South Street Seaport Museum to host free lecture on the Black oystermen of New York Harbor

The black oyster men of New York harbor lecture at South Street seaport museum in June 2026

The South Street Seaport Museum has announced a special public program titled Black Oystermen of New York Harbor, scheduled for Friday, June 26, 2026. The free lecture will take place at 6:30 p.m. at 213 Water Street, with advanced registration encouraged for all attendees. Organized in partnership with the Sandy Ground Historical Society, the event examines one of New York City’s earliest free Black communities and its historic maritime industry.

Julie Moody Lewis, the director of the Sandy Ground Historical Society, will present the lecture. The presentation will focus on the lives of free Black oystermen and their families during the decades leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation. To provide deeper historical context, Lewis will display various physical objects brought directly from the society’s archived collection.

The program specifically highlights the history of Sandy Ground, a Staten Island community that expanded rapidly during the 1840s. Free Black families migrated to the area from Snow Hill, Maryland, to escape increasingly restrictive laws that limited African American participation in Maryland’s local oyster industry. These families relocated to the oyster-rich waters of Prince’s and Raritan Bays, building a community centered on maritime labor and entrepreneurship.

The event is directly connected to the museum’s current exhibition, The Promise of Liberty: Words That Shaped a Nation. This ongoing installation features a First State Department Printing of the Emancipation Proclamation on view for the public. The upcoming lecture is designed to offer a localized perspective on the lived experiences of Black New Yorkers during this pivotal period in American history.

Registered attendees will receive complimentary admission to the exhibition prior to the start of the lecture. From 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., the galleries will open for guests to view the foundational documents and treasures that shaped the United States. While advanced registration is requested, the museum plans to accommodate walkup guests on the evening of the event as space permits.

The Sandy Ground Historical Society Library and Museum operates to preserve the history of the oldest continuously inhabited free Black community in the nation. Originally founded in 1828 by free Black men Moses and Silas Harris, the area historically known as Harrisville, Africa, and Little Africa served as a farming and maritime center. The settlement also played an active role as a site on the Underground Railroad.

Click here to register.

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