Solomon Northup's story is largely unknown in his New York hometown SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In the film "12 Years a Slave," free black man Solomon Northup dreams of one thing during his long captivity in the antebellum South: returning to his family and home in Saratoga Springs. In the film, as Northup, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, undergoes grueling labor and horrific punishment on a series of Southern plantations, Saratoga Springs becomes a promised land, its name uttered with a sense of longing and hope. Yet mention Northup's name to many locals in modern-day Saratoga Springs or ask about the memoir or movie that tells his story and they'll raise an eyebrow, largely unaware of the man and his legacy. I've never met him. But I think my daughter has," said Linda Gibeault, 63, a manager at a downtown motel. When told who Northup was, she said, "That's fascinating. I've never heard of him, and I've been here 34 years. But people don't like to talk about things like that here. Especially Republicans. And I'm a Republican. VIDEO: Watch '12 Years a Slave' cast and crew discuss film As the Steve McQueen film continues to draw critical acclaim and audiences - since hitting theaters in October, the movie has grossed more than $40 million and has been nominated for nine Oscars, including best picture - it has renewed focus on the racial history of the slave-holding South. And nearly 150 years after the end of the Civil War, the North's attitude toward slavery is also coming under scrutiny. "New York and some other Northern states don't like to think of themselves as having a connection to slavery - they think of it as a Southern thing," said David Fisk, an upstate New York-based scholar who has written several books about Northup. Most people living in New York would be surprised to find out that slavery was still legal here as late as 1827. Northup moved with his wife, Anne, from their farm in nearby Kingsbury to Saratoga Springs in 1834. The free-born Northup was a violinist and a driver, raising his three children in relative prosperity for the next seven years. In 1841, with the false promise of a job in a circus, he was lured by several kidnappers to Washington, D.C., where he was sold into slavery before finally regaining his freedom 12 years later. Situated about three hours north of New York City, this upstate town of 26,000 is these days an upscale, educated community, with liberal-arts Skidmore College in the middle of town and trendy shops lining its main streets. The Saratoga Race Course, which dates back to the 1860s, is a well-known attraction. Yet Northup's 1853 memoir is not taught in schools here. Nor is there an exhibit devoted to the antislavery crusader at the downtown history museum. PHOTOS: Scenes from '12 Years a Slave' And an annual summer event started more than a decade ago by a local African American woman to commemorate the town's native son resulted in a partisan dispute with the mayor's office, which in 2013 barred the event from taking place at the town's main event space. "There is a population that wants to celebrate the city and its different aspects," said Joanne Yepsen, a Democrat who was serving as a county supervisor when the event was barred last summer and who was recently elected mayor. But some of our leaders have different priorities. To be fair, until the past decade even some historians were unaware of Northup's tale, and the book had been largely forgotten. But the ignorance is particularly pointed in Saratoga Springs, which can claim Northup as one of its true native heroes. Renee Moore, founder of Solomon Northup Day and the city's chief proponent of marking its racial past, knows that firsthand. Solomon Northup Day has become a magnet for those with a connection to the man - last year, several dozen of his descendants gathered for the event at Skidmore College and the film's co-star and Oscar nominee Lupita Nyong'o turned out to speak, while footage was shown; one descendant, Clayton Adams of Pittsburgh, described the experience "like watching 'Lincoln' with all the people from the film there." REVIEW: McQueen's '12 Years a Slave' impressive, and hard to watch But Moore has often struggled to raise even the few hundred dollars necessary to finance the proceedings. Local businesses eventually contribute, and she usually gets a small grant from an upstate charity. The city does not contribute. From a dilapidated row house just a few blocks from the town's main street, Moore, who was raised here, lays packs of Northup-related material in her living room. "Solomon Northup, one of the great heroes of the slavery era, is from here, but you wouldn't know it from listening to our mayor," she said. Moore, a feisty fiftysomething who is one of the city's roughly 1,000 black residents, came up with the idea for the event nearly 15 years ago after an exhibit at Union College in nearby Schenectady turned her on to Northup's story. Among those she holds responsible for the challenges is former Deputy Mayor Shauna Sutton, a Republican who oversaw city events in Saratoga Springs. Moore said that Sutton never attended Solomon Northup Day events and that she didn't allow it to be held at its usual spot at the visitors center last year.