About the Murals

The Lithgow murals were created from 1933 to 1946 as part of a recurring senior class project of the Milne School. The Milne School was a very special place, serving as a laboratory and practicum school for aspiring teachers enrolled at the New York State College for Teachers from 1890 to 1977.

In 1932, Dr. John M. Sayles, the principal, urged the senior students to begin a project that would have some enduring value and legacy. He suggested a series of mural paintings, depicting scenes from New York literature or history, executed by David Lithgow, at the time an aspiring painter in the region. The students responded enthusiastically, staging all manner of fund-raisers to produce the agreed upon price for each mural - $200. Mr. Lithgow, notwithstanding his increased national standing and reputation over the duration of this project, did not increase his rate per painting.

The paintings decorated the library of the Milne School for many years. When the School ceased operations in 1977, this space was deployed for campus-wide University and community events. For a time the space was designated the T. Norman Hurd Reading Room, to honor the distinguished Budget Director during the years in which Nelson Rockefeller served as Governor. In 1995, the room was rededicated and named to honor Dr. Theodore H. Fossieck and the Milne School alumni.

Based on a condition survey conducted by the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites, the estimated cost for restoring each painting is as follows (listed in the sequence in which they appear in the room):

1.	The Mohawk People	COMPLETED ($ 7,700)
2.	In the Year 1609	$ 10,600
3.	Heyward and His Female Companions	COMPLETED ($7,000)
4.	Albany as a Trading Post	$ 7,500
5.	An Incident of Anti-Rentism	$ 10,600
6.	Governor Thomas Dongan	$ 10,600
7.	The Courtship	$ 7,500
8.	Anti-Ratification Riot 1788	$ 7,500
9.	Robert Fulton's Clermont	$ 10,600
10.	The Erie Canal's First Boat	$ 10,600
11.	The Locomotive Dewitt Clinton	$ 10,600
12.	Normal School Building	$ 10,600
13.	Glenn Curtis	$ 10,600
14.	Capitol Hill	$ 10,600
GRAND TOTAL		$125,600