Commemorations are scheduled for this weekend in Washington County and Saratoga Springs, New York in honor of a free man captured and sold into slavery in the 19th Century.
The story of Solomon Northup, as told in his 1853 narrative Twelve Years A Slave, has experienced a fresh round of attention thanks to last year’s Oscar-winning film of the same name. The story tells how Northup was lured away from his home in Saratoga Springs, and eventually sold into slavery.
A native of upstate New York, he will be honored this weekend through events and commemorations as part of Solomon Northup Day, first observed in 1999.
Paul McCarty, Fort Edward town historian and director of the Old Fort House Museum, has been working with others to honor Northup’s Washington County roots for decades.
"We discovered that Solomon was part of our heritage in 1975, and through the years we began to include him in the history of the building because he was a person of national prominence. And then over the course of time we began to put together a program about his life, which we actually began to deliver to school children in 1986," said McCarty.
Saturday at the Baker Cemetary in Hudson Falls, a new memorial will be unveiled for Northup’s father, Mintus Northup, who died in 1829. The new stone will replace a weathered, marble marker.
"We were able to raise some money. We raised money here and some of the family contributed and we were able to get a granite stone that should stand the test of time," said McCarty.
An informational plaque will also be unveiled in Union Cemetery in Fort Edward on Henry B. Northup, who rescued Solomon Northup from slavery in Louisiana in 1853.
Local performer Clifford Oliver Mealy will give a costumed interpretation of Northup. Afterward, the commemorations will head to Saratoga Springs, for the the 16th observation of Solomon Northup Day in the Spa City. At Skidmore College, there will be panel discussions, music, children’s activities, and a number of presentations.
A number of Northup’s descendants are expected to attend.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. David Blight, a Civil War historian and author and director of Yale’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition.
Blight said he will discuss Northup’s story and local roots, and will also put narrative into context with other abolitionist writings of the era.
"It's a detailed, textured story of this descent into commodity - of the idea of becoming a commodity - a piece of property. I want to try to convey that if I can through his narrative, but I also want to compare his narrative to, particularly, Frederick Douglass, who is the most prominent of all slave narrative writers, and I think there's a lot to be gained by looking at the two together."
Blight will speak about the 12 Years A Slave film that has received so much international acclaim and attention, but he also said the day-long schedule of events allows attendees to explore an important part of history.
"I think Solomon Northup's story allows us to tell a lot of other stories around it, and it gives a fascinating window, I would think, into how and why people choose to commemorate certain parts of the past at certain times in history," said Blight.
City resident and Skidmore alum Renee Moore, the founder of Saratoga’s Solomon Northup Day, said she hopes the events will connect not just the black community but everyone with their past and how it is still relevant in society today.
"My original goal was to bring focus to the Saratoga Springs/Saratoga County African-American community, because this is a community that has struggled for a very long time to have a small foothold here, and that their presence goes back a lot further than people believe," said Moore.
Tonight there will be a free showing of the 1984 documentary The Solomon Northup Odyssey on the Skidmore campus at 7 p.m.
Observations on the life of Solomon Northup will also take place in Plattsburgh Sunday.
For more information:
http://www.skidmore.edu/solomon-northup-day/
http://www.oldforthousemuseum.com/
