Name: The Legacy of Paul Schaefer
Start: 2026-04-30T17:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-04-30T19:00:00-04:00
Location: Kelly Adirondack Center

Delve into the legacy of Paul Schaefer, a noted Adirondack conservationist and master builder. Schaefer drew inspiration from the New York Capital Region’s colonial history and built and restored hundreds of homes in Schenectady, Albany, and Schoharie counties from the 1930s until 1983. He also built and restored Adirondack camps, particularly in the Town of Johnsburg. Schaefer completed his own home in Niskayuna in 1934 using salvaged materials from the Dutch Colonial era. After Schaefer’s death in 1996, the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks acquired the home from his and Carolyn Schaefer’s children and opened an Adirondack learning center and research library there. In 2011, Union College acquired the property, extended and strengthened the educational work as the Kelly Adirondack Center. In addition to Schaefer’s prolific work as a builder, he shaped and led Adirondack wilderness coalitions from 1931 to 1996 and served as vice president of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks for 40 years. Dave Gibson got to know Schaefer when he joined the Association as its executive director in 1987.
Dave Gibson is now the managing partner of the nonprofit advocate Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, which was founded in 1945 by Paul Schaefer as Friends of the Forest Preserve. Gibson will speak about his recent biography, A Force for Nature: Paul Schaefer’s Adirondack Coalitions. Following the book discussion, we will tour the adjoining Adirondack Research Library and Schaefer home with both Dave and Ken Rimany (Dave’s business partner of over 30+ years). Ken was the principal staff member responsible for overseeing the facility’s final design and construction, opening its doors to the public in January 2005. The Library holds over 15,000 items relating to Adirondack Park and New York State Forest Preserve and is considered one of the largest collections on the Adirondacks outside the Park. The Kelly Adirondack Center of Union College engages the college community and the wider public with the interdisciplinary study of the Adirondacks and the complex relationships between nature and society.