A Postcard From Pinkster Fest

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It’s a Jiffy Audio Postcard today from Rothermel Park in Kinderhook, where the Pinkster Festival – a powerful Black cultural celebration with Dutch colonial roots – was revived for the first time in more than 200 years.

Pinkster began as a Dutch Christian holiday but evolved into a vital gathering for enslaved and free Black New Yorkers in the 18th and 19th centuries. This episode follows the festival’s modern-day return, in partnership with the African American Archive of Columbia County and local organizations working to reconnect descendants, reanimate memory, and reclaim a once-forgotten holiday.

You’ll hear from festival organizers, historians, community members, and King Charley, as they honor ancestors through the libations ceremony and explore the unique shape of slavery in the Northeast.

We also reflect on what it means to hold this celebration just steps from the historic Persons of Color Cemetery, and how genealogy and place are being used to build one of the largest known Black family trees in New York State.

If you found this episode interesting, text it to someone who might like to hear it! Word of mouth really helps this show grow.

And if you'd like to hear my earlier episode with the Archive where we visited the Jan Van Hoesen-Charles Marriott House, you can find that here.

To learn more about the African American Archive of Columbia County, visit them at: https://www.afamarchivecc.org

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"The Jiffy Audio Newsletter Podcast" is an audio documentary zine – the official podcast of The Jiffy – exploring the odd histories, cozy mysteries, and surprising characters of upstate New York. Each episode is a small adventure, told with curiosity, humor, and the occasional text message from a stranger.

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Episode Transcript

James Cave (00:04):
Hey there and welcome to another episode of
The Jiffy Podcast, a podcastabout upstate New York that
really takes you places.
Like right now.
We're in Rothermel Park inKinderhook.
It's the site of what looks tobe like a really little l eague
baseball game and the baseballdiamond over there that may be
going into extra innings.
But more importantly for ourshow today, it's also the site
of the original Kinderhook BlackFamily Reunion and Pinkster

(00:27):
Festival.
I'm doing this episode inpartnership with the African
American Archive of ColumbiaCounty, which is working to
build what may become thebiggest family tree of Black
ancestors in New York thatconnects descendants of those
who were historically enslavedin the Hudson Valley with their
relatives and ancestors.
And in a previous episode theArchive and I visited the Jan

(00:48):
Van Hoesen- Charles MarriottHouse in Claverack.
It was a very interesting trip.
You should listen to that, ifyou haven't already.
I will link to it in the shownotes here.
But today we're looking atanother facet of upstate history
.
As I said before, it's thePinkster Festival.
Pinkster began as a DutchChristian holiday Pentecost or "
as they would have said in the1600s, but by the 1700s and

(01:11):
early 1800s it had evolved intoa major celebration for enslaved
and free black communitiesacross New York.
For several days each spring,Black New Yorkers, who were
often separated either byslavery or just the long
distances between farms, wouldgather to reunite, parade, drum,
dance, sell goods, sing hymnsand crown their Pinkster King.

(01:33):
In fact, it was on Pinkster Dayin 1843 that Isabella Baumfree
chose to change her name toSojourner Truth, after having
emancipated herself the yearbefore in Ulster County.
But the big festivals, theheyday of these Albany Pinkster
Fests, were largely banned bythe 1810s.
They began disappearing acrossthe state, largely due to white

(01:54):
fears of Black social gatheringsand the shifting politics of an
ever-growing society i n NewYork.
However, Pinkster has beenmaking a comeback recently, with
the historic sites such asPhilipsburg Manor and Schuyler
Mansion hosting annual Pinksterfestivals.
This year, the Archivepartnered with the Village of
Kinderhook, the Columbia CountyHistorical Society, and other
groups to bring Pinkster back toColumbia County, possibly for

(02:15):
the first time in more than 200years.
So here we go.
For this episode, it's an audiopostcard from the Pinkster
Festival in Kinderhook, New York.

Group (02:28):
.
.
.
forget thee / Shadowed beneaththy hand / May we forever stand
/ True to our God / True to ournative land.

Lisa Fludd-Smith (02:47):
I'm Lisa Fludd-Smith.
I'm the Deputy ExecutiveDirector of the African American
Archive of Columbia County.
We are right next to thehistoric Persons of Color
Cemetery and we are here tocelebrate Pinkster and also to
celebrate the descendants ofthose who were enslaved in
Lindenwald and the area aroundhere.

Group (03:08):
.
.
.
p ast / Till now we stand atlast / Where the bright gleam /
Of our bright star is cast.

