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Teachers' Institute on Abolitionism and the
Underground Railroad
in Upstate New York
Colgate University
●
July 14-August 1, 2008
Dear Colleague,
As director, I invite you to apply to become one of
twenty-five participants in an exciting
teachers’ institute on Abolitionism and the
Underground Railroad in Upstate New York to be
held at Colgate University from July 14-August
1, 2008. The National Endowment for the
Humanities is sponsoring this institute and has
designated it as a “We the People” project. In
this letter I want to share with you the
excitement I feel about the institute and
encourage you to apply.
The Underground Railroad has a history that most contemporary
Americans find invigorating and rewarding.
Developing concurrently with the abolitionist
movement against slavery, the Underground
Railroad and resistance to slavery are
indicators of a genuine love of freedom shared
by many Americans today. The battle to end
slavery stemmed from the core values of the
American Revolution. Some of these values were
enshrined in our Constitution; others remained
contested in the first half of the nineteenth
century. Issues of freedom and equality for men
were settled in the cauldron of the Civil War,
though political freedoms for women had to wait
until the twentieth century.
Join me as we discover how black and white Americans put
their lives on the line toward establishing
universal American freedom through the
Underground Railroad and the Abolitionist
Movement. As I will detail in this letter, we
will read and discuss significant primary
documents and key interpretations, listen to
some of the nation’s leading experts on the
Underground Railroad and Abolitionism, spend
evenings watching apposite films and enjoy the
facilities of the beautiful Colgate campus
during the best season.
Let me tell you more about my plans and the
people who will help me make this institute a
great experience for you.
The History of Abolitionist Activity in Upstate New York
Upstate New York was one of the most important
centers of abolitionist activity from the early
1830s until the Civil War and home to key
figures including Gerrit Smith, Jermain Loguen,
Beriah Green, Frederick Douglass, John Brown,
and Harriet Tubman. The upstate region is now
home to the institution dedicated to
commemorating the courage and commitment of
these patriots, the National Abolition Hall of
Fame located in Peterboro, New York.
Three major “tracks” of the Underground Railroad
ran through upstate New York to Canada. On the
east side of the state, freedom seekers found
sanctuary and assistance from New York City up
the Hudson River through the Adirondack Region.
In the middle of the state, Underground Railroad
routes ran through Ithaca to Rochester and from
Binghamton to Syracuse. The third route
encompassed the western corridor through
Fredonia, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls.
Abolitionists in upstate New York deeply
influenced the rise of the Underground Railroad
there and in Ohio, which became inflamed with
antislavery in part through the efforts of
agents from the Empire State. New Yorkers were
also connected with abolitionists and
Underground Railroad workers in New England,
Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
Participants will study the beginnings of upstate New York’s
abolitionist movement and the Underground
Railroad from their origins in the egalitarian
and freedom-loving ethos of revolutionary and
early national periods through the Civil War.
As Fergus Bordewich argues in his fine study,
Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and
the War for the Soul of America, the
development of radical abolitionism and the
Underground Railroad were intertwined from their
beginnings throughout the North and Midwest.
These interwoven currents began with the
emergence of gradual emancipation in the
northern states and African American
determination to find liberty as fulfillment of
the American Revolution. Even more than the
numbers of African Americans who gained freedom
by gradual emancipation, blacks sought
self-determination through courtroom battles, by
personal agreements with masters and mistresses,
and most commonly, scholars agree, by flight
from bondage.
In 1799 New York State enacted gradual
emancipation. A bill passed in 1817 set the date
for final extirpation of slavery on July 4,
1827. Only New Jersey took longer to end slavery
by passing a gradual emancipation act in 1804.
Still there was much to be done in New York
State. Its African American population faced
harsh legal restrictions and growing racism
after 1827. They connected their lack of civil
liberties with those of enslaved peoples in the
southern states. At the same time, a rising
educated African American elite was determined
to protect endangered freedom and to fight
kidnappers intent on profits from illicit sales
of blacks to the south, actions which created
connections for New York State blacks with
enslaved peoples in the southern states. Among
whites, such forces as evangelical religion, the
meaning of the American Revolution, and concerns
about southern slave power sustained growing
anti-slavery and free labor convictions in the
state and in the northern states generally.
