efore the 1999 founding of John Brown Lives—an Upstate New York education and human rights group—few in this country, including residents of the Adirondacks, knew of the historical connection between the 19th century white abolitionist named John Brown and the Adirondacks. Even fewer were aware of Timbuctoo, a 120,000-acre Adirondack land gift in 1846 to 3,000 “respectable” Black New Yorkers from a landowner named Gerrit Smith. Ostensibly, his admirable mission was to make Black men eligible to vote. Under state law then, Black men were
