The Story of Early Black Folk in the Hudson Valley

About the Lecture

Dr. Nicole Saffold Maskiell traces the Complex and Vast Connections of Early Black Communities in the Hudson Valley.

The Story of Early Black Folk in the Hudson Valley is a part of the free lecture series, In Perspective... presented by the African American Archive of Columbia County in association with the Columbia County Historical Society.

This event will be presented in a virtual format via the Zoom App. To join the lecture, click "Join Now" button at the bottom of this page.

Guest Speaker

Dr. Nicole Saffold Maskiell, Associate Professor of Dept of History, University of South Carolina

Dr. Maskiel is a historian specializing in family slaveholding networks in Anglo-Dutch colonial America.

A native of Oak Park, Illinois, Dr. Maskiell received her A.B. cum laude from Harvard College in 2002, and her MA in 2010 and her Ph.D. in 2013 from Cornell University. Dr. Maskiell has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, including the U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship in Dutch, the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies Travel Grant for research in the Netherland Antilles (Curaçao), The Gilder Lehrman Fellowship for research in New York repositories, and the Huntington Mayers Fellowship for research in San Marino California. Dr. Maskiell is an Associate Professor of History at the University of South Carolina and a Peter and Bonnie McCausland Fellow.

Her book entitled Bound by Bondage: Slavery and the Creation of a Northern Gentry, centers slavery as a crucial component to the rise and enduring influence of the moneyed Northeastern elite.

She has appeared on CSPAN, the podcast Ben Franklin's World, and in a Historic Hudson Valley documentary film about the life and legacy of Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse, an early female trader and enslaver. She is currently a series editor for Black New England, a University of Massachusetts Press book series that highlights original and innovative research on the history of African-descended people in New England from the colonial period through the present day.

www.nicolemaskiell.com

Bound by Bondage: Slavery and the Creation of a Northern Gentry

By Dr. Nicole Saffold Maskiell

During the first generations of European settlement in North America, a number of interconnected Northeastern families carved out private empires. In Bound by Bondage, Nicole Saffold Maskiell argues that slavery was a crucial component to the rise and enduring influence of this emergent aristocracy.

Dynastic families built prestige based on shared notions of mastery, establishing sprawling manorial estates and securing cross-colonial landholdings and trading networks that stretched from the Northeast to the South, the Caribbean, and beyond. The members of this elite class were mayors, governors, senators, judges, and presidents, and they were also some of the largest slaveholders in the North. Aspirations to power and status, grounded in the political economy of human servitude, ameliorated ethnic and religious rivalries, and united once antagonistic Anglo and Dutch families, ensuring that Dutch networks endured throughout the English and then Revolutionary periods.

Using original research drawn from archives across several continents in multiple languages, Maskiell expertly traces the origin of these private familial empires back to the founding generations of the Northeastern colonies and follows their growth to the eve of the American Revolutionary War. Maskiell reveals a multiracial Early America, where enslaved traders, woodsmen, millers, maids, bakers, and groomsmen developed expansive networks of their own that challenged the power of the elites, helping in escapes, in trade, and in simple camaraderie.

In Bound by Bondage, Maskiell writes a new chapter in the history of early North America and connects developing Northern networks of merit to the invidious institution of slavery.

Published by Cornell University Press. ISBN 9781501764240

Purchase Publication

African American Archive of Columbia County

The African American Archive of Columbia County, New York exists to document, preserve, and share the deep history of Black people in the upper Hudson Valley. From their arrival with the Dutch Patroons early in the 17th century, through today, the roots of our African forebears have been profoundly intertwined with the land and people of Columbia County. While hardly secret, this narrative is seldom told or taught in schools. Our mission is to lift the voices of our ancestors, bring our stories to light and life, and create a living chronicle that will honor our past and enlighten our future. www.afamarchivecc.org

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Victoria (Vicki) Jimpson-Fludd is the Executive Director of the African American Archive of Columbia County – a fledgling non-for-profit organization which is affiliated with the Columbia County Historical Society. The Archive exists to document, preserve, and share the deep history of Black people in the upper Hudson Valley. From their arrival with the Dutch Patroons early in the 17th century, through today, the roots of our African forebears have been profoundly intertwined with the land and people of Columbia County. While hardly secret, this narrative is seldom told or taught in schools. Our mission is to lift the voices of our ancestors, bring our stories to light and life, and create a living chronicle that will honor our past and enlighten our future.

Ms. Jimpson-Fludd’s education includes MBA studies at the Harvard Business School and the Wharton School of Finance as well as BA studies at SUNY Albany. For more than 20 years, she lived in Germany where she worked as a professional Management Consultant. Ms. Jimpson-Fludd also possesses a Certificate in Organizational and Community Leadership from Adelphi University as well as an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership & Management from the Austin W. Marxe School of Public & International Affairs at Baruch College - a program which is sponsored by the New York Community Trust. For the past 5 years, Ms. Jimpson-Fludd has served as the President of the Board of Directors and Grants Officer for the 60-year-old Fine Arts Orchestral Society d.b.a. Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra.

Lisa (Leigh) Fludd-Smith is a researcher and lay historian who focuses on combining abstract data with social, historical and cultural observation. She is descended from Black families who have lived in Columbia County for over 250 years, and is presently writing a book on the history of slavery and freedom in the area. In addition to her work with the Archive, Lisa also owns a furniture restoration business in Westchester County, where she lives with her husband and two of their three adult children.

Columbia County Historical Society

The Columbia County Historical Society is a private nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization Chartered by the Board of Regents, State Education Department, University of the State of New York, and dedicated to the preservation. interpretation and presentation of the history and culture of Columbia County, New York.

The CCHS encourages understanding, knowledge, and preservation of the County's culture and heritage through acquisition and conservation of historic artwork, architecture, properties, objects and documents, and through the sponsorship of research, publications, exhibitions, and educational programs.

To help achieve its mission, the CCHS owns, maintains, and interprets collections and buildings of historical significance, and operates a museum and extensive research library.

www.cchsny.org

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