The Black Experience in Dutch New York

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The explosion of research into the lives of the Black inhabitants of the Dutch colony of New Netherland in recent years inspired this program. This special program brings together scholars who are at the cutting edge of this work. How did Blacks live in New Amsterdam? What was “slavery” in the colony? When did the first Africans arrive? The NYG&B is pleased to co-host this program that takes the place of the annual New Netherland Institute Conference. 

Andrea Mosterman, Associate Professor of History at the University of New Orleans, will give the keynote address on the topic of her newly released book, Spaces of Enslavement: A History of Slavery and Resistance in Dutch New York.  

The keynote address will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Lavada Nahon, culinary and cultural historian. The panel features: 

  • Nicole Maskiell, Assistant Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, author of the forthcoming Bound by Bondage: Slavery and the Creation of a Northern Gentry 
  • Jaap Jacobs, Honorary Reader at the University of St. Andrews, author of a soon-to-be-published article about the first Blacks in New Amsterdam
  • Debra Bruno, author of a recent Washington Post article about her search for her enslaving ancestors.  

 

Program Sponsors

Sponsored by the New Netherland Institute and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society with support from the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York, and in collaboration with the New Amsterdam History Center and the New York State Education Department, Office of Cultural Education. 

This program’s recording will be available to NYG&B members with any handouts.