Cover of the Occupy This Album CD
Occupy Movement: Its place in our history and our future
Below is a track from the album above with Michael Moore singing " The Times they are a Changin'
Occupy Groups in our region who participated in our discussion: Orange County, New Paltz, Kingston and Poughkeepsie. In our discussion the possibility of Time Banking was discussed. People interested in Time Banking can visit the Occupy Orange Facebook page: //www.facebook.com/OccupyOrangeNY
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Introduction to Occupy Discussion
Below is a link to one statement of the mission of the Occupy Movement .
http://devoutinfidel.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-st-releases-their-mission-statement/
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http://devoutinfidel.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/occupy-wall-st-releases-their-mission-statement/
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Discussion about our Hudson Valley History and the Occupy Movement
Welcome to our Tioronda Discussion Group. This was our fifth discussion. Our previous discussions were a kind of preparation for that day, when we related our past history to what is happening now…as we can see in the Occupy Movement.
Our group began with an understanding of the legacy of Joseph Howland and his wife Elizabeth Woolsey Howland. Joseph and Elizabeth were definitely people in the 1% in their time. However, they were also people with great concern for the 100%. At the time, African Americans were still enslaved in the South. The Howlands felt very strongly that this was wrong, and dedicated their lives to correcting this. Joseph Howland volunteered to serve in the militia during the civil war, was wounded and probably had something like PTSD afterwards, as many of our vets do now, after coming back from wars. Elisabeth and her sisters volunteered as nurses during the war, and in fact there was a whole military camp, called Camp Woolsey, named after them After leaving active duty from the militia , Joseph Howland became the treasurer for the state of New York, and as such helped develop and fund the second mental health hospital in the state dedicated specifically for soldiers with PTSD after the civil war, the Hudson River State Hospital in Poughkeepsie. Living here in Beacon, Joseph and Elisabeth Howland funded building the Estate, which they called Tioronda, named after a Native American word, meaning place of the council fire were the two rivers meet. The estate had gardens created by Henry Winthrop Sargent, world famous horticulturalist. They funded the library, the hospital and donated to churches. They built a school . Joseph died at a young age and Elisabeth then donated their entire estate to the newly formed University Settlement, and called it the University Settlement Camp, for the poor immigrants in New York City.
It is important for us to understand this history to get insight and figure out what we need to do now. We need to realize that people in the 1% have been important in our history to make life better for the 100% and that people in the 1% can get gratification from doing so.
Getting back to the history about Joseph Howland and his family. His father was a shipping magnate and accumulated a lot of wealth. We don’t have a lot of evidence that he was a generous to society for societies sake, but his son certainly was. The Occupy Movement separates the 1% from the 99%, but based on this history we need to be aware that there are people in the 1% who will have uncontrollable desire for self accumulation, but there are also people like Joseph and Elisabeth Howland who will want to use their wealth for the public good….and we need to connect with them now.
Another person we have had the opportunity to discuss was Margaret Sanger. She lived for a while here at Hiddenbrooke, was a woman who was able to have a dream about an issue she thought needed addressing , birth control, spent her whole life addressing it, and despite all odds, saw her dream come to fruition. She was able to live long enough to see the government finally put its support behind the movement…not that this battle is completely over yet. But one thing Margaret Sanger never lost was hope, and that is something we can all learn from.
Another person we talked about was Vincent Astor., who lived in Rhinecliff. His father may have been the richest man in America; when he died, he left his son his wealth, and his son used part of it to fund what is now the Astor Home for children.
We also discussed Dr. Clarence Slocum, a psychiatrist. At the time when he lived here, people with mental disorders were placed in asylums and were isolated. His dream was to have a psychiatric facillity which was open, and people could be treated without drugs or restraints. He developed the Craig House here, which was called by Fortune Magazine one of the five best sanitariums in the country at the time..
We listened to Evan Pritchard talk about how the Wappinger People lived here for over 1000 years in harmony with nature, and the lessons we need to learn from them. We learned that for one thousand years, the Wappinger nation lived here in harmony with nature, not even having a word for “I”. We learned about how a Dutch Commander in the 1600’s who, under orders from th Dutch West India Company, massacred 700 Wappinger people while they were silent in their tents at Ridge Pond in Westchester. Today we have drones do the massacres in the Mideast. The Native Americans here utilized negotiations to resolve differences. They made treaties like the Two Wampum Treaty, and then they followed those treaties. We need to remember our past in order to act in the present in ways that are humane and supportive of life. We need to learn what our Indigenous brethren can teach us.
