In a cemetery just south of Cornell University鈥檚 campus, you can find the grave of 鈥淔aithful鈥 Daniel Jackson, a man who settled in Ithaca after escaping slavery in the 1840s. After the Civil War, he brought his mother north as well鈥攁 happy ending to a heroic, harrowing journey. But according to , professor of history, Jackson and other runaways don鈥檛 receive the full credit they deserve.
鈥淏y the 1830s and 鈥40s, a big proportion of the free black population in the North were runaways or the children or spouses of runaways,鈥 Baptist says. 鈥淭hese communities not only provided havens for individuals and families but鈥攚hat we鈥檝e learned is鈥攖hese were the bases from which slavery is fought. This is the work that pushes the question of slavery onto the national stage.鈥
After writing a book on slavery, Baptist is creating a searchable database that will digitize runaway ads.
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