History of Abolition of Slavery in New York State

The Spring 2026 Public History Workshop focused on developing lesson plans and compiling resources for teachers to commemorate the 200th anniversary of abolition of slavery in New York State (1827-2027).

The group of PhD students from multiple fields collaborated with high school teachers and presented one of the lessons to an AP African American Studies class, who came to Columbia's campus and engaged with archival materials. If you are interested in a field trip to Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library, please contact Thai Jones at [email protected].

Lesson Plans & Resources

This lesson involves a field trip to Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library, where students will use archival material to learn about the history of abolition in New York. This lesson can be tailored to fit your course's needs.

NYS Abolition with Columbia Archival Material Lesson

This lesson involves using various data sets to better understand demographic information about the history of slavery in New York.

NYS Abolition through Data Analysis Lesson Plan

NYS Abolition through Data Analysis Student Handout

This lesson uses primary sources such as runaway slave ads and handwritten notes to teach students about the nature of slavery in New York.

NYS Abolition with Primary Sources Lesson Plan

NYS Abolition with Primary Sources Student Handout

The document below lists additional resources where teachers might find other compelling primary sources to use in lessons about the history of abolition in New York State.

Additional Primary Sources List