From WXXI news.

This is connections.

I'm Raquel Stephen.

It's Thursday, and that means we're headed for the Finger Lakes.

Each week this summer, we've been exploring a different Finger Lakes community.

Today we're going to a Washougal lake.

The city of Auburn sits on the north end of the lake, is home to one of the oldest prisons in the United States.

Has a rich history which includes Harriet Tubman's house and a burgeoning arts community with a sweets trail.

Am I right?

Yeah, sweets.

Not wine, but sweets, I love that.

In this hour, we're going to find out more about what makes Auburn tick.

With our guests in studio with me.

We have Anna Wilson.

She's back with us.

Superintendent of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park.

And Anna also joined us last week for our conversation about Seneca Falls High honor.

Nice.

Nice to have you back.

Thank you.

And I have also in studio Jeff Starks, the director of outreach and development at the UGA museum of history and Art.

Welcome, Jeff.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

And on the line with me, I have Maria Coleman, director of development for the Seward House.

Is Maria on the line?

And I also have David Wilcox, the executive director of the Auburn Citizen.

That's the Auburn newspaper.

David is a long time Auburn resident, and I know I believe we have Maria on the line now.

And David.

Hello.

Hi, David.

How are you?

Good.

How's it going?

Great.

Thank you for joining us remotely.

And Maria Coleman, are you on the line?

Yes I am.

Hello.

Hi, Maria.

Nice.

Nice to have you on the show with us.

So, we would like to tell our listeners, you know, this is our housekeeping.

If you're listening and you want to join in on our conversation.

If you love Auburn, have been to Auburn, and you want to share your experience.

You can call us at 1844295 talk.

That's 1-844-295-8255 or at (585) 263-9994 or email us at connections@wxxi.org or comment right in our YouTube channel.

Now let's start.

The population of Auburn is about 26,000 people.

And those numbers are from the 2020 census.

It's famous for its history, but is but it's a multiple faceted community.

Let me let me ask each of you here.

If someone's never been to Auburn.

Describe it for me.

What makes it unique?

Why does Auburn matter?

Oh, I would say that all roads lead to Auburn.

Oh, I mean, it is an absolute wonderful place to visit.

It has many cultural sites and places to learn about the history of the, of Auburn as well as the history of the country, because of those inroads, those connections to the broader history of the United States.

And so I would say that, you know, it's just a wonderful community and a very close knit community to come in and experience, you know, cultural sites, but also culture.

And they always have something going on.

There's always some kind of program event or something to welcome people into the community.

Oh, wow.

All roads lead to Auburn.

That metaphor, I like that.

Jeff, what makes Auburn tick?

I couldn't have said it any better.

The the thing I always say to people is, when you're talking about Auburn, it feels like your name dropping history.

So, just the number of major American figures, American movements that were born out of that community.

I mean, I love asking people where they're coming from when I'm giving tours, because I need to know if you're from upstate New York or like the area, because that lets me know if I need to explain to you, like what New York has been historically.

You know, I always tell people you we were Silicon Valley a hundred years ago.

So, you know, not only are you in this progressive community historically, you also have major technological innovations going on, that are happening within the region.

So it's a very special place.

I mean, you know, in the rest of Keuka County, you have like the wine industry that really is drawing people the outdoors.

In Auburn, it's the museums.

If you are a museum nerd, it is the city for you.

Like, we have more museums than Syracuse, and Syracuse is four times our population.

So you couldn't wait to see that.

And I know you're you're the history buff here.

Auburn is a county seat, and the Auburn is the county seat.

And the largest city in Cayuga County.

What built this city?

And what forces drove that change in what was called what is Hardin Burg Corners in the past?

Hindenburg's corners, was what the community was originally called.

I mean, you, of course, this was inhabited land for thousands of years by the Iacono Nation or the Cougar Nation.

As we call them today.

And the community was built along the Alaska River.

John Hardin Berg, who is the, you know, purported founder of Auburn.

He established a mill there with two, enslaved or indentured servants.

Who?

Harry and Kate Freeman.

So there has been a white and a black population from the very beginning of Auburn.

And the Wasco River.

That mill actually is now a Dunkin Donuts in the middle of downtown Auburn.

So, no mill there anymore, but very historical Dunkin Donuts.

Yeah, they run on something else, right?

Of course.

And so.

But, what?

Really, if you're diving into what defined Auburn's growth, you.

Yeah, you can boil it down to two big organizations.

One 1816 we get the prison and, the prison.

I mean, this is kind of a forgotten thing for a lot of people.

Getting prison was big business for people back then.

The community petitioned for that prison, because it was a way to spur growth and industry.

And, you know, while Auburn is not a community on the Erie Canal, you, have this prison.

