Thomas Nast (1840-1902) Emancipation: The Past And The Future, 1865 Color wood engraving (10)1540.F Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia
Four Million Of Our Brethren: Enslavement and Emancipation in Ontario County
Curated By Lucas Gillespie
Additional Contributors:
Angelique Szymanek - Professor - Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Wilma Townsend - Curator - Ontario County Historical Society
Becky Chapin - Archivist - Historic Geneva (Geneva History Museum)
Brandon Moblo - Interim Archivist and Special Collections Librarian - Hobart and William Smith Colleges
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Voiceover
Anthony Bray - Media and Marketing - GenevaBID
For far too long, Americans have viewed slavery as a wholly Southern institution, and Northern states like New York have gained a reputation for being places of freedom, equality, and self-determination.
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While it is true that New York and Ontario County were breeding grounds for abolitionism, and once the region that Harriet Tubman called home, one cannot forget that this state held slaves until 1827, and was the last Northern state to formally abolish slavery within its borders.
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This collection of documents pays tribute to New York’s forgotten and oppressed identities, the men and women who were brought here against their will and lived in bondage under a system of institutional exploitation. While we cannot repeat the past, we can use its shortcomings to move forward as a region, a state, and a country.