The Gerrit Smith Estate and National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will host its 16th Annual Emancipation Day on Saturday, August 1st at the Smithville Community Center in Peterboro, Madison County, NY, about 25 miles southeast of Syracuse. [Read more…] about 16th Annual Peterboro Emancipation Day August 1st
Gerrit Smith Estate
Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Human Rights
Norman K. Dann PhD, researcher and biographer of members of the Gerrit Smith family of Peterboro, NY, is presenting a series of two-hour lectures on the human rights efforts of Smith and his family, from 4 until 6 pm on Wednesdays through June 25th, at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Peterboro: [Read more…] about Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Human Rights
The Annual Peterboro Watch Night for Emancipation
Just steps from the building where Owen Corpin’s formerly enslaved great, great, grandmother managed the housekeeping of the Ann and Gerrit Smith home in Peterboro, NY, Corpin will light a freedom fire in solidarity with the fires that were ignited one hundred sixty-two years before.
On the night of December 31, 1862, enslaved and free African Americans gathered, many in secret, to ring in the new year and await news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. [Read more…] about The Annual Peterboro Watch Night for Emancipation
Cousins of Reform: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Gerrit Smith
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Gerrit Smith were first cousins born 18 years apart (Smith’s mother Elizabeth Livingston Smith and Stanton’s mother Margaret Livingston Cady were sisters), but they shared a devotion to social reform that placed them together in a very small group of strong-willed people who helped to shape the second half of the 19th century. [Read more…] about Cousins of Reform: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Gerrit Smith
14th Annual Peterboro Emancipation Day Set for Saturday
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark will hold its 14th Annual Emancipation Day on Saturday, August 3 at 5324 Oxbow Road in Peterboro, Madison County, NY. The event commemorates the families that came from enslavement by replicating the Emancipation Days held by the generations of the 1920s and 1930s. [Read more…] about 14th Annual Peterboro Emancipation Day Set for Saturday
Ann Carroll Fitzhugh Smith: First Lady of Gerrit Smith Estate
Having been born in 1805 into a slave holding family in Chewsville, Maryland, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh Smith was well aware of the inequitable status between black and white persons, and of the horrible physical and mental treatment of enslaved people. Ann’s father William F. Fitzhugh operated a plantation worked by over sixty enslaved persons. [Read more…] about Ann Carroll Fitzhugh Smith: First Lady of Gerrit Smith Estate
12th Annual Peterboro Watch Night for Emancipation
On the night of December 31, 1862, enslaved and free African Americans gathered, many in secret, to ring in the new year and await news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect.
Just a few months earlier, on September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the executive order that declared enslaved people in the rebelling Confederate States legally free. However, the decree would not take effect until the clock struck midnight at the start of the new year. [Read more…] about 12th Annual Peterboro Watch Night for Emancipation
The Black Woods: Pursuing Racial Justice on the Adirondack Frontier
Amy Godine’s new history, The Black Woods: Pursuing Racial Justice on the Adirondack Frontier (Cornell Univ. Press, 2023) chronicles the history of Black pioneers in New York’s northern wilderness.
From the late 1840s into the 1860s, they migrated to the Adirondacks to build farms and to vote. On their new-worked land, they could meet the $250 property requirement New York’s constitution imposed on Black voters in 1821, and claim the rights of citizenship. [Read more…] about The Black Woods: Pursuing Racial Justice on the Adirondack Frontier
O.C. Gilbert: Speaker, Musician, Black Community Organizer in Saratoga
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
The Florence Farming Association
On this episode of the New York Minute in History podcast, Devin Lander and Lauren Roberts tell the story of the Florence Farming and Lumber Association, a settlement of free African Americans in Florence, Oneida County beginning in 1846. [Read more…] about The Florence Farming Association
Peterboro Emancipation Day, Saturday August 5th
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark in Peterboro, Madison County, NY, will hold its 13th Annual Emancipation Day on Saturday, August 5th. The event commemorates the families that came from enslavement by replicating the Emancipation Days held by the generations of the 1920s and 1930s. [Read more…] about Peterboro Emancipation Day, Saturday August 5th
New Historical Marker For Willis Hodges & His Adirondack Black Farm Settlement
On Sunday, August 6, a new historical marker will be unveiled at Loon Lake, Franklin County in the Adirondacks, to honor the settlement of Blacksville and its founder, Virginia-born Brooklyn newsman and Black rights activist, Willis Hodges. The public is invited to attend. [Read more…] about New Historical Marker For Willis Hodges & His Adirondack Black Farm Settlement
Peterboro to Celebrate Gerrit Smith, Underground Railroad & Abolition
Born March 6th, 1797, Gerrit Smith was the wealthiest landowner in New York State and believed that his wealth was a divine gift to give away to the less fortunate – especially the enslaved. [Read more…] about Peterboro to Celebrate Gerrit Smith, Underground Railroad & Abolition
19th Century Experiences in Madison County This Weekend
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will host a number of 19th Century Experiences as part of Abolition Induction Weekend, set for October 21st through 23rd. [Read more…] about 19th Century Experiences in Madison County This Weekend
Edmonia Lewis Featured at Peterboro Emancipation Day
The 12th Annual Peterboro Emancipation Day, replicating the Peterboro Emancipation Days of the 1920s and 1930s, is set for Saturday, August 6th, at 10 am. [Read more…] about Edmonia Lewis Featured at Peterboro Emancipation Day
Abolition Hall of Fame Names New Inductees
Robert Everett, Calvin Fairbank, and Stephen Myers will be inducted into the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) in Peterboro, Madison County, NY on Saturday, October 22nd. [Read more…] about Abolition Hall of Fame Names New Inductees
Black Adirondack Farmers, Escaped Slaves, Civil War Veterans, Remembered at Union Cemetery
Curt Stager’s scholarly demeanor cracked on July 4th when he spread three small plastic baggies of soil on three graves of Black Adirondackers at Union Cemetery on state Route 3 in Vermontville, Franklin County, NY.
Stager didn’t know any of these people personally. They all died in the late 1800s. But in researching their lives, Stager, a Paul Smith’s College biology professor, said he’s become immensely respectful of their fights for freedom for all Americans, on the battlefield, or at home. [Read more…] about Black Adirondack Farmers, Escaped Slaves, Civil War Veterans, Remembered at Union Cemetery
Juneteenth Weekend Events in Madison County, NY
The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) and the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark (GSENHL) in Peterboro, Madison County, NY will present a number programs during the upcoming Juneteenth Weekend. [Read more…] about Juneteenth Weekend Events in Madison County, NY
Anti-Slavery, Abolition Heritage Sites Opening for Season
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark (GSENHL) and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) in Peterboro, Madison County, NY will open for the season on Saturday June 4th. [Read more…] about Anti-Slavery, Abolition Heritage Sites Opening for Season
Cazenovia, The Origins of Soccer & The National “Football” Hall of Fame
In 1947 the citizens of Cazenovia in Madison County mounted a campaign to have the proposed hall of fame or shrine honoring American players of “football” located in their community.
Supporters at the village, town, county, and state levels joined in the effort to bring the hall of fame to Cazenovia. Assemblyman Wheeler Milmoe who represented Madison County introduced Resolution No. 154 in Albany in support of Cazenovia’s claim to fame. Gov. Thomas Dewey also voiced strong support for the idea. There were other places in the nation politicking for having the “football” hall of fame located in their communities. [Read more…] about Cazenovia, The Origins of Soccer & The National “Football” Hall of Fame