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News Articles: enslaved people

Mercer University sophomore Taylor Boyd mounts a piece of the Freedom Seekers exhibit at Tubman African American Museum in Macon. The exhibit features so-called “runaway slave ads” researched by students like Boyd. “They had everyday problems just like us,” Boyd said. “Reading their stories and reading that they were running away to families or they had lovers that really just exemplified the importance of why we need to showcase this.”

Tubman museum's newspaper ad exhibition honors the humanity of enslaved people

When enslaved people fled bondage in the 19th-century South, their enslavers were often forced to describe the people they considered property as human beings in "runaway slave ads" in newspapers. 

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This map from Ancestry, one of the world’s largets genealogy companies, shows the number of records found in different Georgia regions for the company’s project to find newspaper records on enslaved people. More than 22,000 former enslaved people’s names were found in Columbus records, the company says. (Ancestry)

22,000 Columbus records found in project that highlights unknown history of enslaved people

More than 22,000 formerly enslaved people are found in records from Columbus that were released in a new project from Ancestry, one of the world’s largest genealogy companies.

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The remains of Catoctin Furnace in Maryland as seen in 2020. Researchers have now analyzed the DNA of enslaved and free Black workers there, connecting them to nearly 42,000 living relatives.

A landmark study opens a new possible way for Black Americans to trace their ancestry

Researchers have compared the DNA of 27 Black people who lived at the Catoctin furnace between 1774 and 1850, finding a link between these enslaved Americans and nearly 42,000 living relatives.

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  • Scott Maucione
The cover of the book, "Master Slave Husband Wife," is shown featuring to headshots and a pastoral 19th Century Southern scene.

Macon couple's daring escape to freedom unfolds in new book

An enslaved Macon woman disguised herself as a free man. Her enslaved husband pretended to be that man's slave. And they both boarded a train for freedom.

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U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) speaks during a campaign rally at Minden-Tahoe Airport on Saturday in Minden, Nevada.

Alabama Sen. Tuberville equates descendants of enslaved people to criminals

Tuberville spoke at a pro-Trump rally in Nevada on Saturday ahead of the November midterm elections. The NAACP called the comments "flat out racist, ignorant and utterly sickening."

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  • Juliana Kim