The Birth of American Tourism: New York, the Hudson Valley, and American Culture, 1790-1835

Acknowledgments

27917 frontmatter.qxp 7/9/08 1:21 PM Page xi Acknowledgments I could not have written this book without the friendship, guid­ ance, and assistance of a host of friends and colleagues. First, I am grateful to Stephen Nissenbaum, who helped me clarify my intentions early on. I am indebted to Gerald McFarland, whose sage advice, calm help, and warm encouragement were critical to the completion of this book, and I owe much as well to Dorothy McFarland, who offered insightful commentary. In addition, Margaret Hunt of Amherst College and Dona Brown of the University of Vermont provided important suggestions at early stages. I could not have gotten to where I did without the love, encouragement, and assistance of my immediate family, Martha Oehler, Larry Gassan, and Ann Somerhousen; Lisa Welsh, who has been there far longer than both of us realized; and Tomi Anne Gibson, Sabine Dietrich, David Ornstil, Michelle Decker, Erik Gilg, Kris Woll, Tom Holmes, and Colleen MacCormick. At the University of Massachusetts it was my pleasure to meet and work with Brian Bixby, Patrick Crim, Allison (Dunn) Delnore, Laura Donaldson, Christopher Franks, Harry Franqi­Rivera, Joseph Gabriel, Julie Gallagher, Tom Holme, Noel Hudson, Lincoln Lounsbury, John Lund, Tom Rush­ ford, Julia Saari­Franks, Julia Sandy­Bailey, Christoph Strobel, Bethany (Zecher) Sutton, Jeff Vogel, and Peter Wong, who created an energizing and collegial environment. Aviva Ben­Ur, Bruce Laurie, Brian Ogilvie, Manisha Sinha, Ron Story, and Mary Wilson provided sustaining encour­ agement there. A word of thanks is due the librarians and archivists I had the pleasure to work with, particularly John Hench, Caroline Sloat, and Vincent Golden xi 27917 frontmatter.qxp 7/9/08 1:21 PM Page xii xii Acknowledgments at the American Antiquarian Society, a trove of critical materials where this project was first begun, and the staffs at the New­York Historical Society, the Southern Historical Collection, the Massachusetts Historical Society, His­ toric New England (formerly the Society for the Preservation of New En­ gland Antiquities), and the New York Public Library. For their support in the now distant past, I want to thank Darcy Gingerich, Rosemary Finnearty, Larry King, Wenda Williamson, my many former fellow workers at Ohio University, including George Bain, and par­ ticularly those from the Ohio University Department of Geography, espe­ cially Hubertus (Hugh) Bloemer, Nancy Bain, and, of course, the great Hugh Wilhelm. Donald Jordan was a key inspiration in my decision to be­ come a historian. My thanks to Martin Johnson at Northern Illinois University Press, Jeff Hardwick at the Smithsonian Institution Press, Bob Lockhart at the Univer­ sity of Pennsylvania Press, and Robert Jones at Fordham University Press, all of whom in various ways spurred me to make this a better book. A spe­ cial thanks goes to the staff at the University of Massachusetts Press, espe­ cially Clark Dougan. I am grateful as well to the anonymous readers of the Press. Finally, I thank my colleagues in the Department of International Stud­ ies at the American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, especially Nada Mourtada­Sabbah, former department chair, and my other friends there, including Isa Blumi, Jeremy Bendik­Keymer, Anatoly Kharkurian, Neema Nouri, and Pernille Arenfeldt; also Tom DeGeorges, Mark Fiocco, Steve Keck, and Meenaz Kassam—all of whom make it a very nice place to work. 27917 frontmatter.qxp 7/9/08 1:21 PM Page xiii The Birth of American Tourism 27917 frontmatter.qxp 7/9/08 1:21 PM Page xiv ...