Philipse Manor Hall Blog

On June 30, 1779, General Sir Henry Clinton issued what is now known as the Philipsburg Proclamation. Designed to hamper the Patriot cause, the Proclamation promised freedom for any enslaved person who deserted a rebel enslaver and made it to British Lines.

For a site that dates back to the 1680s, it may be surprising to find a monument to the Civil War on the front lawn of Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, but from 1868 until 1911, the manor hall was first Yonkers Village and later City Hall. The Civil War, which lasted from 1860 to 1865, had

Bowling Green is one of New York City's oldest public spaces. The teardrop-shaped downtown park is a charmer, with a fountain ringed by park benches and flowerbeds, and leafy trees overhead. Its creation dates back to the 1730s, and Frederick Philipse II had a hand in its creation.

Pinkster was the Dutch celebration of Pentecost and spring, but in the Dutch New Netherland colony, especially in New York and New Jersey, enslaved Africans combined the Christian traditions of Pentecost with elements of African celebrations to create the unique festival known as Pinkster.

Today is the Ides of March, the date in which Julius Caesar was killed. Caesar shows up a lot in modern American culture, but if you’ve studied slavery in the Atlantic World, you’ve probably seen the name “Caesar” used to identify enslaved people. In fact, Greco-Roman names were quite common...

Black History is American History, and at Philipse Manor Hall we try to tell as complete a story as possible. To that end, we thought we’d mark Black History Month by highlighting the lives and contributions of some of New York’s earliest Black and African residents.

Did Americans celebrate Valentine's Day in the 18th Century? Well, sort of! Dating back to the Romans mid-February was a time for fertility and romance, and during the Medieval period of the Feast of St. Valentine took on new meaning.

If you’re familiar with Westchester historic sites, you’ve probably heard of our friends at Philipsburg Manor. Located in Sleepy Hollow, NY, Philipsburg Manor was known in the period as the “Upper Mills,” to differentiate it from the “Lower Mills” in Yonkers, where Philipse Manor Hall is located...

When the Dutch colony of New Netherland was formed in 1614, there were already Jews living in the New World. Learn about early Jewish colonists, including the Gomez, Levy, and Hays families and their connections to the Philipses.

Did the Philipses celebrate Thanksgiving? Not like we do today. Thanksgiving as we know it is largely an invention of the 19th century. But the foods we associate with Thanksgiving today were not unfamiliar to the Philipses or other families in Colonial New York.