Abolition Hall of Fame screening PBS documentary series

‘ The Abolitionists’ showing June 1, 2

PETERBORO >> Starting the first weekend in June, the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will be screening the three- part series “The Abolitionists,” a PBS series which tells the story of the abolitionist movement.

Some content for the project, which originally aired in January, was provided by the museum.

As previously reported, late last year volunteers from the museum, which occupies the second floor of the Smithfield Community Center, joined in partnership with “American Experience” on the Abolitionist Map of America, an interactive website that provides information on events, people and locations connected to the anti- slavery movement.

The Peterboro historical landmark won the Abolitionist Map of America Pin Drive Contest by pinning the most information on abolitionists. The map features historical photos and documents along with clips of the show.

When completed, the map illustrated the story of the anti- slavery movement’s impact on local communities, and was an extension of the three- part series.

Museum volunteers said the information the museum provided includes an early history of the Smithfield Community Center. The building was the site of the Oct. 22, 1835 inaugural meeting of the New York State Antislavery Society meeting, held by members of the anti- slavery movement in New York. In the fall of 1835, notices went out announcing the meeting that was originally to be held at the Second Presbyterian Church on Bleecker Street in Utica. After the meeting convened, it was broken up by about 80 pro- slavery individuals. Peterboro resident Gerrit Smith invited those in attendance to meet in Peterboro the following day.

Almost 400 people descended on the Peterboro Presbyterian Church, which is now the Smithfield Community Center.

During Path through History Weekend June 1 and 2, the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum will begin its 2013 screenings and studies of the three part series “The Abolitionists.” The complete series will be shown at 1: 30 p. m. on both Saturday and Sunday at NAHOF during the NYS history weekend. In addition: At 2 p. m. Sunday, June 30, Timothy G. McLaughlin Ph. D. will show Part 1 of “The Abolitionists” series and then lead a discussion on that film segment. The five abolitionists who represent the movement in the film are introduced in the first film: John Brown, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimke, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. McLaughlin is vice- president of NAHOF, and professor of history and associate dean of the faculty at Cazenovia College. Among the courses McLaughlin teaches in Af- rican- American Studies are Race, Rights, and Resistance and Long Walk to Freedom.

At 2 p. m. Sunday, July 28, Jessica Clarke will show Part 2 of the series and conduct a discussion. In this film segment, Douglass emerges as a speaker on slavery. The federal legitimizing of slavery is shown through the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and Stowe writes “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1852. Clarke is a social studies teacher at Camden Central School who teaches Advanced Placement classes and coaches two Odyssey of the Mind teams.

At 2 p. m. Sunday, Aug. 18, Dr. Norman K. Dann will show Part 3 of the series with discussion on the antislavery movement leading up to the Civil War in 1863, and the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, which abolished slavery in the United States. Dann is professor emeritus at Morrisville State College, and is a researcher, speaker and author on abolitionist Gerrit Smith.

Participants in the screening and study sessions can also read and view information on the abolition movement between sessions. The PBS DVD of the three- part program and other readings on the abolition movement are available at mercantile. gerritsmith. org.

The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum is located at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road in Peterboro.

For more information, visit: www. nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum. org, or email the museum at nahofm1835@ gmail. com.