This year is the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal. Craig Williams is a well known historian of the Canal – and a resident of Trumansburg. Using seldom-seen manuscripts from the New York State Archives from the first days of the Clinton’s Ditch, Williams will provide an illustrated overview of how the people of New York State learned to survey, design, construct and operate this unparalleled engineering achievement. Who took the first shovel and where? Who did the rest of the shoveling? Once built, who was going to maintain it and how? New Yorkers were the first to undertake such a massive public works. As we are in the midst of the bicentennial of the Erie Canal, now is an especially good time to better appreciate this truly remarkable accomplishment.