These themes demonstrate the combined efforts of
African and white Americans, the importance of
female participation, and the development of
abolitionism and the Underground Railroad on the
local level. Beginning in the 1830s and
swelling in numbers and impact in succeeding
decades, white and black activists in upstate
New York, in union with colleagues in New York
City, created an abolitionist movement that
shook society to its roots. Americans find the
histories of the Underground Railroad and the
abolitionist movement appealing because they
represent the moral activism of a concerned,
enlightened citizenry often working across
racial boundaries. Such activists encouraged
society to live up to its principles and
ultimately vanquish slavery, an inherently
unequal and unfair social system.
Institute Schedule
The schedule begins with registration and a welcome dinner
and introduction to the curriculum on the
afternoon and evening of Sunday, July 13. All
participants are expected to arrive on Sunday.
The institute begins on the morning of July 14
when I lecture and discuss the lengthy history
of slavery in New York colony and state and
about the development of gradual emancipation. I
have invited and received confirmations from
some of the best scholars in antebellum American
History to speak at our sessions. Tuesday,
David Gellman of DePauw University will lead
discussions of the legal restrictions of African
American citizens even after the end of slavery
and the rise of racism in the state at the time
of initial antislavery efforts. Wednesday’s
class will be an innovative effort, using
runaway notices to tie the flight of enslaved
peoples in the colonial and early national
periods with the later Underground Railroad,
emphasizing the actions of ordinary black and
white people. That afternoon,
Douglas Egerton of Le Moyne College a noted
expert on slave revolts in the south, will
lecture about slave rebellions nationally and
the meaning of the American Revolution for black
Americans. On Thursday,
Milton Sernett, Professor Emeritus of
Syracuse University will lead discussions of key
documents and then lecture on the rise of
evangelical religion in upstate New York and its
impact on radical abolitionism. Lectures and
discussions will be held at the Madison County
Historical Society in nearby Oneida, with a
special presentation of rare documents about the
county’s involvement with the Underground
Railroad and with abolitionism. To close the
first week, I will lead discussion and lecture
on abolitionism in upstate New York, emphasizing
the role of Gerrit Smith of Peterboro. The week
will conclude with a picnic at the Gerrit Smith
Estate Historical Site in Peterboro.
During the first week, there will be additional experts and
events to enhance learning. On Monday,
Emily Hutton-Hughes, Associate Professor in
the University Libraries and Head of Collection
Development at Colgate’s Case Library, will
instruct the participants in the value and use
of the many appropriate databases and print
materials at the library. After dinner each
evening of the first week, participants will
watch the four episodes of the PBS documentary,
Slavery and the Making of America, which
will explain the institution of human bondage in
early America. Jonathan Cornue of Madison
County-BOCES will present the first of three
workshops about integrating the materials gained
at the institute into the classroom. I will hold
office hours during free time each week and will
be pleased to meet all participants
individually. My university office is just a
short walk from newly renovated and
air-conditioned
Case Library, where the institute will be
held.
The second week continues the interplay of the history of
national and upstate abolitionism and the
Underground Railroad. Enlarging upon my lecture
and discussion from the first week, Fergus
Bordewich will lead discussion of documents and
then lecture on the Underground Railroad in
national perspective. The next day I will focus
on the rise of the Underground Railroad in
upstate New York, drawing from my forthcoming
book on David Ruggles, the famed black
antislavery activist. In the evening,
participants will watch Whispers of Angels,
the best single film on the movement of freedom
seekers. On Wednesday,
Judith Wellman, Professor Emeritus at SUNY-Oswego
and long appreciated for her work on female
activists in abolitionism, will discuss and
lecture on the role of women in grassroots
antislavery and the underground railroad in
upstate New York and nationally. On Thursday
and Friday,
James O. Horton of George Washington
University and
Lois Horton of George Mason University will
join the institute to discuss and lecture on the
roles of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman,
the two single most important antislavery
activists who worked in upstate New York.
