The Franklin D. Roosevelt
Presidential Library and Museum
and the
Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project
will present an
author talk and book signing wi
th
Susan Stessin-Cohn, coauthor of
IN DEFIANCE:
RUNAWAYS FROM
SLAVERY
IN
NEW YORK'S
HUDSON RIVER VALLEY,
1735-1831
Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
Henry A. Wallace Center at the
FDR Presidential Library and Home
HYDE PARK, NY -- The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum and the Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project will present an author talk and book signing with
Susan Stessin-Cohn, coauthor of
IN DEFIANCE: RUNAWAYS FROM SLAVERY IN NEW YORK'S HUDSON RIVER VALLEY, 1735-1831 on Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. The event will be held in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home.
This is a free public event but registration is required.
Synopsis:
IN DEFIANCE documents 607 fugitives from slavery in the 18th and 19th-century Hudson River Valley region of New York State through the reproduction and transcription of 512 archival newspaper notices for runaway slaves placed by their enslavers or agents. Also included are notices advertising slaves captured, notices advertising slaves for sale, notices offering to purchase slaves, and selected runaway notices from outside the Hudson River Valley region. Nine tables analyze the data in the 512 notices for runaways from Hudson Valley enslavers, and the book includes a glossary, indexes of names, locations, and subjects, 36 illustrations, 5 maps from the 18th and 19th centuries, and a foreword by A.J. Williams-Myers, Black Studies Department, SUNY New Paltz.
Susan Stessin-Cohn is a professional genealogist and a former professor of Education at SUNY New Paltz. She served as Director of Education at Historic Huguenot Street, and chair of the New Paltz Historic Land Commission. Susan co-curated several exhibits focusing on the history of the Hudson Valley on topics such as: slavery, 19th century women's needlework, poverty and the poorhouse system, the Civil War, and the Lenape People. She is currently the Historian for the Town of New Paltz, New York and serves as chair of the New Paltz Historical Society. Susan is also an award winning quilter and currently resides in New Paltz, New York with her husband Robert where they raised their four children, Mikael, Evan, Adam and Aliyah.
Please contact Cliff Laube at (845) 486-7745 with questions about the event.
The Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project (MHAHP) is a non-profit group created in 2006 to bring together researchers, educators, community leaders, and members of the public to: conduct and synthesize research on the history of antislavery in the Mid-Hudson Valley, with special emphasis on the Underground Railroad; interpret this history and share these interpretations with a wide array of residents and visitors in our area, with particular attention to students and youth; and place this local history in the broader contexts of racial slavery in the New World, the African-American experience, and antislavery legacies today, including the impact of this historic grassroots movement on subsequent struggles for racial and social justice. For information visit
www.mhantislaveryhistoryproject.org.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum