Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Hours of Operation

• Hours of Operation

  November 1, 2022 – mid-May 2023

  The historic site is now closed for general visitation and will re-open mid-May 2023. Tours of Crailo are available by advance appointment only – please call (518) 463 -8738 for details. 

  
  

Fees & Rates

Most New York State Parks charge a vehicle use fee to enter the facility. Fees vary by location and season. A list of entry fees and other park use fees is available below. For fees not listed or to verify information, please contact the park directly.

• Tours
• $5 Adults
  $4 Seniors/Students*
  Children, 12 and under: Free
  
  Group tours:
  Bus Group - $4 per person with pre-registration
  School Tours - $1 per student
  
• Presentation Fee
• $30 per presentation
  
  Crailo interpretive staff is available to speak at a meeting of your civic organization, historical society, or other group. Please call for more information.

Nov 1, 2022 – mid-May 2023

Crailo is currently closed for general visitation, but guided tours of the museum are available by advance appointment. In general, appointments are scheduled between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. For further information, please call the site and speak to staff who will be glad to assist you.

A Dishonorable Trade: Human Trafficking in the Dutch Atlantic World

Photo Credit: Detail of a 17th century Dutch Colonial Map
Sugar Works and Plantation, Pernabuco, Brazil
John Bleau c.1640
Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library, Brown University

This temporary exhibit on the Dutch slave trade in the seventeenth century highlights both the Dutch trade network in the Atlantic and the effect this commercial enterprise had on the lives of Africans who became forced laborers in foreign lands. One exhibit space is devoted to the trade and another to the people who were enslaved. The exhibit explores the interconnectedness of the African, Caribbean, South American, North American and European trade networks of the Dutch West India Company and highlights the activity between Curacao and New Netherland. New Amsterdam and the van Rensselaer family are another focus of the exhibit.

Research and the development of the exhibit was spearheaded by an important grant from the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Abolition and Resistance and an immersive study session at the Yale Public History Institute of Yale University during the summer of 2013. Three Crailo staff members worked with Yale History professors, Gilder Lehrman Center staff, the American History Workshop staff, The Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture staff, and experts in the interpretation of the history of slavery and civil rights. Artists, curators and educators of art museums offered creative ways to interpret the history of people whose own words and objects are often missing from the historical record. Two Yale University graduate students also assisted in researching the exhibit. We are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with these talented people and for their contributions to both the exhibit and the subsequent interpretation we use at the museum to engage people in this little known, but important history.

The exhibit A Dishonorable Trade: Human Trafficking in the Dutch Atlantic World was displayed at Crailo State Historic Site from 2015-2018.

Crailo Wins 2010 CINE Eagle Award & Special Jury Prize!

An idea generated by the staff at Crailo State Historic Site—to combine a 350 year old local court record and Dutch genre painting and bring them to life--has been recognized by the National CINE Film Awards! In early 2009, Argentine Productions was chosen to produce the 2 - 3 minute film for Crailo's 2009 permanent installation, A Sweet and Alien Land: Colony of the Dutch in the Hudson River Valley. The production, which took place near Pittsburgh, Pa. in a very cold studio, included two Dutch Americans, actors from local colleges, and a couple volunteers. Site staff were on hand to advise on 17th century Dutch mannerisms and costuming. While there were many tricky obstacles to overcome with the 17th century script, the most challenging aspect of the filming was the struggle to replicate the exact poses of the six actors to those of the characters within the painting.

Just before the holidays, Crailo's 2 minute and 48 second film, Keeping Order: A Fort Orange Court Record had won a prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award. Shortly after the film recieved a second honor, the CINE Golden Eagle Special Jury Prize for Best in Arts and Exhibits—the top award of all films in this category for 2009. The film can be seen in its entirety at the museum.