Posted on Feb 19, 2008

Historian Spencer Crew, executive director of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, will discuss “The Underground Railroad in the Ohio River Valley” Friday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. in Social Sciences 017.

The lecture, part of Union’s celebration of Black History Month, is free and open to the public.

Crew, former director of the Smithsonian’s American History Museum, is participating in the annual weekend conference of the Underground Railroad History Project (URHPCR).

The event, to be hosted at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, is open to the public. It features a range of cultural and intellectual presentations by amateur and professional historians, local teachers, history buffs, high school students, graduate students and academics.

For more information, visit: http://www.ugrworkshop.com/conference/index.html. 

For nearly three decades, Crew has presented African American history to public audiences. After receiving a PhD. in U.S. history from Rutgers University in 1979, he taught briefly at the University of Maryland before moving to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH). There he curated “Field to Factory: African-American Migration, 1915-1940,” which opened in 1987 and later became a permanent part of the museum. The exhibition was based, in part, on Crew’s family’s 1920s migration to Cleveland from the South.

A former NMAH director, Crew was chosen to head the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in 2001, while it was under development. Opened in 2004, the center has become a major national and international interpretive site for the African American struggle for freedom.

Crew’s visit to Union is sponsored by the History Department, Interdepartmental Programs, Unitas, ALAS and the African Studies Program. For more information, contact Andrew Feffer, associate professor of History and director of American Studies at (518) 388-6787 or feffera@union.edu

Posted on Feb 18, 2008

Musicians from Marlboro returns to Memorial Chapel Saturday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. for a program featuring the works of Beethoven, Brahms, Bartok and Mozart.

The ensemble will perform Irish, Welsh and Scottish folksong arrangements from Beethoven; Bartók's String Quartet No. 4;  Brahms' Zwei Gesänge, Opus 91; and Mozart's Quintet in D major, K. 593.

This season marks the 42nd anniversary of the touring company, which originated as an extension of Vermont’s Marlboro Music Festival, founded in 1951. The festival, guided by Artistic Directors Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida, brings together leading musicians from all parts of the world for two months each summer on the hilltop campus of Marlboro College in Vermont.

Comprising the touring company this season are: Ieva Jokubaviciute, piano; Lily Francis and Yura Lee, violins; Eric Nowlin and Maiya Papach, violas; and Marcy Rosen, cello.

Appearing with the ensemble will be mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford, who received her training at Utah State University and Yale before being invited to join the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera for the 2004-05 season. In 2005, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with pianist Richard Goode and was one of 16 singers invited to work with Naxos Records and Yale University in a collaborative project to record the complete songs of Charles Ives. Mumford made her Metropolitan Opera debut during the 2005-06 season as Laura in “Luisa Miller” and among her many engagements, she’s scheduled to cover Orfeo in a new production of “Orfeo ed Euridice” at the Metropolitan Opera.

The concert is free for the Union College community, $20 for general admission and $8 for area students. For tickets, call (518) 388-6080; for more information on the Series, call (518) 372-3651 or visit http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries.

Posted on Feb 15, 2008

The funeral for John E. Miller, technical director and lighting designer at Yulman Theater, will be Monday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. at New Comer-Cannon Family Funeral Home, 343 New Karner Rd., Colonie (Rt. 155 south of Central Ave.).  The Rev. Carol Miller will officiate.

Calling hours are Monday 4 to 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment will be private at the convenience of the family.

John died Thursday, Feb. 14, at Ellis Hospital after being stricken on campus. He was 59.

He joined Union in 1987, inspiring students and colleagues throughout a career that included dozens of productions at Yulman Theater, the former theater at the Nott Memorial, and at local and regional venues. He was teaching a class this term on lighting design, and was preparing for the upcoming winter dance concert.
He was born in Amityville, N.Y., the son of Victor and Lucile (Schaaf) Miller.

He was a man of great passions. The first being his family and the second being the theatre.

He is survived by his wife Linda Dott, whom he married May 14, 1971; their children, Erik, Alyssa, Kristen and Tiana Miller; his brother, James Miller; his sisters, Jane (Robert) Riggs and Sally Miller; and several nieces, nephews and cousins. He was predeceased by his siblings Susan and Thomas. 

He was a graduate of SUNY Brockport, having earned degrees in history and theatre.  Brockport is where John was introduced to the theatre and it always held a special place in his heart. He also earned his master’s degree in theatre from SUNY Binghamton.

John worked at the Bristol Valley Playhouse in Naples N.Y., and was a founding member of Home Made Theater of Saratoga Springs. He was the technical director for Curtain Call Theatre of Latham, and actively involved with the Blue Roses Theatre of Schenectady High School. John had a deep appreciation for the outdoors and loved camping at Fish Creek in the Adirondacks. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions for the children would be appreciated: John E. Miller Memorial Fund c/o TRUSTCO Bank 1048 State St., Schenectady, NY 12307.
Arrangements are with New Comer-Cannon Family Funeral Home, 456-4442.

Students who would like to speak with someone about their feelings are urged to contact Viki Brooks-McDonald, campus Protestant minister and interfaith chaplain, at 522-3907 or the Counseling Center at ext. 6161. Employees are urged to contact the Employee Assistance Program at (800) 252-4555.

Posted on Feb 15, 2008

Posted on Feb 15, 2008

This weekend, the Union Women's Hockey Team is joining ECAC Hockey and the American Cancer Society for “Pink at the Rink,” a new variation of a traditional Coaches versus Cancer program. The Dutchwomen will don specially designed pink jerseys in their final home games of the season, tonight and tomorrow. The jerseys will then be auctioned off. Read about how you can be part of the action and the fund-raising efforts. Click here to view the story.