Our mission is to preserve, document and interpret the history of the peoples and industry of the Neversink and Shawangunk valleys of New York's Catskill region -- its commerce and technologies and their effect on the transformation of our society from an agrarian to an industrial one, predominantly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We put the D & H Canal in its historical and technological co
ntext; more than just images and artifacts, we explain why the Canal needed to be built, its consequences for commercial and industrial development in New York State, and the technological advances that made its creation possible. Our 2011 exhibition “A Partnership of Giants: A Study of the Relationships between the Banks and the anthracite Canal Companies,” explored the financial conditions that made the canal happen. Griffith called Cuddebackville “the most beautiful, altogether the loveliest spot in America…There is a quality about the light there, particularly a twilight that I have never found elsewhere; it is transcendently illuminative for [moving] pictures.” Photoplay, 1916
In 2008 the Museum launched its Institute for Early Film Studies, to increase the awareness of, and improve the scholarship about, the pioneers of film making, who came to this region at the dawn of the 20th century. The Biograph company sent a film crew to Cuddebackville in 1909 with cameraman Billy Bitzer, who had already shot more than 150 films, and director D. Griffith, who was just beginning what would be one of the most important careers in film history. Here, they developed the 'grammar of film' creating the story-telling and camera techniques that are still part of cinematography's language. De Mille came here in 1912 to learn film making from the Biograph innovators. Familiar names such as Mary Pickford, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Florence Lawrence (America’s first movie star), Mack Sennett, (creator of the Keystone Kops), the Thanhouser Film Company, Pathé Frères and others all came to Cuddebackville. We have a growing library of early 20th-century films and books and plan to put our film library on DVD, making it accessible to all. While early films were made in many places, Cuddebackville, in particular, nurtured the early development of an industry that has exported American culture and values to the rest of the world. List of Exhibitions
In 2006, the museum presented an exhibit on the “Rhoades Site Archaeological Dig” just a few hundred yards from the Museum, with a talk by the dig's director. In 2007 the Museum presented “Roebling: From Muhlhausen to the New World” in cooperation with the Siftung Stadtmuseum in Berlin, Germany, and the museum at Muhlhausen, Roebling’s birthplace. The Museum’s 2008 exhibit was “Walking the D & H Canal: The Jones and Roa Expedition.” 2009 brought: “The Star is Born: the history of the movie star in America from Florence Lawrence and Valentino to Heath Ledger.” 2010's exhibition was “Armed with Needles: Women's Contributions to the Civil War.”
Our Lecture Series topics have included local history, canal restoration, international film, and environmental sciences. We host breakfasts, concerts, wine-tastings, film series and other activities during our April-November season.
