Current Exhibits
The History Museum has six exhibits on three floors. Each of these focuses on a different aspect of Saratoga Springs' unique and important history. Featured exhibits for 2010 are listed below.
200 Years of Fashion in Saratoga Springs
Open through December 31, 2010
Because of the overwhelming success of this exhibit we have extended it through 2010.
For over 200 years Saratoga Springs has been a place to see and be seen. This exhibit, curated by Michael B. Levinson, Director of Empire Historic Arts, encompasses 200 years of couture fashion worn by women in Saratoga Springs and illustrates the history of fashion in this community. Original fashions by such luminous designers as Worth, Coco Channel, Fortuny, Christian Dior, Balenciaga, Oleg Cassini, and Emilio Pucci as well as many others are on exhibit. Over 40 complete outfits and over one hundred accessories from the History Museums extensive clothing collection are displayed throughout the museum, along with items from the Schenectady Museum, clothing on permanent loan from the Saratoga Care Foundation belonging to socialite Mollie Wilmot, and other pieces loaned by generous Saratoga Springs residents.
From Elegance to Ashes: How Fire Changed Downtown Saratoga Springs
Opening in March, 2010 - December 31, 2010
Great fires in Saratoga Springs have destroyed property, taken lives and created gaping holes in the cityscape. Entire blocks were lost due to massive and uncontrollable conflagrations. This exhibit focuses on four areas of the city and some of the most its most infamous fires. It analyzes the impact they had on the city and its people. This exhibition tells a story of not only devastation, but of re-birth and perseverance.
Orientation Gallery
Telling the Story of Saratoga Springs
The Orientation Exhibition in the first floor gallery provides the base on which other museum programs and exhibitions have been developed.
The exhibition features large graphics tying together each period and creating a sense of place, while smaller graphic details focus on the varied layers or thematic units within each time period.
Telling the Story of Saratoga Springs is divided into six chronological sections discussing the topics of Geology, Settlement & Development, Commerce & Transportation, Community Life, and Recreation/Entertainment.
The Canfield Casino High Stakes Gambling Room
The Casino was built in 1870 by John Morrissey, a retired prize fighter and politician raised in Troy, who already owned a gambling establishment on Matilda Street (now Woodlawn Avenue) in Saratoga Springs. Morrissey's Club House (as it was then known) quickly became a popular but exclusive gaming establishment: neither women nor locals were permitted in the gambling rooms. In 1871, Morrissey added a large gambling room on the east side of the original building where men could play faro, roulette, rouge-et-noir, and Boston. After Morrissey's death in 1878, the building was owned by Charles Reed and Albert Spencer. In 1894 it was bought by Richard Canfield. In 1902 Canfield bought up much of the property to the north and east of the building to create the Italian Gardens, and in 1903 he added on the magnificent dining room that features stained-glass signs of the zodiac in a vaulted ceiling. Although Canfield profited greatly from his clubhouse, the strain of anti-gambling pressure forced him to close the doors in 1907. He sold the building and gardens to the City of Saratoga Springs, at a considerable loss, in 1911.
When the Canfield Casino was in operation, the High Stakes Room was for the elite of the elite. Bets in this upstairs parlor ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Today the High Stakes Room is preserved with much of the original furniture from the Casino. It is a look 100 years back at turn of the century gambling, as well as providing a look into the Lake Houses that made Saratoga Springs famous through the 1950's.
The Walworth Memorial Museum
The Walworth Memorial Museum encompasses the third floor of the museum. Visitors experience the tragedy-ridden history of the Walworth Family, headed by Chancellor Reuben Hyde Walworth. The history includes unhappy marriages, the early death of a beloved daughter, and patricide; a son murdering his father. On the brighter side, Chancellor Walworth's eldest son, Clarence, became a much-respected clergyman, and his step-daughter and daughter-in-law, Ellen Hardin Walworth, became a co-founder of the D.A.R. and a distinguished educator and civic leader. Seven rooms chronicle this Saratoga family's legacy.
The Saratoga Springs History Hall of Fame
Started in 2005, the Hall of Fame honors men and women of the past or present for their significant and enduring contributions that have enhanced the civic, social, cultural, religious, educational, or business life in Saratoga Springs.
2005 Inductees: Gideon Putnam, George Bolster, John Morrissey, and Beatrice Sweeney.
2006 Inductees: Lucy Skidmore Scribner, Spencer Trask, and Minnie Clark Bolster.
2007 Inductees: John Clark, Lena Spencer, and Frank Sullivan.
2008 Inductees: Richard Canfield, Ellen Hardin Walworth, Evelyn Barrett Brittin