Fellows learn the History of Syracuse

By Onishias Maamba is Syracuse, New York

As the Mandela Washington Fellowship enters week three which is built around the core ideas of public administration and democracy, Fellows in Leadership and Public Management at Syracuse University this morning undertook a tour of Syracuse Downtown Syracuse led by the Onondaga Historical Association.

A lively cultural hub, Downtown Syracuse is Home to the Everson Museum of Art, known for ceramics and American works, and the Erie Canal museum, with exhibits on the waterway that once ran through the city.

Downtown Syracuse is the economic Centre of Syracuse and Central New York, employing over 30,000 people and housing over 4,300. It is also one of the 26 officially recognized neighbours of Syracuse.

Originally built on the lands of the former Onondaga Nation, the city grew on the back of its salt and chemical industries, and later as a center of manufacturing and engineering.                                                                                            

Syracuse also became an active center of the abolitionist movement, due in large part to the influence of Gerrit Smith and a group allied with him. This can be attested by the “Jerry Rescue” monument which is housed in Downtown in Clinton Square. On October 1, 1851, William Henry, a freed slave known as "Jerry", was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Law.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 The anti-slavery Liberty Party was holding its state convention in the city and when word of the arrest spread, several hundred abolitionists broke into the city jail and freed Jerry.                                                                                                        

 The event came to be widely known as the "Jerry Rescue".

As for basket fans, it is also worth noting that the 24-second shot clock was invented in Syracuse.

On Wednesday, Fellows will visit Albany, the capital city of New York State where they will tour the capitol building, meeting with lobbyists, government representatives. The follows will also visit the New York State Museum which explores the cultural and natural history of the New York State.