How Ellen and William Craft Outsmarted Slavery

On this episode of Our American Stories, in 1848, William and Ellen Craft were enslaved in Georgia and knew they could not start a family until they were free. Their escape plan was as risky as it was brilliant. Ellen, who was light-skinned, disguised herself as a wealthy white man traveling with an enslaved servant — her husband, William. Together they moved openly through hostile territory, riding trains and steamships toward the North. Every mile carried the threat of exposure, yet their courage and quick thinking brought them to freedom. Doug Peterson, author of The Vanishing Woman, shares the story.

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