{"id":5525,"date":"2024-08-13T13:49:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T17:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=5525"},"modified":"2024-08-20T09:40:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T13:40:16","slug":"pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/","title":{"rendered":"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"PEF
Stuart Lehman on the Million Dollar Staircase at the Capitol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 20, 2024 —<\/em> In 1911, a fire at the New York State Capitol in Albany destroyed much of the irreplaceable collection of the New York State Library. It also took the life of 78-year-old Civil War veteran and night watchman Samuel Abbott.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some say Mr. Abbott remains at the Capitol to this day, haunting the place where he tragically lost his life. His story is just one of the tales told during the wildly popular Capitol Hauntings Tours every October.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About 20 years ago, when the state Office of General Services (OGS) was brainstorming ideas for a Halloween-themed mystic fair on the Empire State Plaza, someone on the OGS special events team asked PEF member Stuart Lehman if he knew of any local haunted tours.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lehman didn\u2019t, but because of his interest in history and the paranormal, he pitched an idea of his own.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was originally supposed to be a couple of small tours, maybe 30 people each,\u201d Lehman said. \u201cWhen we announced it, more than 300 people signed up and it grew from there.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, the annual Capitol Hauntings Tours draw about 1,000 visitors a year and Lehman said the endeavor is a great way to share not just hauntings, but also history.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have always been interested in history,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a great way of getting people interested in history. All the stories, legendary or just someone\u2019s subjective experience, they are all connected to real events in history.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSamuel Abbott may or may not walk the halls, but there was a devastating fire in 1911 that had many ramifications for the study of history in New York and the history of fire laws,\u201d Lehman said. \u201cI always say, \u2018I hope people come for the ghosts and leave with the history.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A long history of loving history<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lehman began his state service 38 years ago, working with the state Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. Even then, his job had a history connection, working at historic sites like Schuyler Mansion, the Senate House, and the Herkimer Home. He joined PEF when he became an interpreter program assistant at Herkimer Home in 1998.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, Lehman still does a lot of history work, helping design programs, assisting with exhibits, doing historic research, writing tour scripts, training tour guides and more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy main focus is the New York State Capitol and the history and architecture of that building,\u201d he said. \u201cI have also worked on the Executive Mansion and its history, and Empire State Plaza.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The architecture of the Capitol includes the unique facets of the Million Dollar Staircase \u2013 or should we say, \u201cFaces?\u201d Lehman said you could spend all day looking at the 77 famous faces carved throughout the red Scottish sandstone staircase. On the Capitol Hauntings Tour, guides also point out the \u201csecret demon\u201d carving hidden within the stonework.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of Lehman\u2019s favorite facts to share deals with the 1911 fire.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI talk about the Native American ceremonial artifacts on the third floor and in the midst of the fire,\u201d he said. \u201cFor some reason, they did not burn up in the fire. This was recorded in letters by state anthropologist Arthur C. Parker, also a Native American. He was an unsung hero and an important pioneer in archaeology, anthropology, and museum work. This is a way to bring his story into the history of the Capitol.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lehman retired from the state on July 31. But he may still grace the halls as a tour guide.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Capitol does have a volunteer program and I\u2019m going to be signing up,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll come back and do some of the Capitol tours.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Take a tour<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The New York State Capitol is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. <\/span>You can tour the Capitol free on weekdays<\/span><\/a> at 10 a.m., at noon, and at 2 p.m. Until August 30, Capitol Tours are also being held <\/span>every Friday at 5:30 p.m.<\/span><\/a> Tours might visit the legislative chambers, the Hall of Governors, the Governor\u2019s Reception Room, the Hall of New York, and more. Visit the Empire State Plaza Visitor Center for information and tours. Keep an eye out in late September\/early October for information about Capitol Hauntings Tours.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 20, 2024 — In 1911, a fire at the New York State Capitol in Albany destroyed much of the irreplaceable collection of the New York State Library. It also…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-5525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-42-no-7"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"August 20, 2024 — In 1911, a fire at the New York State Capitol in Albany destroyed much of the irreplaceable collection of the New York State Library. It also...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-13T17:49:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-20T13:40:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"headline\":\"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-13T17:49:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-20T13:40:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":723,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/\",\"name\":\"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol - PEF Communicator\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-13T17:49:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-20T13:40:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"PEF member Stuart Lehman\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Volume 42. No. 7\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-42-no-7\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"PEF Communicator\",\"description\":\"NYS PEF Communicator\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\",\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/author\\\/ksheehan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol - PEF Communicator","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol","og_description":"August 20, 2024 — In 1911, a fire at the New York State Capitol in Albany destroyed much of the irreplaceable collection of the New York State Library. It also...","og_url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/","og_site_name":"PEF Communicator","article_published_time":"2024-08-13T17:49:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-20T13:40:16+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"ksheehan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ksheehan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/"},"author":{"name":"ksheehan","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e"},"headline":"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol","datePublished":"2024-08-13T17:49:37+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-20T13:40:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/"},"wordCount":723,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/","name":"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol - PEF Communicator","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg","datePublished":"2024-08-13T17:49:37+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-20T13:40:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/Stuart-Lehman-2.jpg","width":500,"height":667,"caption":"PEF member Stuart Lehman"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/pef-member-brings-haunted-past-alive-at-state-capitol\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Volume 42. No. 7","item":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-42-no-7\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PEF member brings haunted past alive at State Capitol"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/","name":"PEF Communicator","description":"NYS PEF Communicator","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e","name":"ksheehan","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/author\/ksheehan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5525"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5597,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5525\/revisions\/5597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5525"},{"taxonomy":"division","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/division?post=5525"},{"taxonomy":"allowed_regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/allowed_regions?post=5525"},{"taxonomy":"allowed_divisions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/allowed_divisions?post=5525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}