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HISTORIC HOMECOMING

This illustration appeared in Solomon Northup's "Twelve Years A Slave," depicting the reunion of Northup with his wife, Anne, upon his return to Glens Falls, N.Y., on Jan. 22, 1853.

Northup descendants organize commemoration of his 1853 release and return to New York

Solomon Northup, whose experience as a free black man sold into slavery has been immortalized in his autobiography and an Academy Award-winning film, was recently honored by his hometown of Glens Falls, N.Y. Several other municipalities including the State of New York as well as the U.S. Congress, plan to commemorate the 165th anniversary of his release from slavery in Avoyelles Parish in January 1853.

Northup descendant Melissa Howell, director of the Solomon Northup Legacy organization, is working with family member Irene Northup-Zahos in organizing 165th anniversary events to mark their famous ancestor’s release from slavery and return to New York in 1853.

“We behold a legacy with vast importance,” the two women said in a press release. “The support demonstrated to our project emphasizes the relevance of Solomon’s story 176 years since his enslavement and the 210 years since his birth. Our vision to mark the year’s events is to ensure Solomon’s seat at the table and his voice and his experience is present in today’s writing of our history for future generations.”

COMMEMORATIONS

The commemorations began Jan. 4 at the Avoyelles Parish Courthouse in Marksville, where Northup was granted his freedom Jan. 4, 1853. That event, called "Solomon Northup Freedom Day," was marked with a bus tour of important sites mentioned in the book and speeches at the courthouse.

The most recent day in his honor was Jan. 22, marking the day he returned to Glens Falls, being designated as “Solomon Northup Homecoming Day.”

Glens Falls Mayor Dan Hall called upon “all residents to educate themselves about the Solomon Northup story and his personal fight for freedom and equality and the greater message about the fight for human rights throughout the world.”

New York State Assemblyman Dan Stec had a legislative proclamation adopted designating Jan. 4 as “Solomon Northup Freedom Day” and Jan. 22 as “Solomon Northup’s Homecoming” in the state.

The resolution acknowledges Northup as “a valiant citizen who fought for abolition” and “affirms the importance of protecting our rights to freedom and the eradication of modern-day slavery.”

New York State Sen. Kathleen Marchione championed a proclamation in that chamber.

U.S. Rep. John Katko of New York marked the occasion in Congress, saying Northup “became a fierce abolitionist” after his rescue. He said “Solomon Northup Freedom Day” reaffirms “the necessity of eradicating modern-day slavery, human trafficking and racial prejudice.”

In closing, Katko told his colleagues that Northup will be remembered “for his dedicated efforts to fight for those who were vulnerable and did not have a voice. May we honor his legacy each and every day by following in his footsteps.”

The City of Auburn, where Northup’s book was published by Derby & Miller, also proclaimed Jan. 4 as Solomon Northup Freedom Day.

NORTHUP’S HISTORY

Northup had been held as a slave on a Rapides Parish plantation for a short while before being sold to an Avoyelles Parish planter. He spent most of his time on the Epps Plantation, where he was serving when his condition was discovered and reported to friends in New York.

Four months after his location was reported, attorney Henry Northup -- the son of Northup’s father’s former master -- came to Avoyelles Parish and began the legal action that led to his release from slavery.

He stopped in Washington, where he had been drugged and kidnapped 12 years earlier, and filed suit against the men who abducted him. He lost the suit.

Upon returning to Glens Falls, Northup wrote his autobiographical account, "Twelve Years a Slave."

His story was made into several theatrical productions, with the most popular and successful being "12 Years a Slave," which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2013, as well as garnering several other awards.

Northup spoke to gatherings as far away as Canada, recounting his tale as a warning to others as to what could happen and campaigning for rights of African-Americans prior to the Civil War and Emancipation.

It is not known when, where or how Northup died.

The last reliable public account of him was while he was lecturing in Ontario, Canada in the summer of 1857, where a rowdy crowd prevented him from speaking.

The Nov. 12, 1858 edition of the American Union newspaper in Ellicotville, N.Y., printed an article claiming Northup “who was kidnapped, sold as a slave and afterwards recovered and restored to freedom has been again decoyed South and is again a slave.”

Other newspapers also reported Northup had been kidnapped from Canada in 1857.

There is one theory that he was kidnapped and killed while promoting his book in Boston.

Others disregard the possibility of a second re-selling into slavery, noting that Northup would have been too old in the late 1850s to have been valuable as a slave.

There is anecdotal evidence of sighting Northup in the early 1860s.

Census records do not list his name in 1860 or thereafter.

His wife, Anne, is designated as “married” in New York Census records of 1865 and as “now widowed” in 1875.

When Anne Northup died in 1876, the Daily Albany Argus of Aug. 16, 1876 reported she was a widow and noted that Solomon Northup had become “a worthless vagabond” after years of speaking about his experience and promoting his book.

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