Syracuse, New York, honors its own major piece of Black history

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — As the country braces for a tumultuous presidential election that will affect civil and human rights, body autonomy, immigration, and more, this medium-sized city is reflecting on a political and racial landmark event that took place 160 years ago. 

Syracuse may be known mostly for the major university that carries its name, but local leaders are honoring the legacy of Black delegates who came here from across the country for the National Convention of Colored Men. The gathering took place at the former Wesleyan Methodist Church, once a meeting place for abolitionists, now the Noble Cellar fine-dining restaurant.

“Our name pays homage to our buildings’ honorable and noble origins, as a place of refuge and sanctuary for those on their path to freedom along the Underground Railroad,” said Rob Zaccaria, co-owner of Noble Cellar. 

On Friday on the Noble Cellar steps, Syracuse city officials, business owners, and residents gathered to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the National Convention of Colored Men. 

Speakers paid tribute to the space where late abolitionist and newspaper publisher Frederick Douglass led the convention among 144 delegates from at least 18 states. They paid homage to the delegates’ influential call to end slavery. 

Robert Searing, curator of history for the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse, New York, shares the history of the 1864 National Convention of Colored Men on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Syracuse. Behind him is Mayor Ben Walsh. Photo credit: Yolanda Stewart, NABJ Black News & Views
Robert Searing, curator of history for the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse, New York, shares the history of the 1864 National Convention of Colored Men on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Syracuse. Behind him is Mayor Ben Walsh. Photo credit: Yolanda Stewart, NABJ Black News & Views

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, an Independent, New York State Sen. Rachel May and Onondaga County Legislator Nodesia Hernandez, both Democrats, were joined by Zaccaria and fellow Noble Cellar co-owner Sarah Pelligrini, along with curator of history Robert Searing and executive director Lisa Romano Moore of the Onondaga Historical Association to dedicate proclamation plaques.

Walsh officially proclaimed Oct. 4 as the National Convention of Colored Men’s Day. 

The mayor spoke to the prestige of the delegates, many of whom were teachers, journalists, doctors, pastors, and entrepreneurs. Their collective mobilization called for the recognition of Black Americans as citizens and with civil liberties. Many of the challenges surrounding equity, education, and economic disparities the participants articulated then, still prevail in Black communities today, Walsh said.

The church’s notoriety predates the events that transpired at the National Convention of Colored Men. It served as a refuge point for fugitive slaves who traveled north via the Underground Railroad, the network of safe houses and locations that aided slaves as they secretly made their way north.

In the basement of the church, three face carvings made of clay were found in the late 1990s and extracted. The depictions are believed to have been sculpted by fugitive slaves. 

The facial carvings are preserved at OHA’s exhibit “Freedom Bound: Syracuse and the Underground Railroad.” It has been on display for the past 21 years.

Black political conventions are part of history

The first-ever national political meeting planned by Black American leaders took place from Sept. 20 to 24, 1830, at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Philadelphia. It was presided over by Richard Allen, a preacher and founder of the church.

Conventions like this were a response to an appeal by activist Hezekiah Grice who pushed Black mass immigration to Canada. At the time, many Black American communities were terrorized by white mobs and the enactment of “Black Laws” in several states that restricted Black Americans’ freedom. 

Black conventions took place starting in the 1830s to advance the civil liberties of Black people. 

The meeting in Syracuse convened in 1864.

The city’s centralized location connected it to the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, and the railroad, and made it a viable place for meetings. Upstate New York cities including Buffalo hosted historic events.

“Syracuse’s geography is always important. This has always been a place where people have come together,” Searing said. “So Syracuse has a long history of acting as a convention center. It’s easy to get to.”

The National Convention of Colored Men took place between Oct. 4 to 7, 1864, at the former Wesleyan Methodist Church. Many of the participants were still enslaved at the time of the meeting. Some of them hailed from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

While the delegates were predominantly male, it also included two Black women: educator Edmonia Highgate, the daughter of freed slaves who was born in Syracuse, and poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Some of the prominent Black men at the meeting were author/abolitionist Jermain Loguen, diplomat/minister Henry Highland Garnett, and Frederick Douglass.

In the delegates’ 61-page “Declaration of Wrongs and Rights,” they outlined their grievances with the imposed inequalities and their rights to be recognized as American citizens, and they called for the cessation of institutionalized slavery.

“They are articulating their hopes, they are articulating their frustrations, they are articulating their positions as both a collective.” Searing said. “It’s an incredibly significant gathering. The organization that they create will go on to create a major role in helping freedom come to fruition.”

Among its successes, the 1864 National Convention helped lay the groundwork for another Black movement, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), planned in part at meetings in Amenia, New York, and the Buffalo area before its 1909 founding.

“Every year you get to see the … conversations around methods and tactics and goals of the abolition and anti-slavery movement are worked out here in Syracuse,” Searing said. 

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