The Dutchess Antislavery Singers research and perform antislavery music. Set to hymns and patriotic an popular tunes, these pieces were sung at abolitionist conventions and rallies around the North in the years leading up to and during the Civil War. The Singers generally perform in period clothing, circa 1860, and have sung at a wide array of venues, including historical reenactments, school programs, worship services, and music festivals.

For more information, or to arrange a performance by the Dutchess Antislavery Singers at your event, please use the site contact. We welcome new singers at any time — ask us about our rehearsal schedule.

Our songbook, 36 Antislavery Songs, is available online and at Dutchess County independent bookstores.

The Singers rely on such sources as

• “Liberty Minstrel” (1844) by George W. Clark and
• “The Anti-Slavery Harp; A Collection of Songs for Anti-Slavery Meetings” (1848), compiled by William Wells Brown, a fugitive slave.

In 2003 students at Dutchess Community College worked with the Singers to make video recordings of seven songs. These are posted on You-Tube and may be accessed via the following links (make sure to have your sound on):

Dutchess Antislavery Singers

Selected Performances 

• “A Juneteenth Concert.” Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, Kingston, NY. [6/19/2011]
• Concert with Lecture on “Gender, Women and the Antislavery Movement,” Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY. [10/6/11]        
• Spirit of Freedom: An Emancipation Proclamation 150^th Anniversary Concert. Christ Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie [9/22/12]
• Civil War Heritage Music Gathering and Encampment. Windham, NY [8/4/12]
• Video Project with Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY [June 2012]
• New York State Council for the Social Studies, Rye, NY [3/1/13]
• Scarsdale Middle School, Scarsdale, NY [6/5/13]
• Freedom Plains United Presbyterian Church, Lagrangeville, NY [6/23/13]
• The Fountains, Millbrook, NY [7/21/13]
• Habitat for Humanity Concert, Christ Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie, NY [1/25/14]
• Newtown Middle School, Newtown, CT [1/31/14]
• Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle, Mid-Hudson Library, Poughkeepsie, NY [2/23/14]
• Dutchess Heritage Days, Poughkeepsie, NY [6/12/14]
• Lincoln Inaugural Commemoration, Poughkeepsie, NY [11/23/14]
• William Church, Raquette Lake, NY [7/23/15]
• NEH Traveling Exhibit “1863 and 1963”, Mid-Hudson Library, Poughkeepsie, NY [12/13/15]
• The Power of Song: Music as a Force for Social Change. Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY [3/26/17]
• APHNYS Annual Meeting, Poughkeepsie, NY. [11/1/2017]