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Woodstock History And Hearsay
by Anita M. Smith
Product Group: Book
Publisher: WoodstockArts (2006-08-01)
ISBN: 096792684X
EAN: 9780967926841
Dewy Decimal #: 974.734
Hardcover: 335 pages
Edition: 2nd
SKU: 08060019
Condition: Very Good Like New
Comments: Hardback in very good plus condition with no markings. Slight tape mark on front flyleaf - else like new. Dust jacket in like new condition with minor shelf wear. Tight binding and clear crisp text. Very nice book.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
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.
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Customer Reviews
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Woodstock History and Hearsay will appeal to booklovers who relish a fascinating read!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-12-02
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Several years ago I reviewed It happened in Woodstock which was originally published in 1959 and authored by a Philadelphia debutant, artist, herbalist and author Anita M. Smith. As I mentioned in my review it was a book not only remarkable for its good look, but also its amazing chronicling of the history of Woodstock from A.D. 1614 until 1971. The 1959 book was Woodstock's first official history and documented the run-up of events that culminated in the historic three day "Woodstock Music and Art Fair" that was celebrated in mid-August of 1969.
This second edition, Woodstock History and Hearsay published by Woodstock Arts includes an abundance of new material including a comprehensive list of endnotes, a bibliography and an expanded index. It is the recipient of the 2007 Independent Publisher Award and a finalist Foreward 2007 Book of the Year.
We have to thank the tireless efforts of Weston Blelock and his sister Julia for giving us the opportunity to experience through the writings of Anita M. Smith the history, art and lifestyle of Woodstock's inhabitants from its early settlement until the 1960s.
Moreover, with Woodstock History and Hearsay we can now fully appreciate the philosophy and art of such 20th century artists as George Bellow, Charles Rosen, Konrad Cramer, Henry Mattson, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Alexander Archipenko, Arnold Blanch, Doris Lee, Henry Lee McFee, Alfeo Faggi and others.
It should be pointed out that Weston and Julia Blelock's mother, Nelle Thornton Jones Blelock was a close friend of Anita Smith and she had inherited from the latter all of her holdings, including artworks and written materials. When their mother died, Smith's estate passed onto them and they resolved to honor her and their mother through a program of restoration-including various buildings and gardens as well as the collection of intellectual property. Consequently, they had founded their company, Woodstock Arts which focus was "to embrace and celebrate a mindset and way of living that he been handed down to them from Anita." As a result, one of the first major projects was the development and publication of the second edition of Smith's 1959 Woodstock History and Hearsay.
As mentioned in the Preface, this second edition augments the original set of eighteen illustrations, always making sure that the images would be a reflection of Smith's own visual palate and sensibilities.
Divided into fifteen chapters and packed with historical detail, the book explores early settlement, frontier days, glass making in the nineteenth century which was an impetus for Woodstock's growth, Catskill farmers rebelling against feudalism, a comprehensive chapter pertaining to the famous Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony, the first Woodstock Festival, Rosie Magee who was a mother to a generation of artists, George Bellows and other leading artists, the Art Students League, Ohayo Mountain, upper Hamlets, Woodstock and World War II, and various local personalities.
It is quite obvious that Smith has done a tidy bit of research making the scenes of Woodstock, her inhabitants and neighbours from the surrounding areas come alive. And as an important added feature is the relevant Integration of 170 black and white photos highlighting works of art of several local personalities and landmarks and the book's 196 images include 7 maps and two portfolios with 19 reproductions.
Woodstock History and Hearsay will appeal to booklovers who relish a fascinating read reflecting, as Julia Blelock mentions in the Preface, "Woodstock-known internationally because of its art heritage and the 1969 festival-represents a special blend of imagination, creativity and commitment to an alternative way of life."
Norm Goldman, Editor Bookpleasures
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Captivating!
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-11-12
Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (11/07)
Anita M. Smith (1893-1968) is not only portrayed as an accomplished writer, but also as an accomplished artist as she reveals Woodstock in this wonderful second edition "art book." What a breathtaking way to create a visual tribute to 20th century artists such as Konrad Cramer, Doris Lee, Andrew Dasburg, and of course herself, Anita M. Smith.
But there is more. Smith includes history and daily life. There is an extensive chapter on the Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts colony as well a section emphasizing the Maverick music and arts festivals, the predecessor to Woodstock. This coffee table book also features nearly 200 photos accentuating local individuals and attractions.
Those of us that grew up in the era of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, even if we didn't attend it, will always relate to it. But, most of us, unless we live in the area, do not know the history of Woodstock. Smith gives the opportunity for us to visit Woodstock in a way we couldn't have in 1969.
"Woodstock History and Hearsay" is captivating to say the least. The local tradition and myths, along with the researched narrative and paintings captures the splendor and magic of one of America's oldest arts communities.
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Great Americana--history and art
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-09-24
Although I've had this book for a while, it's been difficult to find time to adequately praise it. Consequently, several others have beat me to the punch, superbly. As Ms. Borsos properly notes, Woodstock, N.Y. is known for its character and characters, the one influencing the other in ways that made the town a haven for "passionate, energetic, entrepreneurial, hard working and artistic" people.
