{"id":293862,"date":"2026-07-12T16:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T16:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/293862\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T16:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T16:58:09","slug":"event-marks-the-abolition-of-slavery-in-new-york-and-celebrates-a-rochester-symbol-of-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/293862\/","title":{"rendered":"Event marks the abolition of slavery in New York and celebrates a Rochester symbol of freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Willie Robinson moved to Rochester from North Carolina in the mid-1980s. That\u2019s when he met Cynthia, who had moved to Rochester from Arkansas at age 4. They married, had careers, children, and grandchildren, all in Rochester.<\/p>\n

And during an Abolition Commemoration Day ceremony this weekend, they shared one more thing: astonishment. <\/p>\n

After nearly four decades in the Flower City, the Robinsons had no idea what Kelsey\u2019s Landing was.<\/p>\n

The landing was built in 1844, down a steep cliff from what is now Maplewood Rose Garden<\/a>. It was a popular place in that era for moving goods \u2014 including flour, timber, and salt \u2014 up and down the Genesee River and through the Great Lakes. They used the stairs and an elevator to reach today\u2019s garden area.<\/p>\n

This secluded landing became a hotspot on the Underground Railroad, where Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society helped at least 100 runaway slaves to freedom. A fire after the turn of the 20th century wiped out much of Kelsey\u2019s Landing.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

James Brown<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

For WXXI News<\/p>\n

Willie and Cynthia Robinson attended the Abolition Commemoration Day ceremony on Saturday, July 11, 2026, where they learned the history of Kelsey’s Landing as an Underground Railroad spot. “It’s certainly a hidden gem in Rochester,” Willie Robinson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely an eye-opening experience,\u201d said Willie Robinson. \u201c\u200aIt’s certainly a hidden gem in Rochester. A lot of folks likely don’t know that this exists. \u200aIt’s critically important that we let the younger generation know about spaces like this because there are so many trying to make sure that our history is erased.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI grew up in the public school system here,\u201d Cynthia Robinson added. \u201cI am a preschool teacher in the Rochester City School District. I have never heard about this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the kind of “aha” moment that Pamela Reese Smith, president of the Rochester Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or ASALH, is working to foster. <\/p>\n

Founded in 1915, ASALH\u2019s goal is to \u201cpromote, research, preserve, interpret, and disseminate information about Black life, history, and culture to the global community.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Smith said ASALAH\u2019s New York chapters are working toward making Abolition Commemoration Day a holiday in New York state. The day focuses on New York\u2019s 1827 Abolition Act, which ended slavery in the state.<\/p>\n

\"Pamela<\/p>\n

James Brown<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

For WXXI News<\/p>\n

Pamela Reese Smith speaks at the Abolition Commemoration Day ceremony on Saturday, July 11, 2026. Smith is president of Rochester’s chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.<\/p>\n

In Rochester, Smith\u2019s focus is on bringing her primarily virtual meetings into real life by highlighting spaces like Kelsey\u2019s Landing.<\/p>\n

Smith would like to make it easily identifiable.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aI really would love to see Kelsey’s Landing developed into an actual tourist attraction, a spot where people come here, and they’re looking for this,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m hoping that the city and the county find a way to actually make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Willie Robinson agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could just really make it a big deal,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cBecause it’s a part of our history, not just Rochester history, but it’s a part of our American history.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Willie Robinson moved to Rochester from North Carolina in the mid-1980s. That\u2019s when he met Cynthia, who had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-293862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}