Austin Steward

On Sunday we were visited by former slaves Austin Steward and Rev. Thomas James (otherwise known as Dr. David Anderson and Charles Francis of AKWAABA: The Heritage Assoicates, Inc.).  Through a conversation between themselves these men told the story of their own paths to freedom, their assistance to other slaves, and their belief in the importance of education for all people.  Austin Steward believed that one could not be truly free until they learned to read.  This store owner, abolitionist and former Farmington resident was also the author of Twenty-Two Years a Slave, Forty Years a Freeman, which is available through the OWWL system.     

We feel very fortunate to have had these two historians create this program specifically for our library.

This program was funded by a generous grant from the Friends Endowment for the Macedon Public Library.