Historical Society of the New York Courts Lemmon Slave Case Exhibit

The State of New York Unified Court System, Eighth Judicial District in coordination with the Minority Bar Foundation, Minority Bar Association of Western New York and the Bar Association of Erie County Cordially invite you to attend a light reception and viewing of the Historical Society of the New York Courts Lemmon Slave Case Exhibit

The Historical Society of the New York Courts, in collaboration with the New York State Courts are presenting a traveling tour to courthouses across New York State of The Lemmon Case: 1852-1860, A Prelude to the Civil War. This panel exhibit of the landmark Court of Appeals case features a video narration by James Earl Jones with an introduction by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore.

The exhibit is intended to educate the public on the role of the New York courts in paving the way for the abolition of slavery. Through the facts of the case, we learn how the courts helped free eight enslaved young women and children who sailed into New York harbor with their owners from Virginia. The New York courts’ ruling was in direct conflict with the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision of 1857, and it represented the most unyielding statement made against slavery by any court in the United States prior to the Civil War.

Click here to read the press release regarding the Lemmon Slave Exhibit