Sean Kirst: Syracuse teens find 21st century meaning in new marker for abolitionist giant
Just before Juneteenth, a straight bridge of remembrance and gratitude to Jermain Loguen, ‘underrated’ human rights champion.
SEAN KIRST’S UPSTATE JOURNAL
Sean Kirst: Saturday’s literacy parade ‘lights a candle’ for new dream for Hayden home
Light A Candle For Literacy organizers envision a community literacy center in revered Midland Avenue house.
Sean Kirst: There’s ‘no green like it’ as ‘Leaf Day’ arrives in many Syracuse neighborhoods
That astounding and beautiful moment, after a long winter, when the Norway maples seem to go to leaf at once.
Sean Kirst: At 1:56 p.m. today, with this moon flight, a reason to see the sky
Four astronauts, as of this afternoon, will have traveled farther than any human beings in global history.
FEATURED STORIES
Sean Kirst: At 95, Oren Lyons trusts SU and its skilled archivists with his treasury of papers
A lifetime of letters, documents and photos from a global Haudenosaunee diplomat will be made available to scholars, at SU.
Sean Kirst: A half-century after the Landmark Theatre was almost lost, Syracuse will see it again in its true colors
The detailed, high-profile restoration of much of the grand theater becomes an emotional symbol of a key preservation victory.
Sean Kirst: At a sacred place, ‘mindblowing’ tale of the nesting eagles of Onondaga Lake
An historic nest of bald eagles near Onondaga Lake attracts a loyal group of skilled photographers, who waited months to see the young eagles take flight.
More Culture
Sean Kirst: At Brighton Academy, Alfonzo Whitehurst’s gutsiest coaching move was sharing his own story
An emotional team meeting offered lessons that will resonate far beyond one flag football season.
Watch Sean Kirst’s TEDx talk at Syracuse University
The speaker series featured Syracuse University alumni, students, and faculty along with community residents who explored the theme “What matters next?”
Sean Kirst: For John Kucko, envoy of woodlands and waterfalls, hard new journey for guy whose work unveils the nature of a region
Shortly after witnessing a moment at Letchworth that Kucko describes as intensely beautiful, a seizure and the great challenge of his life.
Sean Kirst: Early on Memorial Day, old friends, a rain-soaked monument and a solemn downtown task
Kevin Kane, who designed the Onondaga County Korea-Vietnam Veterans Memorial, lost a brother in Vietnam — and infused every inch of that monument with meaning.
Sean Kirst: Eileen Gannon’s product was ice cream. Her brilliant legacy is a place of true community, in Syracuse.
Whatever brought you to Gannon’s for the first time, she understood how quality, warmth and humor were the means to bring you back.
‘You must live’: Syracuse musicians, poet laureate to tell slain Gazan scholar Refaat Alareer’s story at benefit concert
Alareer, renowned for his depiction of life in Gaza under Israeli occupation, died in an Israeli airstrike. “Music for Palestine” is meant to spread the message of Alareer’s writings, organizers said.
Sean Kirst: Shot clock monument, in new spot, resumes its great eternal message for Syracuse
A few true believers, scribbling on napkins in an Eastwood bowling alley, transformed basketball and taught a lesson about possibility.
Sean Kirst: Fall leaves. Winter longs. On bridges, downtown messages rust away.
Contemplating the uncertain future of railroad bridge murals created 16 years ago in Syracuse by famed artist Steve Powers.
Sean Kirst: To celebrate rebirth of Lincoln Aud, STEAM school teens embrace the ghosts
An open invitation to an upcoming student-led performance on a stage once walked by George Gershwin and Duke Ellington.
Pulitzer-winning poet and Gazan refugee Mosab Abu Toha criticizes Le Moyne president for letter about his speech
An email issued by President Linda LeMura to the college’s community avoids mentioning Abu Toha by name but called attention to his use of the word ‘genocide’ in a speech at Le Moyne.
110 years after Ireland’s Easter Rising, Syracusans still gather to ‘read the names’
Since 2019, the city of Syracuse has commemorated the 1916 Irish rebellion with a flag-raising ceremony and reading of the proclamation of the Irish Republic.
Sean Kirst: On Jackie Robinson Day at NBT stadium, perfect choice for the first pitch
For Al Gunn, a Syracuse youth baseball coach who endured the same conditions Robinson took on and shattered, a moment that meant everything.
