Syracuse and the "Jerry Rescue"

Jacqueline Bacon's book is a wonderful model of historical research: rich with nuance and carefully considered analysis of archival, primary, and secondary sources. While class members in 751 are blogging about the assigned chapters, I thought I would take up our recent class tour of the Abolitionist sites in Syracuse, NY. One of the connections I've been trying to draw in the class is between the social histories and historiographical texts that we are reading and the local area, which is a rich site of social history for a number of social movements and causes.

A group of 751 folks including some of our offspring (!) went downtown on Sunday to get a sense of the abolitionist picture here in 19th century Syracuse. Dennis Connor from the Onondaga Historical Association took us on a historical walk through downtown Syracuse that highlighted some of the major locations and people who were engaged in significant abolitionist activity. The day we went (Sunday) was also the day before the commemoration of the Jerry Rescue, a situation where the citizens of Syracuse rose up against federal marshals who had imprisoned William "Jerry" Henry, a local African American man who was a "runaway" slave living in Syracuse and working as a skilled woodworker. William was taken into custody by federal marshals enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law Act, which forced all citizens to turn in runaway slaves or face a fine and imprisonment. This Act, part of the Missouri compromise, was mean to force citizens in the North to collude with the unjust slavery system of the South. While Syracuse was already a site of significant abolitionist activity, the tide was turned around the situation of William Henry. William was kept in police custody and at one point tried to escape. He ran down the street and was suppressed and struck by the marshals in public view and then dragged back to the jail. It was then hard to remain neutral about this issue. Abolition was no longer an abstract issue--one of the citizens of Syracuse was being dragged back into jail in plain view under an unjust law. A plan was fomented by Rev May and Rev. Loguen and others to break Jerry out of jail and get him to Canada. The "Jerry" rescure resulted whereby several hundred citizens gathered outside the jail, extinguished the gaslights, and broke into the jail with a battering ram and carried William out. He was hidden in various houses and dressed as a woman to conceal his identity before being taken to Kingston, Ontario by boat. The consequences for the rescuers were great in terms of facing conviction and trial. A film at the OHA illustrates the major aspects of the "Rescue."

Thus, the Fugitive Slave Law was a major incubator of activism for the citizens of Syracuse, and it stands today as an iconic moment in the history of abolition both locally and nationally. As we walked with Dennis through the city, he introduced us to several sites where speeches were made by Frederick Douglass, where runaway slaves were hidden (houses and churches), and he pointed out the sites of the court, businesses, and private residences where significant abolitionist actions were taken. What was clear is there was a rhetorical and material network in play and there were different levels of engagement depending upon the person, his/her position, and the time period--before and after the Fugitive Slave Law Act. Dennis also pointed out the ways in which African Americans were treated diffferently and often unfairly within the abolitionist movement--a point Bacon takes up as well. Those of us who attended were also struck by how much change the city has seen in terms of architectural razing and rebuilding. Many historical sites and residences are simply gone. The building where Daniel Webster gave his threatening speech about citizens obeying the Fugitive Slave Law or else (ironically) is still there--including the balcony he stood on as he delivered the speech.

If you haven't already, please go see the "Jerry" Rescue moument at Clinton Square. It faces the site of the jail where William Henry was unjustly imprisoned, and it depicts the dramatic scene of Jerry being spirited out of jail by Revs Loguen and May. Rev Loguen points north to freedom. While this was not what happened historically, it is an effective artistic rendering.

The site of the jail is a parking lot now. The folks who own it have not agreed to sell it to the OHA, which would like to create a monument there. I guess parking spaces still trump the commemoration of social justice.

I think we all found the walk very informative. There are now Freedom Trail markers around the city, and I recommend that anyone take the walk we did with Dennis. It was eye-opening and wonderfully linked to all we are discussing. It is also a reminder that the Jenna 6 should be fresh in our minds.