CANTON – Beginning Monday, Jan. 30 and continuing through Feb. 14, a panel exhibit, The Lemmon Case: 1852-1860, A Prelude to the Civil War, will be available for viewing at the St. Lawrence County Courthouse.

The Historical Society of the New York Courts, in collaboration with the New York State Courts, began a 90-week tour to 45 courthouses across New York State of the panel exhibit of the landmark Court of Appeals case features a video narration by James Earl Jones with an introduction by then-Chief Judge Janet DiFiore.

The exhibit is intended to educate the public on the role of the New York courts in paving the way for the abolition of slavery. Through the facts of the case, we learn how the courts helped free eight enslaved young women and children who sailed into New York harbor with their owners from Virginia. The New York courts’ ruling was in direct conflict with the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision of 1857, and it represented the most unyielding statement made against slavery by any court in the United States prior to the Civil War.

Visit the Historical Society’s website at history.nycourts.gov/the-lemmon-slave-case to watch the film and see the tour schedule.

All visitors to New York State Unified Court System courthouses and other court facilities are required to follow all UCS COVID-19 protocols and mask rules prominently displayed at every public entrance.