Douglass and Tubman are nationally known even
today. the Hortons’ contributions and the
documents they discuss will further tie the
goals of the institute with national debates
over slavery and fugitive slaves. Lois Horton’s
session and lecture will be held at the Harriet
Tubman Home near Auburn, New York.
Paul Finkelman, McKinley Professor of Law at SUNY Albany,
opens the third week with a discussion and
lecture on abolitionism and the Underground
Railroad. He will show how organizers of the
movements adapted their strategies to the
shifting politics of the law in the 1840s and
early 1850s. Finkelman will show how
abolitionism was affecting political relations
between northern and southern states over the
return of freedom-seeking enslaved peoples. He
will focus on the controversies arising over key
cases about fugitive cases which culminated in
the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. As part of the
Compromise of 1850, the act required white
citizens of northern states to help return
freedom seekers to their masters in the South, a
law which many found repugnant.
On Tuesday morning, Norman Dann, Professor Emeritus at SUNY-Morrisville
will discuss the rise of the Liberty Party in
upstate New York and nationally in the morning,
followed by an afternoon visit to the site of
the Oneida Institute, one of the most famous
communitarian societies of the antebellum
period. There where blacks and whites were
educated together. Later in the afternoon,
participants will visit the Oneida County
Historical Society in Utica to examine documents
related to the school and to local antislavery.
We will then have dinner at the
Oneida
Community Mansion House. On Wednesday, I
will lecture on the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850,
its national ramifications, and its effect
locally, with emphasis on the Jerry Rescue in
Syracuse in 1851. The group will then visit the
site of the 1850 Cazenovia Convention of
Fugitive Slaves, the Jerry Rescue Monument in
Syracuse, and examine antislavery documents at
Bird Library at Syracuse University. Thursday,
John Stauffer of Harvard University and
author of the widely acclaimed book The Black
Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and the
Transformation of Race, will speak about and
discuss the importance of Frederick Douglass,
Gerrit Smith, John Brown, and James McCune Smith
in the turbulent 1850s. Using the databases
Harpweek and Newsbank, the class will look at
coverage of the John Brown trial of 1859. In
the evening participants can watch the film
Glory, on the famous black regiment of the
Civil War. The last day, the class will discuss
the participation of black and white New Yorkers
in the Civil War. The institute will close with
a farewell barbecue.
During the three-week institute, we will read several
important interpretations of the abolitionist
movement and the Underground Railroad. I have
already mentioned works by Fergus Bordewich,
Milton Sernett, John Stauffer and myself. We
will also read articles by Paul Finkelman and
James and Lois Horton and an abundance of
primary materials.
Logistics
As this schedule indicates, we will share an intense and
rewarding three weeks together. Except where
noted, all sessions will be held at
Case Library. The library is open from eight
a.m. to five p.m. Monday through Friday during
the summer. It is a newly renovated,
state-of-the-art library of over 700,000
volumes, plus periodicals, e-journals,
government documents, and dozens of appropriate
web-based archives. Institute participants will
receive a special university card, which will
provide access to the library and the
university’s Internet system. There will be
“library breaks” during the day so that
participants may use the library collection.
After five p.m. participants can use their card
to gain access to the top floor of the library
which has many computer terminals, classrooms,
rest areas and large comfortable chairs on which
to relax and enjoy the view of the campus and
town of Hamilton. The card will also provide
access to the university dining hall where three
meals a day are available throughout the week.
In addition to the academic resources, all of
the recreational resources of campus are
included in the room charge. The facilities are
excellent and include tennis courts, racquetball
/ squash courts, a state-of-the-art fitness
center, swimming pool, and boating on nearby
Lake Moraine.
