Florence P. Service (1888-1983) was a life-long resident of Watervliet, NY. At the age of 14, she wrote a history of Watervliet, N.Y., and at 16 began working as a button sewer for Cluett, Peabody & Co., Inc. She would work there for 60 years before retiring at the age of 76.

On September 14, 1893, a wealthy Boston hardware merchant and summer resident of Saratoga Springs, Franklin W. Smith, presented plans for “A Greater Saratoga” that would make the small upstate village “the summer capital of the United States.” His blueprint included a floral parade and battle of flowers to top off – and elevate – the gambling-oriented summer season. Smith’s vision blossomed on September 4, 1894 when Saratoga Springs held its first floral fete with a grand ball in the evening at Convention Hall. It was reportedly “one of the grandest and most successful events of the kind ever held in this country” with over 25,000 in attendance. It became an annual event, growing from one day to four and adding bicycle races, golf and polo matches, fireworks, and fancy-dress balls at Saratoga’s grand hotels. In 1901 and 1902 representatives from the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, which benefited from the annual crowds, and the Saratoga Floral Association visited New Orleans to purchase Mardi Gras floats to be used in the floral fetes. The events were spectacular and drew large crowds but the cost bankrupted the Floral Association, which dissolved in 1905. The Saratoga Chamber of Commerce held a one-day revival in 1924, and in 2013 Saratoga Springs held a floral fete as part of the 150th anniversary celebration of thoroughbred racing in Saratoga, drawing a crowd estimated at 40,000.

June of 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of the Flood of 1972. To commemorate this event, the Steele Memorial Library's Reference Department, in partnership with the Chemung County Historical Society and the Elmira Star Gazette, presented a collection of photographs from the floods occurring in Chemung County in 1889, 1902, 1946, and, of course, 1972.

Born in Rochester, New York, Fletcher Steele (1885-1971) enrolled in the new program in Landscape Architecture at Harvard University in 1907. While only mildly successful in the academic realm, his talents were recognized by Warren Manning, one of America's foremost landscape designers at the time. In 1908, Manning persuaded Steele to leave Harvard and come work for him at his Boston office. Never looking back, Steele embarked on a career that would make him one of the most prolific and successful designers of the 20th Century. What Fletcher Steele represents to the profession of landscape architecture is a bridge between two different design periods. He was trained in the ideas of Beaux Arts classicism, yet he had a yearning to abandon its formulaic methods in favor of art. His clients had particular demands, and Steele was forced to compromise between the classical and the modern. His designs mingle in both camps. While many classical elements served as inspiration for his ideas, he customized them to fit the unique situations of his client's designs. This process tended to result in very idiosyncratic gardens.

Born in Rochester, New York, Fletcher Steele (1885-1971) enrolled in the new program in Landscape Architecture at Harvard University in 1907. While only mildly successful in the academic realm, his talents were recognized by Warren Manning, one of America's foremost landscape designers at the time. In 1908, Manning persuaded Steele to leave Harvard and come work for him at his Boston office. Never looking back, Steele embarked on a career that would make him one of the most prolific and successful designers of the 20th Century. What Fletcher Steele represents to the profession of landscape architecture is a bridge between two different design periods. He was trained in the ideas of Beaux Arts classicism, yet he had a yearning to abandon its formulaic methods in favor of art. His clients had particular demands, and Steele was forced to compromise between the classical and the modern. His designs mingle in both camps. While many classical elements served as inspiration for his ideas, he customized them to fit the unique situations of his client's designs. This process tended to result in very idiosyncratic gardens.

Fisk Boyd (1895-1975 was a painter, graphic artist, block printer and teacher who lived in Washingtonville with his wife for many years. He was a member of the Woodstock artist colony and his works have been displayed in prominent museums and galleries throughout the country.

Russell Sage College was founded in Troy, New York, in 1916 by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage and named in honor of her late husband, who had left her his considerable fortune. With Eliza Kellas, head of the Emma Willard School, Mrs. Sage was active in the women's suffrage movement; in founding the new College, they proposed to offer women the means of independence through the combination of broad education in the liberal arts with preparation for specific professional careers. In 1995, the Sage Graduate School became authorized to grant degrees independently, the Sage Evening College became recognized as a separate administrative unit, and the institution was re-chartered by the Board of Regents of the state of New York as The Sage Colleges, often referred to for the sake of convenience as "Sage." The words "Russell Sage College" now refer only to the college for women. In 2001, the Sage Junior College of Albany and Sage Evening College were replaced by a single entity, Sage College of Albany.

Finch, Pruyn and Company was founded in 1865 when Jeremiah and Daniel Finch, along with Samuel Pruyn, purchased the Glens Falls Company mill in Glens Falls, New York. In 1880, the company purchased its first Adirondack tract, more than 13,000 acres, and quickly accumulated well over 100,000 acres of Adirondack forestland, becoming the largest lumber business on the Hudson River. They were one of several forest product companies that owned and managed large tracts of Adirondack land before the creation of the New York State Forest Preserve in 1885, and the establishment of the Adirondack Park in 1892. The company was incorporated in 1900 and paper production began in 1905 and still continues to this day. The last river drive carrying logs from the Adirondack Mountains down the Hudson River occurred in 1950. In 2007, the company was renamed Finch Paper LLC under new owners. The company then sold 161,000 acres of its Adirondack lands to the Nature Conservancy.

Logging in the Adirondacks constituted a sizable portion of the American lumber trade even after the creation of the Adirondack pack in 1895, with companies being able to harvest timber only in very limited quantities from designated zones. Titus Meigs founded the Santa Clara Logging Company in 1888. Ferris Jacob Meig succeeded his father as president in 1911, and operated the company until it went out of business in 1941. Ferris Meigs took numerous photographs documenting the activities of the Santa Clara Logging Company.

The Fayetteville-Manlius School District is located in Manlius, New York, a town in Onondaga County. The district serves the Town of Manlius and the neighboring Town of Fayetteville. The villages of Manlius and Fayetteville had independent school districts until 1951, when they merged. A two hundred year old oak tree nestled by one of the schools in the district inspired the school’s alma mater hymn and yearbook titles. The characteristics of the tree, such as its strength and dependability, are reflected in the values of the Fayetteville-Manlius School District. The school’s mascot, the Hornet, is also inspired by the tree, as hornets were found living in the giant Oak.

The Manlius School was a top military school in the United States in the mid-20th century. It had been founded as the St. John's School in 1869, then reorganized as St. John's Military School in 1881. The Manlius School, as it became known as, faced dwindling attendance and merged with Pebble Hill School in 1970.