Sylvester Manor’s Porch Talk Series Presents:
“Our Forefathers Came from Africa”
The Story of Three Generations of an Enslaved African Family

What: Sylvester Manor Porch Talk
Date: Friday, August 12, 2022
Time: 5:00pm to 6:30pm
Location: Sylvester Manor Educational Farm, 80 North Ferry Road, Shelter Island, NY 11964

This program is FREE but Sylvester Manor requests that you RSVP in advance.

Sylvester Manor’s next Porch Talk event presents a conversation about Jupiter Hammon, one of the earliest published African American authors, whose grandparents, Tammero and Oyou, were among the first Africans enslaved at Sylvester Manor.

While enslaved at Joseph Lloyd Manor, one of Preservation Long Island’s historic house museums and a site that enslaved generations of people of African descent, Jupiter Hammon wrote powerfully about the social and moral conflicts slavery raised in the newly formed United States.

Preservation Long Island Curator, Lauren Brincat, theater artist, Malik Work, and Sylvester Manor Director of History & Heritage, Donnamarie Barnes, will discuss the relationships between the European families of both Manors and the legacy of a unique African family that can be traced for three generations.

In addition, Malik will recite Hammon’s seminal work, “An Essay on Slavery,” and the panel will explore the influences and traditions of Hammon’s family and the effect they had on his life and poetry.

Sylvester Manor (established 1652), Shelter Island. Photo by Andrew Bush.
Joseph Lloyd Manor (completed 1767), Lloyd Harbor.