That is where basically most of Auburn's 19th century industries get started using the labor within that prison.

It is to this day the second oldest currently operating maximum security prison in the country.

It does not still, do like labor for private companies, but it does.

All the license plates in, New York are made there.

And so the thing is, it's kind of this thing that's inherently in the background of the community, but it has this sort of dark, yes, darkness behind it.

But then also, it's so essential to the development the community literally grew around.

Yes.

The prison, I mean, you go to the edge of the museum property, you look left and you can see it right there.

But then on the other side, if you're talking about all these progressive movements that are coming through Auburn, why are there so many Underground Railroad sites?

I always boil that down to the Auburn Theological Seminary, which, does not still exist, or it exists under Union Theological Seminary now.

But, this was kind of our university.

Yeah, of the 19th century.

And it was a Presbyterian seminary.

So in the time period it was founded, it was going through a major split over the issue of slavery.

And what essentially that seminary became was a training ground for abolitionist pastors to go all over the country and talk about the evils of slavery.

So, that theological seminary really becomes this root of, you know, why is the abolition, why are there so many Underground Railroad sites?

Why is the suffrage movement starting within the community?

That's where that that innovation of thought is coming from.

Yeah.

So I want to talk.

I want to touch on the prison a little bit if we can go back.

Sure.

Know the prison.

This dark past.

It was the site of a lot of uprising.

A lot of first.

Can you talk about, the history of the prison a little bit in these uprisings that occur?

Sure.

I mean, the, the prison, was best known, particularly in the 19th century, for innovating something called the Auburn system, which was, what most people are familiar with is the Pennsylvania system of Eastern State Penitentiary, which was, you know, solitary confinement, that kind of stuff, ironically created by the Quakers.

The Auburn system was different.

The, everybody was kept in its single cells.

It is still that way today.

But in the 19th century, they had to walk in, single file and enforced silence.

So really the idea was creating these, you know, production center and kind of really dehumanizing the people who were there.

Now, this is a maximum security prison.

So, of course, a number of people who are in there should be in, in that space.

But, you know, it's also where the first use of the electric chair happens.

The descriptions of that are horrifying.

The first one, because it, it was botched in 1890.

The, McKinley's assassin was kept within the prison.

So it's a major historical space.

It was also an innovation space for the creation of, prison reform, major prison reform movement.

So a mayor of Auburn who became warden of things in prison did an experiment.

His name was Thomas Ma Osborne.

He disguised himself as a prisoner in the 1918, 1920s to go into the prison and for a week and see what the experience was like, and it changed him forever.

He decided to create a essentially a union for for incarcerated people.

And, that ends up getting blamed for, for an uprising in 1929, which was really due to overcrowding conditions.

That's where that happens.

And so it kind of that went by the wayside.

But we do still get some leftovers of, for instance, the Cornell program that exists within the prison to, to train, you know, people for people to get their associate's degrees while within the prison.

So, you know, major moments, going on through there.

You know, for good and for for bad.

Yeah, yeah.

And I want to, include David on this conversation about the prison because you've covered you covered local and state news.

How do you see the prison fitting into the community of Auburn is an economic driver.

How how is it fitting?

How is it shaping the character of of Auburn?

Certainly an economic driver.

It's, you know, one of the biggest employers in the area.

And just to kind of piggyback on what Jeff was saying, would what really, you know, cannot be overstated is how unique the placement of the prison is in Auburn.

You know, really being in the center of the community, going to other, you know, upstate towns that have even maximum security prisons, and they're not as centrally located as, as, Auburn's is.

And that's something that, I know there's been some, you know, art projects and history projects, photography that have kind of explored the psychological effect of that.

And it and it really is something that, probably can't even be put into words.

What it's like, you know, I, I didn't personally grow up in Auburn and I've lived here for 20 years, but I can't imagine, you know, driving by these, you know, extremely high walls, these, these watchtowers and so forth.

Every day, you know, as a kid and wondering, like what?

That what that's like, you formative.

So that's something that cannot be cannot be overstated.

It's just like what that's like.

But, but yeah, as far as the, the economic role that it has, it's definitely big.

And we, we saw recently, you know, this winter when the, statewide correctional officers strike took place in Auburn was, you know, of course, one of the biggest, sights of that that really was a reminder of just how, you know, how many people the prison employs and how many people are connected to people that the prison employs.

You know, we saw in the form of support for the strike, you know, people reading our stories and responding to them on Facebook.

It was it was massive.

So its reach is really that was a great reminder of how, you know, far it's reaches, you know, as an employer and an economic, presence in the area.

And I know there's there's a brewery in the town called Prison City Brewery, project Prison City.

