Beyond Slavery’s Shadow: Free People of Color in the South

National Archives Museum
Online

On the eve of the Civil War, most people of color in the United States toiled in bondage. Yet nearly half a million people of color, including over 250,000 in the South, were free. Author Warren Eugene Milteer, Jr., draws from a wide array of sources to demonstrate that from the colonial period through the Civil War, the serious challenges they faced. Nevertheless, in the face of attempts to deny them the most basic privileges and rights, free people of color defended their families and established organizations and businesses. Joining the author in conversation will be University of Pittsburgh professor Alaina Roberts.