Understanding the Underground Railroad in American History: Lecture by Paul Ortiz

What can we learn from the Underground Railroad, and what impacts and legacies has this remarkable conduit of freedom had on American history?

Paul Ortiz will discuss his experiences as primary investigator for the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom Underground Railroad Oral History Project. During his tenure as director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida, Ortiz directed and conducted oral histories with descendants of freedom seekers and conductors of the Underground Railroad as well as descendants of freedom fighters in the 1st and 2nd Seminole Wars in Florida. After the talk, Ortiz, currently a Professor of Labor History at Cornell University, will sign copies of his books, Emancipation Betrayed and An African American and Latinx History of the United States. This event is FREE to the public thanks to our Sponsor, Mississippi Humanities Council ❤️