February 17, 2025: Taking precedence

It’s President’s Day. And what’s a thing that ties the two presidents we’re celebrating today? Slavery. 

So, today we are going to hunker down and talk Black history for the whole hour with three local historians. 

We talk with Smith College professor Jennifer DeClue on the overlooked histories those who were enslaved in the Connecticut River Valley, how women have been often left out of the slavery narrative,  how the legacy of slavery is evident as you walk down Main St. even today and how you can learn all this and more through a talk she is giving through Historic Northampton Tuesday night. 

Clark University professor of history Ousmane Power-Greene will introduce us to two Black women who we all should know more about, one whom you would’ve found in the opera houses and one who you can find in your U.S. passport.

And, UMass Amherst doctoral candidate and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Museum director of interpretation and visitor experience, Erika Slocumb, will talk with us about the challenges and importance of preserving oral history and how to preserve the present day.