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Blake Harrison, Plattsburgh State History Grad, publishes in Vermont History
Blake Harrison has recently published an article, "The Technological Turn: Skiing and Landscape Change in Vermont, 1930-1970," Vermont History 71 (Summer/Fall 2003): 197-228. Harrison recently received a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Wisconsin--Madison. His dissertation, "Tourism and the Reworking of Rural Vermont, 1880-1970," explores tourism and the construction of rural-landscape identity in Vermont. Harrison is an adjunct assistant professor of geography at Montana State University in Bozeman.
Kristina Parker Recieves 2003 McMasters Award
Kristina Parker, a current student in the History Department at SUNY Plattsburgh, was awarded the Annual McMasters award for 2003 with her paper titled "William H. Miner and the Development of the Altona Flat Rock Region."
This prize is awarded by the Clinton County Historical Association to the person who submits the finest paper which is judged both for its quality of research and literary merits.
Parker's study is a local history of the entrepreneur William Miner as he constructed a hydroelectric dam in the first decades of the twentieth century. She found that beginning in 1910 Miner purchased large sections of blueberry fields in the Flat Rock area and he subsequently hired and housed immigrant laborers to build the dam.
Under Miner's control the dam was constructed and blueberry farming flourished. However, after Miner's death in the 1920s the dam, the immigrants, and the blueberries, were allowed to dwindle.
Parker's study was a work of history that had personal connections for her as well. The Flat Rock blueberry fields are located near her family's farm and several of her family members were hired to work there as well. Parker was featured in a recent issue of North Country Notes and her essay "William H. Miner and the Development of the Altona Flat Rock Region," was published in the 2003 issue of the Clinton County Historical Association's Antiquarian.
Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
For more information about the History program at SUNY Plattsburgh, please contact
Wendy Gordon, Chair
History Department
Champlain Valley Hall
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
Phone: (518) 564-2213
Fax: (518) 564-2212
E-mail: gordonwm@plattsburgh.edu