It is important to remember that people in the 1% have done a great deal to contribute to the welfare of the 100% throughout history. The people in the Occupy Movement sometimes look upon this as a simple us vs. them conflict. However, the people who have lived here demonstrate that we are all in this together, and need to work it out,rather than looking at it as an us vs.them situation.
It is hoped that our Tioronda Working group becomes place for us to network in the future to deal with whatever the universe sends us next.
Our group began with an understanding of the legacy of Joseph Howland and his wife Elizabeth Woolsey Howland. Joseph and Elizabeth were definitely people in the 1% in their time. However, they were also people with great concern for the 100%. At the time, African Americans were still enslaved in the South. The Howlands felt very strongly that this was wrong, and dedicated their lives to correcting this. Joseph Howland volunteered to serve in the militia during the civil war, was wounded and probably had something like PTSD afterwards, as many of our vets do now, after coming back from wars. Elisabeth and her sisters volunteered as nurses during the war, and in fact there was a whole military camp, called Camp Woolsey, named after them After leaving active duty from the militia , Joseph Howland became the treasurer for the state of New York, and as such helped develop and fund the second mental health hospital in the state dedicated specifically for soldiers with PTSD after the civil war, the Hudson River State Hospital in Poughkeepsie. Living here in Beacon, Joseph and Elisabeth Howland funded building the Estate, which they called Tioronda, named after a Native American word, meaning place of the council fire were the two rivers meet. The estate had gardens created by Henry Winthrop Sargent, world famous horticulturalist. They funded the library, the hospital and donated to churches. They built a school . Joseph died at a young age and Elisabeth then donated their entire estate to the newly formed University Settlement, and called it the University Settlement Camp, for the poor immigrants in New York City.
It is important for us to understand this history to get insight and figure out what we need to do now. We need to realize that people in the 1% have been important in our history to make life better for the 100% and that people in the 1% can get gratification from doing so.
Getting back to the history about Joseph Howland and his family. His father was a shipping magnate and accumulated a lot of wealth. We don’t have a lot of evidence that he was a generous to society for societies sake, but his son certainly was. The Occupy Movement separates the 1% from the 99%, but based on this history we need to be aware that there are people in the 1% who will have uncontrollable desire for self accumulation, but there are also people like Joseph and Elisabeth Howland who will want to use their wealth for the public good….and we need to connect with them now.
Another person we have had the opportunity to discuss was Margaret Sanger. She lived for a while here at Hiddenbrooke, was a woman who was able to have a dream about an issue she thought needed addressing , birth control, spent her whole life addressing it, and despite all odds, saw her dream come to fruition. She was able to live long enough to see the government finally put its support behind the movement…not that this battle is completely over yet. But one thing Margaret Sanger never lost was hope, and that is something we can all learn from.
Another person we talked about was Vincent Astor., who lived in Rhinecliff. His father may have been the richest man in America; when he died, he left his son his wealth, and his son used part of it to fund what is now the Astor Home for children.
We also discussed Dr. Clarence Slocum, a psychiatrist. At the time when he lived here, people with mental disorders were placed in asylums and were isolated. His dream was to have a psychiatric facillity which was open, and people could be treated without drugs or restraints. He developed the Craig House here, which was called by Fortune Magazine one of the five best sanitariums in the country at the time..
We listened to Evan Pritchard talk about how the Wappinger People lived here for over 1000 years in harmony with nature, and the lessons we need to learn from them. We learned that for one thousand years, the Wappinger nation lived here in harmony with nature, not even having a word for “I”. We learned about how a Dutch Commander in the 1600’s who, under orders from th Dutch West India Company, massacred 700 Wappinger people while they were silent in their tents at Ridge Pond in Westchester. Today we have drones do the massacres in the Mideast. The Native Americans here utilized negotiations to resolve differences. They made treaties like the Two Wampum Treaty, and then they followed those treaties. We need to remember our past in order to act in the present in ways that are humane and supportive of life. We need to learn what our Indigenous brethren can teach us.
It is important to remember that people in the 1% have done a great deal to contribute to the welfare of the 100% throughout history. The people in the Occupy Movement sometimes look upon this as a simple us vs. them conflict. However, the people who have lived here demonstrate that we are all in this together, and need to work it out,rather than looking at it as an us vs.them situation.
It is hoped that our Tioronda Working group becomes place for us to network in the future to deal with whatever the universe sends us next.
