History, Natural History & the Arts
Bird enthusiasts from across New York State are invited to gather in the Adirondacks for a special celebration of birds and the diverse birding community that admire them.
In commemoration of National Black Birders Week, the Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI) and John Brown Lives! will host two local events that offer birding opportunities, workshops, presentations, family activities, and more. [Read more…] about National Black Birders Week Adirondack Events
John Brown Lives! (JBL!) will host their tenth annual Blues at Timbuctoo at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site on Sunday, September 21, from 12-5pm.
Blues at Timbuctoo is a day-long festival of music, history and community, staged at the entrance of the “Dreaming of Timbuctoo” Exhibition, underscoring the connection between the Black families of Timbuctoo who settled in the Adirondacks in the mid-1800s and the fabled Saharan city of Timbuktu, Mali in West Africa, a birthplace of American Blues. [Read more…] about 10th Annual Blues at Timbuctoo at the John Brown Farm Sept 21st
Bird lovers from across Northern New York are invited to celebrate the beauty of birds, nature, and the regional community of Black birders this weekend. In honor of the sixth annual Black Birders Week, the Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI) and John Brown Lives! will host a special day of birding at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site near Lake Placid, NY this Saturday, May 31, 2025. [Read more…] about Black Birders Celebration Set for May 31 at John Brown Farm
John Brown Lives! (JBL!) dates its founding twenty-five years ago to October 16, 1999, when Oswald Sykes, a former hospital administrator from the Capital Region, gave a presentation at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site on the English slave ship, the Henrietta Marie, grounding the organization’s mission in reckoning with the nation’s foundational history of slavery. [Read more…] about John Brown Lives! Celebrating 25 Years This Weekend
“Beacon of Hope,” a nationally recognized sculpture of Harriet Tubman, is set to be unveiled on Thursday, July 5, 2024, at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site in Lake Placid. The unveiling ceremony, open to the public, will commence a months-long celebration of Harriet Tubman’s life and enduring legacy. [Read more…] about Harriet Tubman Sculpture Being Unveiled at John Brown Farm
Museums, museum professionals, industry partners, and legislative leaders will be recognized for their exceptional achievements at the Museum Association of New York‘s 2024 annual conference “Giving Voice to Value” in Albany from April 6 to 9, 2024. [Read more…] about Museum Association of New York’s 2024 Awards of Distinction
Members from 17 different Adirondack organizations, over 100 in all, came from all over the state to meet with more than 60 state legislative offices during Adirondack Park Lobby Day on February 26th. The coalition was advocating for state funding and policy advancements for the Adirondack Park and State Forest Preserve. [Read more…] about Adirondack Park Lobby Day Held in Albany
Museums, museum professionals, industry partners, and legislative leaders will be recognized for their exceptional achievements at the Museum Association of New York’s 2024 annual conference “Giving Voice to Value” in Albany, New York this April. [Read more…] about Museum Association of New York Announces 2024 Awards of Distinction
The “Freedom Story Project,” an endeavor of John Brown Lives! and OurStoryBridge Inc., recently achieved the milestone of collecting 100 stories from storytellers across the nation.
Launched in 2022, Freedom Story Project collects and broadcasts three- to five-minute audio stories and related photographs online, centering around themes of freedom and justice, human and civil rights, activism and engagement, at local, national and international levels. [Read more…] about Freedom Story Project Reaches 100-Stories
On Saturday, September 16th at noon there will be a public unveiling of a historic roadside marker to celebrate the recent naming of John Thomas Brook. The new name pays homage to 19th-century Black settler John Thomas.
Thomas escaped enslavement in Maryland and established a successful farm near the small stream in Vermontville that was formerly known pejoratively as “N***** Brook,” then as “Negro Brook.” Thomas, his wife Mary, and their son, Richard, are buried in Union Cemetery in Vermontville, in Franklin County, NY. [Read more…] about Ceremony To Celebrate Renaming Adirondack Stream in Honor of Black Settler
“Conversations about Equality and Justice,” a series taking place at John Brown Farm in Lake Placid this summer will be occurring every Thursday in July and August. [Read more…] about Equality and Justice Conversations At John Brown Farm
The North Star Underground Railroad Museum at Ausable Chasm, NY, is seeking nominees for their North Country Juneteenth Colors of Freedom Community Award, which celebrates the region’s role in the fight against slavery. This year’s event will take place on June 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th. [Read more…] about North Country Colors of Freedom Community Award Nominees Sought
Thanks to a grant from AARP Community Challenge, John Brown Lives! (JBL!) is continuing to collect first person narratives which seek to bridge generational boundaries while collecting freedom and justice narratives, using the OurStoryBridge model, as part of their “Freedom Story Project.” [Read more…] about Freedom Story Project Continues to Collect Stories
The Pomeroy Fund for NYS History has awarded 20 history-related organizations across New York State $5,000 each during its fifth grant round to bring back or hire museum educators. [Read more…] about $100K Awarded To Museum Educators
John Brown Lives! (JBL!) launched its “Freedom Story Project” website during the first-ever Adirondack Family Book Festival at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site. [Read more…] about John Brown Lives! Launches Freedom Story Project
Clinton and Essex counties were a center of the roiling abolition controversies before the Civil War, helping many freedom-seekers fleeing enslavement follow the Lake Champlain corridor to Canada in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s.
A first-ever North Country Juneteenth celebration of the region’s role in the fight against slavery will highlight Underground Railroad work in the area, as well as prominent anti-slavery Quakers and abolitionist John Brown. [Read more…] about North Country ‘Colors of Freedom Tour’ to Celebrate Juneteenth
John Brown Lives! and Grand Adirondack Hotel will present the 7th annual Blues at Timbuctoo featuring Jerry Dugger; Karl Schwarz; Split Rock Ramblers; Soul Sky Duo with Mark Emanatian and Jeremy Walz on Sunday, September 19th, from noon to 5 pm. [Read more…] about ‘Blues at Timbuctoo’ Music Event At John Brown Farm Sunday
John Brown Lives! will commemorate the 125th anniversary of the State of New York acquisition of the John Brown Farm State Historic Site, home of abolitionists John and Mary Brown on the condition that it be used “as a public park or reservation forever,” on Saturday, July 17th. [Read more…] about John Brown Lives! Marking 125 Years of John Brown Farm Historic Site
John Brown Lives! has announced A Prison in the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in the North Country, a virtual book talk with author Clarence Jefferson Hall, Jr. set for Wednesday, May 19th. [Read more…] about A Prison in the Woods: Environment & Incarceration in the North Country
In 2021, the state of New York will celebrate 125 years of being caretaker to the John Brown Farm in North Elba, just outside of Lake Placid in the Adirondack Park.
Brown came to the area to help recently freed slaves become farmers. At that time in New York State, black men (and only black men) needed to own $250 dollars worth of land to be eligible to vote. Brown immersed himself in this new community of black farmers and participated in a wide variety of organizing. [Read more…] about John Brown Farm Celebrates 125 Years of State Ownership
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