“Behind the Butler’s Pantry: OLANA and the Lives of Irish Servants in the Hudson Valley” with Dr. Elizabeth Stack and Daniel W. Bigler

November 18, 2021

Join Dr. Elizabeth Stack, Executive Director of the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany, and Daniel W. Bigler, Historic Site Assistant at Olana State Historic Site, for a virtual presentation and conversation about the lives of Irish American servants hired at Frederic Church’s Olana. This conversation will use the Church’s history of employing Irish immigrants as a framework to consider the network of Irish domestic servants that existed in the region during the 19th century. Through their dialogue, the speakers will consider how Olana functioned as both a workplace and a home for Irish immigrants and take a broader look at the lives of domestic servants and the challenges they faced during this period.

Photo credit: Peter Aaron/OTTO