Former Amsterdam people like museum
Noteworthy displays Mohawks’ culture
Bob Cudmore, Focus on History, Daily Gazette, 7-30-05
A popular destination for what a museum official calls “Amsterdam expatriates” is the Noteworthy Indian Museum at the corner of Church and Prospect Streets.
Museum administrative director Stuart Palczak said that people returning home to visit Amsterdam for family or class reunions enjoy the museum as something new in their hometown. Palczak works at the museum in the summer and teaches world history and American government during the school year at Amsterdam High School. He said state tourism publicity and tourist guides that emphasize history attract other visitors. Parents and grandparents find the museum a good spot for children on a rainy summer afternoon.
The museum displays the culture of the Mohawks and other Iroquois nations from centuries ago. The structure the museum occupies has a history of its own as one of the original mill buildings used by pioneer Amsterdam carpet maker Stephen Sanford in the 19th century.
After Bigelow-Sanford left Amsterdam in 1955, several of its buildings were occupied by the Noteworthy Corporation, known for the creation of the car litterbag. Noteworthy today also makes other kinds of plastic and paper bags, as well as awards and recognition products plus note pads, coloring books and presentation folders.
Noteworthy founder Thomas Constantino collected Indian artifacts and after his death, his widow Carol Constantino established the museum in 1999. Designer Marsha Aulisi of New York City, who also maintains a residence in the Mohawk Valley, created the exhibits from some 60,000 objects.
One highlight of the museum is a scale model of a Mohawk longhouse depicting daily life in the year 1400. The museum also displays stone tools, clay pots, baskets and beadwork.
“We have a good connection to other local history sites,” Palczak said. For example, Noteworthy visitors who learn about Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th century Mohawk woman being considered for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church, often will journey to the Blessed Kateri shrine and the traditional Mohawk community west of Fonda.
The Noteworthy Indian Museum is open through the end of August, Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 843-4761.
REMEMBERING THE GLOVE
Emil Suda of Amsterdam has his own story about a recent history topic in this column, the Glove Theatre at 42 North Main Street in Gloversville. The Schine theater chain had offices above the theater. An adjacent building featured a 30-seat screening room where workers voted on whether films should be shown by the chain.
In the late 1980s, Suda had a chance to go inside the old screening room and said it was a relic from the 1930s: “Totally styled in Art Deco, somewhat smaller than a mini theater of today, but what was especially noted were several (6 or 8) extra larger theater seats, each with a floor stand ashtray alongside.”
WHO LIVED AT 285 EAST MAIN?
Suda lives in Amsterdam’s East End and is curious about who originally resided at a substantial residence at 285 East Main Street. The building was demolished this year, according to Suda, who said the structure was a Victorian house with a mansard roof.
In 1907, Abram Mathias lived at 285 East Main. The 1932 city directory lists Joseph Ramonas, Alexander Stanones and Mrs. Hattie Woodward as residents. Ramonas was a barber at 211 East Main. Stanones was a weaver at Bigelow Sanford.
A SIMPLE THRILL
Does anyone remember a soft drink called Thrill? It was a lemon-lime soda, like 7-UP and I believe it was a product of Amsterdam’s Fitzgerald’s Bottling Works. My father loved it. If you remember Thrill, please let me know.
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