These U.S. born bohemian types fortunately included the late Anita M. Smith (1893-1968), whose paintings Weston and his sister Julia Blelock have lovingly compiled in the latest edition of this book. How they came to do that is as much of interest as the book itself, for the Blelocks' parents had during their childhood rented Smith's home, while she lived in a cottage next door, adopted them as her "spiritual" grandchildren, and wrote the first, 1959 edition of the book.
The masterful current edition won the 2007 Independent Publisher's Award, presumably for its magnificent printing quality--and its fabulous content, including the introduction of Smith's 1920-1928 impressionist artwork, heretofore not in print. Smith's previously famous artistic renditions of New York's Catskill region had been shown in Chicago's Art Institute, Toronto (now Ontario's) Art Gallery, and Pennsylvania's Academy of Fine Arts.
But Smith was also first to write the Woodstock local history, which is far more scholarly and complete than most regional histories I have seen. Smith's life experience (recorded here in a time line) indicates the breadth of experience, knowledge and intellectual exposure she brought to her account, despite her grandmotherly familiarity with editors, during their childhoods.
Woodstock's Revolutionary-era Tory bent would not surprise anyone familiar with other rural New York areas. Setauket, Long Island, for example, has struggled (successfully) to retain its colonial feel, preserving even its circa 1730 Caroline Church, to which George II's Queen, Wilhelmina Karoline of Brandenburg-Anspach, gave its original alter cloth and Sacrament ornaments--and whose western side proudly exhibits Continental soldiers' bullet holes. Under British control for 7 years after the Revolution, Setauket was like Woodstock also home to Yankee boatmen whom the "damned Red Coats" labeled a local "Spy Ring."
Woodstock's Civil, World War I and World War II histories are also admirably recounted here, in a scholarly and equally engaging manner. Students of early American history will love the local color provided in chapters on New York's time along the budding nation's "western frontier," its liberation from Tory control, its 19th Century glass-making (a common art throughout the North East and into Canada) and rural agricultural disputes with large area landholders.
Then there are Smith's word-paintings of the beginnings and life in the original Byrdcliffe art colony, founded by Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, Bolton Brown and Hervey White, the last of whom later split off to start another such early art commune, the Maverick.
As others have mentioned, the characters on Smith's word canvas include instantly recognizable popular, business, intellectual, literary and political names (Helen Hayes, Edward G. Robinson, John Burroughs, John Dewey, Thomas Mann, Eleanor Roosevelt and Pete Seeger) and less famous (Alexander Archipenko, George Bellows, Philip Guston, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Charles Rosen and Conrad Kramer) alike. In a way, Anita Smith was rural New York's Gertrude Stein.
I can't recommend this fabulous 2nd edition highly enough.
--Alyssa A. Lappen
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A Gem of a Book
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-08-23
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This book is a history of Woodstock, New York, with an emphasis on the development of its artistic community. Originally published in 1959, the book has been updated with endnotes by Weston Blelock and many new images and plates. Smith first arrived in Woodstock in 1912, when she spent a summer with the artists' colony. She soon returned to Woodstock to take up full-time residence, and in addition to painting, began collecting stories and anecdotes from townspeople. Her interest in local history became widely known, and in 1931, she began publishing papers about the history of Woodstock through the Historical Society of Woodstock. Following World War II, she compiled a history of the wartime contributions of Woodstock community members. In 1959, she published a volume of her historical research on town history, Woodstock: History and Hearsay. In this edition, family friends, Weston and Julia Blelock, have painstakingly reviewed Smith's manuscript, added endnotes, a new introduction, a biographical timeline of Smith's life, and hundreds of new illustrations and photographs. This edition includes an index, an annotated list of illustrations, a bibliography, and endnotes, as well as the World War II service record summaries from Smith's original work.
The book represents a massive work of scholarship, covering the history of Woodstock from its earliest European settlement through the period just after World War II. As well as being an active member of the artistic community, Smith was an avid collector of stories, and recorded firsthand accounts of life in Woodstock dating as far back as the early Nineteenth Century. In this book, she includes stories of frontier life, the glass-making factories, and a large section on the Down-Rent War, a rebellion against feudal land ownership. She then traces the development of the Byrdcliffe Art Colony, the Maverick Festival, and many of the artists who came to live in Woodstock. At the end of the book is a remarkable history of the WWII contributions of Woodstock residents, at the home front as well as in the services. In addition to the plates contained in Smith's 1959 edition, the Blelocks have added hundreds of photographs, color reproductions, and maps that make the present volume quite attractive as well as illustrative of Smith's stories.
The book is a delight to read, as well as highly informative. Smith writes in a down-to-earth narrative style, conveying the character of her interviewees. She clearly had a wide range of interests and cultivated friendships with people from all walks of life. She discusses some of the politics and personality conflicts of the original artists' community impartially, although she was a firsthand witness and participant in many of the events. Scholars studying artists who resided in Woodstock during these early years will find much of interest in the book, as she provides many personal anecdotes about her colleagues and mentors. Smith's details of the WWII contributions on the home front are particularly interesting for the information they provide about the effects the war had on the social climate of a representative small American town. Overall, the volume is a treasure trove of historical information, fascinating to read, and a pleasure to browse through.
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The Seductive Natural Beauty of Woodstock, NY: Its People and History
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-07-10
41 out of 41 customers found this reveiw helpful
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]
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