Guided Public Tours

+ SCHOOL & COMMUNITY GROUP TOURS

To tour Historic Cherry Hill (or attend an event or follow the work of our visiting scholars or staff) is to enter and physically experience the world of an Albany family across three centuries.

Nearly unique among historic houses, Historic Cherry Hill is literally stuffed with the creative works, records, and personal objects collected by a connected and complex family who occupied the property continuously from the mid-1780s into the 1960s and who willed it upon the death of its last owner with all contents intact.

SCHOOL & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

In addition to the public programs listed below, Historic Cherry Hill offers school and community tours and programs. You can choose to come to us or have Cherry Hill come to you (either in person or virtually). The cost is typically $4 per person with a $40 group minimum., with funding options for schools.

Current school programs and community programs.

For more information, please contact:

Holly Kilgore
Director of Education
holly@historiccherryhill.org

PUBLIC TOURS

Current programs, dates, and times are listed below.

The World of James Knapp

CURRENT PUBLIC TOUR

Historic Cherry Hill, the Myers Residence, and the Pommer

The World of James Knapp

Exploring Black Life in 19th-Century Albany Through Art, Objects, and Space

The World of James Knapp is a multi-site exhibition featuring historic artifacts and commissioned artworks that interrogate 19th-century life as experienced by William James Knapp (1843-1885)—a butler, musician, piano tuner, music store clerk, porter, nurse, brother, son, friend, a member of Albany’s Black community, sometime ward of the Van Rensselaer family, a resident of Cherry Hill, and a descendant of a woman once enslaved there. Featured artists include Shirley Clark, Paula Drysdale Frazell, Jacqueline Lake, Samirah Muhammad, and Pauline Saunders. Venues include Historic Cherry Hill, the Pommer (153 S. Pearl St.), and the Underground Railroad Education Center (194 Livingston Ave.). This project is a collaboration with Albany Barn and the Underground Railroad Education Center and was supported with grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Advance Albany County Alliance, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

July 8 to August 7Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
NOON, 1, 2 and 3pmFridays
1 and 3pm—August 8 to November 30Fridays and Saturdays
Noon, 1, 2 and 3pm

ADMISSION INFO

The 1827 Murder at Cherry Hill

AVAILABLE BY REQUEST

The 1827 Murder at Cherry Hill

In 1827, a murder occurred at the Cherry Hill farm, home of the well-known Van Rensselaer family. The crime aroused tremendous public interest, and the subsequent trial culminated in the last public hanging in Albany. Although it appeared to be a crime of passion, it uncovered some simmering issues of the day including women’s roles and legal rights, social class, punishment and the law, and slavery in New York. Hear the words of those involved in the crime and decide whom you think was guilty or innocent.

Fridays and Saturdays in October
By reservation only

Make Reservation

REQUEST PROGRAM