Are you liking this term for Auburn?

Is it shaping the community in a way that is misunderstood, misleading?

Its, Well, first of all, I mean, Prison City had existed before the brewery.

There's, you know, there's a band called the Prison City Rockers.

There's groups called Prison City.

What have you, going back years and years before Prison City Brewing.

But they definitely popularized it.

I do know, you know, early on in their history, they, they name some of their beers, you know, after prison terms and incorporated the prison imagery and lexicon into, you know, into their brand.

But I know in recent years they've kind of dialed that back a little bit.

I know, you know, I don't want to speak for, for the, owners of the brewery, but I, I get the impression that they they understand that it's, you know, maybe, maybe not the most, you know, welcoming, welcoming imagery and wording to use.

So we're seeing that, that pull back a little bit, but, it's, it's something that, you know, like I said, it goes back so much further than them.

It's part, really part of the city's identity, that, you know, the idea of Prison City is it's something that's been around for decades and decades.

Yeah.

Know can we?

I don't know if you can touch on that a little bit or.

Jeff.

Prison city.

Right.

And how that plays in to to Auburn's character.

I mean, I'll, I'll leave it up to you, Jeff, specifically, I mean, personally, you know, it seems to be something where it's kind of a mixed bag on people's response to it.

Some people hate being defined by the prison within the community and would rather move past it, be defined by by their local industries.

Some, you know, there's kind of a joking association with Auburn about, we've got pros and cons kind of thing.

So, like, there is a major, because we get a major Crow migration that comes through the area, too.

But, you know, it is one of those things where, you know, you do have people who don't want to be associated with that museum would rather or museum the prison and would rather it be kind of hidden.

But, you know, then there's, you know, as David said, I mean, I think a few of our docents are related to people that, have worked in the prison or do currently.

I mean, you I mean, it is the second largest employer in the county.

So, you know, it is very fundamentally connected to so many people.

So even the people who would otherwise probably rather not have some kind of association with it, you inherently do have that like within the community there.

So the Prison City moniker, I think that there's, you know, there's there are people who use the term it's not like, something like, you know, a Syracuse with Salt City or Rochester with flowers anywhere.

It's like a very popularly, like, accepted term.

I will note that the imagery within the, Prison City Brewery is actually all stuff from, like, you're from the Keokuk Museum.

So like it was they really are using real historical images from, from the space.

And it does overlook you are looking right at the prison there.

So okay.

So we'll talk about some good history.

Right.

Can we, can we shift over to because you know, it gets get a little somber here.

We get we can switch over to Harriet Tubman.

Right.

And her life in Auburn on a is.

Can you can you give us some, some details about Harriet Tubman's history and her her connection to to the city?

Yeah.

So Auburn is, Harriet's hometown.

So Harriet Tubman's hometown.

Chosen hometown.

And so she was able to, activate her freedom and leave, Eastern Shore, Maryland, and travel through New York, through Philadelphia, through New York.

And eventually, was able to travel through Auburn, made connections in Auburn, eventually going to Canada and using that as her home base for a little while.

And Saint Catharines, bringing her family there, bringing lots of people through her.

You know, that ten year span of, of her freedom trips and, but then, you know, she was able to connect with an amazing community of abolitionists, suffragist people that were, Quakers, human rights activists of the mid-19th century.

And she felt at home there, and she felt secure.

And so she was able to bring her family to Auburn and, through a an illegal land transaction, with Frances Seward, she was able to purchase a property, a seven acre property with a home on it and start living there and start providing, so she not only, you know, provided for her family, she provided for the community.

And, you know, as we were talking about the prison, it was really interesting to think about how like at that time, there's this maximum security prison.

But then at the same time there's freedom.

There's freedom, there is this community of freedom seekers.

There's a free black community.

There are all of these allies that and and human rights activists, in that same community.

Yeah.

And and especially with Harriet Tubman, you know, she she was an advocate.

So she did a lot of speaking.

She went and, was a part of lots of different organizations.

But she also walked the talk like she walked the walk.

She was the one that like, she and anything that she was able to, acquire, she gave it out.

She gave up everything.

In fact, that was something that even her friends would be like, okay, don't don't give her money because she's just going to give it away.

And, and so like, they're all trying to support her because she was so driven and so dedicated to that philanthropy and to just, living in the light of her faith and helping other people.

And so it was just really interesting to think about that dichotomy in the same, in the same community.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So yeah, it's it's amazing.

Yeah.

That's that's powerful.

Like while we're talking, I'm like, what?

There's a prison here.

But then there's also, symbolic for freedom.

Right.

And it's, it's yeah, that's the dichotomy of the city.

