The New York Folklore Society’s programs are made possible in part with public funds from the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
New York Folklore Society
P.O. Box 764
Schenectady, NY 12301
518/346-7008
Fax 518/346-6617
nyfs@nyfolklore.org
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Presenters
Myra Young Armstead holds a doctorate in History from the University of Chicago and is Associate Professor of History at Bard College where she has taught in both the Historical Studies and American Studies programs for the past 14 years. A social historian by training, she offers courses in U.S. urban history, labor history, women's history, and African-American history. In addition to the academic study of history, she actively engages in public historical work as a consultant to historical societies, museums, and documentary media projects. She has recently published a book—Lord, Please Don’t Take Me in August—which is a study of late 19th- and early 20th-century black communities in resort towns, with Newport, Rhode Island and Saratoga Springs, New York, as case studies. Her talk at the 1999 Fall Conference was drawn from the findings in this publication.
Ted Corbett
Bob Cummings (see Earl Reed)
Al de Rossi is a longtime Saratoga resident. His family, who was in the restaurant business, obtained the first liquor license in Saratoga, after the repeal of Prohibition. Frank de Rossi has worked at the racetrack in many capacities. He has worked in the silk room and in the Jockey Club, the sequestered waiting room for the jockeys during a racing day. As an employee of the Jockey Club, he often ran bets for the waiting jockeys. Currently, he is a food vendor at the track during the summer season.
Dave Erb rode thoroughbreds for twenty-two years, from 1939 to 1960. A freelance rider, he raced for many trainers, concentrating his efforts primarily in Chicago, Kentucky, California, and Florida. He won the Kentucky Derby in 1956 aboard "Needles." Dave Erb was born in York, Nebraska in 1923, on a cattle and horse farm. He started riding as a young boy and won his first race in 1939, at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was sixteen years old. After retiring as a jockey, Dave Erb trained horses from 1960 to 1988. He makes his home in Greenfield Center, New York.
Bob Franke, a native of Michigan, became involved with the folk revival in the late 1960s while attending the University of Michigan. After moving to New England, he and his wife founded a coffeehouse in Marblehead, Massachusetts, believing in the grassroots, community-based power of folk music. This coffeehouse, called "Saturday Night in Marblehead" helped ignite the New England folk revival of the 80s. Franke was able to devote full-time attention to performing in 1988. A prolific singer-songwriter, Franke is a constant presence in the New England folk music community. His performance was supported by Meet the Composer.
Amy Godine. From Saratoga Springs, Amy Godine is a writer, social historian and frequent contributor to Adirondack Life magazine. She guest-curated "Lasting Roots: Ethnic Neighborhoods of the Southeastern Adirondacks," for the Chapman Historical Museum in Glens Falls, and an exhibition on the heyday of Saratoga’s Jewish summer world, "We Were All Like a Family," for the Canfield Casino. She was research curator for an exhibition at the Adirondack Museum, "Peopling the Adirondacks," and has lectured extensively around the North Country on Adirondack ethnic history through the New York Council for the Humanities. She teaches northern New York social history at University Without Walls at Skidmore College. Folklorists may remember her articles on the Adirondack African-American hobo-miner, Allen Walton, from New York Folklore and the New York Folklore Newsletter.
Dick Hamilton has been involved in the world of throughbred horseracing since 1971, working in various capacities as a clerk for the New York Racing Association, as a judge, and most recently as a Steward. Currently, he holds the position of Communications Officer for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. A journalist and former newscaster, he holds a B.A. from Emerson College.
Lou Hildebrande, a native of Amsterdam, began to ride directly out of high school for Sanford Farms of Amsterdam. Weighing only 90 pounds at the time, he was recruited by the Sanford Farms and signed a five-year contract with them before he had ever been on a horse. After a five-year apprenticeship with Trainer Holley Hughes, he began to race in 1941 and won his first race that year in Saratoga. He went on to win the Manmouth Handicap, among other races. His career only lasted about six years for after a fall in 1947, he decided to retire from racing. He returned to Amsterdam where he still makes his home.
Bob Joki, originally from Horseheads, New York, is the owner of "Bob Joki Antiques." A collector and antique dealer, Bob Joki became interested in historic photography because of its use as primary source material. Because of this interest, he began to collect Saratoga stereo views and has made this documentation available to the public through his presentations.
Tom and Helen Luther. Tom Luther, age 90, got his jockey training when he was 17 years old in Tijuana, Mexico (1925). He first came to Saratoga in 1928 to ride in "The Hopeful." It was there that he met Helen, his future wife. They were married in October, 1928. Tom Luther was instrumental in forming the Jockey’s Union, for which he was blackballed and prevented from riding. Helen Luther, Tommy’s companion of seventy years is a native of Ballston Spa, New York.
Sandy and Caroline Paton, founders of Folk Legacy Records, toured and collected traditional music in Scotland in the early 1960s. They were the first to record such New York traditional artists as Sara Cleveland and Larry Older. They were the first to call attention to Ray Hicks. As performers, they continue to perform the songs which they collected.
Jay Portnoy, originally from the borough of Queens, has been a fan of horseracing since "Native Dancer" was running. As a child growing up in Queens, he was fascinated by the old Jamaica Racetrack and its hustle and bustle.
The Princepessa Elena Society is an Italian Benevolent Society which celebrates its 100th Anniversary this year. The Society is the host of the annual Feast of St. Michael, which has been designated a "Local Legacies Project" by the Library of Congress.
Sally Rogers was first exposed to folk music at school and camp. She first started playing the guitar in high school and then later learned to play the mountain dulcimer and banjo. Her twenty years of touring as a folk musician has gleaned her a discography of fourteen recordings, a kid’s video, and a children’s book. In 1997, Rogers was appointed to the position of official Connecticut State Troubadour and has been writing songs based on the history of Northeast Connecticut. Her performance was supported by Meet the Composer.
Earl Reed and Bob Cummings are long-time devotees of the Saratoga Racetrack.
Tom Stock is from Stock Studios photography located at 90 West Circular Street in Saratoga Springs. It is a commercial, industrial, and advertising photography firm which shoots studio and location photos for the business community. Tom is a native of Gloversville and Saratoga, an Eagle Scout, a graduate of Gloversville High School, a veteran of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps, a member of the European military Ski Patrol, a graduate of Syracuse University’s VPA college with a BFA (cum laude) in photography, a certified scuba diving instructor, and a member of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the Saratoga County Arts Council, the Saratoga Economic and Development Corps, and the Saratoga Rotary Club.
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