This past weekend, the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum and the Smithfield Community Association hosted a three-day event in Peterboro, NY commemorating the 175th Anniversary of the Inaugural Meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society.Over the course of the festivities, two leaders of the American abolitionist movement, Lewis Tappan and Theodore Dwight Weld, were inducted into the National Abolition Hall of Fame.Ribbon cutting ceremonies also celebrated the selection of two sites in Peterboro, the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the Smithfield Community Center, as New York State Heritage New York Underground Railroad Trail Sites.
Other commemorative events included a dramatic re-creation of the Utica Riots and the Inaugural Meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society, written and directed by Hugh C. Humphreys; the annual dinner of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, which preceded the induction ceremonies of Tappan and Weld and included a keynote address by Dr. Milton C. Sernett, professor emeritus of History at Syracuse University and a noted authority on the antislavery movement in upstate New York, and a ribbon cutting ceremony that included Civil War Reenactors and members of the Smithfield Community Association dressed in full period dress, and speeches by local and state officials and politicians.
The Saturday afternoon lecture by Milton C. Sernett, “North Star Shining: New York State’s Freedom Trail – An Illustrated Journey along the Underground Railroad,” was presented as a Speaker in the Humanities event underwritten by the New York Council for the Humanities.Dr. Sernett’s lecture, which included a PowerPoint presentation of photographs and illustrations, summarized the historiography of the Underground Railroad from early works like William Stills’ The Underground Rail Road (1872) and Wilbur Henry Siebert’s 1898 study, The Underground Railroad: From Slavery to Freedom, to recent works like Fergus M. Bordewich’s Bound for Canaan (2006). The heart of Dr. Sernett’s presentation outlined the efforts of a small number of professional and local historians to reconstruct the history of the Underground Railroad in upstate New York, and bring to light the efforts of the many heroic New York State citizens who conducted runaway slaves north to Canada and freedom.
In 1998 the Governor of New York created Heritage NY Trails to increase recognition of New York State’s rich history and to boost heritage tourism. The second trail, the NYS Underground Railroad Trail, developed in three stages: designation, site development, and site interpretation. 26 sites became part of the UGRR Trail. At 11:00 a.m. Sunday, October 24 two sites on the trail will celebrate the completion of the three stages with people and agencies who assisted the accomplishments.Cordell Reaves, Historic Preservation Program Analyst, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, will describe the Underground Railroad Project. Following a presentation of the colors by the 12th U.S. Infantry Co. A (Reenactors), Steve Joeckel, President of the Smithfield Community Association, and Rick Bargabos, Town of Smithfield Supervisor, will welcome those in attendance to Peterboro and the special occasion. John Reinhardt, Board of Madison County Supervisors, and Matthew Urtz, Madison County Historian, will describe the county’s role and value of the project. Assemblyman Bill Magee and Senator Dave Valesky will present a legislative citation for the eventful weekend. Ivy Biswas, representing the Central New York Community Foundation, will describe the PACE grant received by the Smithfield Community Association. Max Smith, a Steward of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark will sing songs of patriotism, slavery, and freedom.After the symbolic ribbon cutting, CNY Bounty will provide refreshments from local producers. Following the ribbon cutting there will be open houses and tour. The exhibits at the Smithfield Community Center will remain open hosted by members of the Cabinet of Freedom for the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. Stewards at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark will be at The Lodge / Visitor Center, The Barn, and The Land Office. Beth Spokowsky, President of the Peterboro Area Museum, will conduct a tour of the Gerrit Smith Estate at 1:00 p.m. and Norm Dann, Gerrit Smith biographer, will conduct a tour at 2:00. Donna Dorrance Burdick, Town of Smithfield Historian, will also host the Peterboro Area Museum until 4:00 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend – and to wear mid 19th Century clothing if inclined. All events, programs, exhibit, and refreshments are free.