I don't Jeff, if you want to I don't know if you have anything to to mention about Harriet Tubman's history or.

I mean, that's part of the reason why I mentioned the the theological seminary, which fundamentally exists because of the prison.

It was actually created to do proselytizing in the prison.

But that's a big part of the reason why there is that that built in community, there.

So, the so because we are lucky enough to be a community that has a national park dedicated to Harriet Tubman, we kind of take a little bit of a backseat on our, you know, talking about her life.

You know, we want to talk about what we actually know.

And what's always been fun from our perspective is with we have some of the documentation of, like, what her actual just day to day life sometimes was like, which is very hard to find records on.

And, you know, you have records of her going to like a town meeting for, you know, to discuss garbage pick up on South Street, just like Harriet Tubman being a normal, you know, civilian, you know, this very, like, legendary figure.

And I think that's some of my favorite stuff to hear about is those, you know, those stories that, you know, remind you this was a human being who existed here, like in this community.

So that, and I think another thing to really emphasize that I always make sure to emphasize is a big part of the reason why Tubman is able to build a community there is that there is a black community established within Auburn as well, that also, you know, she is able to be a part of and, you know, build.

And I mean, to this day, there are still plenty of descendants of Harriet Tubman still calling Auburn their home.

Yeah.

And, David, I would love to get your your insight on this as well, because like you mentioned, you know, the the prison being at the center of, of the city, but also Harriet Tubman's legacy here being a big part of the city as well.

How does that how does that affect your your reporting, or do you see this dynamic in the community when you are, covering stories?

Yeah, we definitely we definitely see that.

And we definitely try to, you know, explore that as much as we can.

I want to, elaborate a little bit more to on, you know, the historical nature of Auburn and what it's like from the perspective of media and newspaper is that, I love that there's always new stories to tell, always new history that even we're discovering, you know, even after being here for 20 years, and that that free black community that's been mentioned a couple times, we, we did a major story on, it was called New Guinea, that was located along the Alaska River.

Something that, you know, kind of existed in the early 1800s, you know, and by the by the time of the even, actually, by the time the Civil War had kind of dissipated a little bit.

And that's, you know, something we, we always love to do is to just uncover stuff that, you know, maybe some, some folks know about, you know, some there's some records out, but popular really even and, you know, in our news are really like, never even really heard much about it.

So in terms of though, to get back to your question, in terms of the connection between Tubman and the prison or, you know, sort of that dichotomy and sort of that, you know, the opposition of forces that's it's it's interesting to, to to kind of try to, you know, reconcile that, it's it's always there, you know, just kind of deal with it as best we can, I guess.

I like the, the opposition of forces.

And and I want to cover a little bit about the women's rights National Historical Park.

How did Auburn contribute to the suffragist movement?

Oh, you guys.

So I knew you were going to get excited, I knew it, I highlighted this well.

So, so Martha Coffin, right?

And, Frances Seward and Lucretia mott all were part of this larger suffrage movement and were, revolutionaries in that, that beginning of the movement.

And so, you know, they were they were just such good supporters and activists and, there's a great book, about, Martha Coffin.

Right.

And Frances Seward and it's, Oh, my gosh, it just flew out of my head.

The agitators.

Well, there's the agitators, and there's also a another one and I can't oh my gosh, it's the most dangerous woman or something like that.

And I'm going to have to I will send it to you so you can add it to the notes for the call.

But, there's, you know, they've done there has been a lot of research on these women and the work they were able to do and how it connected.

Again, all roads leading to Auburn, how it connected not only to the central New York and Finger Lakes region, but how it would affect the world and it would affect the the whole United States.

You know, so I and frankly, the abolitionist movement is what born the suffrage movement.

And so that is really where that human that, that light of human rights started is the abolitionist movement and the Quakers and and these people in Auburn, WI, and it still goes on today.

It's absolutely amazing not being a native Auburn resident or even from New York.

It's really interesting to see this size community and the amount of social services and philanthropy and like community action organizations.

It is amazing.

And it is it is born from these women and these families.

And like the legacy of Auburn in in that just it's so ingrained into the culture.

It's amazing.

Yeah.

And I want every I want whoever wants to chime in on this just of philanthropy movement of Auburn that that honor speaks of.

I don't know if anyone can touch on that from their perspective.

David, do you notice this when you're in your coverage and and how does that affect what you cover?

We definitely notice that, you know, there's a lot of foundations in the area, a lot that have historical names.

You know, Emerson Foundation, French Foundation, that have a regular hand in helping support, you know, local nonprofits, advocacy there, you know, definitely a very steady presence.

You know, Auburn is the only community I've ever really worked at professionally.

