The opening for “Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and the March on Washington, 1963,” is Saturday June 4 at the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) at 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro. Young Lincoln, “sculpture in residence” stands ready to welcome visitors to the museum at 4:30 p.m. at which time Tim McLaughlin will introduce the intent of the Smithsonian exhibit.
“Changing America” examines the events leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and the March on Washington in 1963. Both events grew out of decades of bold actions, resistance, organization and vision. One hundred years separate them, yet they are linked in the larger story of a struggle for liberty which brought together different races, classes and ideologies and had a profound impact on the generations that followed.
Emily Zaengle, executive director of Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, will describe the Lincoln sculpture created by Dorothy Riester, founder of SQHAP, and its loan to NAHOF. McLaughlin, NAHOF vice-president and project director of the Changing America exhibit, will review the roster of 2016 Changing America programs at the Cazenovia Public Library, the Hamilton Public Library, the Oneida Public Library and at NAHOF.
A reception for the public with special recognition to the participants in the 2015 Created Equal program and to the board members of the Stone Quarry Hill Art Park will follow with refreshments.
At 7 p.m., NAHOF will present “Emancipation Music: Lyrics and Songs of 1863 and 1963.” Facilitated by Hugh Humphreys and Max Smith, selections of music representing the protests of 1863 and 1963 will be explained, compared, and performed. Lowell and Chris Lingo will be joined by the Krantz Family Singers of Syracuse for anti-slavery songs and Civil Rights songs.
Antislavery songs will include compositions by the Hutchinson Family Singers who began performing in 1843 and continued for four decades touring America and Europe — including programs in Peterboro and with Gerrit Smith at other sites. Two of the Hutchinson songs that will be included are “Old Granite State” and “Get off the Track.” The 1963 song selections will include “We Shall Overcome.”
“Changing America” is presented by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History in collaboration with the American Library Association Public Programs Office. The traveling exhibition is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor. NAHOF and partner libraries are offering free programs in connection with the exhibition. NAHOF is one of 50 sites in the country awarded this special exhibit.
For more information, call 280-8828 or visit nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org.
