Blog
Blog · December 31, 2024
Just steps from the building where Owen Corpin’s formerly enslaved great, great, grandmother managed the housekeeping of the Ann and Gerrit Smith home in Peterboro, NY, Corpin will light a freedom fire in solidarity with the fires that were ignited one hundred sixty-two years before. On the night of December 31, 1862, enslaved and free African Americans gathered, many in secret, to ring in the new year and await news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. Just a few months...
Blog · October 11, 2024
The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum invites the public to the opening of the Abolition Hall of Fame Induction Weekend Friday evening, October 18 at 7 p.m. with an introduction to North to Freedom, an original documentary film from Brian Frey, a filmmaker and Senior Director of Television and Special Projects for WSKG Public Media. Frey will examine the important role that Upstate New York played in the Underground Railroad during the years leading up to and during the American Civil...
Blog · October 05, 2024
Saturday, October 5 ~ 9:00AM Walk with us and trace a portion of the footsteps of 104 brave souls who escaped an angry mob of anti-abolitionists in Utica in 1835, embarked on an Erie Canal barge to Canastota, and climbed the trail to Peterboro where they formed the New York State Antislavery Society. The Walk is from Canastota to Clockville and back (5.4 miles - 2 hrs). For more Info & Registration visit abolitionroad.org
Blog · September 01, 2024
NORM DANN CLOSES THE GERRIT SMITH ESTATE SUMMER SUNDAY SERIES ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2024 AT 1 PM WITH THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: AND THE EXAMINATION OF ITS MORAL SIGNIFICANCE Dann will explain the Underground Railroad and discuss it as a symptom of a corrupt nation whose founding values were not implemented. He describes the origins of slavery, details the lives of the enslaved, and describes the Underground Railroad as a process of achieving freedom via the use of a network of support persons...
Blog · August 05, 2024
FOURTH OF SUMMER SUNDAY SESSIONS AUGUST 11, 2024 1 PM ~ 3PM GERRIT SMITH ESTATE 5304 OXBOW ROAD PETERBORO NY 13134 WWW.GERRITSMITH.ORG INFO@GERRITSMITH.ORG 315.308.1890 FREE TO PARTAKE OF ONE, A FEW, OR ALL OF THE SERIES OF PROGRAMS ELIZABETH SMITH MILLER: QUIET ADVOCATE Norman K. Dann PhD, researcher and biographer of members of the Gerrit Smith family of Peterboro, continues the series of two hour sessions at the Gerrit Smith Estate in Peterboro NY on Sunday, August 11 from 1 pm – 3 pm....
Blog · August 04, 2024
Sunday, August 4 at 1 p.m. Dr Daniel Koch will discuss his publication of Land of the Oneidas: Central New York State and the Creation of America, From Prehistory to the Present. At the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134. Land of the Oneidas tells the story of the land and the people who made their homes there from its earliest habitation to the present day. The book examines this region's impact on the making of America, from its strategic...
Blog · July 28, 2024
Norman K. Dann PhD continues the SUMMER SUNDAY SESSIONS at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark on Sunday, July 28 from 1-3:00pm with a study of Ann Carroll Fitzhugh Smith. Dann will describe how Ann’s devout religious faith led her into participation in both the antislavery movement and the women’s rights movement. As “First Lady” of the Smith Estate, Ann helped manage the operation of an active Underground Railroad station. Her dedication to human rights action was...
Blog · June 27, 2024
Owen D. Corpin, a native and current resident of Peterboro NY, whose family heritage traces directly to former slaves freed by the local abolitionist Gerrit Smith, will deliver parts of one of Frederick Douglass’ most famous speeches on Friday, July 5 at 7 p.m. at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134. More Info
Blog · June 23, 2024
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark (GSENHL), home of abolitionists Ann and Gerrit Smith, at 5304 Oxbow Road in Peterboro, will be open Saturdays and Sundays 1pm to 3 pm from June 1 to August 25. The exterior exhibits at the Smith Estate are open from dawn to dusk year round. The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF), site of the inaugural meeting of the New York State Antislavery Society in 1835, at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, is open noon to 4 pm Saturday through...