Today marks John Baxter Black's 125th birthday, and what better way to mark the occasion than with improvements to the John Black Room Library! We are working to return this room to its original use as a library and meeting space, and have just finished modifying the built-in bookcases to safely house the museum's book collections and make them visible to the public. The addition of security bars and plexiglass-enclosed display shelves and cases will protect the important volumes in our collection while allowing museum visitors and researchers to explore our book holdings. This space will also host small-scale rotating exhibits, including our current Pandemic Perspectives Exhibit. This wing of the Laboratory was dedicated in John's memory by his family, following his death in 1923. About ten years ago, we hosted a visit from John's nephews, John and Peter Black. Pleased to see the lasting legacy of their family in Saranac Lake, John and Peter generously supported our work to restore the laboratory and open it as a museum. The modern improvements to the John Black Room are made possible by a generous grant from the Robert and Esther Black Family Foundation Fund of the Richland County Foundation. We are grateful for the Foundation's ongoing support, which allows us to preserve the legacy of John Black in Saranac Lake. Our thanks to Ken of Gochenaur Construction for his careful execution of our vision for this space. Stay tuned for more news on improvements to the room, and our work with our book collection! For more about the legacy of John Black in Saranac Lake, visit our website.
 The John Black Room with updated bookcases and the Pandemic Perspectives Exhibit.
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 Glasses made by Dick Monroe out of historic bottles. We have loved following Dick Monroe’s adventures in bottle diving, so here’s the latest update! Dick has been experimenting with making drinking/cocktail glasses out of damaged historic bottles that he discovers while diving. Check out his latest piece in the Adirondack Almanack to follow along!
Dick’s support has been tremendous for helping us care for our collections; we can’t say thank you enough! If you missed the original sale on Collins Brothers bottles, you’re in luck! There are just a few bottles left for sale on our website. All of the funds go to purchase supplies to house and care for our collections.  Saturday is National Hug a Nurse Day, so who better to celebrate this Tuberculosis Thursday than the nurses who worked with TB patients in Saranac Lake! This photograph shows the 1931 graduating class of the nursing school at Trudeau Sanatorium.
The D. Ogden Mills Training School for Nurses started in 1912 to train former patients as nurses, with the idea that they would less susceptible to illness, and had an understanding of the experience of curing. Thank you to nurses past and present for all of your hard work! Learn more about the Training School on our wiki. [Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 582. Courtesy of Jan Dudones.]  Did you know that this week marks the fourth anniversary of the re-opening of Hotel Saranac? Time flies, but this c. 1930s postcard shows that their historic facade looks as good as the day it was built! We wish them many more years making history in Saranac Lake!
[Historic Saranac Lake Collection.]  It's REALLY cold, so be sure to bundle up before you hang out with your friends outside! These unidentified tuberculosis patients are wearing fashionable fur coats, which were popular with patients because they spent most of their days out on cure porches, regardless of the weather. Socializing was an important part of keeping the patients' spirits up!
[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2021.6.16. Courtesy of Karen Lewis and Beth Glover.
We're sending a HUGE thank you to Bill Madden and the crew at Madden's Transfer & Storage for moving our offices out of the Trudeau Building and into the Saranac Laboratory Museum last week. We appreciate all your hard work and ongoing support! We're clearing out the building so we can get started on construction soon, so stay tuned for a big update on the project!
Did you know that Madden's is the longest-running business here Saranac Lake? The original delivery business was started in 1898 by the first William Madden, who hauled goods to and from Union Depot. It became Madden's Transfer and Storage in 1914, and the family eventually purchased the curling club property in 1944. The business is still located there today! Learn more about the history of Madden's on our wiki: https://localwiki.org/hsl/Madden%27s_Transfer_and_Storage
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Historic Saranac Lake at the Saranac Laboratory Museum
89 Church Street, Suite 2, Saranac Lake, New York 12983
(518) 891-4606 - mail@historicsaranaclake.org
89 Church Street, Suite 2, Saranac Lake, New York 12983
(518) 891-4606 - mail@historicsaranaclake.org
Historic Saranac Lake is funded in part by:
- the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature;
- a Humanities New York SHARP Grant with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the federal American Rescue Plan Act;
- an Essex County Arts Council Cultural Assistance Program Grant supported by the Essex County Board of Supervisors.
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© 2023 Historic Saranac Lake. All Rights Reserved. Historic photographs from Historic Saranac Lake Collection, unless otherwise noted. Copy and reuse restrictions apply.