College co-sponsors Historic Huguenot Street event, featuring personal responses to the history of slavery
Free tickets for 50 SUNY New Paltz students to attend on Sept. 16
SUNY New Paltz is a co-sponsor of “Reclaiming Our Time,” a new program coming to Historic Huguenot Street on Saturday, Sept. 16, which brings together a collective of writers sharing narratives of their own encounters with the history of slavery in the Hudson Valley.
The event takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Reformed Church of New Paltz (92 Huguenot St.). It will feature six writers presenting work inspired by their experiences in Huguenot Street lodgings once occupied by the slaves of New Paltz’s early European settlers.
Up to 50 SUNY New Paltz students are invited to attend “Reclaiming Our Time” free of charge, through the College’s event sponsorship. Tickets can be claimed at the Welcome Center front desk in the Haggerty Administration Building. They will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Faculty and staff are welcome to attend this event, too. Cost is $10 for general admission, and tickets can be reserved on the Historic Huguenot Street website.
This represents a unique opportunity for students and campus community members to deepen their understanding of the history of New Paltz, and the lived realities of enslaved persons during the 17th and 18th centuries.
It will also prepare students to engage productively in this year’s dialogue about the Hasbrouck Complex building names, as announced by President Donald P. Christian on Aug. 31. Those buildings on campus are named for Huguenot Street families that once owned slaves.
“Reclaiming Our Time” is presented by Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) in partnership with the Slave Dwelling Project and TMI Project. The program seeks to raise awareness of and inspire people to take action around issues of inequality and injustice through authentic storytelling.
It builds on a collaboration between the College, HHS and the Slave Dwelling Project that took place last fall, when students in the Department of Black Studies were invited to participate in an overnight stay in former slave quarters.
This event is sponsored by SUNY New Paltz, a Humanities New York Action Grant, the DuBois Family Association and the Reformed Church of New Paltz.
For more information, visit Historic Huguenot Street online.