop in Oral History. (Intensive summer course).
·        Emergence of Modern America (The Gilded Age), 1877-1900.
·        U.S. Labor History Undergraduate Research Seminar.
·        Introduction to Documentary Studies:  < https://www.albany.edu/faculty/gz580/docstudies/>
·        Workers and Work in U.S. History
·        Undergraduate Colloquium on U.S. Radicalism, 1880-1980.
·        Special Projects in History: History and Media
·        Historical Documentary Production for Broadcast and Internet Radio        <https://www.albany.edu/faculty/gz580/documentaryproductionl>
       [Noted for its innovative pedagogical paradigm by The Chronicle of Higher Education (July 27, 2001)].
·        Readings and Practicum in Historical Film and Video Documentary Production <
https://www.albany.edu/faculty/gz580/histdocfilms/
·        Documentary Studies Seminar and Fieldwork Practicum / Undergraduate History Research Seminar     
·        Readings in Local/Regional History (Grad.)
·        Quantitative Methods in History (Grad.)
·        Readings Course on Work and Society (Grad.)
·        Research Seminar in Local/Regional History (Grad.)
·        Readings in American Working-Class History (Grad.)
·        Research Seminar in Work and Society (Grad)
·        Research Seminar: “General Electric and the World" (Grad.)
·        Research Seminar in Modern American History (Grad)
·        Readings and Practicum in Oral and Video History (Grad/Undergrad)
·        Documentary Filmmaking: History and Theory <https://www.albany.edu/faculty/gz580/docfilmshistory/>
·        Participant in Project Renaissance (SUNY-Albany).
·        Participant in undergraduate pre-semester, freshmen colloquia (SUNY-Albany).
·        Participant in undergraduate mentoring program (SUNY-Albany).
·        Participant in U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History Grant program. (SUNY-Albany).

Departmental Service:

·         Member, Ancient History Search Committee (2017-2018).
·         Director, Public History Program (2014-2016).
·         Member, Ad Hoc Promotion Committee - Sheila Curran Bernard (2013).
·         Chair, Dept. Ad Hoc Promotion Committee - Carl Bon Tempo (2011).
·         Co-chair, Digital Media/Doc. Producers Search Committee. (2007-08)
·         Chair, 20th Century U.S. History Search Committee. (2007-08)
·         Chair, Documentary Filmmaking/U.S. History Search Committee. (2005-06).
·         Chair, Department of History Ad Hoc Promotion Committee - Richard Hamm (2003).
·         Chair, History and Media Committee (1995-present).
·        Member, Long Range Planning Committee (1990-91, 1993-5, 1999-present).
·         Chair, Distance Learning Exploratory Committee (2000-present).
·         Chair, 19th Century U.S. History Search Committee (2000-2001).
·         Member, Graduate Committee (1985-86; 1987-91; 1993; 1996-2000).
·         Graduation Ceremony Multimedia presentation producer (2001-2016).
·         Webmaster (1994-2008).
·         Chair, Ekirch Prize Committee (1986, 1994).
·         Member, Modern U.S. Political History Search Committee (1996).
·         Member, Phi Alpha Theta Prize Committee (1994).
·         Acting Director of the Public History Program, Dept. of History (1993).
·         Member, Executive Committee (1990-91).
·         Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of History (1990).
·         Member, 20th Century History Search Committee (1990).
·         Member, Modern European Economic History Search Committee (1986-87).
·         Member, Undergraduate Committee (1986-87; 2004-2005).
·         Member, Public History Program Review Committee (1986).
·         Member, Modern Chinese History Search Committee (1985-86).

College and University Service:

·         Member, CAS Promotions and Tenure Committee, 2009-2011; 2023-
·         Co-organizer. University at Albany Hudson River Semester ~ Fall, 2009. (2007-2009).
·         Director, Documentary Studies Program (2006-)
·        Member, Ad Hoc Faculty Committee to Create a Documentary Studies Program, 2003-2006.
·         Member, College of Arts and Science's Strategic Planning Committee, 2003.
·         Member, College of Arts and Science, Dean's Faculty Advisory Committee, 2002-2009.
·         Co-organizer. University at Albany HumaniTech Semester ~ Spring, 2003. (2001-2003).
·         Member, Faculty Advisory Group. Albany Heritage Semester. Planned for Fall of 2002. (2001-2002).
·         Faculty Presentation. “Historians and Digital Multimedia Production.” University at Albany Foundation Board Meeting. June 13, 2001.
·         Member, WWW Accessibility Steering Committee and Task Force (2000-2005)
·         Member, Search Committee for Associate Vice President for Research (2000)
·         Member, Council on Libraries, Information Systems and Computing Committee (1999-2000)
·         Member, Search Committee for the Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (1998-99)
·         Member, College of Social and Behavior Sciences Computer Committee (1985-1992)
·         College of Social and Behavior Sciences College Council (1988-90)
·         Member, College of Social and Behavior Sciences Research Committee (1987-88).
·         Member, College of Social and Behavior Sciences Personnel Committee (1986-87)