October 22, 1835 may be the date that determined that Central New York would become the epicenter of 19th Century abolition activities.When a Utica mob forced abolitionists to leave that city in order to organize a state anti-slavery organization, Peterboro became, not only the 1835 “capital city” of New York abolition, but a haven for freedom seekers and abolitionists dueto the galvanizing of Gerrit Smith’s commitment to immediate abolition. In commemoration of that historic event 175 years ago, retired Madison County Judge and playwright laureate Hugh C. Humphreys has written a dramatic re-creation of two days in late October 1835 recounting the violent Utica mobs that forced state abolitionists to move their inaugural meeting to Peterboro. With Morrisville-Eaton Central School elementary teacher Carrie Martin as production manager, the dramatic readings will be staged at the Smithfield Community Center in the upstairs assembly hall. Owned by the Town of Smithfield, the Community Center has been renovated upstairs with grants from the Underground Railroad Heritage Trail, a program of NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and a legislative grant from Assemblyman Bill Magee. The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum exhibits and offices are located in this restored area.
On October 21, 1835, an angry crowd surrounded the Bleecker Street Second Presbyterian Church in Utica NY. Inside over six hundred brave abolitionists had gathered to organize an anti-slavery society and to join others throughout the North to demand the end of slavery in the United States. Soon after the convention began, a dozen men broke into the church, marched down the aisle and commanded the meeting to adjourn. The shouts of the mob outside the church supported Beardsley’s threats. Gerrit Smith rose from the pews and promised that the abolitionists could meet peacefully the next day in Peterboro. Through the night 400 undaunted abolition delegates ignored the dangers and braved the mobs to get to Peterboro the next day where they were welcomed with safety and breakfast by local residents. And that day, October 22, 1835, at 11:00 a.m. the abolitionists met in the Peterboro Presbyterian Church and formed the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. October 22-24, 2010 Peterboro will once again welcome people to the Presbyterian Church which is now the Smithfield Community Center. In that building, on Friday, October 22 at 7 p.m., retired Madison County Judge Hugh C. Humphreys, assisted by Carrie Martin, will direct a dramatic re-creation of the Utica riots and the inaugural meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. All are encouraged to travel to Peterboro in the spirit of 1835 to the free program.
“Come put on a clean shirt and come along with us. We have begun the grandest revolution the world has ever seen: and if we do not die, we mean to see that revolution accomplished, and our land free from the tread and fetter of the slave.” So said James Caleb Jackson to people he passed as he and 99 other abolitionists walked from Canastota to Peterboro in the night of October 21, 1835 to escape the Utica mobs preventing an anti-slavery assembly. 600 delegates at the Bleecker Street Presbyterian Church were ousted by threats of violence and made their way by foot, horse, carriage, and boat to get to Peterboro the next day to form the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. Jackson described the activity at the Gerrit Smith home in Peterboro that night in preparation for the arrival of delegates in the morning: They spent the night “mixing bread, grinding coffee, paring apples for pies, baking rolls and providing the other necessaries of hospitality.” Peterboro invites all to “Come put on a clean shirt” and join in the commemoration of that October 22, 1835 event during the weekend of October 22 – 24 when Peterboro will once again welcome people to the Presbyterian Church which is now the Smithfield Community Center. In that building, on Friday, October 22 at 7 p.m., retired Madison County Judge Hugh C. Humphreys, assisted by Carrie Martin, will direct a dramatic re-creation of the Utica riots and the inaugural meeting of the New York State Anti-Slavery Society. Program and refreshments are free. At 11:00 on Sunday, October 24 at that historic building, citizens and dignitaries will convene for the official opening of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the Smithfield Community Center as two of the twenty-six sites on the Underground Railroad Heritage Trail, a program of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Exhibits at both sites will be open after the ribbon cutting. CNY Bounty will provide local refreshments. The program, exhibits and refreshments are free.