Lisa Fludd-Smith (03:22):
So when the duchy originally came here,
Pentecost was a big holidayduring their religious year and
it came in the spring, usuallyafter the harvest was sown but
before it was reaped.
So there was a little bit ofdowntime and it would be a time
for the Dutch families to visitwith their families.
It also became a time when theywould allow their enslaved

(03:45):
people to have a few days off,and so the enslaved people took
that holiday and kind of made ittheir own.
They gathered together with afeast and dancing and music, and
for a lot of people, because ofthe way that the enslaved
people were so spread out inthis area, for a lot of people
that might be the only time inthe year that they would see

(04:08):
other people that they wererelated to, maybe the only time
that they would hear theirnative languages because so many
people were coming together.
So it's a really specialholiday.
It's a very unique AfricanAmerican holiday and also Dutch
holiday.

Victoria Jimpson-Fludd (04:22):
I want to welcome all of you here to
the second annual Original BlackFamily Kinderhook Family
Reunion and our first annualPinkster Fest.
My name is Vicki Jimpson-Fludd.
I'm with the African-AmericanArchive of Columbia County and
we're putting on this programwith the National Park Service's

(04:42):
Martin Van Buren Historic Sitenot Martin Luther King, the
other Martin.

Michael Douma (04:50):
I am Michael Douma, associate professor at
Georgetown University in thebusiness school, where I run an
institute for the study ofmarkets and ethics.
I like to say that I am ahistorian working with
philosophers in a businessschool.
It's a very interesting hybridposition, and I'm also fortunate
that I get to teach in theGeorgetown history department on

(05:10):
the side.
So I teach slavery andcapitalism, I teach economic
history.
So when you see that New Yorkslavery is Dutch and
domestically grown and tradedwithin the networks of New York
and New Jersey, you see it nowas more, not condensed, but more

(05:32):
of a self-contained unit of acertain type of culture, a
certain type of slavery ofpeople that are connected.
And I know you asked me aheadof time the difference between
Dutch and English slavery andhow slavery was different in the
Hudson Valley.
There's a lot of subtle thingsto be said about that.
It's very difficult.

(05:55):
There is a distinct Dutchslavery and it is most apparent
in the Pinkster celebrations,which are really don't start
until like the 1780s.

Lisa Fludd-Smith (06:08):
So enslavement by the Dutch was and
particularly in New York in thenortheast, was really different
than what we think aboutenslavement in the South.
Most people would only havemaybe two or three people
enslaved in their households andthere was sort of an ability to
have like a negotiation betweenenslaved and enslaver.
And I think one of the aspectsof that is this whole thing of

(06:34):
Pinkster, of having two or threeor four days off to go and
gather and be away from yourenslavers, and yet you still
came back.
Very rarely did you hear thatpeople went away to Pinkster and
they ran away and left.
A lot times, mostly, they justcame back.
So I think it's a reallyinteresting way of thinking

(06:56):
about the relationship betweenthe enslaver and the enslaved in
the Northeast.

Rev. Linda Van Alstyne (07:02):
My name is Reverend Linda Van Alstyne,
I'm an associate minister atPayne AME Church in Chatham, New
York, and my pastor, thePaulette Adams, is here with me
as well, and I have the honor ofpouring libations this
afternoon.
Libation is giving honor,reverence, respect and
recognition to our ancestors,whose shoulders we stand on, and

(07:26):
our elders, whose shoulders wewalk in.
I greet you, my brothers andsisters, in the name of Jesus.
This afternoon, we pourlibations to honor the past, so
that we may learn from it.
We use water because it has noenemies.
We use water as a symbol of thecontinuity of life, to purify

(07:50):
and to nourish our soulscleansing, healing life and
spiritual renewal.
And as I pour, I'm going to besaying some things and, when I
get done saying each thing, ifyou would say," which means.
So be it.
"Amen.

Michael Douma (08:08):
They go into these towns for three, four days
and the slave owners expectthem to come back, but they
might give them some cash.
It reminds me of the Europeantradition of resistance against
the kings, the topsy-turvy,upside-down days when the
peasants go marching through thecity and say, "we're in charge,

(08:30):
we're the kings.
Now you have to pay a tax tocross our bridge and get back to
your castle.
And what's happening in that isit's a form of negotiation.
The slaves are slowly pushingagainst the established order.
The courts are slowly -- I callit a pendulum swinging towards
freedom, and, in the 1780s and1790s, going off that liberty

(08:55):
motivations, the freedomphilosophy that's developing out
of revolution, t he slavesstart asking themselves: Why
don't we get more power?
Why don't we get freedom?
They understand the hypocrisyof the system that enslaves some
people and not others, and sothe slave owners are under
pressure and they start givingin slightly more and more.

