Sailing to Freedom : Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad / Timothy D. Walker.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Walker, Timothy D., editor.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (248 p.) ill

Place of Publication:

Amherst University of Massachusetts Press, [2021]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

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 Underground Railroad, including the impact of African Americans' 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. In addition to the volume editor, contributors include David S. Cecelski, Elysa Engelman, Kathryn Grover, Megan Jeffreys, Cheryl Janifer LaRoche, Mirelle Luecke, Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Michael D. Thompson, and Len Travers.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / Timothy D. Walker

Contents / Timothy D. Walker

Acknowledgments / Timothy D. Walker

Introduction / Timothy D. Walker

Sailing To Freedom / Timothy D. Walker

Working On The Docks / Michael D. Thompson

Black Watermen, Fugitives From Slavery, And An Old Woman On The Edge Of A Swamp / David S. Cecelski

Hampton Roads And Norfolk, Virginia, As A Waypoint And Gateway For Enslaved Persons Seeking Freedom / Cassandra Newby- Alexander

The Underground Railroad In Maryland'S Ports, Bays, And Harbors / Cheryl Janifer Laroche

Claiming Liberty By Sea / Mirelle Luecke

Abolitionists And Seaborne Fugitives In Coastal Eastern Connecticut / Elysa Engelman

Seaborne Fugitives From Slavery And The Ports Of Eastern Massachusetts / Kathryn Grover

Making A Living In The "Fugitive'S Gibraltar" / Len Travers

Freedom On The Move By Sea / Megan Jeffreys

Contributors / Timothy D. Walker

Index / Timothy D. Walker

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed August 05 2026)

ISBN:

1-61376-848-6