Exploring Paul Cuffe:

The Man and his Legacy

 

A Public Symposium

Saturday, October 3, 2009

8:30 AM – 5 PM

 

New Bedford Whaling Museum

18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA

Event is free of charge and open to the public.

 

In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Paul Cuffe (1759 – 1817) we come together to explore Cuffe’s legacy including:

 

  • Paul Cuffe and relationships with the black and white community
  • Cuffe’s entrepreneurial and philanthropic ventures
  • Sierra Leone  - rise to be a people
  • Contemporary relevance of Cuffe and his legacy.

 

Program

 

8:30 – 9 AM                Coffee and Registration

 

9:00 – 9:15                  Welcome and Introduction

James Russell, President and CEO, New Bedford Whaling Museum

Lee Blake, President, New Bedford Historical Society

                                   

9:15 – 9:45                  Opening Keynote

                                    Introduction by Carl Cruz, New Bedford Historical Society 

Keynoter:  Lamont Thomas, author of Rise to be a People: A Biography of Paul Cuffe.

 

9:45 – 10:00                Panel Discussion, Q & A

Lavonne Leslie, African American Heritage and Culture Society

Donna McDaniel, Author of Fit For Freedom, Not For Friendship: Quakers, African Americans and the Myth of Racial Justice

Norman Barber, University of MA Dartmouth

 

10:00 – 10:15              Break

 

10:15 – 11:00              Local Relationships and Cuffe

Introduction by Jenny O’Neill, Director, Westport Historical Society

 

Marion Kilson, Scholar, Museum of African American History, Boston, Author of Kpele Lala: Ga Religious Songs and Symbols     

      Paul Cuffe’s Social Networks and Entrepreneurial Success

 

Richard Kugler, Former Director, New Bedford Whaling Museum.

      The Collaboration of Captain Paul Cuffe and Captain Isaac Cory of Westport

 

11:00 – 11:15              Panel Discussion, Q & A

                                    Russell Handsman, Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center

                                    Paul Cyr, New Bedford Public Library

Donna McDaniel, Author of Fit for Freedom, Not For Friendship: Quakers, African Americans and the Myth of Racial Justice

 

11:30 – 12:00              Introduction by Laurie Robertson-Lorant, New Bedford Historical Society

 

Speaker: Ray Rickman, Former President of the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society and Dealer in Rare Books on African Americans

                                         Two Centuries of Books By and About Paul Cuffe

 

12:00 – 1:30                 Lunch

 

1:30 – 2:15                  In the Time of Cuffe

Introduction by Betty Slade, Westport Historical Society

 

Speaker:  Julie Winch, University of MA-Boston, author of a Gentleman of Color; A Biography of James Forten.

“Thou Art Often the Companion of my Mind”:  Cuffe, James Forten and the Portrait of a Friendship

 

Speaker:   Valerie Cunningham, Former Director of Black Heritage Partnerships at University of New Hampshire and Co-Author with Mark Sammons of Black Portsmouth: Three Centuries of African American Heritage.

          Struggles for Freedom in Seacoast New Hampshire

                                   

2:15 – 2:30                  Panel discussion, Q & A

                                    Ray Rickman, The Rickman Group

                                    Lavonne Leslie, African American Heritage and Culture Society

Janine da Silva, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

                                   

 

2:30 – 2:45                  Break

 

 

 

 

2:45 – 3:30                  Rise to be a People - Sierra Leone

 Introduction by Cindy Barber, Rotch Jones Duff Museum

 

Speaker:  David Cole, Former Lecturer on Economics, Harvard University, author of Between a Swamp and Hard Place: Developmental Challenges in Remote Rural Africa

         The Struggle for Respect:  Paul Cuffe and His Nova Scotian Friends in Sierra Leone 

 

Speaker:  Kevin Lowther, Former Director of Africare, author of forthcoming The African-American Odyssey of John Kizell

          If Paul Cuffe Had Lived A Few Years Longer:  Sierra Leone and lLiberia, As They Might Have Been.

                                                 

 

3:30 – 3:45                  Panel discussion, Q & A

Norman Barber, University of Massachusetts –Dartmouth

Ray Rickman, The Rickman Group

Janine da Silva, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

 

3:45 – 4:30                  Closing

Moderator, Lee Blake, New Bedford Historical Society

 

 

This project is funded by the Helen E. Ellis Charitable Trust administered by a grant from the Westport Cultural Council, the Island Foundation, the New Bedford National Historical Whaling Park and the Westport Local Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

 

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The Paul Cuffe 250th Anniversary Committee wishes to express its deepest thanks for the

work of the planning committee and our program  sponsors including the following:

 

Lees Market, Albert Lees, III

New Bedford Historical Society

New Bedford Whaling Museum

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

New Bedford Ocean Explorium

Westport Historical Society

 

Symposium Committee Members

 

Chair, Lee Blake

Frank Barrows

Cindy Barber

Norman Barber

Tony Connors

Carl Cruz

Janine da Silva

Jenny O’Neill

Laurie Robertson-Lorant

Betty Slade

David Sutton

Emily Sutton

William Wyatt