All Over Albany

Solomon Northup Day 2014

The 16th annual Solomon Northup Day, honoring the Saratoga Springs historical figure and his story, is coming up July 16 July 19. And a program related to the day is back at Skidmore. From the lineup of events:

+ The keynote speaker is Yale professor David Blight, a historian and director of the university's Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition.

+ Actor Devyn Tyler, who played Northup's adult daughter in 12 Years a Slave, will be there to talk about her experiences making the film.

+ Panel discussions with Northup researchers David Fiske, Clifford Brown, and Rachel Seligman -- who wrote Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave -- and Paul McCarty, director of Ft. Edward's Old Fort Museum.

+ A panel on the history of slaves with Don Papson, founder and past president of the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association; Paul Stewart, co-founder of the Underground Railroad History Project; Brooke Hathaway, manager of anti-trafficking programs at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; and Joshua Woodfork, former faculty member in Skidmore College's American Studies Department.

+ Performances from jazz saxophonist T.K. Blue; violinist Henrique Prince of the Ebony Hillbillies, and local musician Dan Hubbs and friends.

+ A "large number" of Northup's descendants are expected to be there.

The events are from 12:30-6 pm on Saturday, July 16 July 19 in Skidmore's Filene Recital Hall. They're free.

The memoir: Northup's memoir, Twelve Years A Slave, is available to read/download via the Internet Archive.

illustration from Twelve Years A Slave