The Livingston Legacy
Three Centuries of American History
from the Symposium, June 6-7, 1986

THE LIVINGSTON LEGACY

Three Centuries of American History

Edited by Richard T. Wiles and Andrea K. Zimmermann from the Symposium sponsored by the Friends of Clermont, Bard College/Hudson Valley Studies Program, and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, & Historic Preservation, Taconic Region. June 6-7, 1986

PREFACE

It is with pleasure that the Bard College Center/Hudson Valley Studies Program presents the results of the Livingston Manor Tercentenary Symposium held at Bard College June 6th and 7th, 1986. The twenty-two papers given during those two days and contained in this volume represent work of a wide variety of historians interested in the multifaceted activities--economic, political and social--of the Livingston family during the 18th and 19th centuries. Ranging from the Livingstons’ involvement in the nascent iron industry in the United States through family members’ political power and accomplishments, to the lifestyle of the privileged classes in the manners of the day, the book offers a survey of the impact of the Livingston family on New York State history.

As Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, pointed out in his remarks opening the symposium, it has been said that the American people, while disdaining aristocracy in their creation of a new nation’s ideology, have, at the same time, felt the need to create one. Whether this was the case with the Livingstons or not, the reader of this volume is presented with their roles in the rise and fall of the manorial system in the Hudson Valley and in early American commercial and political activity, as well as their contributions to the fine and applied arts and culture.

It is hoped that these efforts in their wide coverage cast new light on the more familiar figures in the Livingston Legacy and introduce new vantage points from which to assess the contributions of the family during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Richard C. Wiles
Director, Hudson Valley Studies