Juneteenth 2026 Week in Peterboro NY begins with the opening of an exhibit of The Chronology
of American Abolition from the Colonial Era to Reconstruction at the Smithfield Community
Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134 on June 16. The content of the large
eight panels was created for the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in 2011 by
abolition scholar Milton C. Sernett PhD and fabricated by Scott Hughes, formally of Madison
County Tourism. The eight foot square panels are loaded with photographs, posters, broadsides,
documents, and records that provide adults and children a source of information on people,
places, and events that were part of the steps toward freedom in the United States.
This traveling exhibit was created to introduce the plight of the enslaved and those that struggled
to abolish the institution of slavery in America. The topics of the panels are
The Colonial and Revolutionary Eras: Slavery and Anti-Slavery
Freedom Now! From Colonization to Immediatism
Proclaiming Liberty: Abolitionist Means
The Politics of Slavery and Abolition:
“Right is of no Sex; Truth is of no color.” Frederick Douglass, North Star, 1848
North Star Shining: The Underground Railroad
The Terrible Swift Sword:
Freedom and Reconstruction: Days of Jubilee & Struggle
Dr. Sernett, professor emeritus African American Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, is
an abolition scholar, author, and a popular speaker on history. Sernett is a founder and a Cabinet
member of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum and serves on the NAHOF
Induction Committee. Among his published books are NORTH STAR COUNTRY: Upstate New
York and the Crusade for African American Freedom and HARRIET TUBMAN: Myth, Memory,
and History.
The free exhibit is open to the public June 16 – 22 from 12 – 4 pm.
NATIONAL ABOLITION HALL of FAME and MUSEUM
PO BOX 55 5255 Pleasant Valley Road Peterboro NY 13134
http://www.NationalAbolitionHallofFameandMuseum.org
