Bold Strike For Freedom! Commandeered Arsenal 6.16.13

Click to Listen To The Gist of Freedom tonight at 8pm 

 

On Christmas Eve 1855, Barnaby Grigsby and his Mary Elizabeth, took the slaver's best team of horses and his carriage, packed it knives and guns, and fled slavery. Grigsby and Elizabeth were married. 

 

Tonight on The Gist of Freedom join us as Historian Erik Estep talks with host Preston Washington about the courageous "Runaway Slaves" chronicled in William Still's book, The Underground Railroad. 

 

William Still was the Black abolitionist from Philadelphia who was described by the New York Times as "The Father of the Underground Railroad". He commissioned Harriet Tubman's rescue missions. This famous abolitionist literally wrote the Underground Railroad book. The book which explained the story, narratives often in the words of the participants in the effort to escape slavery. It provided intimate detail on the workings of conductors like himself but it also provided numerous letters and testimonials from fugitive slaves to Still either requesting assistance or thanking him for his efforts. Even today, The Underground Railroad remains a major source for understanding thi