Freethought Trail Adds 150th Historic Site

The Freethought Trail has reached another milestone, designating its 150th historic site page.

The page marks the location of a Baptist Church in Peterboro, New York, that was demolished in the 1870s. It was the site of the first day of a two-day anti-slavery convention held on August 21–22, 1850. The convention was organized by Peterboro activist and philanthropist Gerrit Smith. Famed anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass gave an oration lasting approximately 90 minutes.

The next day's session was held outdoors in the formal garden just east of Gerrit Smith's Peterboro mansion. (At the time the mansion was occupied by Gerrit's daughter, Elizabeth Smith Miller, and her husband.)

The Freethought Trail celebrates sites where the history of radical reform happened in west-central New York State, roughly between Rochester and Utica. Sites may host a museum, be acknowledged by a historical marker, or (like the new page for the Peterboro Baptist Church) be totally unmarked. "Radical reform" includes causes such as freethought, the abolition of slavery, woman's rights and woman suffrage, anarchism, dress reform, and more. It is a project of the Council for Secular Humanism and is associated with the Council's Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum in Dresden, New York.