Professional Service:

·          Executive Board Member, Essex County Historical Society/Adirondack History Museum, 2017-present.
·          Member, Capital District Triangle Fire Commemoration Planning Commitee, 2011.
·          Member, Oral History Association Publications
·          National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Media/Radio Panel Reviewer. 2003.
·         National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Proposal Reviewer. 2001.
·         New York State Department of Education. Interactive Technology and Pedagogy Doctoral Certificate Reviewer. 2001.
·         Member, Advisory Committee, Bureau of Archival Services, New York State Archives and Records Administration (1992-present)
·         Member, Mohawk Valley Historical Corridor Commission (appointed by Schenectady County Legislature) 1996-2000.
·         Associate Editor (Labor/Industrial History), Encyclopedia of New York State. (1999-2000). Also, technical consultant on the electronic edition of the Encyclopedia.
·         Consultant. Schenectady Museum Associates (1997-2003). Volunteer/unpaid.
·         Consultant, business records documentation project: "Documenting Change: Industry and Business in Troy and Rensselaer, NY 1945 to the Present," Rensselaer County Historical Society, 1996.
·         Scholar/advisor, "Workers and Managers in the Capital District" exhibition project. Albany Institute of History & Art (1993-4).
·         Board Member, Historians of American Communism (affiliated with the American Historical Association) (1992-95)
·         Editorial consultant for the Minnesota Historical Society on Radicalism in Minnesota, 1900-1960: A Survey of Selected Sources (1992-94).
·         Consultant. “New Audiences for the Year 2000 Program.” Albany Institute of History & Art (1988-1991).
·         Member, Advisory Committee, Capital District Labor History Committee (Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. Labor Documentation Project, 1989-90).
·         Member, Historical Consultants Group, "Made in New York" Exhibition Project, Consultant Regional Council of Historical Agencies (1989-91).
·         Manuscript reviewer. Cornell ILR Press (1991).
·         Associate Director, Oral History Program, University at Albany (1991-2010).
·         Manuscript Referee/Reviewer: Journal of American History (1990).
·         Manuscript reviewer. University of Illinois Press (1990).
·         Manuscript reviewer. Transatlantica journal (2019).

Community Service:

·         Newsletter Editor and Contributor-at-Large, Friends of WRPI. 2006-2008.
·         President, Friends of WRPI, 2000-2004.
·         Treasurer, Friends of WRPI. 1997-2000.
·         "Bridging Academic and Public History on the WWW: The Glovers of Fulton County Project." Public lecture and multimedia presentation hosted by the Johnstown Historical Society, Johnstown, NY. April 29, 1997.
·         Produced bi-weekly television program (public access TV channels 16, 18, and 31) focusing on various social justice issues. Worked with many non-profit community service organizations in producing these shows. 1995-1997.
·         Produced a number of shows broadcast on WRPI-Troy including several focusing on social justice and public welfare issues (1995-present). These shows include:

§         “Public Health Radio with Dr. Marvin K. Malek
§         “The Imam and the Rabbi" with Rabbi Harry Levin and Imam Mokhtar Maghraoui.
§         “The Labor Show” with Greg Giorgio
§         “The Farm and Food Show” with the Regional Farm and Food Project
§         “The People’s Business” with Brian McDonald, Frank Mauro, and Ron Deutsch.
§         “Capital District Progressive Radio” and "Talking History" [with Susan McCormick].

·         "GE in Schenectady." Talk before veterans group (Department of Veterans Affairs) at Annie Schaeffer Senior Citizen Center, Schenectady, N.Y. March 19, 1992.
·         Consulted on a volunteer basis with local historical societies and museums on manuscript and media preservation and access issues. (1990s and 2000s).
·         Ran free media and oral history workshops to promote community history and media projects. (1990s-2000s)
·         "The Industrial Era in Broome County, 1870-1930." Speech. Roberson Center for the Arts and Sciences, Jan. 16, 1988.

