The Hudson Area Library and the Jacob Leisler Institute present: "Imagination Aided by the Painter's Brush": The Creation of the Purchase of Manhattan, 1844–1909 by Stephen McErleane on Thursday, October 22, 6-7:30pm. To register and receive the Zoom link email brenda.shufelt@hudsonarealibrary.org or call 518-828-1792 x101. A question and answer period will follow the talk. It was not until 217 years after the event that New Yorkers first learned of the now-infamous 1626 purchase of the island of Manhattan by the Dutch from the Indians for twenty-four dollars. This talk follows the construction of that story and focuses on an important and overlooked piece: an 1853 painting of the purchase by the American artist William Ranney. Ranney has been dubbed a myth-maker for his influential depictions of the American Revolution and the American West. His role in the creation of this myth, however, has gone largely ignored.