So I can't say how unusual that is, but, I can't say that they are definitely, you know, they're definitely active.

They have boards of community people, local folks who are, you know, volunteering their time to make decisions that, you know, affect a lot of people's lives, however indirectly, you know, with the causes that they support.

So there, you know, there's a lot of them for sure.

Yeah.

And, Jeff, I know you had made a little comment like, oh, yeah, it's not regular.

Yeah, it's oh, no, I mean, I, you know, I, I worked in DC before this job and so obviously, you know, that's, you know, where like most of the nonprofits at the country are but like just, you know, scale wise on all of them.

And that's just that legacy of, of, you know, not only the, I mean, it's absolutely a legacy of the suffrage movement.

I mean, even from within, the, the mansion that the museums and we know that, the, the daughters of the family were huge supporters of, you know, what's now the YMCA and and the Women's Education Industrial Union and major suffrage causes.

They supported the Willard Chapel, which is the only building that exists left.

So like that, philanthropy is just in each of these families that, the case family that was also a family for the museum.

You know, that wealth went into building our Seymour Library in town and then, or was used for things like the case research lab, which is part of our property, in creating sound film for the world.

So, like, that's, you know, another one of those aspects that kind of gets under the that, that, you know, it starts being, you know, as the the history museum for Kuga County, it starts being kind of like, wow, there's a lot going to to take in this area here.

But where, you know, it's also just that indication of, of the level of wealth that was, that was being generated within the, the community.

And it's kind of it's almost you never use unique like in history because there's always going to be, you know, elements that reflect one another.

But it certainly has a very special kind of dichotomy that you have within the community there.

There's actually a great book about that called, Auburn The Entrepreneur's Frontier, that actually kind of talks about that level of wealth generation that was kind of coming out of those, you know, the people, including like within the suffrage, the wealthy families within Auburn.

So and, you know, we have to touch about another piece of Auburn's history.

Also on South Street in Auburn is William H. Seward Museum.

And Seward was the governor of New York and secretary of state for Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson and Maria, this is where you shine.

Tell me, tell me about, the Seward Museum.

Tell me a little bit about William H. Seward and his whole relationship with Auburn.

Yes.

So Seward was originally born in Florida, New York, down in Orange County, after he retired or after he graduated from college and was looking to start his law career, he moved up here to Auburn.

He worked for Judge Elijah Miller in town, started courting the judges daughter, Frances Miller Seward, who, this was originally the Miller household.

Seward would marry Frances in 1824, and from there this also became his home, what is now the Seward House Museum.

So yes, even though, Seward was not personally a resident of Auburn full time, I would say for much of his career, he, his career took him to Albany.

He served two, two year terms as governor of New York, of course, down to Washington, D.C., during his time as secretary of state.

But he always would return here to Auburn.

The family was close to Harriet Tubman.

As as we've talked about a little bit.

And Seward would go on to take two world tours post retirement, but still returned here to this Auburn home to live out the remainder of his days.

So I think the community definitely appealed to him.

And upon, coming back from his post retirement trips around the world, he he made a speech outside the home talking about how good it was to see his friends and neighbors and to be back in the Auburn community.

And, today we had four generations of the Seward family live in this home before it became a museum in the 1950s.

And I think what's unique, is that visitors today can come through the house and they're seeing a pretty much completely intact historic house museum.

Not just furniture and things that are period appropriate, but they're seeing things in each room that the Seward family used and that they acquired.

So it has a sense of the Seward family just getting up and leaving the room right before you walk into it, which is very unique.

And how does Seward's history contribute to the tone of, of Auburn in the city?

I think something we helped do and Seward's legacy helps is to bridge the gap between kind of that small town Auburn feel but also putting it on the map nationally and somewhat internationally.

Seward had a great international reach during his time as secretary of state, of course, but also through the international trips that he took.

We have a diplomat's gallery and are upstairs with over 100 portraits of the world leaders of the 19th century who Seward either met or had some type of correspondence with.

So I think today history lovers are able to because of those international connections, because of Seward's close relationship with President Lincoln, they happened upon Auburn.

And it kind of it helps us bridge the gap between, I think, some of the great unique qualities that make visiting Auburn or living here feel like you're in this close knit community and, you're in this small town, but also it puts Auburn on the map and makes it you know, be on par with larger cities.

Yeah.

I don't think Auburn would have a problem being on the map.

Right.

Second largest correctional facility, the home of Harriet Tubman, the home of William Seward.

A place that definitely is rich, rich with history.

We're going to take a quick break and when we get back, we'll talk about life in Auburn and what is there for us to do.

Stay with us.

As sky connections.

I'm Evan Dawson, coming up in our second hour, we bring back a recent conversation about Pete Wells, perhaps the most powerful food critic in the country.

