Show Me Schenectady - Schenectady County Historical Society

[@user-rt3qv8dx5v]

Awesome video of a beautiful, historic neighborhood.

[@TyroneJemielWashington]

Lawrence later in life became destitute, surviving by hand rolling and selling cigars on street corners in NY city. A local NY City artisan decided to carve a wooden statue of Lawrence after his death and place it in front of Willborne and Teets Cigar shop. It caught on and became a "custom" for the next hundred years to have a wooden Indian in front of a smoke shop in Lawrences memory. True story.

[@karenryder6317]

How do you "christen" a generic cigar store Indian statue with the name of a real NA individual? Does it even represent the traditional Mohawk style of dress? As a child in Schenectady I was led to think that this statue was an actual representation of how Lawrence looked and later found out that it isn't. Is history "a lie agreed on" after all? I would say to the HS don't campaign to have it taken down, just push to have the full story of this statue put up at this site.