We Want More History!, a coordinated national event featuring place-based history programming which has been being erased by the administration of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, will take place September 25-27, 2026.
The national celebration of threatened American history will take place at libraries, parks, museums, and other civic spaces, featuring talks, facilitated discussions, teach-ins, programs, and community storytelling events.
Regular New York Almanack contributor Alan Singer (Hofstra University) along with Cynthia Copeland (of NYU and Trinity Church) will lead a walking tour about the city of New York and slavery.
Sites on the tour include Foley Square where enslaved Africans, free Black and White supporters accused of plotting the 1741 Slave Conspiracy were executed; the African Burial Ground on Duane Street between Center and Broadway that was used between the late 1600s and 1796 and originally contained between ten and twenty thousand burials; and New York City Hall whose early mayors profited from the sale of slave produced commodities and opposed the end of slavery.
Also included will be St. Paul’s Chapel on Broadway between Vesey and Fulton, the oldest church building in New York City, where enslaved Africans who helped build the church had to pray in a separate section and could not be buried in the cemetery;
The site of Hughson’s Tavern at Liberty and Trinity Streets where enslaved Africans, free Blacks and White supporters were supposed to have plotted the 1741 Slave Conspiracy;
Trinity Church were Alexander Hamilton is buried; Wall Street Slave Market at Wall and Water Streets where enslaved Africans and Native Americans were bought, sold, or rented;
Where the Amistad Defense Committee met at 122 Pearl Street near Hanover Street; Maiden Lane near Williams Street, the site of a 1712 Slave Rebellion; the 55 South Street was the office of Moses Taylor, a sugar merchant and banker who founded a bank now known as Citibank; and the Slave Traders’ Meeting Place at South Street Seaport.
We Want More History! is a grassroots initiative meant to bring people together to explore history, and is rooted in a simple idea: communities benefit when people have more opportunities to engage with history.
“At a time when historical understanding is often narrowed or politicized, the initiative activates places people already trust and gather as spaces for learning and connection,” the event organizers say.
Sponsors include the American Historical Association, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the Organization of American Historians. You can learn more about programs at the We Want More History! website.
Note: The 4, 5, 6, J, and M subway lines all have a stop at Brooklyn Bridge. The A and E stop at Chambers Street. For more information about the New York and Slavery Walking Tour email Alan Singer at catajs@hofstra.edu.
Read More About New York’s History of Slavery
Illustration: Alexander Rider created “Kidnapping” as a stipple engraving published in Jesse Torrey’s 1817 book A Portraiture of Domestic Slavery.
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