The Reverse Underground Railroad - a Discussion with Richard Bell
My friends!! I am very pleased to welcome Dr. Richard Bell to The Rogue Historian. Rick is Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland and author of the new book Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home (2019). He holds a BA from Cambridge and a PhD from Harvard and has won more than a dozen teaching awards, including the University System of Maryland Board of Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest honor for teaching faculty in the Maryland state system. He has held major research fellowships at Yale, Cambridge, and the Library of Congress and is the recipient of the National Endowment of the Humanities Public Scholar award. He serves as a Trustee of the Maryland Historical Society, as an elected member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and as a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
You’ll remember that I reviewed Rick’s excellent new book right HERE on this website a few weeks ago. It was great to sit down and have a chat about some of the details and finer points of analysis…we discuss:
Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave, and how this story greatly differ
Why children were such vulnerable targets
Exactly what Rick means by the “reverse” underground railroad
Adding a voice to the narrative when the paper trail ran out
The fates of others kidnapped into slavery, and especially Judy Giesberg’s website Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery Project
Writing for a broader audience (a theme here at The Rogue Historian)
Micro-histories and how they take a crack at the greater narrative
The legacy of historian Ira Berlin
I had a wonderful time discussing topics from the shady characters involved to a sense of hope and human agency…I think you will enjoy the show. Please keep the comments going here or on Twitter…and also head over to Rick’s website if you have any questions or you want to see him on his upcoming speaking tour. And please, don’t forget to subscribe to The Rogue Historian Podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite app so you never ever ever ever miss a show. That would be dumb.
With compliments,
Keith