For everyone

 “What to the slave is the 4th of July?”   At the heart of Frederick Douglass’s 1852 pointed question was the unmistakable irony that the United States was founded on the 1776 premise that all are created equal. When Alexander Hamilton successfully led New York’s US Constitutional Convention in Poughkeepsie in 1788 to endorse joining the union, the three-fifths clause was embedded to accommodate the institution of slavery.  This timeline is meant to help us look at some of the local persons and milestones leading up to that date, and eventually leading to the complete abolition of slavery, guarantee of Citizenship, and guarantee of equal treatment under the law through the 13th, 14th, and 15th US Constitutional amendments that were all in effect in 1870. 2027 /1827 July 4th, 2027200th Anniveersary of the end of slavery in New York State. July 4th, 2027 marks the 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in New York State The relief of the end of slavery in New York State in 1827 was greatly tempered by the purely racially motivated 1821 voting restrictions requiring property ownership for Black men only, and the fact that the United States was entering a period of decades of what Abraham Lincoln correctly described as a divided house that could not stand.  With a “free north” and a “slave south,” Dutchess County became and important route on the Underground Railroad, with an inland route and a river-oriented route. 2026 JULY 4, 2026The premise and promise that all are created equal began a series of smaller revolutions continue today. 1776 Premise "All Created Equal" The great abolitionist leader, author, and speaker, the former slave Frederick Douglass, famously penned a critique entitled, “What to the slave is your 4th of July?” The 1776 premise that “all are created equal” was followed by the adoption of a US Constitution that literally defined inequality, stating that slave states like New York, could have 3/5ths of the Black population counted toward Congressional representation and the Electoral College for electing the US President. Poughkeepsie, of course, was host to the New York Convention in July of 1788, at the site of the current court house, when New York State, with the smallest margin of any state, agreed to join the United State. 2025 DECEMBER 31, 2025250th Anniversary of the Death of General Montgomery 1775 Death of Montgomery: Whose Freedom? The tragic December 31, 1775 death of Rhinebeck’s General Montgomery in the Revolutionary War is captured in this iconic painting by Trumbull. The event came to symbolize the profound personal sacrifices made by all levels of society during the war, on behalf of freedom. But whose freedom was being secured? In the 1940 Rhinebeck Post Office murals painted by local artist Olin Dows, we see a depiction of an enslaved man making bricks for Montgomery’s estate, Grasmere, which stands today. Also shown here, the Rhinebeck census for 1820 indicating that the widowed Janet Livingston Montgomery, who never remarried, had 12 enslaved men, women and children at her home in Red Hook, Montgomery Place. CLICK FOR DCHS HORIZONS: REV 250 2024 SEPTEMBER 16, 2024200th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Nation's Guest, the Marquis de Lafayette. 1824 Visit of Lafayette: NYS Was a Slave State As the nation’s guest, the American Revolutionary War hero from France, the Marquis de Lafayette, stepped onto the dock at the foot of Main Street, Poughkeepsie in the early morning of September 16, 1824. Newspapers reported it was the largest gathering of men, women, and children — civilian and military — in the village’s history.  We know that among the cheering public would have been persons of color, many of whom were enslaved as NY State would not abolish slavery until July 4, 1827. Three years earlier, in 1821, New York instituted a property requirement for a man to be eligible to vote that applied only to men of color.  They would have been aware of Lafayette’s outspoken advocacy of the abolition of slavery, his collaboration with a former enslaved man who became a spy and American war hero, and his specific actions freeing the enslaved. The emerging program, DCHS Horizons: the Marquis de Lafayette, will culminate in at event on the 200th anniversary at Revel 32, Cannon Street, Poughkeepsie on the morning of Monday, September 16, 2024. More on that in time. CLICK FOR DCHS HORIZONS: LAFAYETTE 1824 TO 2024

The story of Oak Street is beginning to emerge in fuller focus, with the combined efforts of the Dutchess County Historical Society, Rhinebeck Historical Society and Mr. Frischknechkt’s 7th Grade Civics Class in the spring of 2023. The student video can be seen at 46:20 (min:sec) in the video below. To view within the page, click the read button. For larger screen view click bottom left “view on Youtube.” See several of the twenty-nine homes that line one-thousand foot Oak Street today.

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DCHS Collections: Documents of Enslavement In this document we see the certification by the overseers of the poor of the Town of Washington (Stephen Thorn and Thomas Howard), permitting Isaac Smith to manumit an enslaved woman named Dinah.They certify that she is under the age of 45, and in such a condition that she will not become an economic burden to the town. This step was required of anyone wishing to manumit an enslaved man, woman, or child. DCHS Collections.

DCHS Collections Documents of Enslavement A woman named Rachel is “sold” to Christian Tobias on February 4, 1771 Know all men by these presents that I [Mical?/Michael] Obberocker of Beekman Precinct in Dutchess County do for the consideration of the sum of 65 pounds good and lawful money of New York to one in hand paid by Christian Tobias of Charlotte Precinct in said County, have bargained, sold [  ] and delivered one certain Negro woman named Rachel for term of life to have and to hold to the proper use benefit and [   ]  of him the said Christian Tobias his heirs executors and assigns… February 4, 1771 Signed in the presence of Bartholomew Noxon, Jr. and Thomas Tobias.

Remembering World War One Recognizing the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, DCHS published two consecutive Yearbooks on the topic, and launched a traveling exhibition that visited every city and town in the county, at least once. You are invited see the exhibition here. The exhibit launched at the FDR Library’s Wallace Welcome Center and then traveled to municipal buildings, libraries, and outdoor events reaching every city and town in the county at least once. Click any image below for best viewing Below, click on any image once, then again, for best viewing.

DCHS Postcard CollectionUse arrows to over-ride autoplay

The words of Frederick Douglass as spoken at College Hill on Emancipation Day, 1858, in contemporary expression. Performed under the auspices of Celebrating the African Spirit in recognition of Poughkeepsie’s 2022 Frederick Douglass Day. For best viewing click “Watch on Youtube.” Research & images provided by the Dutchess County Historical Society, Bill Jeffway, Executive Director. Expressions was created, produced and directed by Talent Davis. ©Talent Davis 2022