From the Director's Desk | November 2026

From the Director’s Desk:

Crisp autumn days have been a boon for our fall tourism season.  The American Cruise Lines Architecture and Gilded Age tours along with Murder and Mayhem tours have kept Education Director Tonette Seitz and yours truly busy this fall!  The visitors from the cruise ships, many from west of the Mississippi River, have fallen in love with the architecture in downtown Troy!  As I have said many times before, we all need to be tourists in our own county to see the amazing history that we have to offer! 

The fall has us ramping up for the Holiday Greens Show!  Our curator Jack Beemsterboer and myself have met with the room committees of the Van Rensselaer Garden Club and they are getting ready to throw a party in the house!  This is the 70th anniversary of the Holiday Green’s Show.. I hope you all got your invitation to the Member’s preview party that is 5:30-7:30 on Wednesday December 2nd.  It is always a fun evening with good food, libations, and that first look at the decorated rooms!  

As we approach Thanksgiving, I am profoundly grateful for this amazing staff that I get to work with each day…Elliot, Jack, and Toni give 150% to their jobs. They bring a fresh perspective and new ideas on how to use our collections in exhibitions and programs, and I am excited for you all to see what we are planning for our centennial year beginning in January. Along with our staff, our support contract staff, Julia and Porter, and our volunteers and interns keep this museum humming!  

I am sad to report that Amanda Irwin, our Deputy Director has taken a position at SUNY Albany. While we miss her terribly, we are excited for her as she enters in this new position and wish her all the best.  And she will continue to volunteer at the museum , so we never say goodbye!  

Finally, a huge thank you to our Board of Trustees. As we go through this transition, I am grateful for all the support they have given me and the staff, it means a great deal to us all.  

Best wishes as you gather with friends and family this Thanksgiving season. We look forward to seeing you at the Green’s Show and next year as we celebrate 100 years of the Rensselaer County Historical Society’s Hart Cluett Museum! 

Kathryn T. Sheehan,

Executive Director, Rensselaer County & Troy City Historian