Exhibits installed last week through the Underground Railroad Heritage Trail, a program of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, will be open to the public Saturday, May 29 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the Gerrit Smith Estate Barn Sale. The Barn Sale is part of the annual Peterboro Community Yard Sale. The exhibit in the barn on the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark shows the commitment of the Smith family to end slavery in the United States, identifies the national figures who came to Peterboro to work against slavery, and describes the freedom seekers who sought a haven in Peterboro. The exhibitions were designed, manufactured, and installed by The Exhibition Alliance in Hamilton NY, in cooperation with the UGRR Heritage Trail project and the Smithfield Community Association in Peterboro. The public is encouraged to visit the new exhibits, shop at the Barn Sale and the Peterboro Mercantile, and to pick-up preservation information on methods and funding for older home repairs. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Nell Ziegler, Barn Squad, 315-374-9605.
Proceeds from the event support the preservation and promotion of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark which is a site on both the New York State Underground Railroad Heritage Trail and the National Park Service Underground Railroad Heritage Trail. The Barn Sale is one of series of programs provided by the Stewards for the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark during 2010 and partially supported by a PACE grant from the Central New York Community Foundation. For a complete listing of programs, contact SmithfieldCommunityAssociation@centralny.twcbc.com, 315-684-1058, and www.sca-peterboro.com
In honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and Black History, the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark will display a replica of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation given to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro by the New York State Library in Albany. The exhibit will be at the Visitor Center at the Gerrit Smith Estate Saturday and Sunday, February 13 and 14 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.One of the nation's greatest documentary treasures, the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, has been part of the New York State Library's collection since 1865. “The unassuming appearance of this four page declaration in Lincoln's hand tends to mask the significance of what one source declared to be the ‘most important and far-reaching document ever issued since the formulation of this government.’ …Though Lincoln had always found slavery morally repugnant, he consistently stated that the Civil War was being fought solely for the purpose of restoring the Union. … Besides, as Lincoln knew, simple justice and moral imperative demanded it.The partial Union victory at the terrible Battle of Antietam in September 1862 provided an opportunity for Lincoln to issue his epoch-making decree. It had taken nearly a century, many years of abolitionist agitation and two years of America's bloodiest war to begin to apply the meaning of the Declaration of Independence to the nation's black population.” (NYS Library)
“Lincoln read this document to his Cabinet on September 22 and told them that he firmly believed in its principles, though he would accept minor changes of wording. Secretary of State William H. Seward, a former Governor of New York and lifelong abolitionist, suggested certain additions which strengthened it and then actually wrote in his revisions. Except for these revisions and the formal beginning and ending written by the Chief Clerk, the document is otherwise entirely in Lincoln's hand. The next day the nation's newspapers gave prominent attention to the Proclamation, beginning a discussion of its importance which culminated three months later.” (NYS Library)
“The proclamation declared that all slaves in states which were still in rebellion on January 1, 1863 ‘shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.’ ” (NYS Library)
In February and March of 1864, the Army Relief Bazaar was held to raise money for the U.S. Sanitary Commission, an agency that helped provide medical care for Union soldiers. To assist the Bazaar in its fund drive, Lincoln donated the Preliminary Proclamation, sending it to Emily Weed Barnes through Frederick W. Seward, son of the Secretary of State. On the very last day of the Bazaar, the manuscript was won in a lottery by well-known abolitionist Gerrit Smith. Smith generously gave the proclamation to the U.S. Sanitary Commission to be sold to raise more money. Said Smith, “My purpose when I purchased the tickets…was to let it go to the individual or association, who should pay the largest price for it…As I believe the putting down of this infernal Rebellion to be our highest and holiest work, so I recognize no other claim upon my possessions to be as strong as that of the Soldiers, who are prosecuting this work.” (Letter, Gerrit Smith to William Barnes, March 12, 1864)
Three days after Lincoln's funeral train passed through Albany on April 25, 1865, the New York State Legislature purchased the proclamation for the New York State Library.
The Chicago Historical Society acquired the manuscript copy of the final proclamation. Unfortunately, it was lost when the Society's building was burned during the great Chicago fire of 1871. However, the New York State Library's collection includes 19th century photographs of the final proclamation.