He recently left his longtime post to The New York Times.

But he has a lot to say about American restaurants, about what's good, about what's bad, about trends he doesn't like.

Is he right?

We'll poke into it and have some fun with that next hour.

On connections.

Support for your public radio station comes from our members and from Mary Carolla Center.

Proud supporter of connections with Evan Dawson, believing and informed and engaged community is a connected one.

Mary Carrie ola.org and we're back with WXXI connections and we are touring the Finger Lakes and our stop right now is Auburn and helping me discuss discuss this city are a few experts of a lot of experts.

I'll say Anna Wilson is back with us.

She's the superintendent of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park.

I have David Wilcox on the remotely.

He's executive editor of the Auburn Citizen.

I have Jeffrey Starks or Jeff Starks.

He's the director of outreach and development at the Cayuga museum of history and Art.

And Maria Coleman, the director of development for the Seward House.

Now, David and Jeffrey, in particular.

But everyone else can can join in, because I need all your input, because everyone has a different perspective.

Describe what Auburn looks like.

Is it mainly lake life?

The dominates the feel of the city, or is it older homes or traditional downtown?

Can you tell me what I would see driving into the city?

What does it feel like in Auburn?

David, do you want to go first?

Sure, sure.

One thing that's really kind of interesting about Auburn is, you know, if you're talking about a visual impression, architecturally, it's very much a mix.

There's a lot of, you know, very old homes, very old styles, 19th century styles.

And then, you know, one thing a much more, you know, recent, but still very, forceful.

You know, historical movement here in Auburn was urban renewal.

You know, we had, an arterial road that was put in through the middle of the city.

We had a lot of building a lot of those historical buildings that we lost, and new ones came up.

So we have a lot of newer, more modern architecture that kind of characterizes particularly downtown, that, you know, I think anybody who's new to the city would that would be one of their first impressions was seeing what avenue what an interesting mix it is of, you know, historic and more modern buildings, even a little, you know, there's some brutalism, some art deco thrown in there, which, as you know, makes it makes it kind of fun to, you know, to sort of have that first impression.

But in terms of, of life here, you know, definitely Owosso Lake being, you know, ten minutes away from downtown, being so close has a has a big effect on recreation.

And then the rest of, you know, the, the scenic and natural, beauty and recreational opportunities of the Finger Lakes, you know, give anybody who lives in the area just a absolute, you know, abundance of options, you know, whether it's hiking, biking or paddling.

You know, in addition to seeing all the great history that we have, there's, you know, just so much to do.

Recreationally here in the area.

Yeah.

Let's talk about the local lake and how it's contributing to the arts and life of of the city.

Jeff, how how is that playing a part in, in Auburn's culture?

So it's it's really funny because it does have this, this influence.

But, you know, whenever I'm thinking about, you know, tourism to Auburn, I'm not not necessarily think about that as being like the lake tourism that's everywhere.

Because Auburn, like downtown, as David mentioned, is ten minutes away, like, and that's a ten minute drive away from downtown.

So it's really the kind of the community is kind of a little bit separated from the lake too, geographically.

So it really is kind of this unique element to Auburn's, you know, when you're coming, I mean, you can basically get a different view of it from any direction you're coming into Auburn from the architectural perspective.

One thing that really I mean, this is I'm I'm not originally from New York either.

I can only tell this when I say this word.

I'm originally from North Carolina, but, the, the, the cities, they're a very spread out.

But Auburn is very, especially in the main downtown or with, the West End neighborhood where the museum is located.

It's very dense.

So it's actually one of those rare upstate New York cities that still has a walkable element to it.

And, you know, not to say that, I mean, at David's definitely.

Right.

The urban renewal definitely was that that we had a a downtown museum exhibit last year, and the number of people come through and talk about urban renewal and what it did to changing the community.

It really it really had that impact.

But, it does really seem like, you know, the day to day life, you know, it's, you know, people living their normal lives in the backdrop of Victorian age buildings, you know, parks that have been left over from that era.

You know, around the corner from the museum, you have, Fort Hill Cemetery, where Harriet Tubman, the Seward's the cases are all buried is beautiful Victorian, you know, era, cemetery.

And so these, you know, are those kinds of legacies of the, of the past that are now still providing all this benefit for the community that's existing there today.

And you can see that directly when you go through downtown, how the community after urban renewal really fought to preserve that, that historical, you know, downtown core.

And, and I think that's really left a, an identity for Auburn.

Yeah.

And one of our, someone on YouTube commented, it's the home of the Auburn Doubleday's minor league baseball team named after Auburn native Abner Doubleday.

This is this is a big deal, right?

