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Journeys to Liberation: Records of Mariners, Migrants, and Freedom Seekers
All throughout the slavery era in pre- and post-colonial America, individuals and families of African descent pursued paths to freedom. Most famously, people used the Underground Railroad to escape, but other enslaved people turned to legal channels through “freedom suits,” paid for self-manumission, or experienced emancipation through African emigration. Invaluable collections of historical records provide an opportunity to read accounts (sometimes firsthand) of formerly enslaved individuals and gain insights into their extraordinary paths to emancipation.
Examples of records:
Records of abolitionist groups
Court records (federal, state, and local court records)
Crew lists, seamen’s registers, and passenger lists
First-person accounts from the Underground Railroad
Runaway advertisements in newspapers
Databases
Check this space for future updates!
Completed Databases
Black Loyalist Directory, 1783-1788
Newport, RI: Records of Enslaved, Free, and Manumitted People of Color and Enslavers (17th-19th Centuries) in partnership with the Newport Historical Society
American Offshore Whaling Crew and Voyage Lists, 1799-1927 in partnership with the New Bedford Whaling Museum
Godfrey Memorial Library: Middletown, CT Manumissions, 1774-1823 in partnership with the Godfrey Memorial Library
Upcoming Databases
Biographical entries of the New Bedford whaling crew and tradespeople of African descent from the United States, Cape Verde, the West Indies, and St. Helena between the 1860s and 1925
United States, Indenture and Manumission Records, 1780-1939 in partnership with FamilySearch