Adirondack historian Randall S. Beach ’94 will speak at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the College’s Kelly Adirondack Center, located at 897 St. David’s Lane in Niskayuna.
Beach is the great, great grandson of William Henry Harrison Murray, who wrote the 1866 book, “Adventures in the Wilderness or Camp-Life in the Adirondacks.” The book brought thousands of tourists to the New York mountain range and made the author known as the “Father of the Outdoor Movement.”
Beach lives in Schenectady and is a partner at the law firm of Whiteman, Osterman and Hanna in Albany. He spends most of his summer with his family in the High Peaks area.
The College’s property is located on a two-acre parcel of land three miles from campus. It includes a 2,400 square-foot Dutch replica home built by Adirondack conservationist Paul Schaefer in 1934 that is used for offices and meetings. A 3,900-square-foot addition completed in 2005 houses additional offices, conference rooms and the Adirondack Research Library.
The library contains more than 15,000 volumes, as well as extensive collections of maps, photographs, documents and the personal papers of some of the region's foremost conservationists.
Parking at the Kelly Adirondack Center is limited, and shuttles will leave from Old Chapel at 4:45 and 5:15 p.m.