We want you!...to go to the military museum.
We have three good reasons for you to visit the NYS military museum now.
You are reading a free sneak peek version of The Dispatch: Daily News in the Spa City.
If you’re looking for the right excuse to visit the New York State Military Museum on Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs, we have not one but three of them for you: The Independence Day holiday is a great time to go and learn about the formation our country through the lens of the New Yorkers who helped shape it; the museum has two exhibitions that are closing in the coming months; and the place is practically brand new, with a renovation completed just two years ago, HVAC improvements completed earlier this year, and a major expansion on its way.
The museum is dedicated to the history of the New York Militia — what has become the New York National Guard — and follows the roles that New Yorkers in the militia/guard have played, including the Revolutionary War, said docent Kurt Auerbach.
The exhibition is full of artifacts that are often seen from that time period at military museums but these come with extensive explanations of key roles played by the New Yorkers, many with familiar names, some not. It helps any visitor understand the aftermath of that first Independence Day.
The first of two exhibitions likely to leave is one concerning World War II and the story of the 42nd “Rainbow” Division of the U.S. Army and its role in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. (Another sort of Independence Day.) Thousands of New Yorkers played a role. (The division earned the nickname “rainbow” because it drew from the vast rainbow of people across the country.)
That exhibition also contains one of Adolf Hitler’s hats, found in his Munich apartment in 1945 by Brooklynite Pvt. Richard Marowitz. The story of the hat itself is worth going to read, and we won’t ruin it here but it includes stomping on the hat…and wearing it.
Also in that special exhibition is some work by Poughkeepsian Elizabeth “Lee” Miller, an early super-model on the pages of Vogue, who stepped behind the lens to become a war photographer. Her shots are some of the most disturbing and iconic of the lives of Dachau prisoners and victims.
The other soon-to-leave exhibition concerns the U.S. Navy’s development of the nuclear program, why it was developed in this region and General Electric’s special role in it. It will likely leave during the summer or early fall, but exact dates were not available (the people who know are on vacation, officials said).
That exhibit will make way for a permanent exhibition regarding the Global War on Terror.
The hope is to have the new exhibition completed and opened before the 25th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, Sept. 11, 2026.
Finally, if you go now, you can say, “I saw it when...”
Mark O’Rourke, the president of the nonprofit organization, The Friends of the New York State Military Museum, was happy to tell the Dispatch that New York State has set aside $15 million for an addition to the museum’s building, a former armory that was originally completed in 1891. Details are still scant on the addition that will take up much of the lawn to the east of the current building.
Possible uses include more room for the museum’s events and lectures, and an increase in the space reserved for exhibitions which currently fill-to-the-rafters the main floor of the building.
O’Rourke said they are still raising money for various causes at the museum.
Despite the primary financial support from the state, most of the interiors — the sound system, the curtains, the paint, upgrades to the multi-media displays — is paid for through donations to the friends organization.
What: New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center
Where: 61 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday; 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Closed: New York State holidays and Sunday-Monday
Great museum in Saratoga County. Mark O’Rourke is a visionary leader of their friends group.