State History

This article originally appeared in a National Abolition Hall of Fame & Museum newsletter.

The 12^th Annual Peterboro Emancipation Day will commence on Saturday, August 6 at 10:00 am with its traditional morning activities that replicate the Peterboro Emancipations Days of the 1920s and 1930s with assembly, song, history, and a photo followed by a processional to the cemetery for wreath laying at the gravestone of a person “Born a slave. Died Free,” and to the humble gravestone of wealthy abolitionist Gerrit Smith. The event starts at The Barn on the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark, a site on the National Park Service Network to Freedom, the national Underground Railroad trail.

The Emancipation Day afternoon programs begin at 2 pm featuring a brief history of Edmonia Lewis, a 19^th C. black sculptress, presented by Israel Zagate. Zagate is the current Colgate University Upstate Institute Fellow at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro. He is majoring in Women Studies and Gender Studies, with an interest in Black Feminist Scholars. His interest in Black Feminist Scholars led him to uncover the career of a distinguished international sculptress –Edmonia Lewis. Read more...