Gates and Swanson Slave Auction Project

[Susan Higginbotham]

Since many here have read James Swanson's Manhunt, I thought you would be interested in learning to hear about a project he and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., are working on involving a massive slave auction (429 people) that took place in 1859:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2...ping-time/

As the article mentions, the auction has been the subject of a 2017 book by Anne C. Bailey entitled The Weeping Time. Gates and Swanson are searching for descendants of those enslaved people who were sold.

[Steve]

Thanks for sharing this article, Susan. I learned a lot more about the history of the auction. Gates and Swanson's project sounds intriguing. I hope they find enough descendants to do something interesting about the lives of those sold and their descendants.

[L Verge]

As coincidence would have it, James Swanson will be at Surratt House this coming Wednesday to participate in the filming being done for yet another History Channel presentation on the Lincoln assassination. He's a friend, so if there is an opportunity, I'll ask him about this project. Wonder if he would be interested in the Dyer Collection of manumission and freedom papers that are on loan to our James O. Hall Research Center.

They date from the 1750s to the 1850s (about 30+) and all pertain to those enslaved previously in our home county of Prince George's, Maryland. All of them were passed down through the Dyer family with only the last generation (a schoolmate of mine) actually realizing what they had. We have found it an important collection, not just because it is local, but also because it shows that many enslaved people got their freedom from their masters or through the courts.