Alumna Dr. Sarah Gronningsater ’99 returned to Spence to present the 2025 Mary Frosch Lecture for Equity and Justice. As an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Gronningsater is a historian of the 18th and 19th century United States, and her work centers slavery and abolition and their relationship to American democracy. Her latest book, The Rising Generation: Gradual Abolition, Black Legal Culture, and the Making of National Freedom, provided the framework for her lecture to Spence Upper School students. The text details how a generation of Black New Yorkers fought for emancipation not only in their state, but also on a national level.

In the 19th century, New York was one of the most politically powerful states in the Union, Dr. Gronningsater contextualized. She told students: “I want to share with you a better understanding of how both ordinary and famous New Yorkers helped get rid of slavery.” Dr. Gronningsater continued: “These New Yorkers constitute the “Rising Generation”–Black children born after the American Revolution and who entered adulthood at the beginning of the Civil War.” These children were also subject to the 1799 state law that stipulated children born to enslaved mothers would be born free but forced to work as servants until adulthood. 

Living through gradual abolition, Dr. Gronningsater explained, expanded both opportunities for and proffered responsibilities upon the Rising Generation. As Black New Yorkers gained access to education, they became ever-more aware of the interconnected relationship between gradual abolition, the fight for equal rights, citizenship, and voting. Given their unique position, the Rising Generation was pivotal in shaping foundational federal civil rights legislation and changes to the United States Constitution. Members of this generation can be counted amongst the founders of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

Upon concluding the lecture, Dr. Gronningsater emphatically encouraged the audience to dive into the lasting legacy of the Rising Generation. Immediately following, hands began to raise in the room from students eager to keep learning. One student asked about the process of archival research, to which Dr. Gronningsater replied, “Sometimes things take longer [to uncover]. You need to have persistence. You have to look at multiple sources and obtain a range of perspectives in order to get closer to the truth.”