We talk about the minor league team and how that is influenced the culture there and the people.

Yeah.

It is named after Abner.

He was from Auburn.

I actually went to grad school in Cooperstown.

So, you know, all that supposedly where they started, the first baseball game.

But, that's been a big part of the reason why, you know, baseball does have such a huge history there in, Auburn.

Not only was Abner Doubleday from there, Auburn was actually the first headquarters of the Minor League of baseball.

So, we we have a very substantial relationship to baseball, and its creation.

Yeah.

Wow.

And and what is what is something, for either one of you.

What is something about that Auburn has done that other small cities can learn from?

Oh, I see just the, the relationship building between the different organizations.

I've, I've worked at a few different national parks and lived in, you know, many other communities.

And I have to say that Auburn is probably one of the most friendly and functioning and, supportive communities that I've worked at.

As you know, as a National Park Service employee.

I was just blown away by how well, like the all of the different museums, the different cultural sites, but also the businesses work together.

So the, the Auburn bid, so the Business Improvement District and the Historical Sites Commission, and the Equal Rights Heritage Center, I mean, we talk regularly, we meet regularly, we, lift up each other's programs and plan together to make sure that when we are going to be doing something in the community, we're looking at it from all angles.

And so and trying to make it as, friendly and welcoming and positive for the community as possible.

And so I would say that's probably just, if, if other communities could, could band together to support each other in that way, I think there would be a lot of success.

It's so it's really amazing.

And, Maria, I want to I want you to chime in here.

What is something that Auburn just gets right?

And it's something that's really stuck out to me now that I work downtown at the Seward House, is the partly the revitalization of downtown.

And there's this downtown stretch.

The district is so full of local restaurants, coffee shops, of course, the museums, cultural centers.

So there's a little bit of everything.

Also, as it's been mentioned, the close relationship between the different sites.

So we're we're constantly in communication with each other and working together to, I think, create a cohesive environment for folks who come to the area.

And I just think it's it's wonderful.

As it's been mentioned, the variety of opportunities and things to do that exist within Auburn and within such a kind of relatively small area.

You have the cultural sites, you have the restaurants, the coffee shops, you have the theater scene with, Auburn Public Theater and the Reds, which, do regular program shows, especially in the summer with the season out in Everson Park again on a Wasco Lake, all of the lake activities.

So there's really, you know, a wide variety of activities and something that can appeal to anyone for a day trip and extended trip.

Lots of possibilities here.

So can you can you tell us about something that, kind of goes unnoticed but is a thing to do that if you visit Auburn, you must go and visit this place or visit this this location.

It goes under because it's a city of so much history that you can you can be in Auburn for a week and, and still haven't received all the all that you can take in.

But is is something that goes is swept under the rug.

But is that needs to be I guess it depends on it.

Depends on which, directions you're going.

I mean, it's not necessarily a hidden one, but, one that we have that, that, you know, if when you're talking about all these, like, 19th century stuff is there's also all this 20th century history to talk about within Auburn as well.

And, we do that through our, the case research lab at the Cugat Museum, so that, as I mentioned, is where the, movie town sound on film system was invented.

So we actually have a partnership with George Eastman Museum here in Rochester and the Wharton Studio Museum in Ithaca.

So, that's kind of our equivalent to Seward's, like, international national scale stuff.

But, I'd also give shout outs to, like, the art scene in Auburn as well.

That's a big one.

The UConn Museum, we actually started as an art museum and, the shrine for the Art center is right next door to us, major, you know, national level art center.

The, as, Maria mentioned, the theater, the Auburn Public Theater in downtown, a huge part of the revitalization.

And then, the Willard Chapel in town is a big one to for those who are really into, there's a lot of Tiffany glass if people are into that in, Auburn.

And so we have like, multiple churches.

But, Willard Chapel is actually the only, as far as anybody knows, unaltered, Tiffany Interior Building.

So like, very popular destination for weddings and tours and things like that.

The Kukui museum, we have a, Tiffany window, that was installed when it was still a house in there.

So like that, that, for that, like, subsection of, like, glass fascinated people.

There is like a lot to look at there as well.

And Jeff, you mentioned you mentioned the art scene.

Yeah.

I, I was hoping David could chime in on this.

And can you tell us about covering, Auburn's art scene and what you've noticed?

Sure.

It's, I had the good fortune of starting here at the citizen right around the time that Auburn Public Theater opened, which is downtown and really was one of the major catalysts of the city's art scene, coming alive the way that it has in recent decades.

What's great about them is they're they're extremely multifaceted.

They do, you know, theater, live music, comedy.

They have open mic nights, films.

They they do basically everything.

