Bearing Witness to the History of Enslavement

Bearing Witness to the History of Enslavement. . , Welcome to Historic Huguenot Street (HHS), a ten-acre National Historic Landmark District featuring seven stone houses dating to the 1700s. Recognizing that the labor of enslaved Africans and their descendants contributed significantly to the building of this community and the prosperity of its founding families, HHS is committed to telling the stories of its historically marginalized residents. HHS and the Dr. Margaret Wade-Lewis Black History Cultural Center have partnered with the Witness Stones Project, Inc., which works to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved individuals who helped build our communities through research, partnerships, education, and permanent memorial markers called "Witness Stones.", In 2024 HHS installed two Witness Stones commemorating the lives and courage of Susanna and Anthony, the first enslaved Africans known to have been purchased by a European founder of New Paltz. The Witness Stones greet visitors at the site's entrance, testifying to the reality of enslavement in this community's past. It is HHS's mission to install markers for the earliest known individuals enslaved at each of its historic buildings. We invite you to pause here, and throughout the site, to contemplate the history and impact of slavery on these individuals, this community, and our nation. You can also help spread the word about these important efforts to bring forward this complex history., This project has been generously funded in part by the DuBois Family Association. Anthony and Susanna's memorial markers were funded by Andreas du Bois, a direct descendant of Louis DuBois's brother.. , Who were Anthony and Susanna? , Anthony and Susanna, a man and woman of African descent, were probably enslaved in the Caribbean. They were brought to colonial New York as the captives of Lewis Morris, an English enslaver, plantation owner, and merchant with connections across the Atlantic world. Anthony and Susanna likely arrived after the English took control of New Netherland from the Dutch in 1664, and lived and worked on Morris's plantation in a part of the Bronx that now bears his name, Morrisania., In 1673, the Dutch briefly recaptured New York and seized the property of English loyalists, including Morris's. Among this "property" were Susanna and Anthony. The Dutch government sent the two Esopus (now Kingston, NY), instructing the Dutch sheriff to sell them at public auction. Colonist Louis DuBois, who would later become a founder of New Paltz, purchased Anthony and Susanna at that auction., An Act of Self-Determination , Within months, long before they would have taken up residence in New Paltz, Anthony and Susanna fled from DuBois, crossing the Hudson River and returning to the Morris plantation. Over the next six years, DuBois and Morris fought a bitter legal dispute to determine who had the right to own Susanna and Anthony. In 1680, a high court under New York's English Governor ordered that Anthony and Susanna would remain Morris's legal property., Amid the tyranny of slavery in colonial New York, Anthony and Susanna's story demonstrates strength, pride, and resilience. Their decision to determine their own place of residence forced two powerful European colonizers to expend years of effort and cost. Their story reveals New Paltz's connections to the wider Atlantic world, the presence and impact of Africans and their descendants on New Paltz from its earliest origins, and the need to continue researching, documenting, and acknowledging the stories of enslaved Africans in New York history., [Captions:] , Nieu Amsterdam, 1600s. Engraving. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs. New York Public Library., In an early image of the Dutch colony, richly dressed colonists display and abundance of goods created by enslaved Africans, while the laborers themselves are relegated to the background., A depiction of Susanna and Anthony crossing the Hudson River to escape Louis DuBois. Artwork by Robing Fuller, 2024., Detail from "Sale of Anthony and Susanna by Louis DuBois" (in Dutch), Secretary's Papers, 1661-1681. Ulster County Clerk's Office, Kingston, NY. 11 August 1679, page 344., Translation: Appeared before me W. Montagne / Secretary at Kingston Lowies Du Booys / resideing in the Esopus who declares having / sold to Matthue / Blansjan his runaway negro / named Anthony and a negress / named Susanna, at present / detained at Cornel Maures [Morris].