Stop 1 - Through the Door
Step through the front door into the award-winning Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence which was home to Stephen and Harriet Myers, Black abolitionists who were the central Underground Railroad activists in the Capital Region of New York State, who were well-networked across New York State and beyond, and who provided refuge and assistance to thousands of freedom seekers in the years before the Civil War.
Stop 2 - Vigilance Committee flier
The Vigilance Committee met in the front parlor where you are now standing. The flier, blown up from an 8.5 by 11 inch document to the poster size hanging on the wall, was a publicly distributed document and published in two abolition newspapers. Vigilance Committees, found in many larger northern cities, were composed of local citizens who worked together to abolish the institution of enslavement in what became the northern free states and the United States. 198 Lumber Street is today's 194 Livingston Avenue. What does this flier tell you about the work of the Vigilance Committee that met in this front parlor?
Stop 3 - Meet Stephen Myers
Stephen Myers was born enslaved in Rensselaer County, on the east side of the Hudson River across from Albany. He was born just before 1799 which means that he was born enslaved. He was enslaved by a professional familly which allowed him exposure to reading, writing and interacting with the public. He was manumitted in 1818. This means he was given his legal freedom. He did not escape enslavement. He did not run away. But it did mean that he had to find a way to establish himself with an eye to his long range economic security. Over the next decade he established himself in a career in the hospitality field, married Harriet Johnson, and began to establish a family, while rising to a position of prominence among local and far-flung abolitionists. Mr. Myers passed from this life on February 12, 1870.
Stop 4 - Meet Harriet Myers
Mrs. Harriet Myers was born free in 1805. Her family as we know them through historic documents consisted of her father, Mr. Abrahm Johnson, and a brother, Mr. John Johnson. Both Abrahm and John purchased a sloop in the early 1830’s and they became successful businessmen transporting goods and people on the Hudson River between Albany and New York City.Harriet Johnson married Stephen Myers in May 1827, just before New York State abolished the institution of enslavement within its borders, and together they had five children, one of whom died in infancy. Harriet was a leading activist on behalf of freedom seekers, and “an active and energetic antislavery woman who reduced the theories on the slavery question to practice.” (Obituary, 1865)
Stop 5 – The UREC Library
On the second floor of the Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence, in the front room, at one time a bedroom, is a library of nearly a thousand books. The books are on topics such as the Underground Railroad, Black history, Civil Rights and more. They are books for adults, books for teens and young children, records, documents, curriculum materials, reports and examples of abolition newspapers. The library is used by our staff, guests, young people involved in our youth program work and volunteers. The library has been organized and maintained by volunteers. We look to use this library of donated books and records, along with its reports, examples and curricular materials to further our community's understanding of the Underground Railroad, the abolitionists movement and their connection to today.
Stop 6 - The Third Floor at The Myers Residence
Welcome to the third floor of the Myers Residence. There are four rooms on this floor. Two of the rooms were used by the Myers children, leaving the other two available for "company" if needed.The northeast room is our archaeology work room. We have done numerous archaeology digs on the properties with junior high students, college students, community people and professional archaeologists. One dig done in 2017 was done by college students from The University at Albany. The dig was led by professor Marlyn Masson of the anthropology department. A team of students did the work of digging, recording measurements and identifying artifacts. The artifacts were then taken back to their lab and cleaned. Examples.of the artifacts are present on a display table in the room:A stenciled plate fragment showing the quality of life people in the 1850s had. The broken section of a plate shows the quality of the domestic items. These found artifacts were identified in dirt fill sifted from a water cistern under the ground behind the Myers Residence.A broken smoking pipe showing one of the pass times engaged in by mid 19th century people. The pipe shows both the quality consumer items and let's us know this was one of the ways people spent their time.A fragment of a children's cup shows that there were items targeted to children. The cup exhibits a fable that is a lesson for a young person.An oyster shell provides an example of one of the food items quite common and popular in the period.A green glass bottle with a broken neck - what do you think this bottle was used for? Does its design remind you of anything? It is called a cathedral pickle jar. when purchased it held pickles, when empty ita reuse possibilities were only limited by imagination.These are just a few of the items on display that communicate about mid-19th century life and the life of people such as they Myers' who lived at this address in the mid-19th century.Finally, conspicuously displayed are copies of THE LIBERATOR, the newspaper created by William Lloyd Garrison in the 19th century. This radical abolitionist newspaper provided news of everything that happened in the abolitionist movement. It is with little doubt that the Myers' followed what was printed in this paper. Please feel free to open the top grey box and carefully take out a copy of The Liberator. In scanning its four pages, what strikes you about the newspaper? What do you find similar to and different from our print news media of today?Before you leave the third floor, please leave your thoughts, comments, observations on the cards hanging on the reflection wall.
Thank you for visiting the Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence
We at Underground Railroad Education Center are pleased that you chose to pay us a visit. We do hope that your experience at The Myers Residence has proven to be an opportunity for you to learn things about the Underground Railroad movement that were new and enriching. Please be sure to fill out a half-page feedback card and leave it atop the roll top desk. Please do take a To-Go bag with you so that you can learn more about Underground Railroad Education Center.Please do make sure you have paid your admission online or with a staff person, and please know that as a non-profit we are always happy to accept additional donations in support of the work of Underground Railroad Education Center. Would you like to volunteer? Would you like to become a member? Would you like to become a significant donor? Please speak with a staff person about these matters.We ask you to help us by spreading the word about The Myers Residence and about Underground Railroad Education Center. As our mission states, "Underground Railroad Education Center researches and preserves the local and national history of the Underground Railroad movement, its international connections, and its legacy for today’s social justice issues, thereby empowering people of all ages to be agents of change toward an equitable and just society." We hope you leave The Myers Residence being empowered.
