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PROGRAMS

Historical programs have been offered to the community for several years on a variety of subjects which center around history and historical events in our region, state or nation.  Presenters are specialists in the topic and always welcome questions.  Programs are offered once a month on Sundays from May to October in the museum's Community Room.  All programs are free and open to the public.  A sample of past programs included “Beginnings of Business in Union Springs”, “Raptors of Upstate New York” and the “Lake Sturgeon in Cayuga Lake.”

Summer Program Schedule

Check back often for updates and announcements!

July 13, 2025

7pm

Our World Underwater

Presenter:

Henry "Mac" MacDonald

Henry "Mac" MacDonald of Finger Lakes Scuba in Auburn, NY invites you to explore "Our World Underwater". Henry will share the vast species, corals, wrecks and underwater areas of the Caribbean, Indo-Pacific, and right here at home in the Finger Lakes of Central New York.

Plan to be with us to see the indescribable beauty of a world most of us will never see, except through divers who are willing to share this wonderful venture.

August 17, 2025

7pm

Ran Away with the Circus!

Presenter:

Jane Oakes

Jane Oakes has been teaching people history for over 40 years. She lives in western NY and gives talks on her areas of interest, among which are Opera Houses, Graham's Crackers and Circuses. Jane Has been described as "one of the area's most popular historical speakers whose well-illustrated programs are always lively and engaging."

Oh, the excitement of seeing a poster announcing that a circus was coming to your town! Many a young person dreamed of running away with the circus, and some did. NYS has many interesting connections with American circus history. From 'Yankee Robinson', who gave the Ringling Brothers their start, to P.T. Barnum's "Ossian Giant," you'll meet some New Yorkers who followed the lure of the sawdust circle.

September 14, 2025

7pm

Willard Memorial Chapel

Presenter:

Sydney Fischer

Sydney Fischer will speak on the history of Willard Memorial Chapel taking us on a picturesque tour. The interior of the Chapel was designed and handcrafted entirely by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co. of NYC. It is the only complete and unaltered totally Tiffany designed religious interior known to exist in the world.

October 19, 2025

2pm

The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ People in the Cayuga Lake Region

Presenter:

Kurt A. Jordan

Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ Kurt A. Jordan, Associate Professor of Anthropology and American Indian and Indigenous Studies at Cornell University, will speak on his research which resulted in a book as titled above. A part of the history of the Cayuga Lake region has been romanticized or forgotten altogether. It began at the end of the last ice age 13,000 years ago and traces The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people up to the reoccupation of their traditional territory.

His history relies mainly on the written record, archaeological evidence, and some community based oral histories that The Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ people shared with him.

November 9, 2025

2pm

Women Voted Before the Revolution

Presenter:

Sally Roesch Wagner

This program is cancelled due to the passing of Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner on June 11, 2025.

Sally Roesch Wagner will share how women of the Haudenosaunee people influenced the women's suffrage movement. "What inspired the suffragists to think they could create a world where women could be agents of their own being? Sovereign women of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy of six nations in Upstate NY, who showed their settler neighbors how a society that empowered women worked." (SRW)

December 14, 2025

4pm

Christmas Sing-Along

Presenter:

Geoff Clough

Geoff Clough of G&L Music Studio in Baldwinsville plays your favorite songs of the season with the unique arrangements and shares a bit of history and trivia as well. It's sure to get you into the spirit!

The Frontenac Museum wants to remember Christmas and the caroling that once happened in our village. Bring your voices and enjoy Christmas refreshments of hot chocolate and Christmas cookies!

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