Woodstock History And Hearsay [Hardcover]

Anita M. Smith (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 096792684X | ISBN-13: 978-0967926841 | Publication Date: August 1, 2006 | Edition: 2nd

This book, the town’s first official history when published in 1959, documents the run-up of events that culminated in the iconic Woodstock Festival a decade later, and serves as a reminder of the values and artistic impulses that underpinned a more idealistic era. It tells the story of the town from the time of the Amerindians, up through Revolutionary days, the glass-making era, the down-rent war, and the establishment of a utopian arts enclave during the early 20th century. With an artist’s eye, a worldly sophistication and a you-are-there charm, Smith weaves in tales of witches, farmers, mountain folk, Second World War veterans, and an astonishing array of fellow artists, neighbors and visitors that include Eleanor Roosevelt, John Burroughs, George Bellows, Helen Hayes, James T. Shotwell, John F. Carlson, Thomas Mann, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Edward G. Robinson, John Dewey, Pete Seeger, Carl Walters, Philip Guston and many others.

The second edition includes a great deal of new material, including extensive endnotes, a bibliography and an expanded index. With the addition of close to 200 art reproductions, maps and images of local personalities, it showcases the work of the many creative people who have called Woodstock their home.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The story of this important arts community, one of the US's oldest, is told from the sensitive perspective of Smith, a painter, writer, and famed herbalist who arrived in Woodstock in 1912. Her approach blends shrewd scholarship, biography, and hearsay. In this beautiful new edition, the spirit of the original is painstakingly preserved. To make Smith's work more useful to scholars, the editors added endnotes and more illustrations. In short, a joy to read and a significant contribution to understanding the Woodstock community and American art and culture. Summing up: Recommended. All levels. --Choice Magazine

This history of Woodstock, New York, captivated me. It was as though I sat in the company of this generous and intelligent chronicler whose personal history entwined with all the artists and town characters. She had done her research well and shared it wholeheartedly. Perhaps the best chapters are those describing in delightful detail, but not in overwhelming fashion, some of the artists of the early 20th century with Woodstock connections. You may recognize their names: George Bellows, Alfeo Faggi, Charles Rosen, Konrad Cramer, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Fred Dana Marsh (father of Reginald), and many more. Also, I was fascinated to read about the first Woodstock festivals, long before the iconic 1969 gathering, half a million strong. Those decades-earlier festivals were just about as fantastic . . . What a place Woodstock is and what a history. --Maine Antique Digest

This chronicle reminds us why America's oldest working arts colony mattered so much, and still does. Through evocative word pictures of an astonishing array of locals and newcomers, Smith entertains her readers while making a valuable contribution to our understanding of 20th-century modernism. Her cast of characters includes Alexander Archipenko, George Bellows, John Burroughs, John Dewey, Philip Guston, Helen Hayes, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Thomas Mann, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles Rosen, and Pete Seeger. --Fine Art Connoisseur

From the Inside Flap

Anita M. Smith’s story of Woodstock begins with the indigenous god Manitou sending down from the sky the first woman in the shape of a tortoise. Overlook Mountain, which dominates the Woodstock valley, was regarded by Native Americans as the home of Manitou, and is considered sacred ground. Smith’s narrative continues with the arrival of the early European settlers. Her account of the Revolutionary war days balances the viewpoints and activities of local Whigs, Tories and Native Americans—including those of the Mohawk chief Joseph Brant. By the start of the 1800s the Industrial Revolution was mobilizing the valley. The principal activities were glass making, tanning and farming. Soon thereafter the area was ablaze with the farmers’ rebellion against the landlords in the tumultuous down-rent war.

In 1902 Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, a disciple of John Ruskin and William Morris, founded the Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts colony in Woodstock. Whitehead sought to challenge the mechanistic age by reviving the ancient handicrafts of weaving, iron work, furniture making and pottery in a place that was healthful for the mind as well as the body. Co-founders of his utopian venture were Bolton Brown and a Whitmanesque Midwesterner, Hervey White. Anita Smith, who arrived in the fledgling colony in 1912 as a painter, evokes the magic of this time through a melding of personal anecdotes and scholarship.

Hervey White went on to found the Maverick, a commune just over the Woodstock town line in West Hurley. Here he sponsored a theater and a program of summer chamber music (the oldest continuous series in the United States today). White also founded the Maverick Festival, a forerunner of the world-famous Woodstock Festival of 1969. Soon countless numbers of distinguished American painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, dancers, poets and other artists took up residence in Woodstock: George Bellows, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Philip Guston, Alexander Archipenko, Pierre Henrotte, Georges Barrère, James T. Shotwell, Henry Morton Robinson, Bliss Carman, Helen Hayes and a host of others. With her artistic eye, Anita Smith weaves a rich tapestry of oral and documented lore to capture the byplay between hardworking farmers and businessmen, shape-shifting witches and bohemian artists, providing a wonderful behind-the-scenes view of pre-1969 Festival Woodstock.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 335 pages
• Publisher: WoodstockArts; 2nd edition (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 096792684X
• ISBN-13: 978-0967926841
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,200,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Seductive Natural Beauty of Woodstock, NY: Its People and History, July 10, 2007

