HIstorical Society of Woodstock

Tribute to Happy Traum
2025-10-30 19:00 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | Colony, 22 Rock City Road, Woodstock, NY, 12409, United States
Come pay tribute to Happy Traum and show support to the Woodstock Historical Society on Thursday, Oct 30th!

at Colony
22 Rock City RoadWoodstock, NY 12498
Tickets $20.00 in Advance$25.00 at the Door(Plus Service Fee)

BUY TICKET

This great evening of music will feature:
John Sebastian
Jay Ungar and Molly Mason
Cindy Cashdollar
Scott Petito
Leslie Ritter
Ed Sanders (The Fugs)
Michael Veitch
Brian Hollander
Eugene Ruffolo
Tony Trischka
Marc Black
and Adam Traum on guitar

This Tribute to Happy Traum will also be a benefit to help outfit the important new Archive building at the Woodstock Historical Society, which will help preserve the valuable historical records and relics (on such themes as the History of Music and Music Performance in Woodstock)

Head Back to a Different Time - Debut of Video "Vanishing Village"
2025-11-01 15:00 - 17:00
The Historical Society of Woodstock is pleased to present the debut of the short video Vanishing Village, narrated by Lewis Arlt and co-produced by Janine Fallon Mower and Richard Heppner.
Saturday, November 1, 2025, at 3 p.m., at the Historical Society’s Eames Museum at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock, N.Y.
The suggested donation for the event is $20.00 per person (which will include a copy of Will Rose’s book The Vanishing Village).

(Note: Due to limited parking, if able, please park in the Lower Comeau parking lot and take the path at the end of the lot to the Historical Society. Accessible parking is available at the museum.)

Holiday Market Fair - Dec 5-7
2025-12-05 - 2025-12-07
Sleighing, Jean White watercolor from the book, Sarah of Overlook Mountain

The Historical Society of Woodstock, located at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock, is pleased to announce its annual Holiday Market Fair.
Beginning Friday December 5, from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m., the fair continues…
Saturdays and Sundays, December 6, 7, 13, and 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day.
Shop local crafts, holiday cards, local books, original artwork, delectable treats, handknit items and more.

Our Historical Society Bakers are busy at work preparing for our ever-popular cookie tins. This year, on Saturday December 6, we will be selling “lunch to go” – homemade soup and bread. As always, our wonderful hot cider will be available each day for all our shoppers and holiday greens and holly will be waiting on the front porch… free to all visitors.

Lunch to Go
2025-12-06 10:00 - 16:00
Sleighing, Jean White watercolor from the book, Sarah of Overlook Mountain

This year, on Saturday December 6, we will be selling “lunch to go” – homemade soup and bread.
As always, our wonderful hot cider will be available each day for all our shoppers and holiday greens and holly will be waiting on the front porch… free to all visitors.

Holiday Market Fair - Dec 13 & 14
2025-12-13 - 2025-12-14
Sleighing, Jean White watercolor from the book, Sarah of Overlook Mountain

The Historical Society of Woodstock, located at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock, is pleased to announce its annual Holiday Market Fair.
December 13 and 1410:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. each day.
Shop local crafts, holiday cards, local books, original artwork, delectable treats, handknit items and more.

As always, our wonderful hot cider will be available each day for all our shoppers and holiday greens and holly will be waiting on the front porch… free to all visitors.

"Nothing of Insignificance" Concludes our Season
2025-12-20 15:00 - 17:00
The Historical Society of Woodstock Presents:
A Talk with Brian Hollander
When: Saturday December 20 at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Historical Society of Woodstock

On Saturday December 20 at 3:00 p.m., the Historical Society of Woodstock will wrap up the year with a special discussion between author Brian Hollander and town historian Richard Heppner focusing on Hollander’s new book, Nothing of Insignificance: Adventures in Journalism, as well as their shared reflections on Woodstock, past and present.

Brian Hollander has been at the center of local life for several years, serving as Woodstock Times editor for 19 years, as a founding DJ at WDST and Woodstock town supervisor for two terms. Countless audiences have also come to know Brian through his music, having played in local bands since he arrived in the early 1970s. Throughout the years he has gathered, and now has published, the unexpected stories that give our community its character.
The Historical Society invites you to join in on what promises to a free-wheeling discussion between the two authors on Woodstock, writing, local history, the state of journalism and whatever else comes to mind.
Admission to this event is free and Brian’s book will be available at the talk for signing. The Historical Society of Woodstock is located at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock. Additional parking is available in the lower Comeau parking lot – just take the path at the rear of the lot up to the Society.

Making Her Mark: Fifty Women Artists of the Historic Woodstock Art Colony, now on display at the Schmucker Art Gallery at Gettysburg College.
2026-02-01 - 2026-04-11 | Schmucker Art Gallery, 300 N Washington St, Gettysburg, PA, 17325, United States
The Historical Society of Woodstock’s 2025 exhibit, Making Her Mark: Fifty Women Artists of the Historic Woodstock Art Colony, now on display at theSchmucker Art Galleryat Gettysburg College.

The Schmucker Art Gallery at Gettysburg College is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition, Making Her Mark: Fifty Women Artists of the Historic Woodstock Art Colony, curated by independent scholar Dr. Bruce Weber. On loan from the Historical Society of Woodstock, the exhibition celebrates the work of 50 women artists who were active in the historic Woodstock art colony. The paintings, drawings and prints are drawn from the permanent collection of the Historical Society of Woodstock. The display ranges from women who arrived during the first decades of the 20th century as students at the Art Student League’s Woodstock School of Landscape Painting to those who came in the wake of the end of the second World War through the 1970s, with subjects ranging from portraiture, landscapes, and still lifes to abstraction. The exhibition explores the American art colony movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as an alternative space for women who desired a life outside of the mainstream.

