Tag: Hemp

Warwick, Orange County, NY

Warwick, NY is not only an ideal location for outdoor activities, eclectic shops, and eateries but also a must-explore destination for researchers of local history and genealogy.

Local History Librarian Sue Gardner Recommends:

Visit the Local History Room in the Library:

• John Hathorn’s Battle of Minisink Report
• Historical Maps of Warwick
• Warwick High School Yearbooks
• Days Gone By (photo history of the community)
• Warwick Historical Papers (collection of essays)

Visit the Website:

http://guides.rcls.org/warwickvalleyhistory

• Scanned newspapers
• Warwick Heritage Digital Collection
• John Hathorn’s Revolutionary Legacy
• Stone Age Warwick
• Village of Warwick Historic District Inventory

More to Research:

The Colony

When I stayed at the Wardman Hotel in Washington, D.C. some years ago, I discovered that, one of my favorite poets, accomplished Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes was employed as a busboy when he shared a poem with hotel guest poet Vachel Lindsay in 1925. That was the beginning of a change of fortune for young Hughes.

Today, Sue Gardner shared a snippet of local history about Langston Hughes that sparked my curiosity about The Colony. Some thought-provoking lines written by Langston Hughes include:

“I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44428/the-negro-speaks-of-rivers

“1919 THE COLONY
One of the community’s treasures, the historic hamlet off
of Rt. 17A in the Nelson Rd. section was the first African-American resort community in the state of New York.
Founded in 1919 by a group of prominent families from the city, it became a mecca for famous and influential professionals
and artists. The “colony”, as it was known, hosted such luminaries as poet Langston Hughes, lyricist Cecil MacPherson and J. Rosamond Johnson, director of London’s Grand Opera House. Descendants of its founders still reside here.”

Courtesy of the Albert Wisner Public Library

Frank Forester

Sporting writer Henry William Herbert of the Herberts who resided at Highclere Castle (known by many now as Downtown Abbey) used the pen name Frank Forester. In Warwick Woodlands, he reminisced about his time spent traversing the woodlands of Warwick. See his books at the library. https://archive.org/details/warwickwoodland00herbgoog/page/n14

Black Dirt Farming

“Black Acres”, published in the November 1941 issue of National Geographic, is a must read. https://muckville.com/2013/11/30/national-geographic-november-1941story-on-the-historic-black-dirt-region-of-orange-county-new-york/