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The Underground Railroad Focus of Program

Aug 30, 2017

NECSD_alsdorf sons — The Pulitzer-Prize winning book, The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, is the Orange Library Association (OLA) OrangeREADS selection for 2017. The Newburgh Free Library will celebrate with a special program, “When Freedom Calls: The History of the Alsdorf Family and the Underground Railroad” On Mon., Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. Speaker Tashae Smith will focus on the Alsdorf family, one of the most prominent African-American families in Newburgh in the 19th and 20th centuries.

NEWBURGH – The Pulitzer-Prize winning book, The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, is the Orange Library Association (OLA) OrangeREADS selection for 2017. The Newburgh Free Library will celebrate with a special program, “When Freedom Calls: The History of the Alsdorf Family and the Underground Railroad” On Mon., Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. Speaker Tashae Smith will focus on the Alsdorf family, one of the most prominent African-American families in Newburgh in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Smith was awarded the 2015 Open Space Institute’s Barnabas McHenry Hudson Valley Award for historical preservation researching the history of slavery in her hometown of Newburgh.

She will start her talk with information about Newburgh’s George Alsdorf, who was a slave until he was freed in 1827. Along with the Alsdorf Family’s contribution to the Underground Railroad, other key Newburgh individuals will be discussed, including those who supported the Underground Railroad or were involved in the fight to abolish slavery.

Then, on Wed., Sept. 13 at 7 p.m., The Underground Railroad will be featured in the Scholar’s Pick Book Discussion, led by Dr. Jessica Gerson, at the Newburgh Free Library. This book tells the story of Cora, a teenage slave who runs away from a Georgia cotton plantation with a literate new arrival named Caesar. They board the Underground Railroad together, pursued by a ruthless slave catcher. Books for the book discussion are now available for checkout at the Main Library.

The OrangeREADS 2017 will culminate in an Author Talk on Sat., Sept. 23 at 3 p.m., at the George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo Park. Colson Whitehead will be joined in conversation by Gerald Howard, executive editor at Doubleday. The Underground Railroad, published in 2016, won the Pulitzer Prize, the 2016 National Book Award, the 2017 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction, and was a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Each OLA library has a limited number of tickets for this event.

For information on tickets or programs, call 845-563-3629.