Loraine Wies

Lorie Wies is a semi-retired Local History Librarian at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. She has written articles and conducted programs related to Saratoga history on wide ranging topics- from the Kayaderosseras Patent, to the Saratoga Lake Houses, and Racing Handicapping.

O.C. Gilbert: Speaker, Musician, Black Community Organizer in Saratoga

August 28, 2023 by Loraine Wies 2 Comments

In a recent article in the Washington Post, author Sydney Trent narrates the story of Stephanie Gilbert, a descendant of Oliver C. Gilbert, and her quest to learn of her ancestor and visit his place of birth and enslavement. The article briefly discusses O.C. Gilbert’s life in Saratoga Springs, NY, from about 1860 to 1876, when he moved to Pennsylvania.

Saratoga Springs offered many opportunities for employment, and it was said that while many of the Southern gentleman brought their slaves with them as they took in the season at The Spa, many of the Black men and women serving them were probably former enslaved people who had run for their freedom. Moreover, while Gilbert’s primary legacy is as a lecturer and musician, his political activism both before and while living in Saratoga Springs places him in the company of many prominent abolitionists, businessmen and politicians who continued the fight for racial equality as Jim Crow laws were becoming commonplace in America. [Read more…] about O.C. Gilbert: Speaker, Musician, Black Community Organizer in Saratoga

Broughton House: Black Affluence In Saratoga Springs

June 28, 2021 by Loraine Wies Leave a Comment

The Grand Union. The United States. Congress Hall. When one thinks about the great hotels of Saratoga Springs during the pinnacle of the Gilded Age with all its high fashion and wealth, these are the places one imagines the upper-class tourists of the era spending their time.

In those images, standing quietly in the background, ready to provide service on a moment’s notice, are the African American waiters and maids and drivers dutifully going about their tasks with, in the words of author Myra Armistead, the mantra in their heads “Lord, please don’t take me in August!”- the wages and tips of the season being their prime source of annual income.

But tucked away, a block off Broadway, behind the Clarendon Hotel and what is now St. Peter’s Church, was what was once called in the Troy Daily Times “A swell hotel for Colored people or rather, the hotel for swell Colored people.” The Broughton House catered to upper middle class African-Americans for over 30 years. Yet very few people have ever heard of it. [Read more…] about Broughton House: Black Affluence In Saratoga Springs