For two-hundred years enslaved Africans and their descendants were the major labor force throughout the colony of New Netherland and later New York. From sunup to sundown, they toiled in urban and rural spaces doing tasks that were essential to the growth and prosperity of the colony and its peoples. This exhibit explores the large variety of work accomplished by those held in bondage throughout their lives.

This exhibition was created by and loaned to SCHS by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation as part of the Enslavement to Freedom: 1627-1827-2027 initiative.