Lyceum: Uncovering African American History in the Adirondacks

In this presentation, Paul Smith’s professor Curt Stager shares the research and writing he has been doing on the history of African Americans in the North Country, including mapping the 3,000 lots given by Garret Smith to Black families to settle in the region in the 1850s. He and his wife, Kary Johnson, traveled 5,000 miles this summer on a trip to visit sites in the south connected to Black Adirondackers who lived and died here. This research is helping to uncover their lost history and rewrite the history of the Adirondacks. Final lecture in Winter Lyceum series.