Victoria Jimpson-Fludd (09:16):
Next, I'd like to introduce our King,
Don Hyman, who is also going tobe King Charley, who's going to
lead the festivities, and hewill be crowned by the mayor and
Reverend Joy.

Donald Hyman (09:30):
My name is Donald Hyman.
My role today is as thePinkster King.
His name is King Charley, andhe represents the King of the
Pinkster Festival.
He's necessary, he's part ofthe procession, he leads it, he
hangs with the parade for theweeks that it's there and all

(09:52):
the enslaved people look up tohim.
Now, one of the things he likesto do is he goes to every
vendor every day and collectsshillings from them.
So he's kind of like astorekeeper, a landlord you
might say.
But everybody respects Charley,and, uh, they have -- King
Charley is the character andhe's written about um in 1803 in
a newspaper article and theydescribe him.

(10:14):
He's supposed to be, like, thisparticular Charley's 85 years
old, from Kongo, Angola.
Uh, he usually wears a very redcoat we got some red in here
and he usually has a hat withthis plumage like this.
You know, some of themmentioned that um, they remind
you of Marcus Garvey when he wasriding around like that.
I'm saying that the pomp andcircumstance that goes with the

(10:36):
Napoleon-esque type look, withthe hat, you know, stands out.
Uh, and especially if you go tosome African kingdoms, feathers
are very important, you know.
They symbolize things.
So it's not just the hat, it'salso the feathers have a meaning
.
Okay, he goes around, he seeseverything, he's a he's a
see-all-, know-all, omnipotenttype of guy.
Everybody loves him, okay.

(10:58):
I want you to understand that weare on holy ground.
This is a cemetery, but it'sreally a museum and they meant
it for us to preserve theirhistory.
What becomes of a dreamdeferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin inthe sun or fester like a sore
and then run?
Maybe it sags like a heavy load?

(11:18):
Or does it explode?

We put it into our songs (11:21):
Go down, Moses, way, way, way, way,
way down in Egypt- land andtell old Pharaoh to let my
people.
.
.

Group (11:38):
Go.
Oh Lord, you're not even sayinggo Jump right on in Get up, get
up.

Lisa Fludd-Smith (11:54):
I'm really excited today.
I think it's going to be a lotof fun.
I love the idea of everyonecoming back together and
experiencing each other andgetting to know each other.
This year, we actually made aspecial effort to reach out to
the descendants of the Dutchfamilies as well, because, of
course, we can't find ourhistory without finding their

(12:15):
history, so there's a whole sortof interplay coming together as
far as the genealogy aspect ofthis event, and I think it's
just gonna be a lot of fun.
People seem very excited aboutit and I think it'd be nice for
this to be an annual event.
That's our plan, is to be ableto make this an annual event and
come back together.

(12:35):
There are no other Pinksterevents annually in Columbia
County, so ours is going to beit.

Rev. Linda Van Alstyne (12:41):
Ashe, Ashe.
We pour our libation to MotherAfrica, the birthplace of all
humanity.
Let us say Ashe, Ashe.
We pour our libations to theremembrance of our ancestors who
died there in the MiddlePassage, the trip from Africa to

(13:02):
the Americas.
Ancestors who sufferedenslavement, who were uprooted
from their homes and homelandand who were who set sail on a
horrifying voyage.
We do not know their names, butit's because of them that we
are here today.
Let us say, Ashe.

Donald Hyman (13:26):
So when I go on to be with my ancestors, some of
them will carry on this becausewe taught them that today.
So keep an eye on them.
Don't let 50 Cent raise and Nasraise your kids.
Okay, teach them about theirculture and their ancestors.
Now it's time for us to go back, because I can smell the

(14:05):
chicken.

James Cave (14:08):
Th ose were the voices of Lisa Fludd- Smith,
Victoria Jimpson- Fludd,Reverend Linda Van Alstyne,
Michael Douma, Don Hyman ThePinkster King, and the Community
Voices of Praise Choir.
If you'd like to learn moreabout the African American
Archive of Columbia County andtheir many ongoing projects,
visit the links in my shownotes, and be sure to subscribe
to their newsletter to stayupdated.

(14:28):
And that's it for this episodeof the James Cave Instagram Feed
Audio Newsletter Podcast, orwe're just calling it "The Jiffy
for short.
If you found this episodeinteresting, could you text it
with someone who'd also like tohear it?
The word of mouth really helpsthis show to grow, and that's
where we are right now.
We're in growth mode.
Okay, until next time.
I'm James Cave, and I will seeyou over on the Instagram feed.

(14:50):
Thank you.

Rev. Linda Van Alstyne (14:57):
You'll see us in your local Walmart
store.