My Native Air Documentary
Tannery Pond Center presents: My Native Air, Documentary & Film Discussion
Saturday, September 14 | 7-9 PM
Cost $10, Youth 18 & Younger Free
As part of Johnsburg’s “History Weekend”, Tannery Pond Center is pleased to present a locally produced movie “My Native Air” on Charles Evans Hughes of Glens Falls. Charles Evans Hughes was the Republican Presidential nominee for President of the United Sates in the election of 1916 and lost, by the narrowest of margins, to Woodrow Wilson.
Introducing the movie will be Maury Thompson, the producer of the film and Glenn Pearsall, who will conduct a live, unrehearsed, interview of Mr. Thompson here on stage.
The 43-minute documentary tells the story of the life and career of Glens Falls native Charles Evans Hughes, his role in Adirondack forest land conservation and preservation of the springs at Saratoga Springs, and his connections with cultural attractions in the district such as The Hyde Collection and Crandall Public Library in Glens Falls, Fort Ticonderoga, Silver Bay Association in Hague, scenic Lake George, and Lady Tree Lodge at Upper Saranac Lake. The story of the connection between Hughes and the Hyde family, and many other connections between Hughes and people and places in the Adirondacks, is told in the documentary.
Many places in the Adirondacks lay claim to the distinction that Charles Evans Hughes slept there.
A century ago, it was at the home of Louis and Charlotte Hyde, now The Hyde Collection Art Museum, where Charles and Antoinette Hughes stayed overnight on June 24, 1922, the night before dedication of the Helen Hughes Memorial Chapel, built in memory of their daughter, at Silver Bay Association in Hague.
Charles Evans Hughes, a Glens Falls native, was governor of New York from 1907 to October 1910, when he resigned to accept appointment as a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice. He resigned from the court in June 1916 to accept the Republican nomination for President, narrowly losing to incumbent Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
He later was U.S. Secretary of State and Chief Justice of the United States.
The film is the creative effort of filmmaker Caitlin Stedman, sound engineer Tom Appler, and history writer, author, and longtime Post-Star reporter Maury Thompson. Singer-songwriter Ray Agnew composed and recorded original theme music for the documentary, Snarky Aardvark Films released the documentary for virtual showings in January 2020. The producers are making the documentary available free of charge for in-person screening at non-profit museums, libraries, cultural and educational organizations in the Capital District, Glens Falls and Adirondack regions.
For information, contact Maury Thompson at (518) 761-1186 or writermaury@yahoo.com.
The documentary can be downloaded for a minimal charge from the streaming service Vimeo HERE
Read article from I Love NY HERE
Glenn Pearsall
Glenn is a long time resident of Johnsburg and is well known to many here in Johnsburg and throughout the Adirondacks. Twenty four years ago, Glenn and his wife Carol created and funded a private foundation dedicated to improving the lives of year round residents of the Adirondack Park. Those of us at Tannery Pond are particular appreciative of their support over the years.
While pursuing a successful career as stock market portfolio manager, Glenn also pursued an interest in local history.
His first book, Echoes in These Mountains, tells the story behind 55 historic sites in Johnsburg and has gone into a second printing.
His When Men and Mountains Meet has become an authoritative sources of the Adirondacks after the American Revolution when the region was largely unexplored and ripe for commercial ventures.
And his Civil War novel, Leaves Torn Asunder will be produced by Robin Jay and the Gem Radio Players as a radio play on this very stage on September 16 @ 2 PM at Tannery Pond Center (Glenn is teasing that he is now open to selling the movie rights).
Glenn has also written articles on Adirondack History for the Adirondack Almanac and his research on Mathew Brady of Johnsburg has been published in newspapers nationally, including the New York Times.
Maury Thomson
Maury is a free-lance writer who is best known locally from his more then 25 years of writing for The Post-Star of Glens Falls.
Currently he is a regular freelance contributor to The Lake George Mirror, Glens Falls Chronicle and Hill Country Observer newspapers, and to the New York Almanack blog and Facing Out, the online house publication of Began Communications.
He continues to write about contemporary politics while specializing in the history of politics, labor organizing media and baseball in New York's North Country.
He has self-published two books -- "The Animated Feather Duster: Slow News Day Tales of the Legendary Facial Hair of Charles Evans Hughes" and "The Biggest Kid at the Balloon Festival: The Walter Grishkot Story."
He lives at Ticonderoga, where he enjoys spending time with his 12 grandchildren.
