'People Not Property': New website explores history of slavery in the region

The nonprofit educational group Historic Hudson Valley wants New Yorkers to know that slavery was not confined to the South.

The group has launched "People Not Property," a new interactive documentary website that explains the history of slavery in the Northeast, including the Hudson Valley, using stories, videos, and re-enactments.  It highlights the lives of 32 enslaved Africans who built and maintained Philipsburg Manor, the prominent 300-year-old manor and estate in Sleepy Hollow that is now a museum operated by Historic Hudson Valley.

Officials with Historic Hudson Valley hope the half-million-dollar project will provide educators with an integrative way to teach students about slavery in the colonial North. 

The project is among 253 across the nation that received $12.5 million in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create digital exhibitions and advance research.

"There are things that we assume when we talk about history," said Margaret Hughes, the associate director of education at HHV.  "There's a misconception of slavery as a 'Southern issue,' when slavery had a huge impact on the colonial North."