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Museum of Bronx History Crucible of Liberty Exhibit Connects Local Stories to America's 250th
- Damian Ali
- Jun 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 17
Artist's interpretation of Joe running away from the Valentine-Varian House in August 1777. Joe, born around 1759, escaped enslavement by Isaac Valentine while wearing a sleeveless red coat. Historians do not know whether Joe ultimately secured his freedom. Courtesy of The Bronx County Historical Society.
As the United States prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Bronx residents will soon have a permanent place to learn how people and events close to home shaped the nation's long struggle over liberty.
The Bronx County Historical Society will open 'The Bronx; Crucible of Liberty. Radicals, Runaways, & Revolutionaries; 1600–1850' on July 1 at 6 p.m. at the Museum of Bronx History, located at 3266 Bainbridge Ave. The free opening reception, co-sponsored by From The Bronx and The Bronx Beer Hall, will include light refreshments and is open to the public.
The new exhibition tells stories connected to the Bronx and lower Westchester County between 1600 and 1850, a period that included Indigenous traditions of governance, religious dissent, the Revolutionary War, slavery, abolition, and the growth of ideas that later became part of the American story.
For neighbors who know the borough through Yankees history, hip hop, or immigrant communities, some of the names and events featured in the exhibition may come as a surprise.
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Left: Print of Anne Hutchinson, charged with heresy and questioned before a Boston tribunal, who later settled in what is now Pelham Bay Park. Right: A sketch depicts a member of the Stockbridge Militia, whose Indigenous fighters served during the Revolution near today's Van Cortlandt Park. Courtesy of The Bronx County Historical Society.
Visitors will find stories about Anne Hutchinson, the seventeenth-century religious dissenter who spent her final years in what is now Pelham Bay Park, and printer John Peter Zenger, whose reporting on a 1733 election in Eastchester helped establish important protections for freedom of the press in New York.
The exhibition also shares the story of Joe, an enslaved man who escaped in 1777 from the owner of the very house that today serves as the Museum of Bronx History. Other sections look at abolitionists, Underground Railroad organizers, and residents who faced difficult choices during the Revolutionary War.
"This exhibition weaves together a rich tapestry of local stories of how American liberty was fought for, contested, and pushed further in our own backyard," said Dr. Steven Payne, director of The Bronx County Historical Society. "From Lunaapeew traditions of non-authoritarian freedom to the enslaved runaways who risked everything to attain freedom and the very penman of the U.S. Constitution itself, The Bronx has always been a crucible of liberty. We invite everyone to see themselves in this history."
Meet William Leggett
The exhibition follows several America 250 programs presented by the Society this year, including lectures on Gouverneur Morris, Thomas Paine, and Black experiences during the Revolution.
Bronxites curious about the exhibition can get an early look through a series of short videos on the Museum of Bronx History's YouTube channel. Produced by Live History, the videos introduce figures connected to the exhibition, including Revolutionary War veteran Andrew Frazier, religious leader Anne Hutchinson, and journalist and abolitionist William Leggett.
The Museum of Bronx History is located at the corner of Bainbridge Avenue and East 208th Street.
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