Black Poetry Day Set for Joseph Lloyd Manor

Black Poetry Day and the 313 ^th Birthday of Long Island writer Jupiter Hammon, America’s first published Black poet will be celebrated Oct. 19.

Preservation Long Island and the Town of Huntington African American Historic Designation Council have partnered to celebrate the day at Joseph Lloyd Manor. The day will include tours of the historic house, a poetry reading by author David Mills and refreshments in the garden overlooking Lloyd Harbor. The manor will open at 2 p.m., followed at 2:30 by Mills reading his original poetry from his  book Boneyarn, a book of poems about slavery in New York, and discuss how Hammon used Biblical imagery in his writing to question the institution of slavery.

Jupiter Hammon (1711–before 1806) was born into slavery at Henry Lloyd Manor on Oct. 17, 1711, a date now celebrated as Black Poetry Day. Hammon went on to compose several of his most significant works about the moral conflicts of slavery and freedom in the early United States while later enslaved at Joseph Lloyd Manor.

Joseph Lloyd Manor is one of Preservation Long Island’s historic houses and a site that enslaved generations of people of African descent.

The event is free. Space is limited, and advance registration is recommended. For more information and to reserve free tickets visit:

https://preservationlongisland.org/jupiter-hammons-birthday-celebration/