<div>For Amelia Paul, perhaps the best part about theater is that it helps bring history to life.“It takes us back, and then moves us forward,” said Paul, who will be part of a special program on Black history Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Schenectady County Historical Society. “It’s very interesting to portray historic figures and look at the impact they had on their community and perhaps the world. It’s also very important. Sometimes what we do with our lives can lead to great future endeavors.”“Schenectady Living History — Nineteenth Century African Americans” will tell the fascinating story of three prominent Black people with deep connections to the area. Paul will play Schenectady native Julia A.J. Foote, Walter Simpkins will reprise his role as Moses Viney, and Donald Hyman takes on the character of Anthony Allen. Joining them for a musical interlude or two at the Dora Jackson Museum in the Stockade will be the Duryee AME Zion Church Choir.Foote was born in Schenectady in 1823 — as slavery was being outlawed in New York — and grew up to be one of the first female preachers in the history of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Both Viney and Allen were escaped slaves, Viney coming to Schenectady just before the Civil War to become a long-time driver and aide to Union College president Eliphalet Nott, while Allen gained even higher status as a friend and confidant to King Kamehameha of Hawaii after leaving Schenectady in 1810 and escaping to freedom in the South Pacific.“It’s important that we bring these lesser-known voices to the public eye today,” said Paul, who grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn before moving to the Capital Region more than 20 years ago. “When I’m asked to do something like this, I know I have to do a lot of research to learn as much as I can about my character,” said Paul. “To discover that there was this woman in the 19th century, right here in Schenectady where I’m living, was amazing. I felt like Julia was a woman I could really relate to. She was born right when slavery was being abolished in Schenectady and her story is incredible.”Foote was the first woman deacon in the AME Church, and the second to be ordained as an elder. She often spoke at various AME churches throughout New York and New England, preaching the doctrine of “entire sanctification,” the view that Christians could attain perfection in life.“Some people looked at her as if she was a kook, but she had a conviction about what she was doing,”said Paul. “She believed in what she was doing and she had an impact. She was beaten when she was a young child and that put some fear into her life, but she propelled herself to seek out truth in her life and to be upright. She spoke about truth and injustice, and was very vocal about it.”Paul first became seriously interested in theater when she saw a production by the Soul Rebel Performance Troupe — now the Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York - back in 2010. A Black theater group created by Jean-Remy Monnay, its mission was to tell the untold stories of Black people in history.“I went to see a show and I was really impressed by this ‘Black play,’” remembered Paul. “Everything I knew about the theater was about Broadway, so I had no idea there were these ‘Black plays.’ I hadn’t been introduced to Black theater and I just thought it was fascinating.”She got involved with Monnay’s troupe, also did some work with Karen Christina Jones’ Calloloo Theatre in Schenectady, and then met Hyman, a very familiar face in the historical re-enactment community for 20 years. For more than a year now she has also been working as a program coordinator for the Underground Railroad Project of the Capital Region. Her work as a re-enactor with Hyman has been a particularly positive experience for her.“For a while now Donald has given me plenty of opportunity to work on re-enacting actual historical people,” she said. “I feel like I’ve been a performer since middle school but I did have a break. I came up here and had a family, and working as a re-enactor and all the experience I had with the Black Theatre Troupe and the Calloloo company has really helped me get ready for my job with the Underground Railroad Project. I love my job and it’s great to do all the performing I do with Donald.”Simpkins, also a Schenectady resident, has portrayed Viney on a number of occasions, perhaps most notably at the city’s Juneteenth celebration at Vale Park dating as far back as 2006. He has also worked with Hyman at a number of other events.“I tell people I’m not an actor, so when Donald Hyman puts together something, I’m there,” said Simpkins, who worked as an admissions director at SUNY-Schenectady before recently retiring. “I’m with it. However he wants it, it’s OK with me.”While he says he’s not an actor, Simpkins says he has a special connection with Viney, who worked at Union College for 70 years before finally passing away in 1909 at the age of 91.“Right from the start I felt very close to Moses,” he said. “I had this sense that I knew him and that’s why I started portraying him. I could see the children I was working with to help clean up Vale Cemetery needed something a little more to hang on to than just reading. They needed a visual and that’s what theater does.”Hyman, whose re-enacting resume includes a documentary film on Pullman Porters, says the work that he does with people such as Paul and Simpkins is vitally important.“Theater that tells the truth and educates fills an important role of healing the decreation of people in society who have been stereotyped and generalized,” said Hyman. “Theater of any kind has to be universal in order to be of any value. Therefore, Black theater responds to the need for that as well as theater in general whether local or on Broadway. The message is as important as the entertainment factor.”<h2>Schenectady Living History — Nineteenth Century African Americans</h2>WHERE: Schenectady County Historical Society, 32 Washington Ave. SchenectadyWHEN: Saturday, Aug. 17 at 3 p.m.HOW MUCH: FreeFOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact SCHS librarian/archivist Marietta Carr at schenectadyhistorical.org or contact her at (518) 372-0263 x3Rotterdam’s The E-Block takes off -- Upstate Beat5 Questions: Aiden Hennessey talks Dojo, 'Cap Region Feud' at MOPCO-</div>

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Program to put spotlight on Schenectady’s Black history

For Amelia Paul, perhaps the best part about theater is that it helps bring history to life. “It takes us back, and then moves us forward,” said Paul, who will be part of a special program on Black history Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Schenectady County Historical Society. “It’s very interesting to portray historic figures and look at the impact they had on their community and perhaps the world. It’s also very important. Sometimes what we do with our lives can lead to great future endeavors.”