Slavery and Freedom in the Cradle of Liberty: An Exhibit of Objects and Documents from the Massachusetts Historical Society

In this virtual exhibit, Boston University students in HI 190 (The History of Boston) will present more than twenty rare artifacts and documents from the archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society. From first editions of Phillis Wheatley’s poems and William Lloyd Garrison’s Liberator, to John Brown’s pistol—to documents and objects related to Boston’s famous fugitive slave cases—students will explore the contentious and powerful history of nineteenth-century Boston as its residents grappled with questions of slavery, freedom, and Civil War.

This event is open to the public.