Title: Free at Last? Slavery in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Source/Sponsoring Agency: University of Pittsburgh. University Libraries

URL: http://www.library.pitt.edu/freeatlast/index.html

Date Checked: 5/13/2010      Status: Active

Date Annotated: 5/13/2010

Topics: Human Rights Law

Other keywords: Legal history; Slavery; Abolition; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Contents: The University of Pittsburgh created the Web exhibit Free at Last? to complement an exhibit of the same name developed by the University’s Vice Chancellor Robert Hill, and shown at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh from October 2008 through April 2009. Although the Heinz History Center has long since taken down the physical exhibit, visitors can still experience the exhibit through the supporting website. The exhibit documents early slavery in Pennsylvania including slaves’ journeys from Africa, through the abolition movement and the aftermath of the Civil War. The website is divided into five sections: the home page describing Hill’s inspiration for the exhibit, an Introduction, the Middle Passage to Early America, The Freedom Papers, Fugitive Slave Laws and Escapes, Abolition, Civil War and Aftermath, and a Photo Gallery. Every section except the home page and the photo gallery includes a brief video filmed in the exhibit at the Heinz History Center and narrated by Laurence Glasco, Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to the videos, sections of text and accompanying images explain topics like Music in the Middle Passage, Notable Abolitionists in Pittsburgh, and the Bethel AME Church—Oldest Black Congregation in Pittsburgh. These sections can be expanded for further information, and some of the sections provide links to additional information like biographies. The Photo Gallery provides images of the Heinz History Center exhibit and artifacts like manacles, maps, books, and artwork. Unfortunately there is no zoom option for these images. The Freedom Papers section is especially valuable because it offers good digital access to documents that describe transactions pertaining to slaves: indentures for black children, sales records, requests for Certificates of Freedom, records of slaves who were freed by their owners or who purchased their freedom, and more. Valerie McDonald Roberts, a supervisor at the Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds, discovered the papers in 2007. The digital document reader has a zoom function, and the site provides a summary and at least a partial transcription for each document. The descriptions of slave escapes provided in the Fugitive Slave Laws and Escapes Section are very interesting; for example, Ellen and William Craft successfully masqueraded as a gentleman traveling with his slave to gain their freedom. This site is excellent for people interested in studying slavery and abolition in the United States and is a model for curators designing other online exhibits.

Author of Annotation: I. Haight