Category: Past Quarterly Programs

Austerlitz Historical Society Quarterly Membership Meetings are held on Sundays at 2 pm and are free and open to the public. At our meetings, speakers discuss local crafts, landscaping, history and many other items of local interest.

Upcoming Meetings
This Sunday, February 21st at 2:00 PM is the next Quarterly Membership Meeting of the Society. The meeting will be held at St. Peter’s Church in Spencertown, New York.
Our guest speaker will be Ann-Eliza Lewis. Ann-Eliza is the Executive Director of the Columbia County Historical Society in Kinderhook NY. She will share information on the current programs of the Columbia County Historical Society. She will be displaying the Columbia County Quilt that was commissioned by the CCHS in honor of the Hudson Fulton Quadricentennial Celebration. Each square of the quilt depicts a Columbia County Town. The quilt is made of squares crafted and donated by the Town and City Historians of Columbia County.

Ann-Eliza will also moderate a discussion/answer session about what our two Society’s can do to collaborate on a more effective basis. Lively audience participation is encouraged! Light refreshments will follow. If you have questions, please call us at 518-392-0062 or send an email to [email protected]

Sunday, November 15th at 2:00 PM is the next Quarterly Membership Meeting of the Society. The meeting will be held in the Harvey House on the grounds of Old Austerlitz, Route 22, Austerlitz NY.

Our guest speaker will be John Porritt, an English craftsman with an extensive knowledge and collection of Windsor chairs. Porritt, who recently relocated with his wife and daughter from England to Spencertown, NY, has had a decades-long fascination with Windsor chairs. Although he is a native of England, he has a special fondness for the American Windsor chair styles, and taught himself to craft the chairs after visiting the United States in 1985 and viewing them at various museums.

For his presentation on Nov. 15, Porritt will show about 10 chairs from his own collection, including an early 19th century British Windsor chair designed with American and French influences. He will talk about the history of Windsor chairs, their design and techniques for making them, as well as talk about his craft.

A regular AHS business meeting will be held after the presentation, followed by light refreshments.