Walkway Talks: Navigating The Underground Railroad in the Hudson Valley

Presented by Peter Bunten at the East Gate Plaza in Poughkeepsie from 2:30-3:30 p.m.  This event is free to attend and open to all.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, African American people in the Mid-Hudson Valley faced enslavement, racism, and other barriers to full participation in the social and political milieus of New York. The Hudson River – both actual and as a metaphor – offers a centerpiece for understanding those barriers and the fight for freedom. 

Peter Bunten is Executive Director of the Mid-Hudson Antislavery History Project, with which he has been affiliated for 13 years. He is the current Vice President of the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State and serves as a Trustee of the Dutchess County Historical Society. Through MHAHP he also is affiliated with Celebrating the African Spirit in Poughkeepsie and serves on the steering committee of the Northern Slavery Collective. Before his retirement in 2018, Mr. Bunten was the Education Manager for Historic Hudson Valley. He has a master’s degree in Historical Studies, with an emphasis on Public History, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is a native of Poughkeepsie and attended local schools here.