Community gathers to remember abolitionist Austin Steward

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A different Independence Day celebration was held Wednesday as the community remembers abolitionist and Rochester historical figure Austin Steward.

Steward was a successful businessmass and predated Frederick Douglass by more than 20 years. Wednesday’s celebration included a re-enactment of his July 5, 1827 speech after slavery was abolished in New York.

“Any time we celebrate the ancestors, it’s always special, and that’s part of the reason we have a libation ceremony, which is always consistent with celebrating ancestors — and bringing them into the ceremony — and it’s special to highlight someone that may not get enough credit, but did a lot for our community, a lot for the foundation of Rochester, and a lot for — let’s say — progressive Black thought,” saod Community Justice Initative’s Diallo Payne. “That we can use to also be progressive in 2024 and after.”

Steward opened a business in 1817 and was active well into the 1860s, making great strides before Frederick Douglass came to Rochester.

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