Elizabeth Cannon, Director of Community-Engaged-Learning, in collaboration with Celebrating the African Spirit and Revive College Hill Park Coalition, secured a Civic Imagination Partnership Grant from Partners for Campus-Community Engagement (PCCE). Grant funding will support Frederick Douglass Day, an annual event that Celebrating the African Spirit hosts at Poughkeepsie’s College Hill Park where Douglass delivered his 1858 anti-slavery speech.

The mission of Frederick Douglass Day is to connect the words and principles as expressed in 1858 to contemporary issues. An anticipated audience of 150 will be able to engage with dozens of artists providing performances, drumming, and dance. This exciting project is engaging multiple groups and individuals across Vassar College! A recent Vassar graduate will share a spoken word segment, and high school students from Celebrating the African Spirit’s Summer Intensive will speak about their final project posters. An OCEL Community Fellow will help co-facilitate and mentor participating high school students.

The board of Celebrating the African Spirit, which works to commemorate the contributions of enslaved Africans and their descendants in the building of the City of Poughkeepsie and engages in social action projects to address the consequences of institutionalized racism, includes Vassar’s own Katie Hite, Professor of Political Science on the F. Thompson Chair and Director of International Studies; Liz Randolph, Associate Vice President for Editorial and Publications; and Carollynn Costella, History & Multidisciplinary Librarian.

The Revive College Hill Park Coalition, a community group raising awareness about Poughkeepsie’s largest city park and highest point, is supported by Vassar’s own Jen Rubbo, Director of the Environmental Cooperative, who is a member of this “community group raising awareness about this hidden gem.”