Participants will live during the seminar at
Cutten Hall, one of the university’s modern
dormitories for the full three weeks. Cutten
Hall does not have air conditioning, but
Hamilton’s climate rarely requires it. The
dormitory has individual rooms, bathrooms shared
by only two people, plentiful common rooms, and
a small kitchenette. There will be a dedicated
floor in the dormitory for the institute. The
dormitory is located very near the library,
gym and fitness center, hiking trails, has
ample, free parking and is easily accessible to
the town. Participants are neither encouraged
nor discouraged from bringing their families
with them. The dormitory is not appropriate for
family living but, if your family plans to come
to Hamilton, Colgate will assist you in finding
alternative housing. For residents in the
dormitory, housing and meal costs are expected
to be about $55 per day. There will be
additional charges for spouses and other
overnight guests.
Colgate University is aware that the institute
participants will be mature adults and teaching
professionals. Therefore institute participants
will be designated as “visiting scholars.” Each
participant will receive a $2400 stipend to help
defray costs of the seminar and transportation
to and from your home. Colgate University policy
provides participants with half their stipend
upon arrival. Participants taking advantage of
the inexpensive housing and meal plan can pay
for these benefits with the second installment.
That will be given out in the middle of the
second week.
In addition to the activities on campus,
participants should enjoy the many events in the
town, which is a short walk from the school.
Mid-summer is probably the best time of year to
be in Hamilton, with its writers’ and musicians’
workshops at the university, farmers’ markets,
opera houses, antique fairs, and evening
concerts on the town green. Colgate University
has extensive experience with summer groups, and
“rolls out the red carpet” for them.
Participants will have weekends free for
relaxation and contemplation. For those seeking
recreation beyond Hamilton, the Adirondack
Mountains are within two hours drive as are many
other attractions in upstate New York. On one
weekend evening, we will journey to Cooperstown,
fifty miles away, to listen to opera at the
nationally-famous Glimmerglass Opera on the
shores of Otsego Lake.
Colgate’s Upstate Institute, which links Colgate
faculty and participant research with the needs
and interests of the regional community, will
host the Summer Institute. The institute
supports activities of three types: scholarly
research about the upstate region including its
history, economy, and natural environment;
service learning by Colgate participants that
allows them to apply their classroom learning to
real-life issues in the community; and a field
school that sponsors participant internships
with area non-profits. Through the Upstate
Institute, Colgate has built relationships with
more than 40 community organizations,
non-profits, public schools, and government
agencies to foster projects that are mutually
beneficial.
To apply
Applications should be sent to Professor Graham Russell
Hodges, NEH Summer Institute for Teachers,
Upstate Institute, Colgate University, Hamilton,
New York 13346. In your application please spend
special effort on an essay that includes
relevant personal academic information; your
interest, both personal and intellectual in the
topic; qualifications to do the work of the
project and make a contribution to it; what you
hope to accomplish by participation, including
any research and writing projects and the
relation of the study to your teaching. I
welcome your application and ask that it be
postmarked by March 1, 2007.
Sincerely,
Graham Russell Hodges
George Dorland Langdon, Jr. Professor of History
Addendum: Please read the following
instructions created by the National Endowment
for the Humanities which discuss the nature of
the institute, eligibility, selection criteria,
stipend, tenure, conditions of the award and
full application instructions.
NEH SUMMER SEMINARS & INSTITUTES FOR SCHOOL TEACHERS
APPLICATION INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
Summer Seminars and Institutes for School
Teachers are offered by the National Endowment
for the Humanities to provide teachers an
opportunity for substantive study of significant
humanities ideas and texts. These study
opportunities are especially designed for this
program and are not intended to duplicate
courses normally offered by graduate programs.
On completion of a seminar or institute,
participants will receive a certificate
indicating their participation. Prior to
completing an application, please review the
enclosed letter from the project director (or
letter downloaded from the director’s website,
if available) and consider carefully what is
expected in terms of residence and attendance,
reading and writing requirements, and general
participation in the work of the project.
