The Center for the Study of Canada and the the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association (NCUGRHA) are collaborating to bring Canadian Historian John Johnston to Plattsburgh State University for a special Quaricentenniel Lecture on February 2, 2009. A reception will follow.

LOCATION: Plattsburgh State University
Alumni Room at the Angell Center

The subject of Johnstons lecture will be, Mathieu Da Costa: What We Know and What We Imagine. Some Possibilities and Probabilities Surrounding a Historical Personage. Da Costa was an interpreter of African descent who likely traveled extensively throughout the "Atlantic world" in the late 1500s and early 1600s. As an interpreter, he was sought after by both the French and the Dutch to help in their trading enterprises with Aboriginal peoples. Da Costa's may have sailed traveled up the St. Lawrence River and all along the Atlantic coast.

According to Mr. Johnston, sometimes what we do not know is even more intriguing than what we do...The story of Mathieu Da Costa... is significant for it suggests fascinating links among the peoples of Africa, Europe and the Americas during the formative era of the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Johnston is a long-time historian with Parks Canada who specializes in the history of Atlantic Canada. He is the author of 11 books and his most recent work, Endgame 1758 garnered the Canadian Historical Association?s CLIO award. Endgame, weaves together the dramatic military and social history of Fortress Louisbourg.

John Johnston's visit to Plattsburgh is being made possible by a $1,000 mini-grant awarded to the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association by the New York State Quadricentennial Commission.