If This Old House Could Talk (Sunday, March 9)

The African American Archives of Columbia County and the library are hosting a presentation by Fergus Bordewich and Ed Klinger on Claverack’s Jan Van Hoesen house, now thought to have been the home of Quaker Abolitionist Charles Marriott and a “station” on the Underground Railroad.  As both a site of enslavement and a site of freedom, this familiar house on Route 66 is arguably one of the most significant historic sites in Columbia County.

Date/Time: Sunday, March 9, 2 – 4pm

Location: In person, Hudson Area Library Community Room

Registration: Registration is appreciated. To register, click here.


Fergus Bordewich books include Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground Railroad, America’s First Civil Rights Movement. Bordewich was awarded  The 2024 Prize for the Advancement of Knowledge for Bound for Canaan, and “for his lifelong attention to racial justice. Bordewich’s recent work is Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction.

Ed Klingler, is a co-founder of the Van Hoesen House Historical Foundation and has been a builder specializing in accurate historic restorations for over forty years – an interest cultivated in him by the Van Hoesen house as a child growing up in Columbia County in the 1960’s.

The African American Archives of Columbia County – a descendent-focused organization –  researches, documents, preserves and shares the deep history of Black people in Columbia County from their arrival in 1626 onwards.