Did you know that the first published African American author was born on Long Island? Did you know that he was enslaved by three generations of the same family?

Join Preservation Long Island for the Jupiter Hammon Project, a major initiative to develop a more relevant and equitable interpretation of Joseph Lloyd Manor, one of Preservation Long Island’s historic houses and a site of enslavement. While enslaved at the Manor, Jupiter Hammon (1711–ca.1806) wrote powerfully about the social and moral conflicts slavery raised in the newly formed United States.

Through a series of three public roundtables, that will take place at different sites across Long Island during the late summer and early fall of 2020, the Jupiter Hammon Project will bring together renowned scholars and professionals with local residents, descendent communities, and other stakeholders to explore the legacy of slavery on Long Island and the life of Jupiter Hammon. Please join the conversation! Links to event details and registration below.

On Jupiter Hammon’s birthday, Saturday, October 17, 2020, join us for a special event when United for Libraries and Empire State Center for the Book designate Joseph Lloyd Manor as a Literary Landmark in honor of Jupiter Hammon and his significant contributions to American literature.

Read the Jupiter Hammon Project Launch Press Release.

Roundtable #1: Long Island in the Black Atlantic World


Weeksville Heritage Center (Brooklyn)
TBD 2020
Tickets

Roundtable #2: The Voice of Jupiter Hammon


Suffolk County Historical Society (Riverhead)
September 19, 2020
Tickets

Roundtable #3: Confronting Slavery at Joseph Lloyd Manor


Lloyd Harbor Historical Society
(Huntington)
October 24, 2020
Tickets

 

Learn More

The most comprehensive volume on Hammon’s works to date, The Collected Works of Jupiter Hammon carefully reconstructs the historical, political, social, and religious contexts that shaped his essays and poems throughout the late eighteenth century.

Take a virtual tour of the house and grounds where Jupiter Hammon wrote and lived. The house was completed in 1767 but less than ten years later, British soldiers occupied it after the devastating American defeat at the Battle of Brooklyn/Long Island on August 27, 1776.

 

Gather some background knowledge about Jupiter and his life from Preservation Long Island’s blog, The Life and Works of Jupiter Hammon (1711–ca. 1806). Author Sarah Kautz examines Jupiter’s writings, legacy, and relationship to the Lloyd family.

 

Preservation Long Island thanks the following sponsors and advisory council members for supporting the Jupiter Hammon Project:

Jupiter Hammon Project Advisory Council:

Charleen Francis
David Byer-Tyre
Denice Evans-Sheppard
Edward Dugger

Georgette Grier-Key
Irene Moore
Joan McGee
Julia Keiser

Melisa Chioma Emeghebo Rousseau
Zenzelé Cooper

 

DeLaCour Family Foundation

Lloyd Harbor Historical Society