While most scholarship on the Underground Railroad has focused on overland escape routes, a forthcoming lecture at Sail Newport will shed light on a lesser-known path to freedom: the sea.
Historian, author and professor Dr. Timothy D. Walker will present “Sailing to Freedom” on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m. at Sail Newport, 72 Fort Adams Dr. The talk is part of the Challenger Lecture Series and is being held in honor of Black History Month.
Walker will share little-known stories of freedom-seeking by sea and describe the maritime side of the Underground Railroad, a dimension he says has been largely overlooked. His talk will examine the role of enslaved African Americans’ maritime and waterfront labor in southern ports and 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.
With few exceptions, Walker’s research has found, successful escapes from enslavement in the Deep South were achieved not overland but by water. His work expands the understanding of what that journey looked like for untold numbers of African Americans.
Walker is the editor of “Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad.”
Tickets are available at sailnewport.org/calendar/sailing-to-freedom-challenger-lecture-series. Hinckley Yacht Services is the presenting sponsor.