To the Editor:

The Guilderland Historical Society wishes to alert your readers to its upcoming events in May and to invite the public to attend.

The Guilderland Historical Society has created a book club and joined with the Guilderland Public Library and the Town of Guilderland’s Rev250 Committee to bring the book club to the Guilderland Public Library.

For its first series of meetings, the club will discuss Rick Atkinson’s “The British are Coming.”  The initial kickoff meeting is Tuesday, May 6, at 6:15 p.m. at the Guilderland Public Library’s Helderberg Room to learn more about how the book club will be conducted.

Book discussion meetings are scheduled for Tuesdays, May 20, June 24, and July 22. All meetings are at 6:15 p.m. Seating is limited and sign-up is available, through May 6, with the library either in-person or online.

On Thursday, May 15, at 1:30 p.m., the Guilderland Historical Society will hold its May public meeting at the Guilderland Public Library’s Helderberg Room. Following the meeting, at approximately 2:15 p.m., Tony Opalka, the Albany City Historian, will speak about the development of his book, “The Firehouses of Albany.”

Tony Opalka was appointed Albany City Historian in 2008. At the time, he had limited knowledge of the history of the Albany Fire Department. That all changed in 2015 when he was contacted by an active-duty Albany firefighter who was putting together a documentary on the history of the department in anticipation of its 150th anniversary in the paid service, in 2017, the second such department in New York state.

The firefighter and the historian worked together for two-and-one-half years to research the history of the department from the era of bucket brigades to organized volunteer companies, and finally, to the professional period that began in 1867 and remains in effect until today.

An Albany Firefighters Museum with a small collection had been formed around 2015 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to researching the history of the department and encouraging young people to consider firefighting as a profession but had no exhibit space.

In 2019, the museum opened in a former commercial space at 384 Broadway in downtown Albany and closed within a few months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Behind the scenes, however, research for a book on Albany firehouses continued unabated.

Tony's book was published in early 2025 and combines history, anecdotes, and extensive illustrations, including historic and current photographs, maps, and documents to present a colorful history of nearly 400 years of firefighting in Albany.

Books will be available for purchase ($44, tax included) to support the Albany Firefighters Museum. 

Please join us.

Gardner S. Gurney, President, Guilderland Historical Society