BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Henry L. Ferguson Museum - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://fergusonmuseum.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Henry L. Ferguson Museum REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20270314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20271107T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260712T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260712T170000 DTSTAMP:20260510T155201 CREATED:20260408T162641Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260408T162937Z UID:38487-1783872000-1783875600@fergusonmuseum.org SUMMARY:The Once and Future Osprey DESCRIPTION:Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk by Dr. Paul Spitzer on the rise of osprey populations over the past 70 years and their potential fall due to menhaden shortage.\nThis talk is presented by the ornithologist who led the campaign to restore ospreys in the northeast in the 1960s and 1970s. \nWhen: Sunday\, July 12\, 2026\nTime: 4 pm\nPlace: In person at the Museum\, 2nd floor and virtual via zoom\nReception to follow. \nEcologist Paul Randolph Spitzer has a lifelong love affair with the East Coast of North America.  His scientific studies began with failing Ospreys in 1968\, when they were severely impacted by DDT in some areas.  He was then a protégé of bird-people Roger and Barbara Peterson\, and a biology student at CT’s Wesleyan U.  DDT’s destruction of bird life\, reported by Rachel Carson in “Silent Spring”\, demanded more evidence and proofs.  Thus Paul devoted his 1970’s decade to detailed Osprey biology studies\, for his Cornell U. doctorate.  He happily documented initial northeastern Osprey recovery\, NJ to MA\, as DDT passed out of ecosystems.  His PhD thesis predicted Ospreys’ subsequent success in many parts of the world.  Paul says: “That decade based at Cornell was the making of me as a scientist and a humanist”. \nIn the 1980’s\, between international conservation projects in India\, Central America\, and New Zealand\, Paul gradually made the Choptank River–on Maryland’s eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay–his home for life.  Chesapeake Osprey population studies anchored him here\, by our “Choptank Osprey Garden”.  Currently\, Chesapeake  Ospreys are under detailed study as bioindicators of their Menhaden prey base depletion. \nPaul is currently completing “Dark of the Loon”\, his ecologist’s memoir about three decades of nonbreeding Common Loon study\, 1988-2020\, along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.  He seeks a friendly editor and strong publisher for his book.  He can tell you about his long and happy boater’s life of Osprey and Loon study cruises. URL:https://fergusonmuseum.org/event/the-once-and-future-osprey/ CATEGORIES:Illustrated Lecture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://fergusonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Osprey_Burton-Robert-H_USFWS.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260719T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260719T170000 DTSTAMP:20260510T155201 CREATED:20260212T105919Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260212T171855Z UID:37925-1784476800-1784480400@fergusonmuseum.org SUMMARY:How Native American People Lived on Fishers Island DESCRIPTION:Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk with archaeologist John Pfeiffer who will give an overview of Fishers Island archaeology that focuses on the excavation of sites\, artifacts discovered\, and John’s interpretation of how Native American people lived on the Island. This talk is based on co-research during the 1980s and 1990s\, with Dr. Robert Funk of the New York State Museum – which began as a survey of what had been discovered earlier\, and evolved into a thorough study focusing on newly discovered sites\, as well as scientific excavations of some of the earlier known places where prehistoric materials had been found. Together\, the data generated a reasonable picture of how island resources were utilized by indigenous people and how the availability of such resources changed over time. Funk and Pfeiffer’s experience from mainland archaeological sites\, when compared to the discoveries on Fishers\, demonstrated a special island adaptation that permitted stable subsistence throughout the entire year – which was not always the pattern witnessed within inland sites\, and in some instances\, scarcity and famine had been revealed. \nWhen: Sunday\, July 19\, 2026\nTime: 4-5 pm\nPlace: At the Museum\, 2nd floor and virtual\, via zoom \nThe archaeological investigation of Fishers Island by Funk and Pfeiffer was guided by Charles Ferguson\, whose family had been residents for over a century. Charlie and his father\, Henry\, kept a watchful eye upon the discovery and recording of Native American artifacts found. A section of the H. L. Ferguson Museum was dedicated to their initial archaeological studies. Charlie’s daughter Marnie wrote a report that complemented their findings and the museum’s displays. \nDr. John Pfeiffer during the decade long archaeological investigation of Fishers Island (1986-1996). \nAbout John\nDr. Pfeiffer has lived in coastal Connecticut for his entire life and began his archaeological career at an early age\, working locally as a high school student.  Before entering college\, John worked in England as an archaeologist on Roman and Arthurian sites. He majored in Anthropology at the University of Connecticut\, then continued his anthropology and archaeology studies at Wesleyan University\, earning a master’s degree. He received his PhD in anthropology from the State University of New York at Albany.  There he met his mentor\, colleague\, and long-time friend Bob Funk who was the New York State Archaeologist. Together they worked on many sites throughout New York State and after a full day of excavation\, they would retire to a ping-pong table and play well into the night. On Fishers they were often joined by the field crew and their host\, Charlie Ferguson. \nThe above Mural of West Harbor was painted by former Museum president\, Charlie Ferguson. URL:https://fergusonmuseum.org/event/how-native-american-people-lived-on-fishers-island/ CATEGORIES:Illustrated Lecture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://fergusonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/HLFM_Native-American-WestHarbor-CBF.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260726T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260726T170000 DTSTAMP:20260510T155201 CREATED:20260316T224616Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T225810Z UID:38169-1785081600-1785085200@fergusonmuseum.org SUMMARY:Biography as Pilgrimage: On the Trail of Peter Matthiessen DESCRIPTION:Join us at the Museum for an illustrated talk by author\, Lance Richardson\, who will discuss his eight-year undertaking — including a two-hundred mile trek in the Himalayas of Nepal — to write a biography of the twentieth century literary titan Peter Matthiessen\, a novelist\, naturalist\, and Zen roshi\, whose trailblazing work championed Native American rights and helped usher in the modern environmental movement.\nWHEN: Sunday\, July 26\, 2026\nTIME: 4-5 p.m.\nPLACE: In person at the Museum and virtual via zoom\nReception and book signing to follow. \nMatthiessen’s many books include travel classic The Snow Leopard\, and also Men’s Lives\, a moving account of the lives and struggles of East End Bonackers. He spent many childhood summers on Fishers Island. \nLance Richardson’s new book\, True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen\, was published in October 2025 to international acclaim. The Washington Post\, The New Yorker\, and Vogue named it one of the most notable books of the year. Richardson’s previous book\, House of Nutter: The Rebel Tailor of Savile Row\, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and named one of the notable titles of 2018 by The Sunday Times\, The Mail on Sunday\, Esquire and the American Library Association. He has been awarded numerous awards and fellowships\, including a year-long residency at the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center. He currently teaches in the MFA Writing program at Bennington College\, Vermont. \nMatthiessen in the Himalayas photo by George Schaller \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Peter Matthiessen\n \n \n \n \n \n Matthiessen family off Fishers Island URL:https://fergusonmuseum.org/event/biography-as-pilgrimage-on-the-trail-of-peter-matthiessen/ CATEGORIES:Illustrated Lecture ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://fergusonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Matthiessen_in_Himalayas_Photo-by-George-Schaller.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR