The Underground Railroad in Westchester County

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One track of the secret network of homes ready to help fugitives from slavery stopped in New Rochelle, Pleasantville, Bedford, and Quaker Hill before presumably leading to Canada.

Quakers Joseph Carpenter, Moses Pierce, Esther Carpenter Pierce, David Irish, and Bedford residents John Jay and his sons, William and John Jay II, supported the abolition movement and helped enslaved persons find their way to freedom.

In her December 9 presentation, Professor Dorothee Greenberg will cover the overseas influences, national events, abolitionists in New York State, and the lives and circumstances of those immediately involved: Joseph Carpenter and his daughter in New Rochelle; Moses Pierce and his family in Pleasantville; William Jay in Bedford, and David Irish on Quaker Hill.

A retired Pace Professor of English, Dorothee Greenberg is a graduate of Wellesley College. She earned her M.A. in English and German Literature at the University of Munich and her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at NYU.
Professor Greenberg will be making her presentation on Monday, December 9 at 7:30 pm in the Gathering Room.