







Devin Lander on The Communication of Experience is Art: The Millbrook Commune and Psychedelic Multimedia Art.
State Historian Devin R. Lander will present on the Millbrook Commune’s involvement in the emerging psychedelic multimedia art scene of the 1960s. The presentation will include not only discussion of the artwork produced by Timothy Leary’s Millbrook group, but also the philosophical underpinnings of the group’s quest to communicate the psychedelic experience through artistic means.

James Merrill on ‘The Indian & Mob Affairs’: Natives, Colonists and the Dutchess County Land War
In the mid-1760s Dutchess County became a literal and figurative battleground as Wappinger Indians, colonial farmers, and local landlords fought over the past, present, and future of these lands. First Natives and their tenants combined forces to contend for their rights in New York courts. Losing that fight, they took separate paths in search of justice: tenant farmers set up a “Mob Government,” unrest that culminated in a firefight with British troops and a show trial of the “Mob Men” in Poughkeepsie; Wappingers, meanwhile, led by sachem Daniel Nimham, sailed to England to plead their case with King George III. This controversy, long forgotten, has much to tell us about Natives and newcomers, about power and resistance, about connections between then and now.

Bob Ulrich on How the Dutch, Not the British, Invented America
For years, the British have received credit for "inventing" America, but it was the Dutch who truly deserve recognition for founding what has become one of the greatest cities in the world. You'll hear how modern America began with the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam and though it lasted only 40 years before the English took over, these were crucial years that laid the foundation for the diversity, tolerance, and commerce that define New York City today.
Hilda Bauer's Washington: A Mid-Century Photographic Journey
Dutchess County Historian Will Tatum will speak about the photograph collection of Hilda Bauer.
Exploring Private Cemeteries in the Town of Washington
A talk by Peter Devers and John Flanagan.
The Tribute Garden: 'A Soldiers Memorial' and its Legacy
A talk on the history of the Millbrook Tribute Garden by Lea Cornell, Alison Meyer, and George Whalen.
Crime and Punishment: Stories from Millbrook's Jail
Join John Flanagan and Robert McHugh for a talk about Millbrook’s jail. Meet on front lawn of Loedy Architects on the corner of Washington Ave. and Church St.
Room Service: Brief Histories of the Millbrook Inn and Millbrook Hotel
Join Wayne Lempka for a talk about two vanished buildings: the Millbrook Inn and the Millbrook Hotel. Meet at flagpole on the green across from the new firehouse.
Nine Partners Meeting House: A Focus on Architecture
Join John Coppell, Jonathan Boice, and Carole Ann Neville for a talk about the architecture of the Nine Partners Quaker Meeting House. Meet at the meeting house.
Millbrook Engine Hook and Ladder Co. No. 1
Join John Manzi for a history of Millbrook’s fire company. Meet at flagpole on the green across from the new fire house.
Annual Tea at Historic Smithfield Church
Join us for a member tea at Smithfield Church. Please bring some type of finger food to share.
National Ambition, Global Reach: The Town of Washington's Antebellum Free Black Community
Dutchess County Historical Society Executive Director Bill Jeffway will speak about the free Black community that resided in the Town of Washington in the early nineteenth century and put it into the broader context of the Black communities in the Hudson Valley.
Benson Lossing at Chestnut Ridge: A 19th-Century Historian and his Home
Join Stephen Masri as he discusses the life, career, and home of the celebrated nineteenth-century historian and artist Benson Lossing, a Dutchess County native who lived much of his life on Chestnut Ridge in the Town of Dover. Mr. Masri lives in - and restored - Lossing’s old home.
The Roosevelts' Record on Race and Civil Rights
FDR Library Education Specialist Jeff Urbin will speak on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s contributions to the Civil Rights Movement as well as examples of New Deal policies that exacerbated racial inequality. The talk is in conjunction with the exhibition now open at the FDR Library.
Historic Tales of the Harlem Valley
Author Tonia Shoumatoff relates stories from her recent book on local history, including the tale of Timothy Leary’s time in Millbrook. Books will be available for purchase at the event.
The Bacons: A Local Gentleman Farmer and a Celebrated Actress of the 20th Century
A talk by Ezekiel Sanger.
Life at the County Home: The Experience of Residents at the Dutchess County Poorhouse and Infirmary, 1864-1998
A talk by Will Tatum, Dutchess County Historian.
From 1864 until 1998, Dutchess County government operated a facility to care for indigent and ill residents in the town of Washington. Initially consisting of a poor house, insane asylum, and pest house, this facility transformed into an almshouse in the 1870s, then into an infirmary in the 1930s. Drawing on surviving poorhouse records, newspaper accounts, and scrapbooks kept by residents, this presentation will explore how life for denizens of the poorhouse changed over its 134 years of operation.
Exploring the Anthony Family Collection, A Recent Donation to the MHS
This month’s program will focus on a collection of material from the Duncan/Anthony Family that was donated to the historical society last summer. The material includes many family photographs, postcards, letters, datebooks, and ephemera. The presentation will cover multiple generations of the family beginning in the middle of the 19th century and going up to the late 20th century, but will revolve around a Black woman, Sarah Duncan, who worked as a laundress and cook in the houses of many of the prominent Gilded Age families that made Millbrook their home around the turn of the20th century. The program will be an opportunity to examine Millbrook’s history during that period from a different perspective than the one many of us are accustomed to and examine what is possible to discover – and what remains hidden - from a trove of family artifacts.
Nine Partners Quaker Meeting House
Meeting spot: Quaker Meeting house. Entrance on Chruch St.
"Paved paradise and put up a parking lot": Millbrook's Lost Buildings
Meeting spot: Library parking lot on Friendly Lane. This is a walking tour that will last roughly 45 minutes.
CANCELLED. When Baseball was King in Millbrook
This event has been cancelled, but for more information on this topic please go here…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lXygz0h42Q&t=7s
History of the Millbrook Round Table: A Family's Story with Faith Tyldsley
Meeting spot: Library lawn on Franklin Avenue
POSTPONED Annual Tea at Orvis Sandanona: The Legacy of J. Morgan Wing, Sr.
A talk by Ed Gerrard, Orvis Sandanona General Manager.
Note: Event will be held at Orvis Sandanona at 3:30.
This program has been postponed due to personnel changes at Orvis. It will be rescheduled for a later date.
Innisfree Garden: A Visit to a Remarkable 185-Acre Landscape
A talk and tour led by Kate Kerin, Landscape Curator.
Note: Meet at the Innisfree parking lot at 4:30.
The Remarkable life of Bishop Bonaventure Broderick: Exile and Redemption in Millbrook
A talk by James Hanna, Author and VP of the Catholic Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Note: Program will be held at St. Joseph’s parish hall.
The 50th Anniversary of the Millbrook Historical Society
A conversation with David Greenwood. If you can, please bring a favorite artifact relating to Millbrook history to the program to share with the audience.
Resurrection Window at Grace Church: A Memorial to Mr. and Mrs. John D. Wing
A talk by Rev. Matthew Calkins and Brianne Van Vorst.
First Chief Justice: John Jay and the Struggle of a New Nation with Honorable Mark C. Dillon
Justice Mark C. Dillon will speak about the personal, professional, and political life of John Jay, and the manner that his life influenced his role as the first Chief Justice of the United States from 1789 to 1795. Some emphasis will be placed on Jay’s law practice and Revolutionary War intelligence activities in the Hudson Valley generally and in Dutchess County specifically. The discussion will be supplemented with visual images of people, places, and things. Jay’s life experiences affected how he later viewed and decided the earliest cases of the US Supreme Court that had enduring legacy.