Esteemed Hudson Valley historian and author Susan Stessin-Cohn and educator Albert Cook share a timely and eye-opening presentation and Q & A including primary documents from Stessin-Cohn’s book, “In Defiance: Runaways From Slavery in New York’s Hudson River Valley 1735-1831.” Humanizing an otherwise largely silent population, advertisements for fugitives provide an exceptionally valuable window into black life in Early America—from the nature of the slave system and the master-slave relationship to material culture and folk life. Learn an often missing chapter of our local history and its implications for greater awareness and potential reconciliation in today’s world.