A seminar for school teachers enables 15
participants to explore a topic or set of
readings with a scholar having special interest
and expertise in the field. The core material
of the seminar need not relate directly to the
school curriculum; the principal goal of the
seminar is to engage teachers in the scholarly
enterprise and to expand and deepen their
understanding of the humanities through reading,
discussion, writing, and reflection. An
institute for school teachers, typically led
by a team of core faculty and visiting scholars,
is designed to present the best available
scholarship on important humanities issues and
works taught in the nation's schools. The 25 to
35 participating teachers compare and synthesize
the various perspectives offered by the faculty,
make connections between the institute content
and classroom applications, and often develop
improved teaching materials for their
classrooms. Please note: The use of the words
“seminar” or “institute” in this document is
precise and is intended to convey differences
between the two project types.
ELIGIBILITY
These projects are designed for
full‑time teachers including home-schooling
parents, but other K-12 school personnel, such
as librarians and administrators, may also be
eligible to apply, depending on the specific
seminar or institute. Substitute teachers or
part-time personnel are not eligible.
Applications from teachers in public, private,
and religiously-affiliated schools receive equal
consideration.
Teachers at schools in the
United States or its territorial possessions or
Americans teaching in foreign schools where at
least 50 percent of the students are American
nationals are eligible for this program.
Applicants must be United States citizens,
residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign
nationals who have been residing in the United
States or its territories for at least the three
years immediately preceding the application
deadline. Foreign nationals teaching outside
the U.S. are not eligible to apply.
Applicants must complete the NEH
application cover sheet and provide all the
information requested below to be considered
eligible. Individuals may not apply to study
with a director of a seminar or institute who is
a current colleague or a family member.
Individuals must not apply to seminars directed
by scholars with whom they have previously
studied. Institute selection committees are
advised that only under the most compelling and
exceptional circumstances may an individual
participate in an institute with a director or a
lead faculty member who has previously guided
that individual’s research or in whose previous
institute or seminar he or she has
participated. An individual may apply to
only one project in any one year. Anyone
found to have applied to more than one project
will be ineligible to participate in any seminar
or institute that year.
SELECTION CRITERIA
A selection committee reads and
evaluates all properly completed applications in
order to select the most promising applicants
and to identify a small number of alternates.
(Seminar selection committees consist of the
seminar director, a school teacher who is
usually a participant in a previous NEH seminar,
and a colleague of the director. Institute
selection committees consist of three to five
members, usually all drawn from the institute
faculty and staff members.) While recent
participants are eligible to apply, project
selection committees are directed to give first
consideration to applicants who have not
participated in an NEH-supported seminar or
institute in the last three years (2005,
2006, 2007). Recent participation in NEH’s
Landmarks of American History and Culture
Program does not negatively affect eligibility
or competitiveness.
The most important consideration
in the selection of participants is the
likelihood that an applicant will benefit
professionally and personally. This is
determined by committee members from the
conjunction of several factors, each of which
should be addressed in the application essay.
These factors include:
-
effectiveness and commitment as a
teacher/educator;
-
intellectual interests, both generally and as
they relate to the work of the project;
-
special perspectives, skills, or experiences
that would contribute to the seminar or
institute;
-
commitment to participate fully in the formal
and informal collegial life of the project;
and
-
the likelihood that the experience will
enhance the applicant's teaching.
When choices must be made among
equally qualified candidates, several additional
factors are considered. Preference is given
to applicants who have not previously
participated in an NEH seminar or institute, or
who significantly contribute to the diversity of
the seminar or institute.
STIPEND, TENURE, AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD
Teachers selected to participate in six-week
long projects will receive a stipend of $4,200;
those in five-week projects will receive $3,600;
those in four-week projects will receive $3,000;
those in three-week projects will receive
$2,400; and those in two-week projects will
receive $1,800. Stipends are intended to help
cover travel expenses to and from the project
location, books and other research expenses, and
living expenses for the duration of the period
spent in residence. Stipends are taxable.
