The Erie Canal at 200 - Erie and the East: How Did the Canal Transform the River?

Sunday, September 21st - 1:30 p.m.

Speaker-Dr. Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, Ph.D.

The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 fundamentally transformed the East River and defined New York as we know it today. Radical public policy decisions and high-stakes investment made the East River into an infrastructural waterway that enabled the rapid industrial, population, and cultural boom on its eastern shore—today's Brooklyn and Queens. This lecture presentation will feature key historical documents from the New-York Historical Society’s archives to explore how the opening of the Erie Canal catalyzed the development of the East River shoreline, Brooklyn, and Queens. 

Dr. Marpillero-Colomina researches the intersections of infrastructure, policy, and place. In 2020-21, she was the Robert David Lion Gardiner Fellow at the New-York Historical Society. For a decade, she has taught undergraduate students in urban and environmental studies. She holds a PhD in Public and Urban Policy from The New School, an MS in Urban Planning from Columbia University, and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College. She lives and loves in Brooklyn, NY.

Fee: $10; $8 seniors. Members free. Check is to be payable to the Friends of Rock Hall. Space limited. Reservations required.