August 1, 2026
Gerrit Smith Estate NHL
5304 Oxbow Rd. Peterboro, NY 13134
Vanessa Johnson is a quilter, mixed media fiber artist, community educator, museum consultant, activist, writer, playwright, and actor. Ms. Johnson is the Artist in Residence for the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center in Fayetteville, NY, and is a recipient of a “Creatives Rebuild NY” grant. Ms. Johnson is a Griot, a storyteller in the West African Tradition. Her "Tells" preserve the stories of Africa and the African Diaspora. Vanessa tells the voices of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Abolitionism, Slavery, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, African American Women, and her own experience living in America.
Professor Clemmie L. Harris earned his Ph.D. in American History, Africana Studies, Metropolitan Studies, and Public Affairs from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. His talk: “Revisiting the 1963 March on Washington For Jobs, Justice, and Freedom: a Brief Talk on the Need for a Third Reconstruction” will explore the roots of systemic racism back to the foundation of the United States, and how citizens can take action.
• Dawn - Dusk: Self-guided tours of Gerrit Smith Estate
• 11:30 am - 2:00 pm Lunch available for purchase, Firehouse Food Truck, Oneida, NY
• 1:30 pm Max Smith, Welcome and Overview of the Afternoon
• 1:45 pm Nell Ziegler, Smithfield Community Association and Gerrit Smith Estate Updates
• 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Vanessa Johnson, Syracuse Artist and Underground Railroad Storyteller
• 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Break.
• 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm Clemmie Harris, Utica University, Revisiting the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs, Justice and Freedom: A Brief Talk on the Need for a Third Reconstruction
• 4:30 pm - 4:45 pm Group photo, followed by Procession to the Peterboro Cemetery
Co-sponsored by GSE & NAHOF
Contact [email protected]