John Brown’s great, great, great granddaughter Alice Keesey Mecoy will be onstage to unveil her grandfather’s commemoration banner for the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) Saturday evening October 25, 2008, at the STUAC theatre on the Morrisville State College campus in Morrisville, NY. Affiliates and relatives of the 2007 inductees to the Hall of Fame will come from Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Texas to unveil the banners for John Brown, Lydia Maria Child, Wendell Phillips, and Sojourner Truth, and speak of their relationships to the abolitionists. Larry Baker, (former Mayor of Hamilton) will again be the Master of Ceremonies for the 7 p.m. program and share selections of abolition poetry. Hugh C. Humphreys (retired Madison County Judge and founding member of NAHOF) has written, and Stephen L. Hinkle (Assistant Professor in Humanities and Director of Theatre and Music at Morrisville State College) will direct brief dramatic pieces on each of the four inductees. Joe Flores of Rochester will describe his process of developing the abolition portraits for the abolition hall and The Exhibition Alliance will remark on the creation of the banners for the hall and planning for an abolition museum. This evening program is the centerpiece of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum’s annual October event to recognize the inaugural meeting of the New York State Antislavery Society held in Peterboro October 22, 1835. The program is free and open to the public. Youth are encouraged to attend.
During the afternoon on Saturday, October 25th, programs on each of the four abolitionists will be presented at a symposium in the STUAC theatre. After the 12:30 introduction, hosted by the Upstate Institute at Colgate University, Brendan Mills, Director John Brown State Historic Site, Lake Placid NY, will present The Subterranean Passway: John Brown’s High Speed Network to Freedom. At 2 p.m. Lydia Maria Child and the Triumph of Humanitarian Spirit will be presented by Jane Sciacca, President of the Wayland Historical Society in Wayland MA. Hugh C. Humphreys, Hamilton NY, will demonstrate The Eloquence of Wendell Phillips at 3 p.m. and Mary Butler, Director of the Sojourner Truth Institute in Battle Creek MI will provide Finding Truth: The Evolution of Sojourner Truth’s Social Reform Message at 4 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.
The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum annual dinner follows the afternoon presentations at 5 p.m. across the hall from the theatre. The Copper Turret, Morrisville NY, has created a dessert buffet with ideas from Lydia Maria Child’s cookbook The Frugal Housewife for the last course of the catered dinner at 5 p.m. at the STUAC building. Milton C. Sernett, Ph.D., professor emeritus Syracuse University, will present the keynote ‘To Make the World Anew: The Transformation of Upstate New York’s “Burned-Over District” into “North Star Country,” a program of projected images. Dinner reservations are $50 by October 17.
Saturday, October 25 the Abolition Exhibition Hall created by Morrisville State College Hospitality and Tourism students under the direction of Scott Hughes at Madison County Tourism, opens at 9 a.m. in the STUAC Gymnasium. The exhibition will include the first Annual Abolition Visual Arts Show, displays on abolition and abolitionists, an abolition time line, book signings at 10:00, and a My Museum presentation by Computer Technology students at 11:00. This program is free and open to the public. Youth are encouraged to attend.
Sunday, October 26 the commemoration conference moves to the future home of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in the Smithfield Community Center in Peterboro with an Open House at 9 am followed by a 10:00 am tour of the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark. ($5 donation for tour.) Lunch catered by the Copper Turret will be served at noon at the Community Center. ($25 reservation for lunch by October 17) At 1 p.m. Jonathan Cornue, Vice-President of the Cabinet of Freedom for the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will describe and explain the public procedures for nominating abolitionists to the Hall of Fame. At 2 p.m. Milton C. Sernett, Ph.D. presents the first of The Abolition Sunday Lyceums designed for public information in the fashion of 19th C. programs. Dr. Sernett begins the series with “Slavery and the Freedom of Struggle in the Formation of the American Nation.” ($20 reservation by October 17.)
The weekend begins at 7 p.m. Friday, October 24 with The Voice of Abolition concert in the STUAC theatre. The program is directed by Hugh Humphreys and features Alden Max Smith performing selected abolition-related music and narrations. This program is open to the public with ten dollar admission at the door or $7 reservation by October 17.
Reservations may be sent by October 17 to National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134-0055. For more information mail@abolitionhof.com or 315-684-3262.
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