At the Visitor Center on Sunday, February 14 at 2 pm, Norman K. Dann, Ph.D. will present a program on Lincoln as “The Great Emancipator,” the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation’s ties to Peterboro, and describe the Central New York origins of “Lincoln’s party.” Dr. Dann is the author of the 2009 biography of Smith, Practical Dreamer: Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Social Reform.
For both days of the exhibit the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) invites participation in “Linking Lincoln.” A paper chain of 2010 red, white, and blue links with the names of donators of currency with Lincoln’s image will be featured at a ribbon cutting October 24, 2010 to celebrate the Heritage NY Underground Railroad project.
The two day February exhibit is hosted by the Chair of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark Lodge Squad, Jody Jones, a Morrisville State College Resort and Recreation Management Technology Intern. The program is part of a series of programs provided by the Stewards of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark through a PACE grant to the Smithfield Community Association from the Central New York Community Foundation. The Estate is on the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, and the Heritage NY Underground Railroad Trail as part of the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. The Visitor Center is open during the summer on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 – 5 p.m. and by appointment. Programs and tours are $2 per person, $5 for a season pass, and free to children, stewards, and residents of Smithfield with season passes from The Lodge. For more information mail@sca-peterboro.org or 315-684-3262.
Fred Morsell, actor and historian who portrays Frederick Douglass, will deliver the keynote address Frederick Douglass on Race: A Soul’s Evolution at the annual dinner of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum Saturday, 5:30 pm, October 23, 2009, in the Hall of Presidents, James C. Colgate Hall at Colgate University in Hamilton NY. This presentation is compiled from Douglass’ most important speeches and writings on the issue of race. Morsell takes the audience through relevant periods in Douglass’ life and reveals the development of his thought, illustrates the stages of his personal transformation in the understanding of race, and culminates in his illumination about the way to experience our common humanity beyond categories of division.
When the Smithfield Community Association, Peterboro NY, and the Upstate Institute at Colgate University in Hamilton NY launched the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) in October 2004, a portion of the proposal for the new organization was based upon the words of Douglass: “Liberty came to the freedmen of the United States, not in mercy, but in wrath, not by moral choice, but by military necessity… Nothing was to have been expected other than what has happened.” Black freedom was a legal fact, not a moral fact! The mission of NAHOF is to not only honor abolitionists, but to complete abolition – the moral choice. Morsell was the main speaker at the first induction ceremony hosted by the Upstate Institute at Colgate University in October 2005 and represented Douglass at the great black abolitionist’s induction that same year. Morsell’s first Douglass’ programs in the area were in 2000 when the Madison County Historical Society presented Morsell for the 150th commemoration of the Cazenovia Convention of 1850. Morsell also appeared this year at the Madison County Fair. Acclaimed across the U.S. for his portrayal of Douglass, Morsell’s performances include programs at National Park Service sites, the Smithsonian, the Capitol Rotunda, many Douglass’ centennial events, and this year at the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry.
The annual dinner, catered by the Colgate Inn, Hamilton NY, will conclude with a birthday cake honoring the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln (The Great Emancipator), the 5th anniversary of NAHOF, and the NAHOF partnership with the Upstate Institute at Colgate University.
The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum announces plans for the third induction ceremony for the Hall of Fame. Lewis Tappan and Theodore Dwight Weld will be inducted at 8 p.m. Saturday, October 24, 2009, in Golden Auditorium at Colgate University during a free dramatic evening program created and directed by Hugh C. Humphreys. The Hall of Fame portraits of Tappan and Weld created by artist Joseph Flores, Rochester NY, will also be unveiled. The programs are created for the public to learn of the war against slavery.
At 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon during the Abolition Symposia, Fergus M. Bordewich will present Lewis Tappan: Radical and Evangelical – How Religion Inspired the War against Slavery. Bordewich’s presentation will honor New York City businessman Lewis Tappan by highlighting his central role in the development of the abolition movement for the immediate abolition of slavery, and showing more broadly, how Tappan’s fervent evangelical Christianity infused the early antislavery activities.
