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The Path and the African American Archive

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Juneteenth….

A very personal revelation

by Vicki Jimpson-Fludd, Path publisher

For years, I knew nothing about Juneteenth. When I did learn of it, I thought it only had to do with enslaved people in Texas in 1865. “How dreadful”, I thought “to have learned of your freedom two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.” Interesting information, but not really relevant to me. After all, I grew up in the North where slavery - when it existed at all – was mostly benign. Or so, I had been taught.

Two years ago, my family started to research our family history in Kinderhook, Columbia County NY. My daughter, Leigh, and I cofounded the African American Archive of Columbia County. This year, I began to publish The Path.

I had never attended a Juneteenth celebration. But this year – for business reasons – I decided to visit several in the Hudson Valley. I’d like to tell you about my thought-provoking journey. 

Celebrate Juneteenth in

Westchester and Rockland Counties

Looking for something to do during the month of June?

More than 50 events in various Westchester and Rockland towns, villages, and cities

are celebrating Juneteenth!!

Here is a link to the Arts Westchester calendar.

Juneteenth at the New Rochelle Public Library

New Rochelle Public Library

History Out Loud Exhibit

Lumen Winter Gallery

June 5- 25, 2023

Presented by The Lincoln Park Conservancy and The City of New Rochelle.

Who We Be!

A Celebration of Black life in Columbia County

Through the Cosmic Womb

Lightforms Art Center

743 Columbia St, Hudson

Slavery, Segregation & Staatsburgh:

The History and Legacy of Enslavement

at Staatsburgh State Historic Site



June 18 & July 8 at 2:00p.m. (in-person)

June 22 at 7:00p.m (online via Zoom)

Belinda. Stephen. Mary. William. Dinah.

Those are the known names of the countless people Staatsburgh's founder, Morgan Lewis, enslaved. Yet, when his great-granddaughter, Ruth Livingston Mills, lived at Staatsburgh at the turn of the 20th century, the staff was exclusively White and of European descent. 

Staatsburgh State Historic Site is offering their popular “Slavery, Segregation & Staatsburgh” now in-person and via Zoom through July! Join Staatsburgh staff on-site on June 18 & July 8 at 2 p.m. and via Zoom on Thursday, June 22 at 7 p.m. for a conversation exploring this transition from a Black presence at Staatsburgh during the early 19th century, to the apparent absence of Black people on the estate during the Gilded Age. The one-hour presentation will focus on recent research into the Black people living and working at the Staatsburgh estate, and in the neighboring hamlet of Staatsburg, bringing in the larger context of racial oppression and Jim Crow, to present audiences with a new perspective on Staatsburgh.

The program is free, but reservations are required.

The Zoom link will be provided upon registration.

Coming Soon!!!

Don't miss these new publications!!

Awaiting the publication of your latest work? Let us know.

Susan Stessin-Cohn - Historian, town of New Paltz - follows up her seminal work on runaway slaves (In Defiance: Runaways From Slavery in New York's Hudson River Valley 1735 - 1831) with an new book which provides more evidence and insight into the topics.

Dr. Myra Armstead - Professor of Historical Studies, Bard College - prolific researcher and writer on the social and economic evolution of African Americans through the post-slavery period, in historically wealthy resort areas. Her work includes: Lord, Please Don't Take me in August - African Americans in Newport and Saratoga Springs; Mighty Change, Tall Within: Black Identity in the Hudson Valley: Freedom's Gardner: James F. Brown, Horticulture, and the Hudson Valley in Antebellum America. Her new work continues her research in the Hudson Valley, especially in Saratoga Springs.

Joseph McGill Jr - In this enlightening personal account, one man tells the story of his groundbreaking project to sleep overnight in former slave dwellings that still stand across the country—revealing the fascinating history behind these sites and shedding light on larger issues of race in America. Sleeping with the Ancestors by Joseph McGill | Hachette Book Group

More from WMHT (Troy)

Reframing an Empire

Reframing an Empire examines untold stories from the Thomas Cole House about the Black Americans, Native Americans, and women whose lives and work were so pivotal to the era. Episode 6, “Land of the ‘Free’” expands our understanding of the impact of slavery on the economy, land, and culture of New York. While New York was considered to be a “free” state during most of the time Thomas Cole lived there, the transition from slavery to freedom was slow and fraught with struggle.

BROUGHT TO LIGHT

Unearthing the History of an African-American Cemetery

in Kinderhook, NY

The documentary guides viewers on a journey through history as it relates to Kinderhook and the Persons of Color Cemetery. It's a story of rediscovery, respect and change. In rural Upstate New York, the cleanup efforts by a few villagers of some stone markers in an overgrown field lead to the rediscovery of a forgotten, “slaves’ cemetery” in which hundreds of African Americans were buried during the 1800s. This one-hour film features the archaeological dig to place the interpretive sign, and a Ground Penetrating Radar Survey conducted at the site. Moving excerpts from the 2017 cemetery rededication ceremony and a dramatization involving oral history and the Underground Railroad are included.

Findings!

Share your research findings here.

Do you have new findings about African American History in the Hudson Valley which you would like to share with others? Report them here.

RESOURCES

Do you have resources you would like other to be aware of???

Report it here.

The Albert Wisner Library in Warwick has compiled a guide to selected historical documents, events, places, and other materials focusing on Black History, Native Americans and other racial minority populations in the Town of Warwick. Selected topics: The first people and the Europeans; 18th and 19th Centuries: Enslaved and Free; Underground Railroad; Seward's Associates: Gleanings; Wickham Lake Correctional Facilities: Greenwood Forest Farms; Greenwood Lake's Boxing Camp; Latino Heritage and Migrant Workers; Patriotic Service; and more.

The Path is administered by the African American Archive of Columbia County an affiliate of the Columbia County Historical Society

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African American Archive of Columbia County

(914) 410 0151

Email: info@afamarchivecc.org

Web:  www.afamarchivecc.org