And they have such like a regular amount of programing that you can just find, you know, you'll, you'll always find a reason to go there, you know, you can go there a few times a week if you want it.

So that's been really huge.

And then, as I mentioned, the Reds.

What's really great about them, I mean, they are, you know, for an an area of our size, the quality of musicals that they produce.

I mean, it really is Broadway level.

They regularly bring in performers from New York City.

They hold auditions down there, in the off season to, you know, cast the shows for the summer.

Then they bring them up here and they, they the, the quality of their productions is just outstanding.

It's not you know, people might think Auburn City of 28,000, it's probably community theater.

Absolutely not.

They are doing stuff that would not be out of place in New York City.

You know, quality wise.

So that's been another major force.

And yeah, as I mentioned, the shrine for, it's it's a little more niche, but like, is when it comes to fabric art in particular, like quilting and so forth, they, they absolutely have, a major national reputation in bringing in artists from all over the country for our annual exhibits, and also holding, conferences and classes and workshops.

There's a big educational component there as well.

So there's.

Yeah, for a city of our size, there is no shortage of things to cover.

You know, from an arts, perspective.

I have to shout out, you know, to that we, we have some, we have an interesting connection to musical history, for those for heavy metal fans, the band mentors from Auburn, they're a little bit more popular in Europe, but they definitely have a huge following, you know, stateside as well.

They came up through here.

I think it's all Auburn natives who form that band, back in the late 70s, early 80s.

So that's another claim to fame.

Okay.

Thank you Dave, I knew you'd have some, some rich insight on that.

I do have somewhat, somewhat emailed us and the, the comment was she said I'm glad.

Lisa said I'm glad you are including the discussion of the prison there and the treatment of the prisoners, largely black prisoners from urban areas.

Will you discuss the history of the KKK in Auburn, and is there a history there, or do we know of I mean, we do know that there was a presence, particularly within Keokuk County.

I know we have a few items within the collection from that.

And I know that, one of the major stories I've certainly heard of is in the 90s, that there was a planned, rally by the KKK that the community, like, fully stopped, that they really pressed down on.

So there is, you know, particularly in upstate New York, you have this history of, the KKK was particularly growing in the area because of, response to immigration, and immigrants within the community, anti-Catholicism.

And definitely, of course, the black community as well, too.

But the, so just as with any community that had large immigrant populations, yes, there there was a presence, not quite the same skills like, you know, that they were headquartered within Binghamton, I believe.

So not as much of the, the presence, but definitely still there.

Thank you.

That was from, email from Lisa.

Thank you.

Lisa.

And David, you've covered, I believe, Auburn for about 20 years.

Am I correct?

Yep.

Yeah.

Does any one story stand out to you about about Auburn that you can share with us?

Oh, that's a difficult one.

I, I wouldn't say there's really any one story.

I would say the major theme of the last 20 years for us in our coverage has really been the resurgence of downtown.

There's been, you know, as we've talked, as we discussed, a lot of arts and cultural institutions, a lot of businesses, you know, Prison City and the other breweries in the area have made the the area's beer trail, if you will, just as big of a draw as the wine trail is for, for Cayuga County and the rest of the Finger Lakes.

And, you know, some of those breweries being in downtown that's contributed in a big way to the resurgence.

Personally, I live downtown, and it is a very walkable community.

I do most of my traveling by by foot, around the city.

So it's that's definitely, in my experience, been the major story of Auburn for the last 20 years has been the comeback of downtown.

You know, to touch on something previously mentioned, coming back from, urban renewal, which really dealt in a big blow.

But now it's definitely much more inviting to to young folks, to folks who like going out for, you know, food and drink and arts and culture.

It's really become a destination.

Okay.

And as we wrap up this, our question for everyone, if you had to describe a person or a place or something in the city that truly embodies Auburn, what or who would it be?

Oh, first one, I mean, I'm obviously going to say Harriet Tubman with a very close I mean, it it just a, interesting superlative is that Harriet Tubman is one of is the only woman who has two national parks dedicated to her.

And so her impact to the community and her relationship to the community and all of the other big players in the community, I think really encapsulates Auburn's vibe, the feel, the just what it is that makes Auburn, Auburn.

And do you agree with with honor?

Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely.

Okay.

Going once, going twice.

I would I would say so too, if I could just add really quick.

Our most read story ever in The Citizen was about a photo of Harriet Tubman that surfaced, I want to say about 7 or 8 years ago.

Yeah, I believe it was the youngest, image that we have of her.

And it came from a scrapbook, compiled by Emily Holland, who was another, suffragette and reformer in the area.

Thank you.

Thank you for that, David.

Thank you guys for stopping by on our tour.

And we're leaving Auburn and WXXI connections.

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