State Parks this year will designate Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site as the first state historic site dedicated to the 400-year experience of African Americans in New York.
The Westchester County former Colonial estate was once home to enslaved Africans who labored there and exhibitions at the site will be expanded to include interpretation of that enslavement, the Underground Railroad abolitionist effort, emancipation, the Great Migration, and the Civil Rights movement to celebrate the countless ways in which African Americans have contributed to our shared culture.
The effort is part of State Parks’ priority to tell more of the under told stories that reflect the state’s diverse history.
More information about Black History Month programming, events and virtual content at State Parks can be found online.
Photo of Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site courtesy NYS Parks.
Craig Steven Wilder’s book Ebony and Ivy mentions (p51) Frederick Philipse’s being charged with piracy and evasion of Navigation Acts for illegally engaging in the Madagascar Slave Trade (outside the British approved system) and avoiding taxation to make the fortune behind the manor. I hope this part of the history is included in the curation if you are able to contact the team organizing it. Really glad to hear about this program, thank you!