‘What I needed was here’: How Ruthnie Angrand became Onondaga County’s poet laureate
Angrand brings together a complex range of influences – from her Haitian-American identity to her background as a classically trained singer – in her spoken word poetry.
Sean Kirst: ‘Birthright citizenship’ was family ignition that helped create a Le Moyne College president
Linda LeMura, first female layperson to serve as president of a Jesuit college, says her mother’s American ideals meant everything.
Sean Kirst: To ‘stone thrower’ descendants, Tipp Hill’s green-on-top marker celebrates true story
With even the children of the boys who threw the stones now late in life, a marker will guarantee civic memory.
Sean Kirst: For Saturday’s Tolkien Reading Day, celebrating Samwise Gamgee at the Betts Branch Library
In Syracuse, birthplace of the global event, the humble and selfless Sam seems exactly the hobbit for the moment.
Sean Kirst: Natasha Alford comes home with gratitude, and a collective message for all of us
As part of the Friends of the Central Library’s celebrated authors series, Alford talked about a literary journey ignited by a Syracuse childhood.
Sean Kirst: On Tipp Hill, St. Patrick’s Day unveiling of marker will be ‘as unique as the light itself’
For centennial of the green-over-red traffic signal, a streetside marker that beautifully tiptoes the line between history and legend.
Sean Kirst: Eighty years after Jackie Robinson’s minor league heroics, a spotlight on his courage and pain in Syracuse
The Montreal Royals, Robinson’s old team, are now the Syracuse Mets — while community elders hope what he endured playing here is not forgotten.
Central New York folk artists hope to fuel resistance through benefit concert for immigration resource network
The May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society on Wednesday will host the “Songs of Hope and Resistance Benefit Concert” from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Sean Kirst: For Arlene Abend, legendary Syracuse artist, a daughter’s quest to create a living memorial
The hope that Abend — whose welding helped shatter artistic barriers for women — will inspire similar courage and vision in ongoing generations.
Sean Kirst: The dog who knew the way out of the room
A rescue dog named Bentley, start to finish, did his job.
Sean Kirst: In Syracuse, marathon pioneer Kathrine Switzer returns to heart of storm
In an extraordinary JMA Wireless Dome ceremony, Switzer’s Boston Marathon bib number will be raised to a high place in the dome.
Sean Kirst: As Sean McDermott leaves Bills, two families he helped amid great loss offer their thanks
“This was just a very kind human being,” says Veronica Borjon — a witness to how McDermott quietly showed up, at the hardest time, to offer comfort.
Sean Kirst: For Dr. King’s Day, a voice of witness and a reminder to ‘stand when you’ve got to stand’
Pastor Ester Daniels, mother of new Mayor Sharon Owens, offered a civic message that is preface to everything we remember today.
Sean Kirst: For fervent ‘Mama J,’ legendary Bills fan from Camillus, a victory hug with Josh Allen’s mom
Amid jubilation in Jacksonville — Joanie DeKoker’s 259th straight Bills game — an unexpected moment with parents of beloved QB.
Sean Kirst: Straight from Camillus, ‘Mama J’ earns her place among greatest Bills fans of them all
Joanie Podkowinski DeKoker will mark her 259th straight Bills game in Jacksonville — while sharing the playoff dream every Bills fan knows so well.
Sean Kirst: Through a ‘year in quotes,’ a columnist reflects on struggle, love and inspiration in 2025, from Syracuse and beyond
A courageous parks commissioner, after great loss. A new mayor inspired by the sheer resilience of her mother. The passing of a selfless humanitarian legend, in Buffalo: Words put to heart and soul, in 2025.
Sean Kirst: In fitting gesture for last game at Highmark, Bills provide tickets for America’s first ‘Boomer’
Buffalo’s Al Nachreiner, longtime Bills fan and first ‘Baby Boomer’ to reach 80, feeling strong to be there despite treatments for lung cancer.
Sean Kirst: A reflective ‘Mr. 1946,’ point man as ‘Baby Boomers’ reach their 80s, appreciates why Bills took all-or-nothing chance
Despite a cancer diagnosis that he tries to take in stride, Al Nachreiner looks back on his life and says: ‘I’m happy.’
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