Peekskill Business Community Celebrates Black History Month

Sisters In Support is teaming up with the Peekskill Business Improvement District to host a live virtual event featuring the descendants of historical African American figures including the living relatives of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Hawley and Harriett Green, and John Rankin. The live ZOOM event, “Sisters In Support: The Freedom Movement - A Look At A Legacy” will be held on Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 12noon. To register for this free event, visit www.harriettubmanpeekskill.com.

In addition to the notable descendants, the event will feature Keynote Speaker Vincent DeForest, the Former Special Assistant, National Parks Services, Underground Railroad. The panel will be moderated by William W. Sales, Jr., Professor Emeritus and Past Chairperson of the Department of Africana Studies and Director of the Center for African American Studies at Seton Hall University. A video tour of Peekskill's Underground Railroad locations will also be shown.

The panel discussion is designed to promote Black History Month and the temporary placement of Wesley Wofford's Harriet Tubman statue in Downtown Peekskill, NY, which is on display until the end of February 2021 on the corner of Central Avenue and Division Street.

“We are excited to hear from one of the most significant panels of living relatives of our nation's greatest African American leaders ever assembled in one place and at one time. The event itself is going to be historic,” said Lafern Joseph, Secretary, Peekskill Business Improvement District, who also conducts guided tours of the Underground Railroad in Peekskill and is the owner/operator of The Fern Tree, an African gift shop in downtown Peekskill.

Sisters in Support is a nonprofit group that aids minority women and families while concurrently sponsoring Peekskill-based tours of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad for nearly 20 years.

Local African American leaders describe Peekskill as one of the stops on the Underground Railroad where slaves seeking freedom followed the banks of MacGregory Brook from the Hudson River to secret hiding spots in Peekskill like in the Park Street A.M.E. Zion Church, Hawley and Harriet Green’s home at 1112 Main Street and on the Henry Ward Beecher’s estate. Tubman is believed to have led some of those journeys to freedom herself.

“We are delighted to sponsor this historical event in conjunction with the placement of the Harriet Tubman Statue in our downtown. Positioned outdoors, admirers can experience the statue in a safe and socially distanced manner while celebrating our community’s rich history and cultural diversity. The addition of the virtual panel with such an outstanding array of relatives of African American icons only enhances the statue's presence,” said Brian Fassett, President, Peekskill Business Improvement District Board of Directors.

The nine-foot-tall bronze artwork entitled Harriet Tubman—The Journey to Freedom, by sculptor Wesley Wofford, is touring the nation and depicts Tubman leading an enslaved young girl to freedom. With the youngster in tow, Tubman has a determined look as she faces into the headwinds of freedom. The statue has already appeared in Montgomery AL, Cambridge MD, Cape May NJ and Newburgh, NY. The statue arrived in Peekskill via flatbed trailer and a police escort in December 2020. The statue leaves Peekskill at the end of February on its way to Roanoke Rapids, NC.

The BID is sponsoring the statue's temporary placement in its central business district and is promoting a calendar of virtual events with its educational partners through the end of February 2021. For past and future events and registration procedures, visit www.harriettubmanpeekskill.com.