National Ambition, Global Reach: Town of Washington's Antebellum Free Black Community

A talk by Bill Jeffway
Drawing from recent additions to Millbrook’s Historical Society collection relating to local Black history, Bill Jeffway, the executive director of the Dutchess County Historical Society, will examine the local free Black communities that blossomed in the run-up to the Civil War in the Town of Washington -- and help us understand their location in a dynamic network of national and international ambitions.
New research findings reveal a much bigger, more rural and more economically diverse set of free Black communities in Dutchess County than have been described prior. The Black community's relationship with Quakers emerges as more complex on the topic of slavery. Greater involvement of Blacks in the Underground Railroad (UGRR) and a stronger maritime UGRR route is also among new findings. As is a better understanding of the greater and persistent risk of illegal kidnapping into enslavement in the US South faced by free Black persons at the time.
We will better understand and appreciate the lives of men, women and even children who, in addition to the day-to-day pursuit of happiness, fought for profound political and social change amid a national and global network.