In October 2022, the Erie Canal Museum brought new meaning to the words “Reimagine the Canals” at the New York State Canal Conference in Rochester, NY. As the 2021-2023 Erie Canal Research Fellow, I had the distinct privilege to collaborate with local scholars on a panel called “Expanding the Erie Canal Narrative.”
With me was Lacey Wilson, a Public Historian for the Albany African American History Project, Dana Olesch, a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Syracuse University, Dr. Danielle Nagle, a Postdoctoral scholar in Landscape Architecture at SUNY ESF, and Dr. Alyssa Mt. Pleasant, a Historian of Native American & Indigenous Studies and researcher from ATW Research + Consulting. Together, we sampled some of the complex and infinite possibilities for a more expansive dialogue of the Erie Canal’s past, present, and future.
I believe that for Erie Canal heritage to become inclusive, we must first acknowledge the exclusion of its traditional narrative. Reimagining the canals can start with a thoughtful process of observing how traditionally we think about it, represent it, relate to it, and then ask ourselves why that might be. Like all histories, our knowledge of the Erie Canalis ever unfolding as time goes on and new research is conducted. Ongoing research and the willingness to integrate it is vital. This requires our openness to new viewpoints.
I’d like to deeply thank the New York State Canal Conference, Reimagine the Canals, the Erie Canal Museum, and especially Lacey Wilson, Dana Olesch, Dr. Danielle Nagle, and Dr. Alyssa Mt. Pleasant for this opportunity to take active roles in advancing Erie Canal knowledge together.
– Renée Barry, Research Fellow, research@eriecanalmuseum.org
