Historic Hudson Valley Launches Groundbreaking Interactive Documentary ‘People Not Property’

Historic Hudson Valley has launched a new, groundbreaking interactive documentary website revealing the history of slavery in the colonial North. People Not Property: Stories of Slavery in the Colonial North is a mix of original videos, interviews, reenactments and infographics, as well as photos, illustrations, and hundreds of artifacts and documents that tell the wrenching stories of America’s history of slavery in the northern colonies, from the Middle Passage to life in the American colonies.

People Not Property is an unparalleled resource for educators, students, and the public. The website covers topics such as how slavery was established in the North, how individuals resisted slavery, how abolition did not translate into freedom, and the lasting impacts of slavery in today’s America.

“Historic Hudson Valley has been researching and sharing the story of Northern slavery at our site, Philipsburg Manor, for more than two decades,” says Waddell W. Stillman, President of Historic Hudson Valley. “People Not Property extends this narrative across the colonial North, and shines a light on the lives of individual enslaved people throughout the Mid-Atlantic States. We are grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities for their support of this important and timely work.”