“Slavery in New York: 1620–1827,” and “New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War”

“Slavery in New York: 1620–1827,” and “New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War” are online versions of exhibitions of the New-York Historical Society which explore the little-known history of slavery in that state.

“Slavery in New York” (www.slaveryinnewyork.org) contains nine galleries, each providing an historical overview to the material presented. The sections are titled “The Atlantic Slave Trade and New York City”; “Dutch New York”; “The Tightening Vise of Slavery in British Colonial New York”; “Revolutionary War and the Struggle for Black Freedom”; “Constituting a State with Free Black New Yorkers”; “Free Blacks in New York’s Public Life”; “Freedom, but Only with Limits”; “The Day of Jubilation”; and “Forgetting and Rediscovering Slavery in New York.” The galleries include illustrations, prints, portraits, documents, newspaper clippings, and book excerpts. The site includes interactive maps: “British Colonial New York 1741”features historical points of interest with accompanying anecdotes, and “Liberty to Slaves 1783” highlights places and events important to free African Americans in New York at that time. Of particular interest to genealogists are a list of New York slave laws, individual slave and owner names and stories, photographs and portraits, and references to source material and further information.

“New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War” (www.nydivided.org) presents three different themes, with two galleries for each. “New York: Pro-Southern City” contains “King Cotton” and “Warm Welcome.” “Fighting Slavery” contains “Black Abolitionists” and “Strategies.” “Civil War” contains “Battles of New York” and “Reconstruction.” These exhibits feature American art, photographs, prints, posters, and cartoons, as well as historical documentation in the form of newspapers, pamphlets, and other such material. Links at the top of each page allow one to view biographies and photographs of people; drawings and engravings with accompanying descriptions of places; and documents, including sections of broadsides, newsletter illustrations, and excerpts of letters, with accompanying contextual information. Links on these pages provide detailed information or a view of the full document. Genealogists may pay particular attention to the “People” section, which contains information on twenty-three individuals, both black and white.

These exhibits provide a view of the history of New York City many of us may never have considered. “Slavery in New York: 1620–1827” is a permanent installation. “New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War” runs until the end of September 2007 at the New-York Historical Society in New York City.

“Boston African American Project”

The Boston Athenaeum has launched an interesting and informative website, the “Boston African Americana Project” (www.bostonafricanamericana.org). As stated in their project overview, this digital archive “ . . . gathers visual and textual materials held by the Athenaeum, the Bostonian Society, Historic New England, and the Massachusetts Historical Society. Digitized materials relating to African Americans fall broadly within the categories of slavery, the abolition movement, free blacks, the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, rural life, urban life, social life, advertising, and depictions of men, women, and children, and consist of broadsides, caricatures, illustrations, manuscripts, pamphlets, political cartoons, portraits, and views. The database contains images and transcriptions of over five hundred items spanning the years 1770 to 1950, with the bulk of the collection falling around 1865.”

Of particular interest to genealogists is the “Portraits” section. These images are gathered from book and magazine illustrations, single sheet printings, and cartes-de-visite (a format popular in the 1860s and 1870s). They are arranged by broad categories such as “slavery,” “free blacks,” “abolition movement,” “the Civil War,” “emancipation,” “reconstruction,” “men,” “women,” “children,” and “urban life,” as well as group pictures under “social life.” Many subjects are identified by name, so you might find a picture of an ancestor. Not all the historic pictures are from Boston. This attractive, engaging site is also very easy to use.

Connie Reik, MSL, MA, has been a reference librarian for more than fifteen years and is the government publications coordinator at Tisch Library at Tufts University. History is one of her areas of expertise in instruction and research. She has been researching her family for more than twenty-five years and is vice president of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists.