CAMILLE BOHANNON

Film maker Martin Charles Scorsese emerged as one of the major
figures of the New Hollywood era. Scorsese has received many accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards,
three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, three Golden Globe
Awards, and two Directors Guild of America Awards.

He has been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in
1997, the Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in 1998, the
Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in
2010, and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2012. Five of his films have
been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of
Congress.

COMILLE BOHANNON

Film director Martin Charles Scorsese is 80 years old today.

The Canal connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via
the Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, the
driving force behind the project, led the opening ceremonies
and rode the canal boat Seneca Chief from Buffalo to New York
City.

Work began on the waterway in 1817. Teams of oxen plowed the
ground, but for the most part the work was done by immigrants,
among them Irish diggers who had to rely on primitive tools. They
were paid $10 a month, and barrels of whisky were placed along
the canal route as encouragement.

A painting at the Syracuse Canal Museum depicts Governor Dewitt Clinton bringing water from Lake Erie to New York
City, in the ceremony known as the “Wedding of the Waters.”

The Erie Canalway today.