Award winning author and filmmaker Scott Christianson of Sand Lake will speak about his acclaimed new book, Freeing Charles: The Struggle to Free a Slave on the Eve of the Civil War, on August 1, to the Stephentown Historical Society. The meeting will be at 7:30 pm at the Stephentown Heritage Center on Garfield Road, Stephentown. The building is handicapped accessible. For directions or information, phone 518-733-5675 or visit Stephentown-Historical.org for a map.
Christianson’s book, to which he devoted 18 years of research and writing, recounts the story of Charles Nalle, a fugitive slave from Virginia who hid out in Sand Lake and Troy before he was betrayed by Horatio Averill, the founder of Averill Park, and arrested. An abolitionist mob led by Harriet Tubman set him free in Troy and Watervliet in the most dramatic slave rescue in American history. The book has been featured on C-Span and excerpted in the Wall Street Journal. The talk will reveal local details about the struggle to end slavery on the eve of the Civil War.
Christianson will have copies of his book for sale and signing.