Lecture by Susan Stessin - In Defiance: Runaways From Slavery in New York’s Hudson Valley7pm, $5/person, free for members
Stessin-Cohn will be speaking on her newest research and newly revised publication, “In Defiance: Runaways From Slavery in New York’s Hudson River Valley 1735-1831.” To be in bondage, to be owned by another human being, to be subjected to another person’s total will – that was the essence of slavery. The natural “fight or flight” instinct in every human being dominated the minds of all those who were treated as property. Humanizing an otherwise largely silent population, advertisements for fugitive slaves provide an exceptionally valuable window into black life in Early America—from the nature of the slave system and the master-slave relationship to fascinating glimpses into material culture and folk life. Join us for this fascinating glimpse inside the life and minds of “runaways.”
Susan Stessin-Cohn, former professor of social studies education at SUNY New Paltz is currently the Historian for the Town of New Paltz, New York. She is a recipient of the Bruce Dearstyne Award for excellence in the educational use of local government records; the New York State Archives Award for the best use of primary local documents in a curriculum in NYS; and the Pride of Ulster County Award for research on the Ulster County Poorhouse. Susan began her research on the Ulster County Poorhouse in 2000. She has created four teaching packets for the NYS Archives and the Ulster County Clerk's Office. Her publication, "In Defiance, Runaways from Slavery in New York's Hudson River Valley, 1735-1831 is coauthored by Ashley Hurlburt Biagini. Susan has appeared on C-Span as well as WYNT channel 13. She is one of the founding members of the Ulster County Truth and Reconciliation Commission.