·         American Historical Association
·         Historians of American Communism (Former Board member; AHA affiliated organization).
·         International Documentary Association
·         Oral History Association
·         Organization of American Historians
·         Labor and Working Class History Association
·         New York State Labor History Association
·         New York State Historical Association
·         Schenectady Museum Associates
·         John Brown Lives! Inc. (Board Member)
·         Association of Independents in Radio (AIR)
·         Western History Association

·         Quantitative Methods, Statistics, Computer Programming
·         Oral History / Videohistory
·         Preservation microfilming -- technology and procedures
·         Radio/Audio Production: News and Public Affairs Director, WRPI (Troy, NY), 1996-2000; Cleared engineer; Audio Production Training Coordinator, WRPI (Troy, NY), 1999-2007.
·         Video/Television Production: cable access programming -- editing, directing, and production work.

·         "Testing Roger Ray." Video and audio documentary. Between 1948 and 1958, the U.S. tested 66 nuclear devices in the Marshall Islands -- in the Bikini and Enewetak atolls. Local populations were relocated to other atolls and islands as part of the preparation for these tests. Roger Ray played a key role in supervising many aspects of the numerous atomic and hydrogen blasts that took place during these years. In the 1970s, he became an outspoken advocate for the repatriation of the Enewetakese to Enewetak and very active in efforts to clean up the atoll in preparation for their return. This documentary presents his story. [Editing in progress.]
"·         "Understanding 'the Arab Mind': A century of Economic Globalization by General Electric, 1890s-1990." Research in progress.
·         "Dangerous Waters: Pirates and Piracy on New York's Hudson River, 1609-1930." Research in progress.
·         "Rainmakers." A documentary on cloud seeding and the life and work of Vincent J Schaeffer and Bernard Vonnegut.
·         "The Stygian River: Life, Death, and Suicide Along the Hudson, 1609-2009." Research in progress.
·         The Acoustic River: An Aural History of the Hudson, 1609-2009. Research in progress.
·         The Acoustic Cold War: An Aural History of the Cold War. A study of how sound surveillance -- in its various forms -- was revolutionized by the Cold War, and how the Cold War transformed our acoustic environment, Research in progress.
·        "An Oral and Visual History of the PCB Cleanup of the Hudson River." Research and fieldwork in progress.
·         The Shop Floor Diaries of Helen Quirini. Shop floor diaries of a Schenectady General Electric employee -- a female labor activist and union steward. Quirini's diary covers the 1946-1954 period and, once edited, will be published in print and on-line versions.
·         Editing oral interviews and management correspondence of Endicott Johnson workers and corporate officers, to be published as an oral history of the firm ["Ain't Gonna Be So Loyal Anymore": An Oral History of the Endicott Johnson Corporation.].
·         "Swope's Spy: John J. Leary, Gerard Swope, and Labor at General Electric in the 1920s and 1930s."
·         "California Communists in the Depression Decade: A Quantitative Analysis." An analysis of 13,000 California CP members during the 1930s. In progress. (With the assistance of Andy Coates) .
·         "Appalachia Red: Don West, the Communist Party, and Labor in the Appalachian South, 1928-1950." Article.
·         "The General's Private Army: General Ralph Van Deman and the War on Labor Radicalism in Southern California in the 1930s."
·       Women and Welfare Capitalism, 1910-1930." Article. [A study of female corporate welfare workers and their relationship to women shop and office workers].
·       "Purging Demons and Rabble Rousers: Tales of Cold War Albany." Post-World War II Cold War tensions are seen from a local perspective in three stories about Cold War-era Albany, New York: the story of Paul Robeson, a scholar, civil rights champion and political activist who was denied a concert permit during his 1947 visit to Albany; the tale of Jeanette Dworkin, an Albany native active in the Albany Communist party (CP) and in various local left-wing organizations; and the story of Janet Scott, a newspaper woman working for the Knickerbocker News, who was hounded out of her profession because of her involvement with the CP and regional left-wing unions. These tales reveal battles waged within newspaper offices, in schools, in local courts, in State office buildings, and on street corners-battles that divided colleagues, students, teachers, office workers, and friends. Article and radio documentary currently under production.

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[Updated: 9-19-2023 ]