The Nineteenth Amendment (the right of citizens of the United State to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation) was passed by the House of Representatives on May 21, 1919 after its initial introduction in 1878. The Senate passed the Amendment on June 4, 1919. The 36th state needed for ratification did so on August 18, 2020, and the amendment was officially ratified on August 26, 2020. In 1973 Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day. [Read more…] about Madison Co Prepares for Women’s Suffrage Centennial
National Abolition Hall of Fame
Peterboro Heritage’s 2019 Black History Events
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum have announced their scheduled 2019 Black History events.
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was proposed on January 31, 1865 and ratified on December 6, 1865. The long-sought abolition of slavery is among the shortest worded amendments. It states in the first sentence of the first section: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist within the United States. [Read more…] about Peterboro Heritage’s 2019 Black History Events
19th Century Abolition Heritage Dinner In Peterboro
The National Abolition Hall and Fame and Museum in Peterboro, Madison County, is set to hold its annual 19th Century Heritage Dinner at 5 pm, Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Peterboro.
Michaels’s Fine Foods and Spirits will cater the dinner inspired by menus from a local cookbook with older recipes selected from people in the Peterboro area. [Read more…] about 19th Century Abolition Heritage Dinner In Peterboro
Samuel J. May Inducted to Abolition Hall of Fame
Samuel J. May is set to be inducted to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at ceremonies held at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Peterboro.
At 3:30 pm Roger Hiemstra will present a program on May during the afternoon Abolition Symposia, and at the 7 pm Induction Ceremonies Mary Louise Edwards will officially nominate May to the Hall of Fame, and sponsors will unveil May’s banner which will be installed in the Hall of Fame. A second May banner will also be available for outreach exhibits. [Read more…] about Samuel J. May Inducted to Abolition Hall of Fame
Abolitionist Writer Frances E.W. Harper: A Short Bio
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911), née Watkins, was a prominent African-African female social reformer and writer of 19th century America. Watkins became an abolitionist orator after the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. In 1854, while teaching at a school in York PA, she was scandalized by the wrongful enslavement and death of a free black laborer named Edward Davis.
Watkins entered the anti-slavery lecture circuit in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She published the first edition of her bestseller, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects in 1854. Watkins wove anti-slavery pieces such as The Slave Mother, Eliza Harris, The Slave Auction, A Mother’s Heroism, and The Fugitive’s Wife into a broader religious and moral framework. Watkins also published numerous abolitionist poems, speeches, essays and editorials – such as Be Active (1856), Could We Trace the Record of Every Human Heart (1857), Miss Watkins and the Constitution (1859), and Our Greatest Want (1859). Known by this time as the “bronze muse,” Harper also concerned herself with the broad reconstruction of the nation after the Civil War. She championed the rights of blacks and women in her work with the women’s rights movement. Harper died in 1911 and is buried in Eden Cemetery, an historic African American cemetery outside of Philadelphia. [Read more…] about Abolitionist Writer Frances E.W. Harper: A Short Bio
Lincoln Document At Emancipation Watch Night
Retired Navy Commander Owen Corpin will again host the annual Peterboro Watch Night at 4 pm Sunday, December 31, 2017 at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road.
Watch Night is held by the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in commemoration of the long wait through the night of December 31, 1862 to see if President Abraham Lincoln would issue the Emancipation Proclamation on the first day of 1863. [Read more…] about Lincoln Document At Emancipation Watch Night
Abolition Hall of Fame Weekend Planned
The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) commemoration ceremonies for the 2016 inductees will be held Saturday, October 21, 2017 at NAHOF, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY.
The inductees are Rev. John Gregg Fee, Beriah Green, Angelina Grimké, and James W.C. Pennington. This is the last year of the two year induction-commemoration cycle. Beginning in 2018 inductions and commemorations will be completed in one year.
At 3 on Saturday, October 21 Christopher L. Webber, who nominated Pennington to the Hall of Fame, will present James W.C. Pennington: Pastor and Abolitionist for the Abolition Symposia. Webber, the author of American to the Backbone: The Journey of James W.C. Pennington from Slavery to World Leader, will use his research to present Pennington’s remarkable story. Pennington was born in slavery in Maryland in 1808. At the age of 19, scared and illiterate, James escaped from slavery. Moving finally to Brooklyn he found work as a carriage man and took advantage of night schools. In 1829 Pennington participated in the first Negro National Convention of which he became the presiding officer in 1853. Pennington served congregations in Long Island, Hartford, and Manhattan and traveled three times to England, Scotland, and the continent of Europe as an anti-slavery advocate. He was so respected by European audiences that the University of Heidelberg awarded him an honorary doctorate, making him the first person of African descent to receive such a degree. Pennington was accepted as the first black student at the Yale Divinity School and was accepted for ordination in the Congregational Church. April 26, 2014 Yale University celebrated the opening of the James W.C. Pennington Christian Ministry Center. [Read more…] about Abolition Hall of Fame Weekend Planned
Gerrit Smith, John Brown, and the Crusade for Social Reform
Peterboro NY will launch its 2017 Crusade for Social Reform at 1 pm on Saturday, March 11, with the annual celebration of Gerrit Smith’s birthday, held at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road.
Born March 6, 1797, Gerrit Smith, who lived and worked his entire adult life in Peterboro, was known for his philanthropy and activism for equality. Norman K. Dann PhD, researcher and author of Practical Dreamer: Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Social Reform will introduce the 19th century Smith family activities, and then volunteers from the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) will explain the 2017 programs that will continue the quest for human rights in the 21st Century. [Read more…] about Gerrit Smith, John Brown, and the Crusade for Social Reform
Abolition Hall of Fame Announces Inductees
The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) induction ceremonies for the 2016 inductees will be held Saturday, October 22, 2016 at NAHOF, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, in Peterboro, NY. The afternoon Abolition Symposia will present programs on each of the inductees:
· Rev. John Gregg Fee at 12:30 pm
· Beriah Green at 1:30 pm
· Angelina Grimké at 2:30 pm
· James W.C. Pennington at 3:30 pm [Read more…] about Abolition Hall of Fame Announces Inductees
Remembering The March On Washington 1963
The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) will present a program at 2 pm Saturday, June 18 about the March on Washington August 28, 1963 to accompany the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibition “Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 and the March on Washington, 1963.” NAHOF extends a special invitation to people who have memories of the March to bring those recollections, experiences, souvenirs, etc. to the program to share. [Read more…] about Remembering The March On Washington 1963