Solomon Northup Sculpture Unveiled at Saratoga Spa State Park
The bronze statue will be on display and visible from the road until Oct. 7 after which it will be installed in its permanent home outside the courthouse where Northup was emancipated in
Marksville, Louisiana
A bronze sculpture depicting Solomon Northup, the former Saratoga Springs resident, author of the best-selling memoir Twelve Years A Slave, and subject of the 2013 Academy Award-winning film, was unveiled today during a ceremony at Saratoga Spa State Park.
The 13-foot-tall “Hope Out of Darkness” traveling statue will be on view in front of the Lincoln Bathhouse until October 7, 2025.
“New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is honored to host a sculpture celebrating Solomon Northup and his incredible story,” said OPRHP Commissioner Pro Tempore Randy Simons. “Northup’s courage during his enslavement, his captivating written work and his fight to hold his enslavers accountable make him one of Saratoga Springs’ most treasured residents. It is therefore fitting to display a statue of Northup at Saratoga Spa State Park so current generations can better honor and understand his legacy.”
Northup, a free-born American born in Minerva, NY in 1808, lived in Saratoga Springs with his wife and children for about seven years when he was tricked into joining a traveling circus. This sinister ploy led to Northup being kidnapped in Washington, D.C. in April 1841 and sold into slavery. Enslaved in Louisiana, Northup met Canadian carpenter and abolitionist Samuel Bass in 1852. Gaining Northup’s trust, Bass facilitated getting word to Northup’s family and friends in the North about his condition and status. Through these letters and action taken by New York Gov. Washington Hunt, Northup was emancipated and reunited with his family in upstate New York in January 1853. Northup’s incredible ordeal became national news and his best-selling memoir Twelve Years A Slave was published in July 1853.
Northup lived in Saratoga Springs as a freeman until he was tricked into traveling with a circus and kidnapped in Washington. Photos by Aidan Cahill.
“The life of Solomon Northup offers a powerful lens into an often-omitted chapter of New York’s history,” said OPRHP Interpreter of African American History Lavada Nahon. “His story underscores how the legacy of enslavement in the Empire State did not end with gradual abolition but evolved to maintain systems of racism. The Federal fugitive slave laws enabled the abduction and enslavement of free Black New Yorkers, like Northrup, for profit. They were just one way racism continued to thrive. As we approach the bicentennial of the abolition of slavery in New York in 2027, we are called not only to commemorate that milestone but to acknowledge the persistent, lingering legacy of slavery today.”
The sculpture display reflects New York State Parks’ Our Whole History (OWH) initiative, which seeks to reveal and share historically under-told stories of ordinary and extraordinary people across New York State. In 2027, New York State will recognize the 200th anniversary of the end of legalized slavery in the state (1827) and the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans enslaved in the former New Netherland colony (1627). In anticipation of this significant commemorative year, OPRHP is implementing a multi-year interpretive initiative called ‘Enslavement to Freedom: 1627-1827-2027.’ With ‘Enslavement to Freedom,’ OPRHP and relevant state historic sites are developing exhibits, public programs, and other educational resources to explore New York’s history with slavery and a pivotal period of transition for the Black community in early New York, which gives better context and understanding for later historic movements, like Abolition and the Underground Railroad.
Northup’s efforts to hold his enslavers legally accountable brought details of the illegal domestic slave trade to light but were otherwise largely unsuccessful. After his memoir was published, Northup became active in the abolitionist movement. His whereabouts later became unaccounted for, and historians believe Northup died in 1863 or 1864.
Emmy and Oscar-winning sculptor Wesley Wofford created the bronze likeness of Northup. Wofford says the papers in Northup’s upraised hand represent the papers required to be held by free Black Americans to move about the country, the letters sent north in an effort to free Northup, the legal documents written to free him, and his own memoir. The manacles in Northup’s opposite hand represent his time in captivity and the indignities he and many others suffered during long years of enslavement. The pedestal Northup is standing on is split to represent the duality of his life. He is courageously rising up from enslavement with a posture of triumph and struggle.
The statue was unveiled at the Whitney Plantation in New Orleans in February 2025 and will continue traveling the country before being permanently installed in 2026 outside the Marksville, Louisiana courthouse where Northup was emancipated on January 4, 1853.
NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is planning a series of programs and events at the Victoria Pool House and Saratoga Music Hall during the sculpture’s time in Saratoga to honor Northup, explore African American history and examine slavery.
