• 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

Slavery & Segregation At Governor Morgan Lewis’ Staatsburgh Estate

October 5, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Depiction of a Black servant in a New York mansion, titled_The Old Sideboard_ from 1876.(1)The Staatsburgh estate’s founder, Governor Morgan Lewis, enslaved people of African descent at what is now the Staatsburgh State Historic Site. Yet, when his great-granddaughter, Ruth Livingston Mills, lived at Staatsburgh at the turn of the 20th Century, the staff was exclusively White and of European descent. At the same time, a free Black community grew and thrived in the surrounding Dutchess County hamlet.

In 2022, Staatsburgh State Historic Site celebrated Indigenous People’s Days with a program that explored the transition from a Black presence at Staatsburgh during the early 19th Century to the apparent absence of Black people at the estate during the Gilded Age. The one-hour program included historic photographs and documents related to this history, notably a letter from Staatsburgh’s archives detailing the sale by Morgan Lewis, of Peter Williams into slavery, to fellow “Founding Father,” John Jay.

The presentation will focus on recent research into the Black people living and working in both the Staatsburgh estate and in the hamlet of Staatsburg, bringing in the larger context of racial oppression and Jim Crow, to present audiences with a new perspective on Staatsburgh.

This program will begin at 1  pm and is free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be completed online. For more information, call (845) 889-8851, or visit the Staatsburgh State Historic Site website.

Illustration: Depiction of a Black servant in a New York mansion, titled “The Old Sideboard”from 1876.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Events, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Morgan Lewis, Staatsburgh State Historic Site

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Primary Sidebar

Help Support The Almanack

Subscribe to New York Almanack

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

Recent Comments

  • Karla L Phelps on Long Island’s Culper Spy Ring History
  • James S. Kaplzn on Iroquois and the Invention of the Empire State
  • James S. Kaplan on New York State Canals Bicentennial: Some History & Plans For Celebrations
  • M Raff on Deep Time: Lake Ontario’s Lucky Stones & Fossils
  • N. Couture on Iroquois and the Invention of the Empire State
  • Bob on Are Baby Boomers The Worst Generation?
  • Anonymous on Gymnastics History: The Legacy of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn’s Turnerism
  • Editorial Staff on Women at Seneca Knitting Mill in Seneca Falls
  • B cottingham-kleckner on Women at Seneca Knitting Mill in Seneca Falls
  • Landscaping By G. Pellegrino on Work Begins On Bayard Cutting Arboretum Visitors Center

Recent New York Books

“The Amazing Iroquois” and the Invention of the Empire State
american inheritance
Norman Rockwell's Models
The 1947 Utica Blue Sox Book Cover
vanishing point
From the Battlefield to the Stage
field of corpses
Madison's Militia
in the adirondacks

Secondary Sidebar

Mohawk Valley Trading Company Honey, Honey Comb, Buckwheat Honey, Beeswax Candles, Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar
preservation league