Underground Railroad

The Last Days of John Brown: The Secret Six

September 6, 2021 by John Warren Leave a Comment

John Brown has often come down to us as a lone nut, bent on an suicidal mission, but this is far from the truth.

Brown was part of a larger movement to free slaves that grew with passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 (which required the return of escaped slaves to their masters with all its potential for torture and death at their hands) and the large Underground Railroad movement.

It’s little understood that Brown was intimate with northern politicians, industrialists, ministers, and folks from all walks of life, including the leading intellectuals of the era – the Transcendentalists. [Read more…] about The Last Days of John Brown: The Secret Six

Black History in Upstate New York Programs Begin August 16th

August 4, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) will present Black History in Upstate New York programs, created by Colgate University graduate Victoria Basulto, beginning August 16th.

The daily programs will provide a combination of bite-sized informational videos and longer presentations by scholars on historical figures and places that emphasize the crucial role Black Americans have played in the history of Upstate New York. The events will be available on the Hall of Fame’s YouTube channel. [Read more…] about Black History in Upstate New York Programs Begin August 16th

FreeThemWalkers Travel Underground Railroad

June 13, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Members of the FreeThemWalk team arrived in Peterboro on Monday, May 31st to tour the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. The Team started its 900 mile walk in Lynchburg, VA, and plans to finish the walk in Buffalo on June 19th, in time for the Juneteenth Festival.

The FreeThemWalk Team follows many of the Underground Railroad paths of the network that provided aid and safe houses to enslaved peoples heading north to escape slavery in the south. Hundreds of freedom seekers found support and escape in Upstate New York the first half of the 19th Century. [Read more…] about FreeThemWalkers Travel Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad Survey Seeks To Identify Local Collections

November 4, 2020 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State has announced the formation of a new committee, focusing on archives and oral histories with the goal of identifying archival materials related to the Underground Railroad in New York State. [Read more…] about Underground Railroad Survey Seeks To Identify Local Collections

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

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

#MonumentalWomen Project (Podcast)

March 23, 2020 by Clare Sheridan Leave a Comment

The March 2020 episode of “Crossroads of Rockland History” focused on the #MonumentalWomen Project.

Pam Elam (President, Monumental Women) and Meredith Bergmann (Sculptor), appeared to speak about the all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization, created in 2014 with the initial goal of breaking the bronze ceiling and creating the first statue of real women in Central Park’s 166-year history. [Read more…] about #MonumentalWomen Project (Podcast)

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

The Prophet Matthias and Elijah the Tishbite

December 23, 2019 by Miguel Hernandez 7 Comments

Long before the fictional and shocking “Peyton Place” of TV and film fame came along in the late 1950s, and early 1960s there was an actual suburban community where its residents were roiled by rampant scandal, moral and religious hypocrisy and a sensational a murder in their midst. [Read more…] about The Prophet Matthias and Elijah the Tishbite