Field Trip Planned to Auburn’s Harriet Tubman Home

Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, New York

The Department of African American Studies’ (AAS) annual field trip, “The Underground Railroad in Central New York,” will take 38 AAS and other University community members to the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, New York. The tour will be Friday, March 31, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tubman, an escaped slave, was known as the Moses of the Underground Railroad. After the Civil War, she moved to Auburn. The historic site includes Tubman’s brick residence, the Tubman Home for the Aged, and a historic barn. A new national park is to be established at the site. Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a plan for Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill.

The AAS tour will include a tour of the department’s Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St. Syracuse. The event is free for participants. AAS students must R.S.V.P. by Feb. 24 (email recole@syr.edu with the heading, “#Tubman2017) to reserve seats. After this date, seats will open to the University community.

“Students will learn how Harriet Tubman rose from slavery to freedom to become essential to the stories of the Underground Railroad, gender equality and American democracy,” says Herb Ruffin, associate professor of history and AAS chair. “In our own times, it is a story essential to us inculcating the Tubman spirit and understanding how African Americans, women and working people can challenge inequality on the path to equality and freedom.”

AAS is also co-sponsoring with the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) a traveling exhibit that celebrates the September 2016 opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

“A Place for All People” is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with OHA. Posters highlight key artifacts that tell the rich and diverse story of the African American experience. The display features a 6.5-inch by 8.5-inch photo of Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave who settled in Rochester. He was a well-known abolitionist and writer, and he gave frequent talks in Syracuse during the 1840s and 1850s.

The photo from the OHA collection is thought to have been taken about 1848 by the Boston photography firm Southworth & Hawes, the preeminent daguerreotypists of notable Bostonians and world figures. The photo, one of nine known daguerreotypes of Douglass, recently received conservation treatment to prevent further deterioration.

Frederick Douglass

The exhibit also includes objects from OHA’s collection, such as original photographs, artwork, newspapers and visual biographies of African American citizens. OHA, 321 Montgomery St., Syracuse, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends. The display continues through March 19.

Here are other events AAS is presenting or co-sponsoring this semester:

Feb. 23 to 26: Caribbean Cinematic Festival, Community Folk Art Center. All events are free and open to the public.

• Thursday, Feb. 23, 6 p.m.: “200 Cartas” and performance by the University’s Raices Dance Troupe
• Friday, Feb. 24, 6 p.m.: “Legends of Ska” and 8 p.m.: “Harder They Come” and performance by Kalabash, the University’s Caribbean dance team
• Saturday, Feb. 25: 11 a.m.: “Songs of Redemption”; 1 p.m.: “Murder in Pacot”; and 4 p.m.: “Erika The Aftermath”
• Sunday, Feb. 26: 11 a.m.: “Sunday Brunch” (catered by Jerk Hut); noon: “Cu-Bop”; and 2:30 p.m.: (shorts) “Exil,” “Tears of Joy” and “Tormented”

Friday, Feb. 24: “Soul Food Junkies,” (film and Q&A), 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Sims 219

Thursday, March 2: Professor Renate M. Simson Memorial, 5 to 7 p.m., Sims 219

Monday, March 20: “Ain’t Gonna Shuffle No More: 1964-1972,” (film and Q&A), 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Sims 219

Friday, March 31: 8^th Annual AAS Field Trip: Harriet Tubman Home and CFAC tours, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wednesday, April 5: 34^th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Public Affairs Lecture, featuring Dr. Quintard Taylor (theme: “The History of the African American West”)

Thursday, May 4: AAS graduation ceremony

Friday, May 12: Itanwa Orinwa/Black Graduation, 8 to 10:30 a.m., Hendricks Chapel