Abolition

Peterboro Emancipation Day Events Postponed to 2021

August 9, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The 2020 Peterboro Emancipation Day planned for August 1st, 2020 has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 7th, 2021 at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark.

The event will begin at 10 at The Barn on the Gerrit Smith Estate. After the morning assembly, songs, announcements, and the annual group photo, a processional to the Peterboro Cemetery will carry wreaths to lay on the grave of a person who was born enslaved, and died free. [Read more…] about Peterboro Emancipation Day Events Postponed to 2021

Anna Murray-Douglass: Frederick’s Most Important Ally

August 4, 2020 by Rose O'Keefe Leave a Comment

I offer the following tribute to Anna Douglass, first wife of Frederick Douglass and mother of their five children, on the anniversary of her death Aug. 4, 1882:

Both Frederick Bailey and Anna Murray were born in rural Maryland in the early 1800s and grew up under harsh racist customs that strictly defined roles for men and women by sex, race and class.

By the time Frederick and Anna met in the 1830s in Baltimore, his owner valued him as a slave who was a skilled caulker. Yet Anna, despite being a free woman skilled as a domestic and cook, was not well paid by her white employers. [Read more…] about Anna Murray-Douglass: Frederick’s Most Important Ally

Poughkeepsie’s Equality Trail Highlights History

July 17, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Poughkeepsie’s Equality Trail, part of the Dutchess County Equality Trails, features 21 stops that can be visited in person or virtually.

Each stop on the Trail features a person or event that helped in the fight for racial equality in Dutchess County. [Read more…] about Poughkeepsie’s Equality Trail Highlights History

Commemoration of Slavery’s End in NYS Being Planned

July 12, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State has announced the formation of a statewide committee to begin planning for the bicentennial of the legal abolition of slavery in New York, which finally took effect on July 4, 1827, following what was called “gradual emancipation” that began nearly 30 years before. [Read more…] about Commemoration of Slavery’s End in NYS Being Planned

July 4th, 1827: Freedom Day

July 3, 2020 by Deirdre Sinnott 8 Comments

As the last enslaved people living in New York State were officially freed on July 4th, 1827, celebrations reigned.

According to the New-York Spectator, people packed the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church on the corner of Church and Leonard Streets in Manhattan. The major societies for the support and liberation of African American people were there. Banners and flags festooned the church. “Several hymns written for the occasion were sung.”

Portraits of John Jay, a founder of the Manumission Society who had himself owned five people until 1800, and Matthew Clarkson, who introduced a bill for the gradual end of slavery to the New York State Legislature, were hung near a bust of Daniel D. Tompkins, who as Governor of New York had proposed this date as the day for emancipation. [Read more…] about July 4th, 1827: Freedom Day

Preservation Long Island Offering Racial Bias Virtual Events, Resources

July 3, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The painful effects of racial bias and the long legacy of slavery are now on full display in our country. While many people live their lives shielded from such brutal realities, others must live them each day; carefully and often wary that any encounter could be fatal.

This different reality is a topic that causes discomfort, pain, and fear. Honest communication about race and the legacy of slavery in America is necessary to initiate change and foster a more equitable society. Conversation alone will not address or repair these issues. What is essential is dialogue towards understanding and empathy. [Read more…] about Preservation Long Island Offering Racial Bias Virtual Events, Resources

Juneteenth in New York State: Events, Resources

June 19, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Juneteenth is the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. The origins of the commemoration date back to June 19th, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas first heard that the Civil War had ended, and they were free.

The June 19th, 1865 date was more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and two months after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to General Ulysses S. Grant. This was due to the lack of Union solders in Texas to enforce emancipation resulting in African Americans continuing to be held in bondage.

That changed on June 19th, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger entered Texas with a force large enough to enforce the freeing of the enslaved. [Read more…] about Juneteenth in New York State: Events, Resources

Freedom Seekers in Montgomery Co Talk Feb 3rd

January 29, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Visitor Center at Schoharie Crossing is set to host their second Museum Monday program of the year, looking at Abolition and Slavery in Montgomery County with Montgomery County Historian Kelly Farquhar, on Monday, February 3rd.

Farquhar will speak on the freedom seekers in the Mohawk Valley and how the Erie Canal was used to spread ideas, shape ideology, and as a way to escape bondage. [Read more…] about Freedom Seekers in Montgomery Co Talk Feb 3rd

Central Park Women’s Rights Statue Unveiling Date Set

January 22, 2020 by Editorial Staff 4 Comments

Monumental Women has set a date for the unveiling of the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument on the Mall in the City of New York’s Central Park. The statue is the first statue depicting a real woman in the Park’s 167-year History.

The original statue of women’s rights pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony was redesigned to include Sojourner Truth after criticism that the original design excluded the contributions of people of color. It’s being sculpted by Meredith Bergmann. [Read more…] about Central Park Women’s Rights Statue Unveiling Date Set

Slavery and Resistance in New York Podcast

January 8, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The latest episode of A New York Minute In History, explores slavery in New York and specifically the resistance to the institution, including the Underground Railroad.

Co-hosts Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts speak with area experts and tour a historic home in Albany that is living a new life as a museum depicting the history of its previous occupants. [Read more…] about Slavery and Resistance in New York Podcast