Chapman event brings new appreciation for Stoddard

Brooks column gives new insights into economic rivalry between China, U.S.

By Ken Tingley

There were nearly 70 of us at the Queensbury Hotel on Sunday.

It was a bit of a nerd-fest.

And I was one of them.

When my son was in high school, he proudly wore the “history nerd” label. He relished his history classes, engaged with his teachers and later did the same in college. He even made  a career out of it.

I joined the Chapman Museum recently as a trustee and I learned Sunday I have a lot to learn if I want to keep up with the rest of the “nerds” in the room.

This was the Chapman’s annual membership luncheon daring to intrude on the afternoon NFL kickoff without one complaint.

The speaker was Richard Timberlake on the beginnings of photography and two contemporary Adirondack photographers Seneca Ray Stoddard and J.S, Wooley.

The Chapman Museum has some 3,000 of Stoddard’s photographs from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

For years, a small room adjacent to the Chapman Museum house has shown small black and white photographs taken by Stoddard - mostly landscapes - when the Adirondacks was still mostly wilderness.

I confess, I never thought much of the photos.

But after hearing Timberlake speak about Stoddard and Wooley and their groundbreaking photography, I’ve changed my mind.

While Stoddard was known mostly as a landscape photographer, it turns out the collection is far more diverse than I ever realized.

A new exhibit will be opening at the Chapman in October showcasing the Stoddard collection, but with larger enlarged prints that show so much more detail.

Timberlake’s presentation on Sunday was just the introduction to whet our appetites for the new exhibit. You will be able to see it for the first time in an open house at the museum on Saturday, Oct. 7.

After hearing the stories of Stoddard and Wooley and their time in the Adirondacks, I have new appreciation for the photography and I want to see more.

American Renaissance

Back on Sept. 7, New York Times columnist David Brooks took a deep dive into China as an economic competitor with the United States. His conclusions might surprise you. He wrote this:

“China looks not like a growing dynamic power but like a troubled, stagnating one. Growth rates are falling. The unemployment rate for those ages 16 to 24 in urban areas is at a demoralizing 21 percent. Private investment is sluggish. A forecast from Bloomberg Economics now projects that the size of the Chinese economy will not successfully surpass the size of the American economy — despite its vastly greater population.”

His conclusions are the opposite of what we usually hear from our politicians.

Third book

Since retirement three years ago, I’ve written three books with the third due out next month.

The first “The Last American Editor” (2021) was a collection of 83 columns I wrote while working as editor at The Post-Star.

The second “The Last American Newspaper” (2022) chronicles the valuable work that the men and women at The Post-Star did over the past two decades and how it bettered our local communities.

The third “The Last American Editor, Vol. 2” (2023) is due out next month and includes 90 more columns from my days at the newspaper. It chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of local people and events from the past two decades.

The first two books are available locally at Ace Hardware, Warren County Historical Society, Queensbury; Chapman Museum, Glens Falls; McKernon Gallery, Hudson Falls; Battenkill Books, Cambridge; and Northshire Books, Saratoga Springs.

The third book can be preordered from Something or Other Publishing.

Feedback

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