Applicants to all projects, especially those
held abroad, should note that supplements will
not be given in cases where the stipend is
insufficient to cover all expenses.
Seminar and institute participants are required
to attend all meetings and to engage fully in
the work of the project. During the project's
tenure, they may not undertake teaching
assignments or any other professional activities
unrelated to their participation in the
project. Participants who, for any reason, do
not complete the full tenure of the project must
refund a pro-rata portion of the stipend.
At the end of the project's residential period,
participants will be asked to submit on-line
evaluations in which they review their work
during the summer and assess its value to their
personal and professional development. These
evaluations will become part of the project's
grant file and may become part of an application
to repeat the seminar or institute.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
These general application instructions from the
NEH should be accompanied by a “Dear Colleague”
letter from the project director that contains
detailed information about the topic under
study; project requirements and expectations of
the participants; the academic and institutional
setting; and specific provisions for lodging,
subsistence, and extracurricular activities. If
you do not have such a letter, please request
one from the director of the project in which
you are interested before you attempt to
complete and submit an application. In some
cases, directors have websites for their
projects and the “Dear Colleague” letter may be
downloaded from their website. All
application materials should be sent to the
project director at the address listed on the
program poster. Sending application materials
to the Endowment will result in delay.
CHECKLIST OF APPLICATION MATERIALS
A completed application consists of three copies
of the following collated items:
In addition, it must include two letters of
recommendation as described below.
The application cover sheet
The application cover sheet must be filled out
on line at this address:
http://www.neh.gov/online/education/participants/
Please
fill it out on line as directed by the prompts.
When you are finished, be sure to click on
the “submit” button. Print out the cover
sheet and add it to your application package.
Note that filling out a cover sheet is not the
same as applying, so there is no penalty for
changing your mind and filling out a cover sheet
for more than one project. A full application
consists of the items listed above, as sent to
the project director.
Résumé
Please include a résumé detailing your
educational qualifications and professional
experience.
The Application Essay
The application essay should be no more than
four double‑spaced pages. An essay should
usually be written in response to the
information contained in the director's letter.
It should address reasons for applying; the
applicant's interest, both academic and
personal, in the subject to be studied;
qualifications and experiences that equip the
applicant to do the work of the seminar or
institute and to make a contribution to a
learning community; a statement of what the
applicant wants to accomplish by participating;
and the relation of the project to the
applicant's professional responsibilities.
Reference Letters
The two referees should be chosen carefully.
They should be familiar with the applicant's
professional accomplishments or promise,
interests, and ability to contribute to and
benefit from participation in a community of
intellectual inquiry. They should specifically
address these issues in their recommendations.
Letters from colleagues who know the applicant's
teaching and from those outside the applicant's
institution who know the applicant's habits of
mind can be particularly useful. Referees
should, if possible, be familiar with the work
of the National Endowment for the Humanities and
the seminars and institutes program. It is
helpful for referees to read the description of
the project sent by the director and the
application essay. If an applicant has
previously participated in an NEH summer seminar
or institute, a recommendation from the director
or lead scholar of that program would be
useful. Please ask each of your referees to
sign their name across the seal on the back of
the envelope containing their letter, and
enclose the letters with your application.
SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS AND NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE
Completed applications should be submitted to
the project director and should be
postmarked no later than March 3, 2008.
Successful applicants will be notified of their
selection on April 1, 2008, and they will have
until April 15 to accept or decline the offer.
Applicants who will not be home during the
notification period should provide an address
and phone number where they can be reached. No
information concerning the status of an
application will be available prior to the
official notification period.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT:
Endowment programs do not discriminate on the
basis of race, color, national origin, sex,
disability, or age. For further information,
write to NEH Equal Opportunity Officer, 1100
Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.
20506. TDD: 202/606‑8282 (this is a special
telephone device for the Deaf). |
