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Olmsted’s Howitzer: Frederick Law Olmsted’s Transformation from Gradualist to Abolitionist
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2026 1:00 PM
SPEAKER
Prof. James A. Kaser, Archivist, College of Staten Island
OLMSTED-BEIL HOUSE PARK
(Street Parking Only)
4515 Hylan Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10312
DESCRIPTION
From his youth, Olmsted held views about slavery that were common among Northerners. He considered slavery wrong but was convinced that the institution would gradually come to an end in the South, as it had in the North. He thought that the stances of both Southerners and abolitionists, and the fervor with which they were maintained, were equally wrong-headed. His friend, abolitionist Charles Loring Brace, debated with him and brought persuasive abolitionist leaders, like William Lloyd Garrison, to Olmsted’s farm. Olmsted was unswayed.
This presentation will focus on the ways in which Olmsted’s perspective was transformed by his travels through the South as a correspondent for the newspaper we know today as The New York Times. His journalism and resulting book, Journey in the Seaboard Slave States, reshaped the national slavery debate and converted other gradualists from their positions. Olmsted’s transformation was so complete that, in 1855, he was the agent for purchasing a howitzer to arm Kansas Free-Soilers.
THIS IS A FREE EVENT
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REGISTRATION
To register, write to info@olmstedbeilhouse.org
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Kaser is a bibliographer and cultural historian with a doctorate in American culture studies. He has written six books, including Staten Island’s Elliottville: Abolitionist Enclave, Gilded Age Retreat, Ferry Suburb (SUNY Press, 2025) and a photographic history of the College of Staten Island (Arcadia Publishing, 2026).