Join Bowne House for a Zoom presentation given by Ellen M. Spindler, Bowne House Collection Volunteer, in commemoration of West Indian Emancipation Day. The talk will address abolitionist activities occurring at the Bowne House and in Flushing before and during the Civil War, including Samuel Bowne Parsons’ trip to the West Indies and subsequent lobbying efforts; abolition and Underground Railroad letters in the Bowne House archives; the anti-slavery church Robert Bowne Parsons organized on Bowne Street; West Indian Emancipation Day celebrations held in Flushing; the Civil War draft riots in Flushing (as described by Susan B. Anthony in a letter); Mary Mitchell Parsons’ Civil War volunteer work; and Frederick Douglass’s talk at Flushing Town Hall.

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