Black History Month at SLCCHC

Description

In this Brown Bag Presentation, Bryan Thompson will explore the whys and hows of enslavement in New York State and locally. Few people today realise that the institution of slavery was active in St. Lawrence County from the time of the first European settlement in the area in 1749.
Most of our most prominent early citizens held enslaved people. One example is Rev. Christopher Rush, who was enslaved in St. Lawrence County by David Ogden. He came to Ogdensburg for the first time with Ogden when the only building in the town was the old British Fort. He gained his freedom and went on to become a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion church in NYC. When he died in the 1870’s, thousands attended his funeral.
Bryan Thompson will be available after the presentation to sign copies of his book, "African Americans of St. Lawrence County: North Country Pioneers," which will be available for sale in the Museum Gift Shop.
Come discover this forgotten chapter in our local history.
About Bryan Thompson:
Bryan Thompson is a lifelong resident of St. Lawrence County. He holds a BS from Cornell University and an MS from SUNY Geneseo. He has published more than 50 articles on local history in local, regional, and state publications. He was the 2009 Winner of the NYS Archives and NYS Regents Bruce W. Dearstyne Award for excellence in educational use of historical records. He is also a recipient of a NYS Archives Hackman research fellowship. An APHNYS-registered public historian, he is currently the municipal historian for the Town of De Kalb.

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