Tappan’s role in the 1839 Amistad incident is presented in the Steven Spielberg award winning movie Amistad which will be shown at the Hamilton Theatre, 7 Lebanon Street, Hamilton at 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 23, 2009. A free panel discussion directly across the street at the Colgate Bookstore follows the film. The panel includes Bookstore staff, NAHOF members, and a John Quincy Adams reenactor. Following the Tappan program, Carol Faulkner, Ph.D., presents Theodore Dwight Weld: Romantic Love and the Anti-Slavery Movement at 3:30. Dr. Faulkner’s presentation will focus on Weld’s career as an abolitionist from his participation in the anti-slavery rebellion at Lyman Beecher’s Lane Seminary to his publication of American Slavery As It Is. For many abolitionists their personal lives were deeply connected to their public commitment to end slavery. Weld was no exception. His courtship with Angelina Grimke involved professions of love as well as debates over anti-slavery principles and practice.
Weld’s principle role in the American Anti-Slavery Society will be included in the first program of the symposia at 1:00 p.m. Owen W. Muelder presents The Establishment of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Its Most Influential Agent, Theodore Weld, and the Significant Impact of his “Seventy.” Weld recruited agents known as “The Seventy” who traveled and spoke in assigned districts representing the American Anti-Slavery Society. The afternoon symposia close with a presentation in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday year. Paul Finkelman, Ph.D. presents the legal, political, and military constraints that explain the Emancipation Proclamation and why, in the end, Lincoln was the Great Emancipator. Dr. Finkelman is the William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy and Senior Fellow in the Government Law Center at SUNY Albany.A specialist in American legal history, race and the law, Paul Finkelman is the author of more than 100 scholarly articles and more than twenty books. He is specialist in areas such as the law of slavery, constitutional law, and legal issues surrounding baseball. His work on legal history and constitutional law has been cited by numerous courts and in many appellate briefs. Dr. Finkelman was aFellow in Law and Humanities at Harvard Law School 1982-83. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago in 1976, his M.A. from Chicago in 1972 and his B.A. from Syracuse University in 1971.
Further tribute to Lincoln includes the exhibition of a replica of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The sixteenth president also appears at the annual dinner and in the evening program thanks to reenactor Jack Baylis.
After the symposia Frederick Morsell presents the keynote Frederick Douglass on Race: A Soul’s Evolutionat 5:30 p.m. for the annual dinner in the Hall of Presidents at Colgate. The Hall of Fame event begins Thursday, October 22 at the Colgate campus with the Upstate New York debut of Over the River…Lydia Maria Child, Abolitionist for Freedom, a film about the life, times, and legacy of the famous writer and abolitionist followed by a panel discussion on How Lydia Maria Child is Part of our Work: Our Relationship with Child. The next day on Friday, October 23 at 1:30 p.m. Constance L. Jackson, the writer, director, and producer of the Child film, will conduct a workshop “Becoming Agents of Change: Then and Now.”
On Sunday, NAHOF will hold an Open House at its site at the Smithfield Community Center in Peterboro followed by a tour of the Gerrit Smith Estate by Smith biographer Norman K. Dann PH.D.
In recognition of the 150th anniversary of John Brown raid’s on Harpers Ferry October 16, 1859, folk artists Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino present Sword of the Spirit, a concert Sunday, October 25 at 1:00 about Brown, his wife Mary, their family, and their abolitionist colleagues at “The Ferry.”
The conference closes with the second session of a Public Abolition Lyceum on American Abolition from the Colonial Period to the Civil War. At 3:00 Milton C. Sernett, Ph.D. professor emeritus Syracuse University, presents Freedom Now! Garrisonian Immediatism and Abolition Ends and Means.
The National Abolition Hall of Fame and the village of Peterboro, NY were recently featured by Syracuse.com and the Post Standard. Check out this very informative piece below.
National Abolition Hall of Fame & Museum, Peterboro, NY
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