RECOLLECT - Episode #4

Timothy Walker is professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and the editor of Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad. Published by University of Massachusetts Press, Sailing to Freedom makes the case that a high percentage of successful slave escapes were achieved by using coastal seaways - not by fleeing on land! In this conversation, Walker pushes for a more accurate telling of our Underground Railroad story, shares how K-12 educators are responding to the scholarship, and reminds us that the two most famous self-emancipators, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, both used waterways in their quests for freedom. Contributors to Sailing to Freedom include David Cecelski, Elysa Engelman, Kathryn Grover, Mirelle Luecke, Megan Jeffreys, Cheryl Janifer LaRoche, Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Michael Thompason, Len Travers, and Timothy Walker.