By 

Erika Borsos "pepper flower" (Gulf Coast of FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Woodstock History And Hearsay (Hardcover)

The character and essence of a community is based on the quality and type of people who settle in it. From its early beginnings and into the present times, Woodstock, NY has attracted a cast of charismatic, passionate, energetic, entrepeneurial, hard working and artistic group of people to grace her historical stage. Different eras attracted a different type of characteristic in its settlers. All helped build the community into the dynamic, artistic community which it is today. Each person left his or her imprint and indelible presence ... Anita M. Smith the author of this book is no exception. She first became well known for her impressionistic paintings of the region which were exhibited at such prestigious locations as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Gallery of Toronto (now called the Art Gallery of Ontario). Such recognition speaks volumes about her artistic talent. Ms Smith had a strong presence in the community and was the first person to research and record the complex history of Woodstock which was published as the first edition of Woodstock: Hearsay and History. We can thank Weston and Julia Blelock for including more colorful photos of her paintings in the second edition. They also provided an outstanding biographical timeline of Anita's life which gives the reader an idea of how well traveled and broad her outlook on life was. I particularly enjoyed the preface where they provide a background of why this book is so important to them and how personally meaningful it is. When growing up, they knew Anita by the dimunitive "Nietsie" ...

This book is a richly textured volume, a multi-layered historical document filled with fascinating detailed accurate history obtained from local archives. It also contains anecdotal stories, similar to local legends about various residents from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, through World Wars I and II and into the present. Reading about local residents and their experiences during the Revolutionary War made this most important event in US history come alive with meaning. What stands out most is that prior to 1775, loyalty to the King of England was the expected political position. However, shortly thereafter *if* anyone expressed support for England it was considered treason, punishable by imprisonment or worse. Revolutionary War politics comes alive for the reader, making one realize that the mood of the people had shifted towards independence, to making a break from the Crown a reality. The following chapters are especially captivating, filled with many unique stories which engage the reader's attention from start to finish: "Chapter Two - Frontier Days: Indian Forays, Revolution and Liberty", "Chapter Three - Glass Making in the Nineteenth Century", "Chapter Four: The Down-Rent War: Catskill Farmers Rebel Against Feudalism".

Each chapter stands out for its well documented and researched contents, indicating meticulous attention to accuracy which makes the book so great. Along with real history, the hearsay keeps the reader hooked, wanting to read more. Anita interviewed local residents and preserved their human interest stories, providing amusing and entertaining tales from the past. Most especially intriguing are her insightful stories about the local artists who started two famous art colonies in Woodstock: the Byrdcliffe and the Maverick. Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, Hervey White and Bolton Brown were the founders of Byrdcliffe. Later, Hervey White separated from the group and started the Maverick. He was also the founder of the first Woodstock Festival (not to be confused with the 1969 rock concert which went by the same name but was held on a nearby farmland). I loved reading about their life stories, as young adults when they broke with convention, travelled to Italy and experienced other cultures. The wonderful true stories about Rosie Magee a local resident who provided food and lodging to a generation of artists is a thrill to read. One's heart goes out to this generous, kind-hearted, hard working lady who was a kindred soul to the artists ... A most highly recommended book. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real flesh of life in real soul-shaking words, July 3, 2007

By 

Jacques COULARDEAU "A soul doctor, so to say" (OLLIERGUES France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Woodstock History And Hearsay (Hardcover)

