Join with others for the annual UREC July 4th Oration, framed by Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, from 11am-1pm on Saturday, July 4 in the backyard of The Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence located at 194 Livingston Avenue, Albany. Parking is best on Third Street, at the rear of the Myers Residence Campus (navigate to 93 Third Street, Albany, NY). Program runs 11am-12pm, with lunch and enriching conversation to follow.

What would Frederick Douglass say on the Semi-Quincentennial of the Declaration of Independence? Repercussions of chattel slavery, birthright citizenship, disappearing people, haunt us today just as they did in Douglass’s day. Who gets to identify what July 4th celebrates? Was the revolution concluded in 1776? Are we involved in a continuing revolution? To whom does due process apply? Join with Alan Singer, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Hofstra University, for a deep dive into this question as Singer offers thought provoking commentary on excerpts from Douglass’s 1852 speech “What to the Slave is your Fourth of July.”

Alan Singer is a social studies educator and historian in the Department of Teaching Learning Technology at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York. He is a member of the New York State Council for the Social Studies, New Jersey Council for the Social Studies, Long Island Council for the Social Studies and the Association of Teachers of Social Studies (New York City). Dr. Singer is a graduate of the City College of New York and has a Ph.D. in American history from Rutgers University. He taught at a number of secondary schools in New York City, including Franklin K. Lane High School and Edward R. Murrow High School. Dr. Singer is the author of Education Flashpoints (Routledge, 2014), Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach: A Handbook for Secondary School Teachers, 2nd edition (Routledge, 2013), Social Studies For Secondary Schools, 4th Edition (Routledge, 2014), Teaching Global History (Routledge, 2011), New York and Slavery, Time to Teach the Truth (SUNY, 2008), and Teaching Climate History: there is no Planet B (Routledge, 2022).