The closing program of Peterboro Juneteenth Weekend 2025 is at 10:45 am on Sunday, June 22nd at the Peterboro United Methodist Church (PUMC), 5240 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134. Donna Dorrance Burdick, historian of the Hamlet of Peterboro and the Town of Smithfield, will present Churches of Peterboro. Burdick will share her research and images of the churches that were once in Peterboro as well as the PUMC. With regard to the Juneteenth Weekend, Donna will feature the history of the Black Church of Peterboro.
Donna Dorrance Burdick is a native of Peterboro, Town of Smithfield, Madison County, New York. When she was a young girl, Donna’s interest in local history was sparked after her maternal grandmother gave her five Peterboro postcards. In 1964, Donna completed high school at Morrisville-Eaton Central School, where she was the salutatorian of her class. The topic of her graduation speech was Gerrit Smith, Peterboro’s Philanthropist and Abolitionist.
Donna has been the Smithfield Town Historian since 1995. In 2013, she was named a Registered Historian in New York State. Among varied interests, she has devoted many hours to genealogical research, resulting in the creation of hundreds of family folders, including more than 30 files on the Black families of Smithfield. She has also conducted research on the several families connected to Gerrit Smith. Through the years, she has written about and given presentations on many aspects of Peterboro and Smithfield history. In 2021, Donna collaborated with Milton Sernett on the publication Within These Walls: Celebrating 200 Years of the Smithfield Community Center.