This new edition of Anita Smith's classic book has kept her text though it added end-notes to clarify details. The illustrations of this new edition have been selected with great care to provide the reader with a complete approach of the visual dimension of Woodstock, but also of the past, the characters, the vision Anita Smith had of her world and its past, the vision she tried to translate into words and paintings in a time when picture books were rare. This new edition takes part in the centennial celebration of the founding of the Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony. But the book develops the whole history of Woodstock. The style and vividness of the information gives depth to events we only know from history textbooks. The Independence war is rendered in great detail and is born in front of our eyes into real life. Imagine what this war may have been with the "foreign" British army, but also the Civil strife with the loyal Tories, and what's more the use of Indians by both the British and the Tories. The patriots had to fight three armed enemies: their Tory next door neighbors, unknown and unsuspected; the Indians from up in the mountains or the back country attacking at any time, particularly at night; and the British army that only entered battle when the field had been opened by the others. The victory was thus all the more difficult to capture. The chapter on glassworks at the beginning of the 19th century shows how the US developed a mixed economy from the very start, agriculture and industry, side by side, leading to the idea that agriculture was an industry of its own. The down-rent rebellion in the mid 1840s is fascinating: it demonstrates that historians like Fukuyama have it all wrong. The US Constitution and Bill of Rights did not give full freedom to everyone, far from it. In this case a feudal system survives with farmers who cannot own the land they till but are only tenants of absentee landlords. The battle, and it was one, lasted three or four years with acts of violence, disguised as Indians or not, with tens of arrests and the subsequent trials and convictions. But it shows how the political system cannot change the economic system with a bill. But politicians can summon a convention of all concerned parties for them to find a solution to solve the problem and satisfy the demand, which was done in 1846. Then a politician can run in the election for governor and win it, and the newly elected Governor can then pardon those who have been imprisoned for their action. The Constitution and Bill of Rights do not contain everything and any improvement requires a real fight as long as the contradiction that is behind the various factions is not solved. This chapter is more than enlightening: a real lesson in social action and democracy. The Byrdcliffe Art and Craft Colony founded by Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead is one of these utopian ventures that could probably only exist in the US. It does not aim at changing society, or even having an influence on it. It creates a bubble of free air, land and water where a bunch of creative minds could dedicate their lives to some creative physical activity, joining imagination and the body to produce beautiful works of art or craft. This utopia was founded in 1902 when the Whiteheads moved to Woodstock. Artists could come and stay here for a while to find the peace and atmosphere they needed to create, paint, write, carve, or just practice their crafts, along with enriching their minds in the rich library of the colony. This benevolent attitude of a rich man to the artists of his time is the continuation of the Renaissance when the rich took care of artists in exchange of some artistic work, but also of the utopian 19th century, especially the English Fabian Society that believed that evil came from man's bad social surroundings. It is also the link to modern art-patronage from rich individuals or corporations, and its IRS-managed version of the Artistic Freedom Voucher proposed by Dean Baker (CEPR, Washington DC). Benevolent to compensate, correct the harshness of the market economy with the blooming of arts and crafts to nurse beauty into embellishing the world. Lectures were delivered too in events like symposia or conventions. Hervey White and the Maverick Festivals are essential to understand what happened in Woodstock. A bohemian poet opens next to Byrdcliffe a performing arts village, starting with music, and then theater, and then dancing. He also develops publications of all types for poetry and other writings. And it works. The festivals attract big crowds that finance the whole village. What was their magic formula: to bring together all arts, all forms of artistic production and expression, as well as the participation of the public with costumes and other activities, and at the same time the refusal to depend on anyone or any institution, the will to be independent and free like the big boys and girls they were. Hervey White died peacefully in some shed he chose to migrate to at the end of his life in 1944 and he was carried to the other side of life by quite many people who came from everywhere, New York City and Chicago for instance. He might have winced at such public homage, the proof that he had turned his life of a poor man into a valuable life for others. And the 1969 Woodstock Festival was only one more step on the long road to the living heart of man's imagination. And that is not all but I am running out of space, though not steam. Get to the book and enjoy it.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Woodstock - Who Knew? Anita M. Smith's Definitive Report, July 9, 2007

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Woodstock History And Hearsay (Hardcover)

The very mention of the word 'Woodstock' conjures visions of the great summer of 1969 when the little location in New York state became a symbol for free love, rebellion against the Vietnam War, and some of the finest music of the time. But why was Woodstock chosen for that momentous event? Reading this newly revised edition of Anita M. Smith's original 1959 WOODSTOCK HISTORY AND HEARSAY sets the stage for the answers to that question and does so in an immensely readable, thoroughly documented, richly illustrated book - a book that should be on the bookshelves not only of all libraries, but also in the libraries of readers who are curious about that wonderful institution, the 'art colony'.

Anita M. Smith (1893 - 1968) was an accomplished painter, herbalist, historian, writer, and devotee of the arts. In her history of Woodstock she not only manages to include all the researched data from the founding of the community in 1778 through its emergence into an art colony, but she also includes anecdotal information, measures of the tenor of the times she examines, and introduces the many fascinating people who found residence there, people including Alexander Archipenko, George Bellows, John Burroughs, John Dewey, Philip Guston, Helen Hayes, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Thomas Mann, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles Rosen, Pete Seeger, Conrad Kramer - great minds, great philosophers, painters, writers, environmentalists and significant lesser known individuals who supported the concept. Some may liken the group to the Bloomsbury Group in England, but the extent of time and variation of characters is far greater for Woodstock.

The book is beautifully designed and contains many full color photographs of Smith's paintings as well as numerous photographs of the people and the places within Woodstock through the century when it flourished: it remains an important have for thought and the arts. In Smith's writing we are not only introduced to a place (though the beauty of the physical Woodstock is constantly painted for us in her poetic prose), but it also addresses that elusive essence of an art colony - a place where people of great talent interact to influence each other.

WOODSTOCK HISTORY AND HEARSAY is a superb contribution to understanding American art and thought. This expanded volume, created for 2006 90th anniversary of the Maverick concert series, is a handsome and richly significant book. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, July 07