The exhibit will run at the Schmucker Art Gallery until April 11, 2026.

Come Thrift With Us - April 17&18
2026-04-17 - 2026-04-19
Historical Society of Woodstock presentsAnnual Yard Sale
Dates: Friday, April 17 & Saturday, April 19
Times: 9 AM to 3 PM
Location: Historical Society of Woodstock, 20 Comeau Dr., Woodstock NY 12498
Admission: Free
Come Thrift with us!!!!
The Historical Society of Woodstock, located at 20 Comeau Drive in Woodstock, will be having its annual yard sale fundraiser on Friday April 17 and Sunday April 19 from 9 AM to 3 PM each day. This year many of the sale items generously come from the estates of several long time Woodstockers. Items for sale include many lovely household items, tools, select clothing, small furniture, artwork, and more! Free coffee and tea to all shoppers and a delectable Historical Society bake sale. Rain or Shine!

The Historical Society of Woodstock was founded in 1929 by a group of artists, writers, academics, and local citizens. In addition to the exhibition space, which is located at the historic Eames House on Comeau Drive in the center of Woodstock, the Historical Society has an extensive archive consisting of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, textiles, photographs, books, manuscripts, correspondence, documents, film/sound recordings, and antique tools. The archive serves as a resource for a wide range of exhibitions, public programming, and research.

An Interview With Geddy Sveikauskas
2026-05-10 15:00 - 17:00 | Sussman-Blythe Community Room, Woodstock Public Library, 10 Dixon Ave, Woodstock, NY, 12498, United States
On Sunday, May 10 at 3:00 p.m. in the Sussman-Blythe Community Room at the Woodstock Public Library, 10 Dixon Ave., Woodstock, the Historical Society of Woodstock will present pioneering local journalist and newspaper editor Geddy Sveikauskas interviewed by town historian Richard Heppner.
Geddy Sveikauskas founded the Woodstock Times as a bi-weekly in 1972. Shortly after that it became a weekly and was quickly picked up in a community that was experiencing and embracing change. Through the decades the paper has employed excellent writers and editors, and its brand of journalism became an important part of the glue that held this diverse community together. When the Covid pandemic came about in 2020 and the community needed its newspaper, Geddy consolidated what had become four separate weeklies and created Hudson Valley One to cover a wider region and to keep local journalism relevant.

Journalist and writer Brian Hollander, who was editor of the Woodstock Times for 19 years, reminisces about Geddy, who just celebrated his 87th birthday: “His last name is Sveikauskas, but for most people he’s simply Geddy, who has performed every task that is necessary in putting out a weekly newspaper—that is, writing stories and editorials, directing layouts, doing a publisher’s daily job…you get the idea. But it’s getting more complex…” he says. “I’m blessed with having a daughter who knows internet and AI.” His assistant publisher/daughter, Genia Wickwire keeps the administration on an even keel.”
Hollander also recalls that “for 19 years, my desk about 15 feet from Geddy’s, so I know what it takes to meet deadlines every week. Geddy and I never had a rift over anything newsworthy. In fact, when I was first hired, back in 2001, Geddy told me something that won me over completely. His only instruction was stated, simply, “make it the best paper you can…” I like to believe that I carried the flame.”

The Historical Society invites you to join in on what promises to be a lively discussion about Woodstock, journalism, and local history.
The Historical Society of Woodstock was founded in 1929 by a group of artists, writers, academics, and local citizens. In addition to the exhibition space, which is located at the historic Eames House on Comeau Drive in the center of Woodstock, the Historical Society has an extensive archive consisting of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, textiles, photographs, books, manuscripts, correspondence, documents, film/sound recordings, and antique tools. The archive serves as a resource for a wide range of exhibitions, public programming, and research.

"Signs of the Times" - A New Exhibit
2026-05-23
Signs of the Times
Dates: Saturdays & SundaysMay 23 through June 28, 1–5 p.m.
Opening reception SaturdayMay 23, 3–5 p.m.
Location: Historical Society of Woodstock
20 Comeau Dr., Woodstock NY 12498
Admission: Free
Featuring signage, posters and selected memorabilia from Woodstock’s collective past, the exhibit, through the use of signage, reflects on various chapters in Woodstock’s story. As artifacts of an earlier time, signage can offer a record of a town’s evolution over the years. They reflect how we once lived, the changing services indicative of a certain period, and the varied cultural and social changes we encountered over time. Even their colors, lettering and design can offer insight into a specific era.
Many of the signs in this exhibit, for example, present the types of businesses that once dotted Woodstock’s streets. The changing signs and their styles on display can also point to the decline of one era and the rise of something new. Some signs also remain iconic in Woodstock lore—such as the S.S. Seahorse or Joyous Lake signs—reminding us of where we once gathered and the collective experiences we once shared.
Signs, such as protest signs, posted notices on telephone poles, or even campaign buttons, also mark the changing political environment within a town. They too can reflect changes in a town’s direction, issues of importance at a certain time, and even our community values.
While we may not think of the historical significance of signs in our times, they offer a visual record not only of our lives but the lives of those who have come before. In many respects, they serve as a time capsule tracing where we have been and where we might be heading.

(Note: Due to limited parking, if able, please park in the Lower Comeau parking lot and take the path at the end of the lot to the Historical Society. Accessible parking is available at the museum.)
The Historical Society of Woodstock was founded in 1929 by a group of artists, writers, academics, and local citizens. In addition to the exhibition space, which is located at the historic Eames House on Comeau Drive in the center of Woodstock, the Historical Society has an extensive archive consisting of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, textiles, photographs, books, manuscripts, correspondence, documents, film/sound recordings, and antique tools. The archive serves as a resource for a wide range of exhibitions, public programming, and research.
