Letter from the Editors

Abstract

Letter from the Editors Robert Chiles, Devin R. Lander, Jennifer Lemak, and Aaron Noble It is with great sadness we recognize the passing of our colleague and board member, Dr. Oscar Williams (1966–2021). Dr. Williams was an associate professor in the Department of Africana Studies at University of Albany-State University of New York (SUNY) where he had served as chair of the Department. Outside of his university obligations, Oscar was generous with his time and expertise presenting his research at many local conferences and public programs and promoting NYS history to his extensive network of colleagues and students. He peer reviewed many articles for New York History and offered guidance whenever called upon. He will be greatly missed. – The Editors As the nation and world emerge from a grim period of global pandemic and historians begin resuming in-person archival work, this issue of New York History reminds us of the many rewards of such diligent research. J. Michael Smith and Kees-Jan Waterman translated and analyzed neglected records of Dutch–Indian trade accounts from eighteenth-century Rhinebeck to elucidate the vibrant intercultural relations between white settlers and Native peoples in the Hudson Valley while revealing a network of ties between Esopus and Wappinger Indians and their Mohican neighbors. Tracking the Dutch documentary presence into the nineteenth century, Michael J. Douma's systematic evaluation of hundreds of runaway slave advertisements demonstrates the persistence of the Dutch language in New York and New Jersey, simultaneously contributing to a picture of Dutch-speaking enslaved people presenting a sharp economic challenge to slavery in the region. Slavery in New York wound down in the 1820s, and the Empire State would increasingly become headquarters for some of the nation's foremost abolitionists; as Deborah A. Rosen demonstrates through assiduous scrutiny of abolitionist rhetoric, arguments about the rules of warfare were a potent weapon both in attacking the legality of slavery and in justifying the right of enslaved people to rebel and escape from this "continuous state of war." [End Page vii] While New York abolitionists hold a prominent place in the historical record, Rosen's work demonstrates that further forays into the archives can be quite fruitful. Similarly, Robert W. Smith explores famous debates over ratification of the Constitution to elevate foreign policy and its relation to regional commercial interests as a surprisingly central consideration for many New Yorkers. Another well-known episode in New York history—the British evacuation of Long Island in 1783—is similarly enriched by John L. Scherer in our Artifact NY feature, which uses family correspondence preserved at the New York State Library to furnish a firsthand account of what that moment meant to those who had experienced the long occupation. Our return to the archives also reminds us that careful scrutiny of the documentary record can reveal an erstwhile underappreciated moment as a critical turning point. Bruce W. Dearstyne shows this in his study of the State Commission of Gas and Electricity, which was established in 1905 only to be superseded two years later: a 1908 court of appeals decision affirming the short-lived commission's authority legitimized the delegation of powers and paved the way for the proliferation of the administrative state. Oliver Ayers demonstrates through a reexamination of the world of Philip A. Payton Jr. that 1917—the year of Payton's death as well as of the US entrance into World War I—was a critical moment in the making of modern Harlem. While history is dynamic, some stories reveal ways that existing institutions endure by accommodating the changing needs of a given moment. Father Richard Gribble's Community NY feature demonstrates how an indefatigable priest spearheaded construction of not only a social welfare network but also of a western New York basilica that would endure as both a physical and spiritual center for generations of working-class Catholics in Lackawanna. Hans Klein-Hewett's study of Watkins Glen shows how the site evolved in stages to fit contemporary demands for recreation, family vacations, and civic engagement—adjusting to the needs of new generations of tourists while maintaining the centrality of the glen's sublime natural features. [End Page viii] As we resume...