"Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad" presented by Timothy D. Walker

“Sailing to Freedom connects the world of seafaring with the lives of runaway slaves in so many compelling ways that the reader cannot help but think the Underground Railroad should be renamed.” —Christopher P. Magra, author of Poseidon’s Curse: British Naval Impressment and Atlantic Origins of the American Revolution

In 1858, Mary Millburn successfully made her escape from Norfolk, Virginia, to Philadelphia aboard an express steamship. Millburn’s maritime route to freedom was far from uncommon. By the mid-nineteenth century, an increasing number of enslaved people had fled northward along the Atlantic seaboard. While scholarship on the Underground Railroad has focused almost exclusively on overland escape routes from the antebellum South, this groundbreaking volume expands our understanding of how freedom was achieved by sea and what the journey looked like for many African Americans.

With innovative scholarship and thorough research, Sailing to Freedom highlights little-known stories and describes the less-understood maritime side of the Under- ground Railroad, including the impact of African Ameri- cans’ paid and unpaid waterfront labor. These ten essays reconsider and contextualize how escapes were managed along the East Coast, moving from the Carolinas, Virginia, and Maryland to safe harbor in northern cities such as Philadelphia, New York, New Bedford, and Boston.

When:
September 19, 2024

In-Person Reception begins at 6pm. Lecture begins at 7pm, Eastern.

Tickets: https://herreshoff.org/event_calendar/sailingtofreedom2024
Virtual Tickets: Members: $10, Non-Members: $15
In-Person Tickets: Members: $15, Non-Members: $20