City Readers Digital Historic Collections at the New York Society Library

The New York Manumission Society was an early American organization founded in 1785 by U.S. Founding Father John Jay to promote the abolition of the slavery of African descendants within the state of New York. The organization was made up entirely of white men, most of whom were wealthy and held influential positions in society. Throughout its history, which ended in 1849, the society battled against the slave trade and for the eventual emancipation of all the slaves in the state; it founded the African Free School for the poor and orphaned children of slaves and free people of color.