In the Summer and Fall of 2023 I gave two lectures on Commeraw’s life and work, both broadcast live over Zoom.
The first of these was given on the evening of July 5 and was hosted by Fenimore Art Museum, which was then in the midst of presenting Crafting Freedom: The Life and Legacy of Free Black Potter Thomas W. Commeraw. (Created at the New-York Historical Society, Crafting Freedom was a solo exhibition of Commeraw’s work that ran at the N-YHS from January 27 to May 28 and at the Fenimore from June 24 to September 24, 2023.)
The second was given the afternoon of October 29 and was hosted by Studio Potter Journal (which had reviewed Commeraw’s Stoneware in August 2023) and the African American Archive of Columbia County (which was founded by descendants of people enslaved in New Netherland and is dedicated to telling the forgotten stories of enslaved and free African Americans in the Hudson Valley).
These lectures were similar but also differed in some areas; each included a Q & A at the conclusion with thoughtful questions asked by the attendees. If you’d like to watch these talks, they are both available on YouTube: