Summing up Empire State’s greatest hits
From foundation to “Hamilton,” author pens book on N.Y. history
“New York state is arguably the nation’s most historically significant state,” said Guilderland author and historian Bruce Dearstyne. His most recent book is the second edition of “The Spirit of New York: Defining Events in the Empire State’s History” (SUNY Press), with 19 chapters that explore dramatic events from April 22, 1777, the day New York became a state with the signing of the constitution, to 2015 when the enormously popular play “Hamilton” opened on Broadway.
“I tried to find stories that had ramifications not only for New York but for the entire country as well.”
Dearstyne left out topics like the building of the Erie Canal and the Civil War. “I figured there are already so many great books on both of those topics. I wrote about people like aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss from Hammondsport, who made his first flight from Albany to New York City in 1910. Most people haven’t heard of him. If I had more time I could write five more books similar to this and never repeat a story. That’s how significant New York state has been and still is.”
For most of our nation’s history and through the late 1960s, New York state was the most populous. “We were the place where millions of immigrants landed, the place where many people got their first start," Dearstyne said. "New York has been the leader in so many things such as the building of the Erie Canal, public education, religious freedom, the center of media, publishing and the world of business. New York was the first state that was forced to deal with industrialization and urbanization. New York has always been one of the most diverse states with so many nationalities. Because we are usually the first, other states have watched how we’ve dealt with issues.”
Dearstyne has written five books on history. He has also worked at the Office of State History and the State Archives along with being a professor at the University at Albany and Russell Sage College. “I tried to write this book like I was a storyteller. That’s how I think most people learn and understand history. Explaining historical events like I was a spectator observing what is going on is the way I’ve tried to motivate my students through the years.”
He admits some of his other books have been a bit didactic and intended for an academic audience, but with this book Dearstyne has tried to write it more for the public “This is a scholarly book with a lot of research behind it, but it’s intended for a general audience to appeal to readers who are not historians.”
Dearstyne wrote the first edition of the book in 2015, which took him a few rewrites because he was learning how to write in a different style. For this new edition he has included the Miracle on the Hudson when U.S. Airways pilot Sully Sullenberger safely landed his plane in the Hudson River in 2009, the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011, and superstorm Sandy in 2012 along with “Hamilton.”
“My favorite person in the entire book was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Most people know she was involved with the Seneca Falls manifesto demanding the right to vote and other measures of equality for women, but she worked for fifty more years after that. She was energetic, versatile and determined. She passed away in 1902 shortly after writing a draft about the need for more women’s rights and presenting that to President Theodore Roosevelt for his support.”
His favorite time period to write, and teach about, was the Progressive Era from 1900 to 1920. “There were so many memorable New York characters at that time and so many issues about big business corporations, economic conditions and regulations. I’m amazed 100 years later we’re still discussing the same issues such as personal privacy. That’s coming up in this year’s Supreme Court. How far can the government go in regulating a business, a woman’s body, and gun control?”
Dearstyne credits his mom and dad as the major reasons he became fascinated by history. “My parents encouraged me to read history books when I was growing up. I also grew up in the historic town of Berne, which was the headquarters of the Anti-Rent wars of 1839.”
He studied state and U.S. history when he attended the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Central School District, and as an undergraduate at Hartwick College and Syracuse University he loved finding primary sources such as paper documents and other historical artifacts.
“There’s a lot of debate today about the meaning of history, who was represented in the past and who was left out. Some of that is fine, but some is excessive. We take the risk of taking some people who were major players and regulating them to a secondary status.”
Dearstyne is encouraged that many people today are interested in history and even in discovering their own ancestry.
“I hope that will continue. Looking back on our history it’s easy to see so many of the concerning events that have happened and how people were treated. I think we can use a study of history for some guidance in how to do things in a better way.”