Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Nashville and the Underground Railroad,” a look at the city’s role as a point of departure for those seeking freedom from slavery, with Richard Blackett, emeritus professor of history at Vanderbilt University, scholar of the abolitionist movement, and author of books such as Making Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of Slavery. [Doors open at 6 pm. Talk starts at 7.] The Underground Railroad generally has been associated with the activities of abolitionists in Free States who organized to help slaves escape their captors and reach freedom. That, however, is only part of the story. Historian Richard Blackett holds that we need to pay more attention to what happened at points of departure—the places from which the enslaved escaped—particularly cities such as Nashville. Dr. Blackett will discuss how such cities functioned somewhat as “melting pots,” where the races interacted despite the efforts of local and state officials to deny those relations. He’ll show how some of those relations worked to the benefit of the escapees, and he’ll talk about what measures, legal and otherwise, local authorities took to break up and deny those ties. In the end, the combined efforts of slaves and their supporters, as well as the overreactions of those who fought to stem the tide of escapes, worked to undermine the system of slavery. Learning about their actions, as well as Nashville’s place in this drama, will give you a much richer understanding of the histories of this nation and this city. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: "A Ride for Liberty -- The Fugitive Slaves," by Eastman Johnson (Brooklyn Museum). Want the Best Price for a Nashville Hotel? Nashville.com The Visitors Guide to Nashville!
