LAKE PLACID – Martha Swan turned the key to the padlock on the double doors of the 19th-century hay barn at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site. Lowering her head to enter, the executive director of John Brown Lives stepped into what is the permanent home to the legacy of Timbuctoo.

Almost two centuries prior, this homestead of the famous abolitionist Brown was the central location of Timbuctoo, 120,000 acres of Adirondack land set aside by prominent upstate reformer and philanthropist Gerrit Smith and given to 3,000 black New Yorkers in 40-acre lots. Owning land worth at least $250 qualified them to vote.

One hundred and seventy years after the settlers of Timbuctoo first moved to Essex and Franklin counties, almost no trace of their agrarian lifestyles remains to say where exactly throughout the North Country, including on this state historic site, they resided. Archaeological work is currently being done to find out more about the people of Timbuctoo.

New information has been uncovered by John Brown Lives. For now, 16 double-sided banners that will hang in the hay barn tell the story in the exhibit dubbed “Dreaming of Timbuctoo.” Opening Sunday with a 1 p.m. ribbon-cutting, it’ll be on permanent display as the latest free history lesson people can take in at the farm.

“Dreaming of Timbuctoo” will also “expand the narrative,” as Swan puts it. It gives more nuanced and detailed credit to the African-American reformers and advocates around the state who worked as “Smith’s agents” to get the word out about Timbuctoo.

The banners include information on Frederick Douglas and his anti-slavery newspaper The North Star, and ministers Jermain Wesley Loguen of Syracuse and Henry Highland Garnet of Troy. One of those banners shows a map of New York state and features six of these leaders.

“Smith’s seen in the exhibit more as someone who supported this larger effort by black reformers for civil rights,” Swan said Thursday. “And because he was so wealthy and had so much land and believed in agrarianism, he was able to do this.

“It was a grand and magnificent act.”

One of the banners Swan hung Thursday from the heavy pine wooden display units featured “The Agents” with a picture of abolitionist Charles Bennett Ray quoted as saying, “There is no life like that of the farmer, for overcoming the mere prejudice against color. The owners of adjacent farms are neighbors. … There must be mutual assistance, mutual and equal dependence, mutual sympathy and labour … yields equally to all, and makes all equal.”

The other side of that banner is titled “The Settlers” and features a photo of Timbuctoo residents at their North Country cabin. The other banner Swan hung Thursday highlights on one side the newspapers and conventions that were critical to the movement, with a painting of a Timbuctoo settlement in Schroon Lake. The other side features details on the obstacles and risks the people of Timbuctoo had to face.

The banners were almost entirely financed by a $5,000 campaign on the Adirondack Gives crowdsourcing website. Swan said there are plans to launch another $5,000 campaign to finance another set of banners to tour the exhibit, just like the exhibition had in the past before settling on the permanent home at the state historic site.

“The Adirondack Gives crowdfunding campaign for ‘Dreaming of Timbuctoo’ was inspiring,” said Chris Morris, Adirondack Foundation’s communications officer. “The response was rapid – with over $2,000 flowing in within just a few days. Those gifts came from the Adirondacks as well as Vermont, New Jersey, New York City and beyond. To me, that proves that the important work of John Brown Lives resonates across our region and our country.”

Swan said the new exhibit also links the topic of voting rights to the contemporary disenfranchisement of voters. Along with Swan, the project’s curator and writer Amy Godine led the project. Karen Davidson and Stephen Horne designed the banners.

Swan said more than 40 people have already provided an RSVP for Sunday’s ribbon-cutting, which is open to the public. Scheduled for two hours, refreshments will be served and Godine will make remarks along with Cornell University history professor Margaret Washington and regional director of the New York state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Alane Ball Chinian.

On Aug. 14 from 4 to 6 p.m., a book talk will be hosted by Jeffrey Amestoy, former chief justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and author of “Slavish Shore: The Odyssey of Richard Henry Dana, Jr.” On Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., a program titled “Retracing Lyman Epps’ Steps: Guided hike through Indian Pass” will be led by Adam Stewart and Naj Wikoff. And on Sept. 17 from 2 to 5 p.m., blues musicians Jerry Dugger, Bill Sims and Matthew Skoller will host “The Blues at Timbuctoo” outdoor concert, to which attendees are encouraged to bring a chair and picnic blanket.