LEWISTON: It's being called a new Statue of Liberty

Amid applause, Freedom’s Crossing makes its debut

<!--Michele Deluca--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Michele Deluca</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:michele.deluca@niagara-gazette.com">michele.deluca@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>

There were young people in the crowd at Lewiston Landing on Wednesday night that will some day be able to say, “I was there when they unveiled the monument.”

Margaret Goff Clark would have surely liked that. Clark, a Town of Niagara resident, was the author of “Freedom Crossing,” the acclaimed young reader’s novel depicted in the monument of the same name that made its debut on the waterfront.

It was an emotional moment those present won’t likely soon forget, preceded by a live depiction of a scene where Underground Railroad leader Josiah Tryron and young Laura Eastman, a character from the book, hurried a slave family into a rowboat so they could begin their journey to freedom across the Niagara River.

Those in attendance Wednesday night watched as reenactors portrayed the dangerous urgency of the situation. Suddenly, the actors stopped mid-action and the music on the loudspeaker swelled. A tarp cover was pulled from the monument revealing the exact scene, frozen in time, and the audience rose to their feet applauding and cheering. Some were seen wiping their eyes from the emotion of the presentation.

“This is overwhelming,” said Rose Gellman, her words halting as she tried to convey her feelings. Gellman’s family lived across the street from the Susan Geissler, the artist who brought the scene to life in a bronze monument of the characters, slightly larger than life. “I am so proud of her,” Gellman said.

Prior to the unveiling some of the many involved in the planning and creation of the statue took a moment to enjoy being a part of Lewiston’s history.

“What happened here at Lewiston Landing was part of a cultural shift that changed this world forever,” said Lee Simonson, who first conceived the idea of the monument several years ago and then was instrumental in obtaining the $230,000 in funding from various sources.

Simonson called the monument a depiction of “Lewiston’s shining moment, a time when ordinary citizens took matters in their own hands to do the right thing.”

He also called the statue a second Statue of Liberty, “another gateway to freedom right here on the opposite side of the state.”

“This is our generation’s gift to the future,” he added.

Simonson’s efforts were praised by Pam Hauth, director of the Historic Association of Lewiston where Simonson is a board member and whose fellow members fortified his efforts.

“It was his stroke of genius to engage Susan Geissler that made this magnificent work a reality,” Hauth said.

Geissler, who grew up in Lewiston and now has a studio in Youngstown, will be honored again on Saturday when she is named a Distinguished Alumni at the Niagara Community College Scholarship Gala in Niagara Falls.

Others receiving official gratitude from the speakers at the unveiling included the Village of Lewiston trustees as well as the Town of Lewiston officials who provided a substantial allotment of their Niagara River Greenway Commission funds for the project. Other funds came from the Margaret R. Wendt and Key Bank foundations.

Even the weather cooperated, providing a chilly wind that gave those present a sense of how challenging it must have been to cross the Niagara River.

“I bet we can all agree we’re glad we’re not in a rowboat tonight trying to make it to the other side,” said Fred Newlin, supervisor of the Town of Lewiston.

Apparently, runaway slaves most often fled in the winter months of November and December when slave owners were preoccupied with holiday festivities, according to local expert Lezlie Harper Wells, a descendent of slaves who crossed the Niagara River.

Marcia Clark Noel, daughter of Margaret Goff Clark, also spoke, noting her mother would be “proud and thrilled” by the monument.

Noel recalled her mother’s efforts to write historically accurate fiction for young people and the 27 books she wrote. Many of Clark’s works featured the Niagara Frontier including “Freedom Crossing,” which is still in print after 40 years and often required reading for grade school students across the country.

“In her notes she wrote, ‘I feel I can light one small candle by writing this book,’ ” Noel said of her mother. “The glow from the one small candle she lit 40 years ago shines on all of us tonight.”

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