The October 21 gathering will mark 191 years since a mob disrupted an anti-slavery convention in Utica, an event now commemorated as Utica Abolition History Day.
UTICA, N.Y. Residents will gather at Hope Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church on Wednesday, October 21, for Utica Abolition History Day to remember a confrontation that helped shape New York’s abolition movement.
Utica’s Abolition History Day is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. at the church, 751 South Street, according to a 2026 event announcement posted by Deirdre Sinnott. The notice, dated October 15, says this year’s observance marks the 191st anniversary of the anti-abolition riot in Utica, now recognized during Utica Abolition History Day.
The anniversary reaches back to October 21, 1835, when people seeking an end to slavery came to the city to organize. The violence that drove them out did not end their work. Delegates continued their meeting the following day in Peterboro.
The event flyer advertises live music and speakers. It links the city’s abolition history to present-day questions of justice and freedom of speech, and names the Oneida County Freedom Trail Commission and Bank of Utica among the sponsors.
What happened in Utica
The University of Minnesota Law Library’s collection of the convention’s 1835 proceedings describes how an angry local mob forced participants from the Bleecker Street Presbyterian Church. The archive places the event in a period when abolitionists were pressing more urgently to end slavery and facing fierce resistance.
The proceedings themselves preserve the two-city story in their title: the convention at Utica on October 21 and the New York Anti-Slavery Society’s meeting at Peterboro on October 22. A handwritten note in the library’s copy also records the disruption and the move.
The road to Peterboro
Gerrit Smith invited the delegates to resume their work at Peterboro’s Presbyterian Church, according to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum’s account. Participants traveled by lumber barge on the Erie Canal, by cart and on foot.
The museum describes a nine-mile uphill walk from Canastota to Peterboro as part of that journey. The move allowed the organizers to continue building the New York State Antislavery Society after the attack in Utica.
That history is still tied to a surviving place. The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum is housed in the Smithfield Community Center, the building where the Peterboro meeting took place. Its mission connects the abolitionists’ struggle against slavery with the continuing work of opposing racism.
Why this anniversary belongs to Utica
The October 21 observance gives residents a chance to revisit both sides of the city’s role: the people who gathered to challenge slavery and the mob that tried to stop them. Remembering the disruption also brings attention to the delegates’ decision to carry on elsewhere.
The 2026 notice and flyer confirm the date, location and 6 to 8 p.m. program. Readers should use that current announcement when planning to attend, rather than older notices for past anniversary programs.
The announcement lists 315-732-0536 as its press contact. Check the linked event page for any further details or changes before traveling.
Event information was checked October 16, 2026. Historical background comes from the University of Minnesota Law Library and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum. The images are original informational graphics.
