• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Solomon Northup Class Planned For SUNY Adirondack

September 20, 2017 by David Fiske Leave a Comment

Solomon Northup in a Sketch from Twelve Years a SlaveThis October, a class offered through SUNY Adirondack’s Continuing Education division will provide details on the life of Solomon Northup. Northup was a free black man who was kidnapped from Saratoga Springs, New York in 1841, and sold into slavery.

Following his release in 1853, Northup penned a narrative, Twelve Years a Slave, which was the basis for the Academy Award winning film, 12 Years a Slave. The title of the class is “The Real Solomon Northup from 12 Years a Slave,” and the instructor is local author David Fiske.

Fiske has spent a number of years researching Northup’s life, and is a co-author of the book, Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave, and the author of Solomon Northup’s Kindred: The Kidnapping of Free Citizens before the Civil War. Fiske has also written numerous articles relating to Northup, and was consulted by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in connection with a recent edition of Northup’s book.

Though Northup resided in Saratoga at the time he was lured into slavery, he also had a presence in Fort Edward and Glens Falls. During the class, Fiske will discuss the man’s early life in Washington County, his kidnapping from Saratoga Springs, and his family’s residency in Glens Falls and the Lake George area after Northup was rescued from slavery. Local sites that figured in Northup’s life in New York State will be highlighted. Fiske will also discuss some recently discovered evidence that could shed light on Northup’s activities during the Civil War years.

The class is part of the college’s “Never Stop Learning” series and will be presented at the college’s Queensbury, New York campus, on the morning of October 17, 2017. The cost is $15. For registration information, call (518) 743-2238, or click here.

Illustration: Solomon Northup in a Sketch from Twelve Years a Slave.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Events, History Tagged With: Education, Saratoga, Slavery, SUNY Adirondack

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Support Our 2022 Fundraising

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Helise Flickstein on Susan B. Anthony Childhood Home Historic Marker Dedication
  • Art and Fashion Teachers Opportunity: Quilts, Textiles, & Fiber Exhibitions Looking For Entries DEADLINE August 14, 2022 – Keeper of Knowledge on Quilts, Textiles, & Fiber Exhibitions Looking For Entries
  • Margaret on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End
  • Kathleen Hulser on Georgia O’Keefe At Wiawaka On Lake George
  • Alison, descendent of Thurlow Weed on Albany’s Thurlow Weed: Seward, Lincoln’s Election, & The Civil War Years
  • Jimmy Wallach on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End
  • Jimmy Wallach on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End
  • Bob Meyer on ‘The Last Days of John Brown’ in Ticonderoga Friday
  • Sean I. Ahern on ‘The Last Days of John Brown’ in Ticonderoga Friday
  • R O'Keefe on A Brief History of the Mohawk River

Recent New York Books

off the northway
Horse Racing the Chicago Way
The Women's House of Detention
Long Island’s Gold Coast Warriors and the First World War
Public Faces Secret Lives by Wendy Rouse
adirondack cabin
Spaces of Enslavement and Resistance in Dutch New York
ilion cover
Spare Parts

Secondary Sidebar

preservation league
Protect the Adirondacks Hiking Guide