Years Ago

This column is a revitalized weekly addition to the paper.  The following moments in history are selected, researched, and edited by Skaneateles High School students enrolled in Kate Hardy’s 10th grade Honors English class. For the next school year they hope to celebrate the past and remember the days from years ago. Thank you to the Skaneateles Library and the Historical Society for providing the Press archives.

20 Years

… the music boosters and SCS faculty members recognized Alex Paul, then middle school violinist, as “music student of the week”. At the time, Lexy attributed her success to 8-10 hours of practice every week as well as the support of her grandmother. The Years Ago columnists would like to recognize Ben Kringer as music student for this week, and congratulate him on being cast as Jean Valjean in the high school’s upcoming performance of “Les Miserables.” Ben currently studies piano, cello and voice. He looks forward to continuing his music education next year in college.

40 Years

… The Skaneateles Press published an advertisement for wanted paperboys in the new year of 1979. At the time, carriers made a regular appearance on Skaneateles mornings. They brought news and events, and connected the small village to the rest of the world. Present day Skaneateles residents still rely on the delivery of their weekly papers to announce local happenings throughout the week. In contrast to 1979, more people rely on the internet and social media to be informed on world affairs. With all these new resources and technologies, it is comforting to know that people still see the value in opening a paper with their morning coffee!

60 Years

… an article was published describing a robbery that took place at the Colonial Theater in Skaneateles, formerly located on East Genesee Street. The theater was reportedly robbed of $150 after the thief forced entry into the building. The theater is historically significant to the town of Skaneateles in several ways. According to Cinematreasures.org, theater performances were conducted within the theater beginning in 1868. Around 1910, the theater was renovated into a moving picture theater. In 1941, the theater was renamed Colonial Theater, serving as a focal point of the town until it closed in the late 70s. Recently, an article was published by Auburnpub.com  remembering the Colonial Theater and the role it played in the community.

80 Years

… Bell Telephone Laboratories developed a new camera that could take 4,000 pictures per second. This camera was used to identify how sound is made in the throat by taking pictures of the vocal cords. When using this camera, scientists discovered that the noises we make are made by vibrations in the vocal cords, which this special camera caught in many photos. This was contrary to many previous theories on how speech is produced; theories consisted of puffs of air flowing through vocal cords, later proved wrong with this camera. Today, the T-CUP camera, developed by Lihong Wang, can capture ten trillion frames per second! According to Michael Zhang, writing an article for PetaPixel, with that speed, this camera can capture things like laser pulses so quickly you can watch it in slow motion. It assists with research to discover how light and matter interact. Even with tiny cameras in handheld devices like the iPhone X, pictures and videos can be captured at 240 frames per second. It’s crazy to think how much technology has advanced in the last eighty years.

100 Years

…an article was published in The Democrat on a prominent figure in the Women’s Suffrage movement. The article describes in a few sentences Vira Boarman Whitehouse’s work in distributing American propaganda in Germany, during the First World War, but also in promoting the women’s suffrage movement at home, the real light of her career. Whitehouse became interested in the suffrage movement after the violence that broke out during the 1913 parade. After that, she dedicated her life to the movement, and did create monumental change, especially in New York State. When our state granted women the right to vote in 1917, Whitehouse was largely credited with the victory. And it’s no wonder. She started a fundraising campaign that was very successful, donating money herself, and soliciting some of the wealthiest families in New York. She had also called several families in New York to ask their views about the movement. At the time, this was a new, innovative method, and is one of the earliest examples of telephone polling. All these efforts led to a momentous step forward for our state, and she therefore clearly deserves to be recognized by our current newspaper, 100 years later.